Jessica Wan is a UC-Berkeley Haas MBA Alumni, Executive Coach, and The Host of the Ampersand Manifesto Podcast. Prior to attending UC-Berkeley Haas, Jessica worked in the arts and non profit sector before deciding to pursue an MBA all while continuing her passion for the arts as a trained opera singer and performer. After working in several marketing roles at tech companies after her MBA building and launching products and leading teams, Jessica found her love for coaching, and leaders navigate change and manage teams, and eventually left her marketing executive role to become an Executive Coach. 

During our conversation, Jessica spoke about her career, decision to get an MBA, and her time after business school which enabled her to pursue the path that she is on today. She also shared her journey to entrepreneurship and her perspective on the idea behind the Ampersand Manifesto Podcast.

Links

• Jessica’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicamwan/ 
• Jessica’s Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ampersand-manifesto 

Congratulations on landing a new job or internship! Even though you put in a ton of hard work to land this opportunity, have you put in the time and effort to figure out how you can be successful as you onboard into a new role, opportunity, or organization? In this episode, Al walks through the key actions and focus areas you can focus on when you’re onboarding into a new job or internship. You’ll walk away with practical ways to make sure you’re set up for success in your new job or internship.

Links

• Al’s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsaldea/
• Article on Onboarding: https://mbaschooled.com/2022/12/17/how-to-start-a-new-job-the-right-way/ 
• Article on Internships: https://mbaschooled.com/2017/04/20/internship-insights-starting-early-to-set-yourself-up-for-success/

In this episode, MBA Insider Podcast Host Al Dea shares why he thinks it is important to define and cultivate a personal brand in order to advance your career on your own terms, along with providing some actionable and practical pieces of advice for how professionals can do this in their work and careers.

Links:

• Al’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsaldea/
• How to Stand out at Work: https://mbaschooled.com/2023/01/02/10-ways-to-improve-your-visibility-at-work/

Priyal Keni is an MBA Candidate at London Business School. Prior to attending London Business School Priyal worked as a chartered accountant, consultant and professional rifle shooter before deciding to pivot into a new profession. During our conversation, Priyal spoke about her decision to find new opportunities in her career by pursuing an MBA, as well as her decision to go to London Business School. Priyal also shared how she has been able to deliver multiple TED Talks and amass a following of almost 50,000 followers on Linkedin as a creator

Links

• Priyal’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/priyalkeni/

Jerome Fulton Jr is a MBA Candidate in the Class of 2023 at Harvard Business School. Prior to attending HBS, Jerome worked in accounting and finance before deciding to pursue an MBA degree. During our conversation, Jerome spoke about his journey to applying to an MBA and entering Harvard Business School, as well as some of the leadership opportunities he’s taken on while he’s been an HBS student. Jerome also provided his own advice to professionals who are thinking about the next in their career and considering an MBA degree

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeromefulton/

How are you managing your career in today’s changing world of work?

In this solo episode, MBA Insider Podcast Host Al Dea walks us through six principles for how you can manage your career in today’s changing world of work, and something that any aspiring, current or former MBA can benefit from. 

Links

• Al’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsaldea/
• Al’s Newsletter: https://alsnewsletter.substack.com/

Laura Fox is an MBA Graduate from the NYU Stern School of Business. Prior to her time at NYU Stern, Laura spent her time thinking about how to improve cities and building and executing digital strategies. After realizing her desire to make a broader impact at the systemic level of cities and communities, Laura decided to pursue an MBA at NYU Stern, where she was able to explore and pursue numerous interests and curiosities that led her to a number of career opportunities, including working as a management consultant, serving as the GM of the Citi Bike program at Lyft, teaching at NYU Stern, and building and scaling a Venture Capital Fund.

During the conversation, Laura spoke about her journey, how following her interests and curiosities has helped her create her own career opportunities, and how her MBA and time at NYU Stern has helped her advance her career.

• Laura’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauraafox/
• NYU Stern on MBA Insider: https://mbaschooled.com/2022/10/03/167-unlock-your-leadership-potential-with-the-nyu-stern-mba/ 

Editors Note: This is a replay of a popular episode from 2021 featuring Joey Parker (Haas MBA Alum)

After spending six years in the non-profit sector, Joey Parker (Haas, ’21) enrolled at UC-Berkeley (Haas) to pursue an MBA and to transition to a new career.  During this episode, Joey talks about his experience with MBA internship recruiting for both management consulting and technology roles, the highs and hows of navigating internship recruiting, and his overall reflections and learnings from his first year MBA internship search. 

Sowa Imoisilli is an MBA Candidate in the Class of 2023 at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Prior to attending the GSB, Sowa worked as a management consultant in the health and public service sector and eventually made her way into the innovation hub helping ideate and build products. After realizing she was interested in getting more ownership of the work she was doing as well as being drawn to entrepreneurship and venture capital, Sowa decided to pursue an MBA degree, and wound up at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. 

During our conversation, Sowa spoke about her journey to an MBA at the GSB, as well as how she is using her time in business school to develop herself and grow her career. She also spoke in-depth about her own leadership experience as a Co-President of the Stanford GSB student government, and the lessons she’s learned in the experience.

Janine Lee is a Global L&D Strategy and Ops Lead at Google, and graduated with her MBA from UC-Berkeley Haas. Throughout her life and career, Janine has always pushed herself to learn and grow. Prior to business school, Janine was working in the utility and energy space before deciding that she wanted to further her learning by switching careers, and after seeing many leaders and mentors she admired who had gotten MBAs, Janine decided she too wanted to pursue one.

During our conversation, Janine spoke about her early career and eventually what inspired her to get her MBA. She also spoke about how she was able to use her MBA to transition into a new role, and how she continues to push herself to learn and grow in her career now as an Educational Doctoral student.

Links

• Janine’s LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janinelee/
• Janine’s Instagram Profile: https://www.instagram.com/drjaninelee/