Undergrad Builds Connections: Bryanna Samuels ’19 BSBA (Finance and Entrepreneurship)

From leadership positions to being an active role model for her peers, Bryanna Samuels ’19 BSBA (finance and entrepreneurship), has made her mark on the Eller College of Management and is ready to start her new full-time position with Lazard, a financial advisory and asset management firm in New York City.

Samuels was born in Long Island, New York, and moved to Toronto, Canada, when she was three years old. She found her love for finance as a high school student when she participated in DECA, a nonprofit organization that prepares students for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management.

Uncovering her passion for business led Samuels to her big decision to attend Eller: “I love my family and friends, but it was a good point to do something different, challenge myself and form a new community and family,” she says.

Samuels visited the University of Arizona and realized it was a place she could invest in personal growth. This gut feeling was born out in the many opportunities she found at Eller. For example, she helped found the Eller African American Honorary (EEAH) her first year.

“I wanted students to have a community where they felt like they were included and their voices were being heard,” she says. She also became a member of the Wall Street Scholars Program, which was helpful in landing her job with Lazard.

Witnessing the fulfillment she experienced while connecting with her fellow students, Samuels reached new heights and joined the Eller College Dean’s Council in 2017 as the finance representative and treasurer.

While looking for ways to improve students’ Eller experience, Samuels put into practice her entrepreneurial and leadership mindset and was elected president of Delta Sigma Pi, the professional business fraternity. “My main role is making sure we accomplish our goals while bettering the relationship between Eller and our national fraternity,” Samuels says.

“When I was pledging and got initiated, I remember how much gratitude and joy I had, and I wanted other students to feel the same way,” she says.

After she graduates, she will begin her journey in the financial advisory department at Lazard,  assisting the advisory with IPOs, giving advice to shareholders and conducting research on which specific language the advisory should use when releasing reports.

Since the firm is divided into different departments, Samuels knows it will be a demanding job, but she looks forward to the skillsets she’ll develop. “I’m excited because it’s going to be a huge adjustment, but I like starting from scratch and building new things,” she says.

As Samuels prepares for her new adventure in Manhattan, she looks back on her time at Eller and realizes how much leadership knowledge she has gained: “I’m really big on giving back once I am in the position to do so. I can be a voice for others and also give them resources they need to excel,” Samuels says.