Just go for it: Gregory Maro and the ROMBA Career Trek Experience

Gregory Maro is expected to graduate from the evening MBA program at Baruch College by May 2026. He is the Chief Operating Officer at Bizzarro Real Estate Agency and has been with the company for about seven years. He is married to his husband, David, and has a dog named Bernie.

One August afternoon, I had the privilege of interviewing Gregory Maro–Chief Operating Officer at Bizzarro Real Estate Agency by day and MBA student at the Zicklin School of Business by night. The purpose of the interview was to learn more about his experience in the ROMBA pre-MBA Trek. But even more so, the intention was also to share his story and hopefully inspire other MBA students to step out of the comfort of their classrooms and participate in programs that can be academically and professionally beneficial. With that said, here is my interview with Gregory and I hope you will find it as informative, entertaining, and enlightening as I did: 

Elizabeth: I suppose we’ll start with this–for those who may not be familiar with the ROMBA pre-MBA Trek, what is it? What is its function or mission?

Gregory: It stands for Reaching Out MBA. It’s an organization that has existed for over 20 years and its sole purpose is to support LGBTQIA+ students before their MBA, during their MBA, and after their MBA journey.

After I got into Zicklin, the first email I received was from Justyn Makarewycz (Associate Director of Employer Relations at the GCMC), and he emailed–I'm assuming everybody–about the Reaching Out MBA Summer Treks. And I had no idea what that was. I didn’t even know that there were resources out there for Queer people starting their MBA. As soon as I clicked into it, I realized that this was the program for me. I wish I had learned about it sooner. I feel like there were a lot of organizations that I could have been a part of, especially ROMBA, and apply to their fellowships or taken advantages of their pre-MBA services.

You have a lot of options. Some of the treks have to do with a specific career path. For instance, NYC’s trek was for finance careers. The trek I went to, which was the Chicago trek, was for careers in consulting. I had no idea what consulting was! It is the job that I’ve always imagined I wanted to do, but never had the words to be able to express. ROMBA really helped with that.

Elizabeth: It sounds like it had a really positive impact! Tell me more about that. Why did ROMBA have such an impact on you?

Gregory: Well first, there’s this community that you are thrust into with a bunch of other people who are about to start their MBAs, and no one has any idea what’s going on. And now you’re a part of a text group [and] seeing each other on Zoom... Once you get to the hotel, you start meeting people. I like meeting people even as an introvert. So, I went out to dinner with about six or seven people the first night before we started the trek and just hearing everybody’s stories, and the different schools that they’re going to, and the different ways they came about to getting their MBA made me feel so validated. Because I’m an untraditional student. I didn’t go straight from undergrad to graduate school. It took me 14 years to finish my undergrad, so to hear that there are other people like me who are untraditional students, who started to work first and then went to get their MBA, made me feel like I didn’t miss out on anything and that everything is still ahead of me. That feeling just from the first night, before the program even started, I’m still carrying with me.

Then of course, you’re in the hotel lobby at 7am, and you don’t know anybody except for the six people you met the night before, and you start walking to these different organizations you’ve only heard of or dreamed of getting into their offices. Then you start hearing [the organizations’] pitches. It was really interesting. Being able to compare and contrast notes throughout the day, being able to hear other people’s perspectives on the same thing you heard, just helped me fully understand the context I am in within my educational and professional journey. Now because of those two days in Chicago... I just feel fundamentally changed as a student and as a professional.

Elizabeth: Was it more like a class setting–like you went to lectures or sessions and they teach you something–or was it more hands-on and you had to learn by working on projects?

Gregory: Excellent question. I would say neither. Every firm had a different approach to how they met us and spoke with us. Some firms brought us into their large conference rooms and asked us to talk about ourselves first. Then they talked about themselves, talked to us about the LGBT culture and community within their organizations, let us know about groups within their organizations that could help us with our interviews... it was incredible.

Elizabeth: Given your dynamic experience, and a very positive one, how do you think ROMBA helped you in your academic or career path, either now or in the future?

Gregory: Academically, if I had participated in ROMBA earlier, I could have gotten extra support because they have a lot of pre-MBA opportunities. They have fellowships before you start an MBA. That’s something I would have been very interested in. I’m now looking forward to attending their conference in October. Unlike other conferences, this one is more networking-based. This one is just about getting to know people and letting them get to know you. It’s less of a job fair and more of a-everybody-comes-together to work on our skills and to network. And it’s all from the lens of the Queer community. I didn’t know anything like that was available or actually existed. And to find that kind of community and that level of support is going to take me far in my professional career.

Elizabeth: I’m glad you had that experience!

Gregory: Yeah, ROMBA isn’t that huge. But because of that, I can literally go on LinkedIn, search #ROMBA, and I can reach out to anyone... and they will most likely answer me... You can see the tangible benefits of this incredible organization. It’s made me feel less vulnerable and more supported. ROMBA has made this transition to my being an MBA student seamless, and it makes me feel so much more confident in my academic journey as well as professional one.

Elizabeth: For other students who may be thinking about going to ROMBA, what kind of tips would you share with them when they’re preparing for it?

Gregory: Don’t hesitate. Apply for everything. And if you can afford to go, go to the conference. Your teachers will understand. Apparently, MBA teachers understand that networking is as important as studies. Don’t be afraid to just jump in. The second you do, you’re going to feel so much support that it will be silly that you ever waited if you did. The more you can participate in ROMBA’s activities, the more you’re going to get out of it. Do it, is what I would say. Just go for it.

Elizabeth: Just go for it. I like that. And I guess we will end with this question–with your overall experience, what are some things that you learned about finding career opportunities or what tips can you share with students?

Gregory: First, LinkedIn is going to be your best friend as cringy as that sentence might be. The fact of the matter is that this thing called an informational interview exists. And what you can do is reach out to people in different careers that you’re interested in. This is how one person I met during this trek found his way into his job... by emailing a lot of people within that organization, hundreds of people. About ten of them replied to him and three of them sat down with him for an information interview. And what that is, is that you just sit down for coffee with somebody and ask them questions about their work and their life and how they got there. It’s not a job interview. It’s just an informal coffee chat. And so, he asked for informal coffee chats from everyone he could find, who worked at that organization or that had some sort of commonality with him. And one of those people ended up championing him in that organization, and he got hired and just celebrated his one-year anniversary there. It’s really cool.

Concluding Thoughts: Throughout my interview with Gregory, I felt his genuine enthusiasm for ROMBA. What had started out as the scary unknown became a memorable experience that has now paved the way for future opportunities and a wider, supportive network for him. Perhaps then, when possible, we should all take Gregory’s advice: “Don’t be afraid to just jump in... Just go for it.” The leap just might lead to something wonderful. 

Elizabeth Moy is a graduate student in the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences at Baruch College, pursuing an MA in Corporate Communications. She is also a College Assistant with the Zicklin Graduate Career Management Center.