Meet Kenneth Rife, MTM Class of 2024

Kenneth Rife is originally from Temecula, CA. After high school, he ventured into entrepreneurship, co-founding successful valet parking and sports memorabilia companies. When the pandemic disrupted the status quo, Kenneth seized the opportunity to return to UCSB, earning dual bachelor’s degrees in Communication and Sociology. Embracing his new journey, he applied to UCSB’s MTM program, inspired by the program’s structure, incredible faculty and staff, and post-graduate opportunities. 

Q: Why did you want to join the MTM graduate program?

A: I had been interested in changing career trajectories post pandemic. I originally came to UCSB to pursue an economics degree, but I had to withdraw and move back to San Diego. When I came back to Santa Barbara, I started a business that took me through a ten-year career path in customer service, sales, and HR. Seeing it kind of collapse during the pandemic because it was a customer facing industry, I began looking at other career options and applied for readmission to UCSB to finish my degrees. I walked last year with two bachelor’s degrees in communication and sociology, but I knew that they would not be nearly enough for my career aspirations. I knew someone who had finished the MTM program and had great career successes after graduating. The more research I did, the thought of remaining a Gaucho and remaining in Santa Barbara for a while, especially being newly married, was very attractive to me. The fact that the MTM program was one year, more accessible, and didn't require the GMAT made being in the program a quicker, more efficient, and, I think, an excellent transition.

Q: What has been your favorite moment of the year so far?

A: My favorite moment was Tricia’s campus scavenger hunt during the orientation, before we ever officially sat in the classroom. The reason that’s my favorite memory is because it was the moment where I truly began to know my cohort and the people I'd be working with for the next nine months. It allowed a lot of us to get to know each other and get excited about the challenges we'd be facing together in the year ahead. While it might seem like a general exercise, I think it actually really helped a lot of people in our cohort become friends or at least closer right off the bat. I've always been a believer that your network is one of the strongest things you can ever have, and who you know counts nearly as much as what you know and if not more in certain circumstances. Because we had such a strong team dynamic from the beginning, a lot of us felt more comfortable helping each other out. It was helpful to not feel like strangers on the first day of instruction, and I thought that was really fun and my favorite memory because it set the groundwork for the entire year, and it made us a stronger cohort. 

Q: What’s something you learned this year that you look forward to implementing in your next job?

A: I had never used any GenAI or ChatGPT or done any type of coding before this program. Prof. Matt Beane’s project management course threw us all into the deep end of that all at once. I went from being completely inexperienced in terms of API, coding, or even GenAI, to now being a person that people in the class come to for advice on how to do these tasks. We had a project due at the end of the quarter that involved writing a script for Chat to create an API in the playground model of it in the back end. I'd never worked with any of that before, and I think it can be incredibly valuable in the future, as I don't come from an extremely technical background. 

Read more about this classroom activity on Prof. Beane’s blog here!

Q: What have been your favorite courses this year?

A: Leading Technical Teams with Prof. Nelson Phillips has been a favorite because there’s always room for improvement among teams. The Digital Transformation course with Prof. Paul Leonardi has been great because the flexible course structure allows me to choose which assignments to complete and so I can do the most work in the areas that align with my needs and interests. Digital transformations are also extremely interesting. I’ve had some experience in this area, and it’s been really valuable to learn how it should be done properly and in larger corporate structures.

Q: What has been your favorite part about going to grad school in Santa Barbara?

A: There are a million things I could say that are great about going to grad school here. It’s a beautiful campus on the ocean. The weather’s wonderful, and the networking opportunities are incredible. We have a very tech-fluent and prosperous community of people who are willing to speak with you and give back to the community. 

Q: What are your career aspirations for after MTM? 

A: I wear many hats right now, and the reason I joined the MTM graduate program is to take some of those hats off and completely change sectors, so I do have new career aspirations. I'm looking into corporate leasing, product management, consulting, and sales. I like consulting because you can work with so many different people and learn so much. It's almost like a continuation of this program, depending on what roles you take in consulting. I also really like product management and making the product as good as possible before advancing. 

Q: Do you have a favorite new technology?

A: I love the DALL-E aspect of ChatGPT on open AI. I love being able to do image generation and the way this technology is progressing. I enjoy pretty much everything with AI because I believe that in future managerial roles it will be a great tool and assistant to me. It can never replace the internal knowledge that has been gained, but it can be an extremely useful tool for future collaborations with people more technical than me. 

Q: What do you do in your role as the MTM cohort representative? 

A: The cohort representative role is a liaison role that one of my peers and I were elected to in the fall quarter. It's made me extremely close with the entire cohort because I disseminate a lot of information from the MTM faculty, staff, and career services to the students. I remind the cohort about meetings and check in with them. It's been a great leadership role, and I would highly recommend this role to anyone who wants to be a part of the face of a future cohort or just have closer interactions with the entire Technology Management community. I'm happy with how close it's brought me to the rest of the cohort, and especially the faculty and staff here. 

Q: Is there anything you’d say to prospective students looking to join the MTM program? 

A: I would strongly recommend this program to anyone who's considering MBAs or any type of an advanced degree where they want to get an incredible generalist knowledge of business but also specifically businesses involved with technology and working around teams. The MTM program gives a great knowledge base across multiple areas of business that can really start or accelerate your career. I think it's an impeccable program. You also get to live in paradise and have a very supportive staff. My only advice to anyone who makes the wise decision to enroll in this accelerated nine-month program is to get close to your cohort as quickly as possible. This is because you're going to be on multiple teams with them and it will really help, and it will also help you in life in general. The closer you can become connected with those around you, the more successful you'll be in this graduate program. We also have a great career services team here who really want the best for students and show it all the time. 

Connect with Kenneth on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krife/

Learn more about MTM: https://tmp.ucsb.edu/academics/master-technology-management