Many MBA students cite that networking and building relationships are two of the most valuable parts of the MBA experience. But how does that play out, and how do MBA graduates cultivate their relationships with their peers and classmates during business school and beyond? In this episode, we spoke to three MBA alums, Margaret Nealon (USC Marshall, ‘22) Ethan Siegel (Owen, ‘22) and Jill Toner (UNC Kenan-Flagler, ‘22) about their MBA experience, and how the as recent MBA alums are using their relationships to develop personally and professionally after they graduate from business school.Listen Today on Apple Podcasts or SpotifyMargaret Nealon - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mknealon/ - USC Marshall 22Ethan Siegel - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethan-siegel/ - Vanderbilt Owen ‘22Jill Toner - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jill-toner/ - UNC Kenan-Flagler, ‘22

In this episode, we spoke with Javier Madriz (UNC Kenan-Flagler, ‘22) and Paige Smith (UNC Kenan-Flagler, ‘23). While Javier and Paige chose to get an MBA for different reasons, a commonality they both share is being able to take advantage of the career coaching and leadership resources from UNC Kenan-Flagler that enabled both of them to explore the right career path based on their unique strengths, goals and interests.During this conversation, Javier and Paige spoke about their journey to UNC Kenan-Flagler and their experience pursuing their career goals while students at UNC. They both discussed the specific resources and programming that were most helpful to achieving their internship & full-time career goals, and shared advice for how prospective MBA students should think about their personal development journey to get to a career that aligns with your long-term vision for success.Listen today on Apple Podcasts or SpotifyLinksUNC Kenan-Flagler Full-Time MBA ProgramEp 127: The Role of Allyship at UNC Kenan-FlaglerNote: This is a special episode produced in conjunction with UNC Kenan-Flagler

Jordan Sale is the Founder of 81Cents, GM of Rora, and MBA Graduate from UC-Berkeley Haas. After starting her career in Fintech, Jordan decided to pursue an MBA and moved back across the country to attend Berkeley. During her time in business school, Jordan began exploring different programs, classes and experiences in entrepreneurship, and also found her idea for starting 81 Cents, to help individuals, especially those of underserved backgrounds advocate for themselves in career decisions such as job offers, compensation discussions and other negotiations. During our conversation, Jordan spoke about her decision to pursue an MBA and how she used her time at Haas to explore entrepreneurship and how she was able to start building 81 Cents. She also spoke about the highs and lows of entrepreneurship, some of the things she loves about being an entrepreneur, and the journey to founding 81cents to recently being acquired by Rora.Links:Rora: https://www.teamrora.com/Jordan’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordansale/

Shana Lebowitz Gaynor is a columnist at Insider and the author of Don’t Call it Quits: Turn The Job You Have into The Job You Love. Shana has been covering the workplace, careers and leadership at Insider and recently published her book as a guide to employees who are struggling with their current role but don’t necessarily want to quit or leave their company on how they can make changes or take action to improve the day to day lives in the workplace.During our conversation, we spoke about topics ranging from Shana’s own experience navigating a challenging workplace situation and how she was able to overcome and find a better alternative without quitting, to everything from quiet quitting, the role that meaning in the workplace, and the role that managers play in understanding facilitating dialogue around career development and growth for employees.Shana also provided some tactical advice from her book, on what employees can do who don’t want to quit, but who want to improve their current workplace situation.Listen Today on Apple Podcasts or SpotifyLinks: Book: Don’t Call It Quits: Turn The Job You Have Into The Job You LoveShana’s LinkedIn Profile

Lindsay Case is an MBA Graduate from the University of Michigan Ross’s Online MBA Program from the Class of 2021.During this conversation, we spoke to Lindsay about her decision to pursue an MBA in her career journey, why she chose the online MBA and the program at Ross. We also spoke to her about her experience managing an online MBA program while working full-time, what she got out of the experience, and her advice to other professionals who are considering an online MBA.Lindsay’s LinksPoets and Quants Article: Lindsay’s Linkedin ProfileMichigan Ross Online MBA ProgramListen today on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

Note: This episode was produced in Collaboration with the Texas McCombs MBA Program.In this episode we spoke with Sarah Davison (McCombs, ‘22) and Craig Perry (McCombs, ‘23.) While Sarah and Craig have unique professional journeys, they came to the decision that an MBA was the right next step in their professional journey, and decided to move to Austin and attend the Texas McCombs MBA Program.During our conversation, we spoke to Sarah and Craig about their own career and life prior to attending McCombs, and why they chose to get an MBA and what specifically made McCombs the right fit for them. We also spent time talking through their McCombs experience, why McCombs was a great fit for their personal and career goals. Sarah and Craig also shared their own thoughts and reflections about how they’ve developed personally and professionally in the MBA program, and their advice for prospective MBA applicants who are considering an MBA from Texas-McCombs.LinksApply Now: The Texas McCombs Full-Time MBA ApplicationTexas McCombs Full-Time MBA Program

Getting an MBA is an opportunity to achieve a desired career goal, but it’s also a chance to develop your leadership skills and open yourself up to further development and growth. At NYU Stern, leadership development is a critical component of the MBA experience, from the moment a prospective student applies to their program all the way until after they graduate.During this episode, we spoke with students, alum, and faculty of the NYU Stern School of Business to learn how MBA students can build themselves as a leader both inside and outside of the classroom throughout the MBA experience. We learned how these students and alum engaged in various leadership development opportunities at NYU Stern and how that helped them grow at school and beyond. The students and alum shared their reflections on how they applied their learnings immediately in leadership positions, internships, and careers. Finally, they shared advice to prospective MBA students about why applicants should consider NYU Stern.Note: This episode was produced in collaboration with the NYU Stern School of BusinessThis episode features the following students, alum, and faculty of NYU Stern:Lance Banks, ‘23Josie Raccucia, ‘23Ashley Zaslov, ‘19Nathan Pettit, Associate Professor, Management and OrganizationsLinksNYU Stern MBA Program OverviewNYU Stern Leadership Accelerator

Jenny Blake is an Author, Entrepreneur, and Podcast Host. After starting her career at Google and helping develop a global career and leadership coaching program, Jenny left Google to pursue a career in solopreneurship and entrepreneurship. Since then, Jenny has written books, spoken on stages in front of thousands of people, and pivoted and iterated through 10+ years of a career as an entrepreneur.During our conversation, we spoke about how Jenny wrote Pivot and then took the lessons from Pivot to reimagine her business during the early stages of COVID-19 in March of 2020. Jenny also spoke about her newest book Free Time and lessons for how professionals of all career backgrounds can remove themselves from stress and busyness to work on things that matter to each of us as well as find strategies for identifying the priorities that are most important to you.Listen Today on Apple Podcasts or SpotifyLinks:Free Time PodcastFree Time BookPivot PodcastPivot Book

Claire Harbour is an Author of Disrupt Your Career, a  Podcast Host of the Disrupt Your Career Podcast, and Leadership Coach to executives and leaders who are making significant career transitions.During our conversation, Claire talked about how she got into the work of career development and studying the nature of careers. She also talked about some of the common shifts in career development approaches today versus 10-20 years ago, the common challenges and questions that MBA students and alum have about their careers, and the “6 C’s” framework that you can use to develop your own career agility to navigate a career transition.Listen Today on Apple Podcasts or Spotify Episode LinksLinkedIn ProfileDisrupt Your Career PodcastBook: Disrupt Your Career WebsiteCareer Acrobats Online Course

Ann Hiatt is the Author of Bet On Yourself: Recognize, Own and Implement Breakthrough Opportunities, and a CEO Consultant to fast-growing startups and entrepreneurs. After starting her career at Amazon working directly for Jeff Bezos, Ann has also worked for other tech CEOs like Eric Schmidt and Marissa Mayer, where she learned how to create her own opportunities, operate in high-pressure environments, and figure out the types of people and priorities that were important to her when making career decisions. Now, Ann spends her time working with entrepreneurs who want to dream big, and bet on themselves to bring their own ideas and ambitions to life.During our conversation, Ann spoke about her journey to Amazon, her experience working with Jeff Bezos, as well as the lessons she learned for managing her career while working at Google and Amazon during years of hyper-growth. She also shared advice for how professionals can engineer and create their own serendipity in their careers, and increase the surface area for opportunities through building relationships.Listen today on Apple Podcasts or SpotifyLinksBet on Yourself (Amazon)Ann’s WebsiteAnn’s HBR ArticleAnn’s LinkedIn