Rachel Dixon is an anomaly.
The young Atlanta professional has returned to school, thanks to encouragement from her husband Jalen, and is making waves in her Evening MBA program at the Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business. Additionally, she is still working in a management position with Delta and publicly curating her faith-influencer lifestyle.
Recently, Dixon stopped by rolling out to discuss it all.
What did you just accomplish at Georgia Tech?
I became the first Black female president of the Graduate evening MBA program. [I am also] the second black person to hold that type of position at Tech.
What does that mean to you?
It means a lot.
I was very nervous going into it. I was also excited for the mere fact that we have not had anyone who looks like me [in] this type of position. So [I] have the weight of the world on my shoulders a little bit, but I’m happy to carry [it]. [What’s] most important to me is representation and being able to open that door for generations [after me] to feel confident and comfortable stepping into a position [like that]. Plus, as we think about diversity and being more inclusive, I think it’s very important. And I think it’s right on time.
What do you want to say to younger women who feel their lives are currently all over the place?
To those girls, I’ll say be patient with yourself.
I was the same way after undergrad. I kind of felt like I was all over the place. I graduated from [Georgia] State with a degree in Public Relations, [but] I actually don’t even do that today—nothing related. So that just goes to show how much [changes] between college and maneuvering life.
I would say be patient with yourself and have grace. For me, faith is a very big thing to me and following the voice of God in my life. To be quite honest with you, I solely believe it’s by God that I get these awesome opportunities and it’s by walking by faith and walking in His will. That’s very big to me. So just being consistent, we’re listening to the voice of God and just being in position. That’s what it looked like for me.
It’s okay for life to look crazy, you actually can find out more about yourself when life looks crazy. When it starts to slow down a little bit, that means you’re on the right path. I think it’s okay.
For me, very candidly speaking, one thing I’ve carried or tried [to carry no longer] is a very big feeling of imposter syndrome in the middle of all the craziness I felt starting grad school. All of that is just fear. Don’t rely on fear, walk by faith, be confident in who you are and be authentic.
I think that is so important. [I’m] actually looking forward to being in this position because I feel like authenticity is who I am. I think it’s important to show you can still be yourself, you can still hold these positions, you don’t necessarily have to code switch, but stay true to who you are. And people will accept that. People will love that about you.
