Isabelle Layding, a graduating senior from the College of Business Administration at Pitt, is among the Top 100 Best and Brightest Undergraduate Business Majors from Poets&Quants. The list celebrates graduating students who are leaders inside and outside the classroom.
Layding describes herself as a “planner, risk-taker, game-player, pun-teller, list-maker.” The economics and supply chain management major from Clinton, New Jersey has taken advantage of every opportunity Pitt Business has provided her. She will start as a business analyst at McKinsey & Company after graduation.
Say “Yes”
To Layding, finding herself has been one of the most important things she’s done over the past four years. She believes that authenticity has been the key to many of her successes. “Learning to be myself and embrace my natural strengths has helped me find a career path that fits me and form deep, meaningful relationships with peers, professors, and mentors,” she says.
Layding’s number one piece of advice for underclassmen is to say “yes” to every opportunity presented to you. “The value of your business degree is directly related to your campus involvement, leadership experience, and work experience. The most pivotal moments of growth for me happened when I said ‘yes’ to opportunities that seemed terrifying.”
Clinical Assistant Professor Blair Pomeroy noticed this about Layding. “She consistently pushes through the self-doubts and uncertainties that often paralyze others. She seizes opportunities with remarkable determination and focus; she looks at ambiguity as a challenge, not a threat. She is also playful – it is the combination of killer competence and playfulness that is so rare,” he says.
Layding is most proud of the work she’s been able to accomplish in the graduate-level Consulting Field Project course. “These projects encouraged me to pursue a career in consulting after graduation, and I learned a great deal about managing teams, building client relationships, and delivering significant results in a short period of time,” she says.
Read Layding’s full profile. The Top 100 list for 2025 also includes Pitt Business graduating senior Billy Qiu. Read about him here.