Richard W. Rodriguez
For some, career success follows a straight line. For others, it’s a winding road that leads back to the classroom.
Across industries, professionals are stepping away from the workforce — if they need to — to sharpen their skills, expand their networks, and open new doors through graduate education.
The motivations vary: career pivot or growth, eyeing a promotion, or a lifelong ambition to learn.
Whatever the reason, they all share the belief that learning doesn’t end with a diploma and that the right education can be a springboard to something greater.
These are their stories, and they didn’t have to look far. With options aplenty in Fort Worth, Arlington, Dallas, and Denton, opportunities were well within reach.
David Blaylock, 47, earned a degree in journalism from Texas A&M 25 years ago.
After graduation, he had had eyes on a career with one of the biggest staples in Texas journalism, the Houston Chronicle. However, the wealth management firm he worked for while in college offered him a deal he couldn’t refuse.
So, it was in financial planning and wealth management, with all its market trends, analysis, and portfolio performance, that his career bloomed.
“I fell in love with it,” Blaylock says of the wealth management industry. “And [his boss] really showed me the ropes. I stayed there three years in Bryan-College Station. And then moved to Fort Worth.”
In addition to all the certifications required to practice, Blaylock has worked to increase his knowledge base to better serve clients.
He holds a certificate in financial planning from SMU, and Blaylock is now in the midst of earning a Master of Legal Studies with a concentration in wealth management from Texas A&M-Fort Worth.
He can do it all remotely from his home in Austin through the online program.
“It was something I always talked to my clients about: Invest in yourself first. No matter what you do for a living, get more training. And, I thought, ‘Well, it’s probably time I did some of that.’ And it’s been very rewarding.”
A&M’s MLS program is booming. Law school Dean Bobby Ahdieh estimated that the school now has about three times more nonlawyers studying law than future lawyers.
What makes it particularly appealing, at least for Blaylock, is the different tracks available. In addition to wealth management, A&M offers tracks in general legal studies; business law and compliance; cybersecurity law; energy, oil, and gas law; environmental and energy law; health law, policy and management; human resources and employment law; international tax law; real estate and construction law; and risk management and compliance. Certificates are available in each of those, too.
Each are two-year, nonthesis programs with flexible hours for working professionals.
“A lot of people ask me, ‘Well, what are you going to do with an MLS? You're not a lawyer when you get done.’ Do you know how much of my day is spent in negotiation and contracting and everything that's prevalent in the wealth management industry, which is highly regulated? I need to have a base level understanding of what a contract is. Where do I need to go to find certain things for clients. It's just a very practical education.”
First in the Series: "From the Shores of Haiti to the Halls of UTA."
Third in the Series: "From the Gridiron to TCU's Neeley School of Business."