The Kismet Go-Getter
Toysha Walker
MBA ‘09
Equipment Performance Tracking Manager
Micron Technology, Inc.
Washington, D.C.
In her nine years at Micron Technology, Inc., Toysha Walker has learned to embrace change. The industry has changed, their products have changed, even her location has changed. But the thing that may have changed her most was a chance sighting of a billboard in a new city.
Walker had been living in Washington, D.C., when she started thinking about getting her MBA.
“Personally, I said I would never go back to school,” she said. “But you have to always be open to learning a new way of thinking. Do not think you have learned everything!”
Walker explored some options in the area, but when she had a chance to move to Austin, Texas to advance her career with a two-year assignment, she thought she would have to abandon her dream.
“I hadn’t been in Austin long at all, and I was driving one day and saw a billboard that said Baylor EMBA,” she said. “I called on a whim, and I interviewed the next week. I saw where Baylor’s strengths were: personal relationships built throughout the program, and the way they accommodate the working professional.”
She knew she only had two years to complete the program before moving back to Washington, D.C. The Baylor EMBA 21-month program fit perfectly within her timeline. She graduated in 2009, and is happier than ever that she saw that billboard.
“I believe the Baylor EMBA program helped enlarge my viewpoint and helped me think holistically, especially when solving a problem,” Walker said. “Before, I focused on just what was in front of me, my piece. But the EMBA program helped me think in a new way. Now, I always try to think through the whole process, how my piece affects everything else down the line.” As a program manager in the quality department of Micron, she uses that new viewpoint daily, as the technology around her changes.
Micron Technology is the only U.S.-based memory manufacturer.
“We make memory for almost anything you can think of,” Walker said. “Cell phones, PCs, automobile rear back-up cameras, flash drives and more.”
The technology is ever-changing, but so is the philosophy.
“We are no longer focused on producing the lowest cost product. We focus on customer satisfaction, and we know that the lowest price doesn’t always equal the best; and people want the best,” she said. “When people turn on their computers, they want them to work. They want reliability.”
And, while consumers are demanding better quality, they’re also demanding more convenience.
“Not only do we have to have quality, but we have to keep up with the next generation of technology. Devices are shrinking. Think of the first cordless handheld phones compared with today’s small cell phones,” she said. “When consumers today say they want more for less, they mean they want more memory for smaller sized devices. That’s a challenge for us. But we’re doing it.”
As for the future, Walker believes the next change in technology is right around the corner.
“The future is cloud computing, and that is going to have a tremendous impact,” she said. “With the cloud, you don’t have to save photos and videos on your phone; you send it to the cloud. It doesn’t take up memory. That means applications are going to run quicker. Devices are going to be able to do more, higher quality things and do them faster.”
While some advances in technology are apparent only to those in the industry, Walker believes everyone will notice the changes that are coming.
“Consumers can expect some really cool stuff,” she said. “For example, graphics are going to change. Next-generation TVs are producing higher pixel density displays that yield stunning graphics. The consumer will be able to see the fine details. It’s an exciting time to see what’s next.”
