On par for success

What it means to earn an Online MBA on the green

Golf is one of Stephanie Royer’s (MBA ’24) favorite sports – and now, she gets paid to watch it.

For Royer, working with the PGA Tour is a dream come true. In her role as a digital content manager, she combines her lifelong love of golfing with her education in business by developing, editing, writing and publishing content across the company’s platforms.

“I find great satisfaction in delivering an excellent product to golf fans,” she shared. “We’re stretching creative boundaries by conceptualizing and executing new ideas. I’m learning new skills and how to work more efficiently.”

Royer was born in Turkey and moved to South Carolina at a young age. She grew up golfing and played the sport with her high school and college teams, but it was a couple years before she found the opportunity to combine her passions. After graduating with an undergraduate degree in business administration from the University of Texas at Dallas, she took a remote job with a healthcare startup that gave her the freedom to backpack across Europe.

When she returned to the United States and started working for the PGA Tour, Royer wanted to find a way to further her education without having to give up her job. That’s when she discovered the University of Florida Warrington College of Business’s Online MBA program.

“I knew I needed an online MBA program so that I could manage school and work, but still wanted to feel plugged into campus,” she said. “UF’s Online MBA was the top-ranked program and just a short drive from where I live now, so it was the ultimate win-win.”

The Online MBA program has helped her grow in leadership skills and professional development, Royer says, and challenged her with nontraditional learning methods like real-life simulations. Driven by her enthusiasm for the sport, Royer uses the things she is learning to help her stay on top of the constantly changing nature of golf.

“I’m really grateful to work in an area that is one of my personal passions, and I find motivation through being a true fan of the game,” she said.

Outside of the office, Royer enjoys traveling, tennis, playing musical instruments, getting plugged in at her church and hosting weekly viewing parties and game nights anytime a new season of Survivor premiers. But even in her free time you can find her on the green, playing the game that has become the core of her work.