From Data to Impact: Kedeisha Bryan 26EvMBA Applies Analytics Skills to Drive Change at the Children’s Museum of Atlanta

For Evening MBA student Kedeisha Bryan, data is more than numbers—it’s a powerful tool for storytelling and problem-solving. A data scientist by day and entrepreneur by night, Kedeisha brought her passion for analytics and community impact to the Children’s Museum of Atlanta through an MBA IMPACT project. In this Q&A, she shares how her untraditional career path and experience in data analysis shaped her team’s approach to the project and the valuable insights they uncovered.

Can you introduce yourself and share a bit about your background? What led you to pursue an MBA at Goizueta Business School?

My name is Kedeisha. I am a Data Scientist during my “9-5” and a Data Career Coach, Instructor, and community leader outside of that. I run Data in Motion, which offers an online tech bootcamp that helps career changers become professional data analysts in six months without going back to school. I have about 60,000 total LinkedIn followers (on my personal and company accounts) and a private Discord community. I also have a LinkedIn Learning course and working on my second one. I honestly never saw myself getting an MBA (let alone from a top 20 school) and I was encouraged to apply for the networking that would help me with my entrepreneurship pursuit.

My LinkedIn headline is: “I used to deliver pizzas, now I deliver insights.” It speaks to my untraditional path to where I am as I am a former college dropout who joined the Navy when I felt I needed to change my life in a significant way. Coming out of that, the only jobs I could find were pizza delivery and working in a warehouse. Then I discovered data analytics, quit my warehouse job to teach myself the skills on my own, and ultimately landed my first data analytics role in three months. And the rest is history.

With your experience in data science and entrepreneurship, what drew you to the Children’s Museum of Atlanta IMPACT project?

I love analyzing data. I can end up in a rabbit hole for hours doing that sometimes. And I appreciated all the data sources the Children’s Museum of Atlanta (CMA) provided across their business (marketing, operations, financials, surveys, etc) and on the national market of museums. Along with the very detailed marketing research resources available to us from the library. It was a true test of figuring out which data pointed us developing a solution that solved the actual business problem and data storytelling.

What was the main goal of your team’s work with the Children’s Museum of Atlanta?

We chose to attack the project from a marketing perspective. We followed a framework we learned in Marketing Management called STP (segmentation, targeting, and positioning) after getting great coaching from Professor Andrle in class one day. In the data, we discovered that over 80% of the CMA’s ticket sales came from online. While we had a lot of data, we also wanted to experience the CMA customer journey first hand. So by going to the museum ourselves during normal operating hours, analyzing reviews on sites, analyzing their top of funnel content, and studying the competitive landscape, we found there were many opportunities that the CMA could improve their online marketing and sales funnel.

What aspects of the project did you find most engaging or challenging?

I found the research engaging. We learned in class that all sources are not made equal. There is a hierarchy of trustworthiness, so rather than rely on traditional Google searches, I found reading the many articles the CMA provided and market research reports from Mintel very engaging. The most challenging aspects were figuring out what was most important to focus on and the story to tell that would drive the most impact. As a group, we also had to figure out how our different ideas could be cohesive. But, we were able to figure it out.

Can you share how your team approached the research process, particularly in analyzing customer feedback, market trends, and financial data?

We knew early on we wanted to experience the customer journey ourselves (without any bias), so a couple of group members visited the museum during normal hours. Brendan Milliken brought his two children, and we were able to get first-hand insight from a child’s perspective, which provided a great advantage in our research. We were able to draw out a customer journey map, which got the ball rolling on finding the opportunities for improvement and gaps in their funnel. This was data that we could not have gotten otherwise. Luckily, we had a group of many different talents. Some were better at financials, some at market research, etc. We were able to discover trends in their financials and ad spend that we felt needed attention. For the market, we studied how young middle-class families were spending their time and money as far as recreation. So, local museums, pop-up attractions, and more in the local area.

Your team developed recommendations focused on millennial parents, AI-driven exhibits, and flexible payment options—what inspired these solutions?

We felt the CMA’s target customer was not specific enough or too generic. In the market research, we discovered Millennials are the biggest age group in the US population, but are also #1 visitors for museums. Also, a majority of mothers with children below about age six are millennials. Also, we know that AI is the future (and the present), and Atlanta is a growing tech hub. The CMA could be on the forefront and leverage AI.

How has this experience shaped your MBA journey and career aspirations moving forward?

I thoroughly enjoyed learning the art and science of problem solving and applying it to an actual company.

What advice would you give to future MBA students interested in consulting projects like this?

Don’t skip or forget the frameworks we learn in school. Problem solving is a process and the last thing you want to do is approach a consulting project without a system or framework.

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