How can you make the most of your MBA experience?

After reflecting on their own MBA experiences and those of hundreds of successful grads, Adam Putterman, Northwestern MMM '19, and Bob Manfreda, Stanford GSB '19, wrote MBA Coffee Chats: Thoughtful Advice on How to Get the Most out of your MBA.

The book answers frequently asked questions from recent MBA admits, and aims to help this group have more productive coffee chats with MBAs before starting business school.

Darren invites Adam, who graduated from Northwestern's Dual Degree MBA & M.S. in Design Innovation program, to discuss how to find people to have coffee chats and what to ask. The two also discuss prioritizing time and personal growth at business school.

At Touch MBA, we're all about helping you make the best MBA investment. Although MBA Coffee Chats is intended for MBA admits, why not get a sneak preview of the best practices and big questions you'll need to answer before starting your MBA?

Questions

• Introducing Adam (0:00)
• Why MBA coffee chats? (4:30)
• How to find people and what to ask (8:20)
• Writing an MBA "to don't list" (25:45)
• Getting peer feedback (32:15)
• Adam asks Darren questions about podcasting (35:30)

About Adam

Adam Putterman is Co-Founder of Ours, a relationship wellness company. He got a dual MBA and MS in Design Innovation Degree (MMM) from Northwestern University. Before attending Kellogg, Adam got his B.S in Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis and worked for Deloitte as a consultant.

EPISODE SPONSOR: QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY'S SMITH FULL-TIME MBA

The path to your next big career move goes through Canada. The 12-month Full-time MBA program at Queen’s University’s Smith School of Business features a proven team-based, experiential curriculum — built around the exact set of skills that top employers seek. The results speak for themselves. 98% of the Class of 2021 accepted an offer for their dream role within 3 months of graduation. Listeners of the Touch MBA Podcast can receive a complimentary virtual consultation by visiting Yoursmithmba.com/touchmba.

Show Notes

• MBA Coffee Chats by Bob Manfreda and Adam Putterman
• mbacoffeechats.com

Episode write-up and show notes: https://touchmba.com/mba-coffee-chats-adam-putterman/

Get free, personalized school selection help at Touch MBA: https://touchmba.com

Back by popular demand, Graciela Brewer returns to reflect on her Harvard Business School experience. We discuss what she found easier and more difficult than expected, how she has made the most of her HBS MBA, and her thoughts on how applicants can best prepare for business school.

Questions

• Introducing Graciela Brewer (0:00)
• Graciela's Harvard Business School experience: expectations vs. reality (4:00)
• What Graciela found most valuable about her HBS experience (17:30)
• HBS during the pandemic (23:10)
• Graciela's involvement in the Latino Student Organization and Socioeconomic Inclusion Task Force (28:00)
• Graciela's thoughts on prioritizing mental health, well-being and family at HBS (34:00)
• How Graciela landed her internship - and post-MBA job - at Toast (38:00)
• Taking advantage of "time off" at business school (47:00)
• Graciela's advice for MBA applicants: talk to students and work on your stories! (51:30)
• How Graciela would re-design the HBS MBA (55:30)
• Last thoughts for applicants, including her formula for student involvement (1:00:00)

About Graciela (Grace)

Graciela Brewer is a second year MBA at Harvard Business School. After she graduates, she will help Toast, which makes software for the restaurant industry, with design operations. Before attending Harvard Business School, Grace got her B.S in Information Science from Missouri University of Science & Technology and worked as a Senior UX Designer at Netsmart.

EPISODE SPONSOR: QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY'S SMITH FULL-TIME MBA

The path to your next big career move goes through Canada. The 12-month Full-time MBA program at Queen’s University’s Smith School of Business features a proven team-based, experiential curriculum — built around the exact set of skills that top employers seek. The results speak for themselves. 98% of the Class of 2021 accepted an offer for their dream role within 3 months of graduation. Listeners of the Touch MBA Podcast can receive a complimentary virtual consultation by visiting Yoursmithmba.com/touchmba.

Episode write-up and show notes: https://touchmba.com/inside-the-hbs-mba-graciela-brewer

Get free, personalized school selection help at Touch MBA: https://touchmba.com