Baker Proud Summer 2019 - 18

BAKER PROUD | Summer 2019

Baker grad uses education
to find the "Solutions"
From a young age, Raina Knox,
BBA '92, MBA '98, was taught the
importance of an education. It's an
importance she recognizes, especially today. She used what she learned
in her business classes to found her
own strategic planning company.
But it wasn't always easy.
"I grew up in a home without a
lot of money in a small town," Knox
said. "For as long as I can remember,
my mom taught me that education
provided choices that might not be
available otherwise. That message
stuck with me."
After high school, Knox began
working in entry-level administration, supporting a team of engineers,
but it wasn't the right field for her.
Her mother's words inspired her to
take action.
"I went back to school to provide
the future I wanted for my family,"
she said. Knox, who has two children, Erin and Cory, was working
full time at Sprint when she decided
to return to school.
Knox's road to her Bachelor of
Business Administration was challenging. In addition to the core
courses in her BBA program, she also
needed to earn general education
credits. Rather than give up, Knox
collaborated with Baker to get the
credits she needed so she could earn
her bachelor's in two years.
"The school worked with me to
develop a way I could start while
completing my required entry
credits," Knox said. "Without this approach, I would never have finished
my undergraduate degree. Then
once I completed my undergraduate
degree, it was only natural that I

Her master's degree immediately
offered her new and exciting career
opportunities. She held director-level
roles at LabOne (Quest) and H&R
Block. She then led the Excellence
in Missouri Foundation as president
and CEO.
"With my education, I was able
to progress upward in my career at
several large companies in Kansas
City," Knox said. "When I started
my education, I was an entry-level
administrative clerk. When I left my
job to start my company, I was the
CEO of a nonprofit. The opportunities provided by the education I received at Baker wouldn't have been
available to me otherwise."

"When I left my job to start my company, I was the
CEO of a nonprofit. The opportunities provided by
the education I received at Baker wouldn't have been
available to me otherwise." -Raina Knox
would select Baker for my master's
degree."
Knox graduated with her Master
of Business Administration in 1997.
She earned a doctoral degree in
organizational leadership from the
University of Phoenix in 2012. Even
today, Knox keeps in touch with
her classmates and appreciates the
lessons Baker taught her.
"I value the quality of the education I got," she said. "The ability
to complete my degree in a flexible way in a reasonable amount of
time while working and raising my
family was life changing. I wouldn't
be where I am today without my
education."

As her professional trajectory
continued to rise, Knox channeled
her ambition into new territory:
starting her own business.
"I'm a bit of a risk-taker," she said.
"You have to be to leave a perfectly
good job to start a brand-new company doing something that hasn't been
done previously."
Knox partnered with Courtney
Cole, and together they founded
Stratex Solutions. The company provides strategic planning for organizations using software that Knox had
been developing for years.
"About 15 years prior to starting
my company, I developed a really
robust strategic planning frame-

Baker Proud Summer 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Baker Proud Summer 2019