Michaela Quinn followed family tradition — with her own twist

Michaela Quinn has spent a lot of time following in her family’s footsteps — and taking it one step further whenever she can. This has proven to be true in both her work life and her education at Western Connecticut State University.

Quinn’s parents both spent many years working at Chuck’s Steak House in Danbury. So, it was no surprise that when she was old enough, Quinn took a job there as well. “If it wasn’t for Chuck’s, I wouldn’t even be here, since that’s where my parents met,” she laughed. “Many of my co-workers when I worked there had known me since I was a small child.”

She earned more than a paycheck during her time at Chuck’s — Quinn gained an appreciation for both food service and small business life. “I loved the camaraderie there and thought maybe one day I wanted to run my own business,” Quinn said. “It would be amazing to provide a second home to people who are excited to go to work.”

With that in mind, she enrolled in WestConn’s Ancell School of Business to pursue a degree in Entrepreneurial-Small Business Management. Decades earlier, her mother, Dina, had enrolled in the Ancell School to study Marketing.

Armed with only Federal Student Loans to help cover her costs, Quinn commuted from her Danbury home, and decided she wanted to try to graduate a semester early to save money. “My freshman year, I took a variety of interesting classes,” she said. “During the following years, I had an internship with Sodexo as a Catering Intern. I helped the lead caterer plan and execute events both on and off campus. Catering really gave me a lot of knowledge of what it takes to be successful, and I loved working with Elena Mendes and Darnell Randall, who is the most patient man I’ve ever met.”

One thing Quinn discovered from watching her parents and developing her own work habits was that she enjoyed interacting with people. “There are so many ways you can connect with people,” she explained. “I’ve met incredible people at my current part-time jobs at Rein Osteria and The Reserve in Danbury: people who have given me incredible advice. But it is harder now to get a job opportunity just from connecting with people than it was for my mom, who met her future boss while waiting tables at the Redding Roadhouse years ago.”

Quinn’s love of the restaurant industry was the topic of discussion with her Management Professor, Dr. Cindy Chuang, one day, when Chuang told Quinn, “No offense, but you’re meant for something greater than a restaurant,” and told her about an opportunity with Magnit Global, a company that provides contract employees to Boehringer Ingelheim. Not surprisingly, a number of Ancell School of Business graduates have been employed by Magnit Global, performing contracted roles in business analytics, data management, communications, and more.

Quinn explained how the partnership evolved: WestConn alumna Anita Edwards met Chuang while pursuing a master’s degree at the Ancell School of Business about a decade ago. Edwards wanted to find a way for others to benefit from internship opportunities, and started an internship/employment pipeline between WestConn graduates and Boehringer Ingelheim, where she’s now worked for 22 years. As a result of that relationship, Chuang has continued to refer students for opportunities at Boehringer Ingelheim or its contractors; among them alumnae Megan O’Connell and Molly Bell, and more recently, 2025 graduates Frances Richards-Hannigan and Quinn.

Eleven months after graduating Magna Cum Laude a full year early with a 3.82 GPA, Quinn was hired as a Business Analyst at Magnit Global. “The interview process took four months, and it was nerve-wracking,” she said. “I told them my only background was really in food service, but I realized there are other careers, and I am anxious to learn and want to succeed. I think in many ways, my communication skills came into play, as well as the referral from Dr. Chuang.”

Quinn works in a department that looks at data analytics to make informed business decisions and enhance customer interactions. More specifically, her team focuses on data privacy, de-identification of patient data, and data integrity. Her communication skills are coming into play as she assists with training her team on a new data platform that will be rolling out in the future.

Stepping outside of the food service industry has shown Quinn her first taste of corporate America, she said. She had heard positive things from relatives including her grandmother, father, and uncles who worked at Boehringer Ingelheim, and said she is now seeing for herself how welcoming the culture is. “Everyone seems happy. There are always conversations going on, and meetings feel more like sitting around a table and sharing ideas than formal presentations. I’m really enjoying what I’m learning,” Quinn said. “It’s a different type of customer service than I was used to, but it proves how important it is to be able to communicate professionally. I see myself in this position for quite a while. There’s a lot to do and it requires a lot of experience, which I am building.”

Western Connecticut State University changes lives by providing all students with a high-quality education that fosters their growth as individuals, scholars, professionals, and leaders in a global society. Our vision: To be widely recognized as a premier public university with outstanding teachers and scholars who prepare students to contribute to the world in a meaningful way.