The ExecMBA Podcast

Senior Director of Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Christian West joins us for a wide-ranging conversation about his background, what led him to Darden, why he’s passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion and what he’s looking forward to in the months ahead. We even find time to discuss Christian’s preferred coffee orders and his status as an undefeated southern California karaoke champion.

Director of Admissions Katherine Alford returns to the podcast to share insights about the recently launched application for the Executive MBA Class of 2024. Discussion topics include advice for reapplicants, standardized test strategy, test waiver guidance, crafting your best short answer responses, telling your story through your application, preparing for the Darden interview and more. Essential listening.

Please join our Admissions team for these special micro-podcast episodes giving you a step by step guide to the application process. There are two ways to listen to the playlist... here, on Spotify ► https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2EtyMkjZzi9ErgSjrTxKEl?si=1bffd345fee549ad

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with the newly elected co-Presidents of the Black Executive MBA (BEMBA) student organization, Rex Minnis (Class of 2022) and Jemuir Rivers (Class of 2022). Minnis and Rivers reflect on their decisions to pursue an MBA, how they balanced work, life and school during their first year in the Executive MBA program and what BEMBA has planned for the months ahead. They also share their advice for prospective students seeking to learn more about the student organization.  

In this special edition of the Darden Admissions podcasts, we share the fifth installment in our ongoing ‘Office Hours’ faculty spotlight series, a conversation with Professor Mike Lenox. We talk with Lenox about what led him to Darden, why he thinks lecturing is dead, and why he’s so passionate about Darden’s high-engagement learning environment. Lenox also shares insights from his extensive work on climate change and sustainability, including findings from his recent books "Can Business Save the Earth" (2018) and "The Decarbonization Imperative" (2021), both from Stanford University Press.

In this episode of the podcast, we catch up with two newly elected leaders of the Network of Executive Women (NEW), President Sarah Powell (Class of 2022) and Vice President Hannah Poland (Class of 2022). Powell and Poland share more about their MBA journeys, what led them to Darden, the role that NEW played in their MBA decision-making process, and why they wanted to serve as student leaders during their time in the Executive MBA program. Interested in connecting with NEW? You can reach them at [email protected].

In this special edition of the Darden Admissions podcasts, we share the fourth installment in our ongoing ‘Office Hours’ faculty spotlight series, a conversation with Professor Greg Fairchild (MBA ’92). We talk with Fairchild about what it’s like to teach at Darden as an alumnus, why he’s passionate about entrepreneurship in rural and inner city communities as well as his work with the Resilience Project and the Darden Prison Program. Fairchild also reflects upon how his personal connection to the Tulsa Race Massacre has shaped his professional interests.

Where some people see problems, other people see opportunities. We chat with Coco Woeltz (MBA ’21) and Isabelle Kayal Larsen (EMBA ’21) about Hummingbyrd, their sports bra and athletic apparel-focused venture. Woeltz and Larsen reflect upon their MBA journeys, what led them to Darden and how the venture courses and resources of the Batten Institute brought them together. Woeltz and Larsen  also share insights about the importance of friction points in the entrepreneurial journey and what they are learning as they work to take Hummingbyrd to the next level.

At Verizon, James Hoffman (Class of 2022) works with local governments and communities across Virginia to bring 5G technology to more users. We chat with James about his background, his decision to pursue an MBA, and how he has juggled both starting a new job and a busy Executive MBA program. James also talks about the importance of humility to his learning approach, and how he has intentionally sought out those topics that are new and less familiar to him in the first few quarters of the program.

Bob McMurtry (Class of 2022) is the Director of Finance for a boarding school in the Charlottesville area. We talk with Bob about his MBA journey, how the program has helped him sharpen his time management skills, how he has juggled the demands of work, school and a growing family, and how he has been able to apply lessons from class in his work. We also touch upon Bob’s new role as a member of the Executive Student Association (ESA) leadership board, and we even find time to discuss Frank Herbert’s science fiction classic, Dune.