How the Executive MBA empowered Scott Gates to be a mission-driven leader

Scott Gates (BS Marketing '04, Executive MBA '15) had a very positive experience during his undergraduate years at W. P. Carey, which helped him launch a successful career. When he started looking at graduate programs, there was only one destination he had in mind.

Scott Gates (BS Marketing '04, Executive MBA '15) had a very positive experience during his undergraduate years at ASU's W. P. Carey School of Business, which helped him launch a successful career in the window and door manufacturing industry.

As he continued to rise in the ranks, his company's president saw Gates as future leadership material, but wanted to make sure he was prepared for the role with further education. When Gates started looking at graduate programs, there was only one destination he had in mind.

"I honestly didn't consider anything other than ASU, because I loved my undergrad," says Gates. "That's where I wanted to go. The big decision for me was which of the ASU MBA programs was most appealing."

The Executive MBA program at W. P. Carey stood out to him, both because of its flexible schedule designed around traditional working hours and the professional level of the students Gates would be surrounded by.

"That was one of the best decisions I ever made, because that program totally set me up for what happened in the 10 years after I graduated," he says.

Gates went on to become the president and CEO of the company he was working for before he eventually left to start his own window and door company. He spoke with W. P. Carey News about how the Executive MBA allowed him to blaze this trail and what the program taught him about leadership.

Why W. P. Carey?

An Arizona native, Gates' path to W. P. Carey was almost predestined. Through his achievements in high school, he earned a scholarship to any of the state's three public universities, but he received an additional award specific to ASU, much to the chagrin of his father, a University of Arizona alum.

"I loved my undergrad experience," says Gates. "I had joined a small business at the time, where I was doing a lot of sales and marketing-related stuff, so that's what I decided to major in. It was fun because I was actually in my field of work while I was getting my undergrad."

That extremely positive experience is what brought Gates back to W. P. Carey almost a decade later to pursue his MBA. Once again, he was immersed in the school's welcoming, friendly environment, where he found support and encouragement from faculty and his Executive MBA cohort members.

"You're instantly in a group of people who are like you, are competitive, want to get better at things, and there's an energy and natural friendship that develops right away," he says. "I'm really proud to say that, post-program, I'm still friends with a lot of people in that group."

One of his fellow cohort members, John Engelstad, eventually became his business partner as he embarked on his entrepreneurial journey. Gates says that both of them learned how to play to their strengths and work together better because of their MBA education.

"He is very good at the things that I'm not as good at, and I'm very good at the things he's not as good at," he says. "The knowledge to know what we needed from the other person is the type of lesson we learned in our MBA."

Why an MBA?

Throughout his time in the Executive MBA program, Gates went from general manager to COO at his company and was promoted to CEO shortly after his graduation. Every course in the program played a part in shaping his leadership style and helped him become more prepared for the new roles he was taking on.

"In my organizational behavior class, we learned a lot about culture shaping," Gates shares as an example. "As I finished that class, I wrote out what became a defining piece for our business. It was called ‘Our Culture,’ and it answered three big questions: who are we, what are we doing, and how do you fit in?"

He adds, "It was a piece we took everybody through at orientation that explained how you got raises, how you got promoted, what our business was going to be, and what our vision was. I was inspired to write that as a result of what I learned in that class."

However, one of the most influential parts of his MBA journey was the entrepreneurship class. "Even though I had been an intrapreneur where I got to spread my wings and do a lot of great things, and really helped grow this small business that had been around a long time, I had never truly started something that was my own," he says.

"My entrepreneurship class had a lot of great case studies, and even our final exam was around a guy who left corporate America and was trying to decide if he wanted to be an entrepreneur," Gates adds.

Shortly after the company Gates had long worked for had been acquired by a private equity firm — which meant a change in the organization's structure — he was inspired by the lessons learned from his entrepreneurship class to start his own venture along with his MBA classmate, John Engelstad.

What's next?

Gates' entrepreneurial venture has been successful in a multitude of ways. The company has grown to around $35 million in revenue with over 100 employees since it launched in 2021. But beyond the material accomplishments, Gates and his partner have succeeded in achieving a mission that is incredibly important to them: providing second-chance employment for people who were previously incarcerated.

"That people group tends to get very biased against in the workplace, and they really struggle to find work," says Gates. "If they can't find work, they end up back in prison."

Gates and his organization have worked hard to ensure that the company is a place where these individuals are able to find stable employment and truly thrive, and currently, around 60% of their staff are part of this population.

"That's what inspires me the most, seeing them reach their potential," says Gates. "I love that my job is to try to set up an environment where they get to be the best version of themselves, and when they do, it's the proudest I ever feel in my career."