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Schonberg's resume would be impressive, if he had one. "It's sort of a personal goal to get through life without one," he said with a laugh. In truth, Schonberg may be an example of an individual whose resume simply would not do him justice. He joined Price Waterhouse in Charlotte as a tax associate, after graduating from the MAC Program, and worked his way through the ranks of senior accountant and manager. After choosing the individual tax route over corporate taxes, Schonberg spent three of his four-and-a-half years with the firm handling taxes, estate planning and financial planning for high-net-worth individuals and their families. "One of my clients was the McColl family. I did work for Mr. McColl while he was CEO of the bank - as well as for the rest of his family," Schonberg said, referring to Hugh McColl Jr. (BSBA '57), the retired chairman and CEO of Bank of America. "I got to know them pretty well. I assisted Hugh McColl, III in setting up his management company and did his monthly bookkeeping. When he needed someone to work with him full time, I tried to help him find someone. Eventually, it just seemed better to come down and do it myself." (Come down a few floors that is - Price Waterhouse and Mangan & McColl Partners were in the same building.) Schonberg joined McColl III in 1998. Since then, the company staff has grown from two to 11. John Mangan was McColl's initial partner in the venture. "Even after choosing the tax route over audit in school, I didn't know where that would lead," Schonberg said. "But when you go to work at a big public accounting firm, you see a variety of opportunities. There are so many areas in which to specialize." Schonberg received bachelor's degrees in economics and political science at UNC and took a year off before returning to enter the MAC Program. "I really appreciated that UNC Kenan-Flagler wasn't just looking for business students. They also wanted people who thought a bit differently - had different experiences - but the aptitude and interest to enter the accounting world." The well-rounded education Schonberg received helped prepare him to work not only in a large public accounting firm, but to help build a business from the ground up, he said. "At UNC Kenan-Flagler, what they stressed was not trying to have 100 percent of their students pass the CPA exam on the first try; instead, they were trying to teach us how to think, how to understand how businesses work." During his time at Mangan & McColl, Schonberg's responsibilities have included everything from overseeing the company's taxes, financial statements and daily operations to stuffing envelopes and ordering supplies. "That's what you do when you're working at a small business - a little bit of everything. "It's been a thrilling experience to assist Hugh III and John in building this company from where we started, with just one fund, to what it is today."
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