NYU Stern Executive MBA students share a spirit of collaboration. NYU Stern.
In business, and in life, change is the only constant. It’s perpetual, universal, and more recently, happening at an exponential pace. Now more than ever, the ability to navigate such change is imperative.
At NYU Stern, students in the Executive MBA program are acquiring the skills they need — not just to manage change, but to drive it in new directions.
A Fork In The Road
Christian Blanchet, who graduated in 2022, found himself at a crossroads. Having followed a multitude of career paths — from wholesale distribution to professional golf — it was time to reassess again.
“I thought; what do I want to do? How can I continue to grow? I love fashion, but I wanted to broaden my ability to speak to different industries, and obtain a different perspective on the world.”
For Christian, the time was right to pursue his MBA, and when researching universities, he found the NYU Stern Executive MBA program to be a natural fit.
“I had applied to several programs, but the Stern Executive MBA program had this strong entrepreneurial spirit around it. It just felt like it matched who I am. There’s a great entrepreneurship center at Stern, and there are students who are creating and building things there. I wanted to tap into that world.”
A Change Of Direction
The program would have a profound impact on which direction Christian would take next.
“At that time, I didn’t even know I wanted to start my own brand,” he says.
“But being surrounded by like-minded people also trying to build and create things inspired me.”
Christian and his business partner, whom he met in the Executive MBA program, launched a men’s swimwear brand, and he attributes its early success to skills he acquired in the program:
“We did everything, from sourcing materials from Italy and Portugal, to setting up manufacturing right here in New York, to launching a huge e-commerce platform,” he recalls.
“It helps that when you start the Executive MBA program, you’re put into a dynamic team, with people outside of your industry. Some from tech, some from finance, marketing, fashion, sales… That diversity of mindset made everything better.”Like Christian, Executive MBA graduate of 2020, Julie Dwyer, found the program after some soul searching. “I felt very stuck and very unhappy in my career at the time,” she explains.
“I had always thought about getting my MBA but didn’t want to go back to school full-time. The Executive MBA program at Stern really was the perfect balance for me as classes are only on Fridays and Saturdays, every other week.”
Julie had spent much of her career working for large-scale, publicly traded companies in accounting and finance , but yearned for something more. Having completed the Executive MBA program at Stern, Julie now heads up her very own startup — a no-code platform that empowers brands to implement web3 solutions that drive customer engagement and accelerate growth.
“I went from being a number cruncher at a laptop to jumping headfirst into a world nobody knew about: blockchain. I never thought I’d be a founder of a VC-backed tech startup. At the time I thought ‘I may not know tech, but with my previous experience and the skills I gained in the Stern Executive MBA program, I know how to run a business.’ It’s a new space, we’re all building the plane as we fly it and it’s exciting.”
A Spirit Of Collaboration
For both Julie and Christian, the Stern Executive MBA community proved pivotal in shaping their thinking, both in and out of the classroom.
“There’s such a diversity of backgrounds. We all have different perspectives. We have different strengths. We have things to contribute, and that’s the best part: when you get into a discussion on an issue and approach it from so many different angles.” Julie says.
Christian too found the spirit of collaboration – one that mirrors the future working world, and that encourages emotional intelligence as well as subject smarts – to be particularly helpful in his development:
“I realized in the program that if I want to achieve anything, I can’t do it alone,” he says.
“If I just power through this, as an individual, I’ll have success. But in reality, you’re so much more successful when you are able to align yourself with others and get other people into your team. Working together is a powerful thing.”
A Global Perspective
Executive MBA students are exposed to executives at the very top of their game in international settings. “Every class does a Global Immersion Experience together during the first year,” Julie explains.
“We went to Shanghai in China in 2019. We were guided on the trip by one of Stern’s world-renowned professors, with so many connections to higher ups at big Chinese companies. We got to talk to the CTO of Huawei. We went to ByteDance, the parent company of Tiktok. Even the Alibaba campus. That experience is something I will always cherish.”
A university in the heart of it all Stern’s location in the heart of downtown Manhattan, puts it at the very epicenter of change, and where Executive MBA students can prove themselves on personal and professional levels.
For Julie, living and learning in New York City makes you a different breed: “I have a great deal of grit and savvy as I’m navigating my way through the world. NYC is wonderful, chaotic, noisy, and beautiful. I love it. You learn to roll with the punches here. To expect the unexpected.”
Christian echoes these sentiments, inspired by the connectivity of the city at the center of it all. “It is lightning speed here. There are so many industries – fashion, banking, tech, hospitality, real estate… we have this coming together of different industries that results in the creation that you see.”
A Meaningful Change
For Executive MBA alumna Julie Dwyer, change means a bold leap into the unknown: “It’s being forced to step out of your comfort zone. And with that comes a choice; you can either fight it or grow through it. It’s uncomfortable, but you learn that it’s more uncomfortable to resist it,” she says.
“I have the tools I learned in the classroom at NYU Stern with me to this day, and they help me navigate – and grow through – times of change, in business and in life.”
Are you ready to drive change in new directions? The highly-ranked NYU Stern Executive MBA program could be your next destination.
NYU Stern’s top-ranked Executive MBA program is designed for experienced professionals to maintain a work-life balance while earning an MBA in General Management in less than two years with the option to study in NYC or Washington, DC.
