2018 Best MBAs: Francis Varrichio, New York University (Stern) - Poets&Quants

Francis Varrichio

New York University, Stern School of Business

“Career military officer with a good sense of humor and a desire to learn.”

Age: 30

Hometown: Highland Park, NJ

Fun fact about yourself:  In the last eight years since my graduation from the United States Coast Guard Academy, I have spent over a year of my life on the ocean. Few things teach you resilience better than having to optimize your productivity despite the continuous rolling of the sea.

Undergraduate School and Degree:  United States Coast Guard Academy

Bachelor of Science: Marine and Environmental Science

Where did you work before enrolling in business school? Before enrolling in business school, I was at a military unit called Pacific Tactical Law Enforcement as a Lieutenant in the Coast Guard. The main objective of this job was to protect the United States from coastal threats and combat transnational organized crime in international waters. Prior to that job I worked in a counter-terrorism mission defending the Port of New York, including patrolling NY Harbor and conducting boardings of cargo vessels offshore.

Where did you intern during the summer of 2017? Since I am still an officer in the Coast Guard, my internship was to take on a professional project in my future full-time position with the Coast Guard Headquarters Finance Division. During this internship, I worked on a consulting project at the Admissions Department for the United States Coast Academy and used regression and budget analysis to write a proposal that could potentially save millions of dollars while increasing underrepresented minority enrollment. It was a great opportunity to work on a real-world business problem for the military that could best utilize taxpayer funding while also serving a social good in supporting minority enrollment in higher education.

I also volunteered as a student Graduate Fellow to coordinate and lead NYU Stern’s first full-time summer transition program for veterans as part of the School’s Fertitta Veterans Program. Along with my classmate Drew Cavanagh (another Coast Guard Lieutenant), we welcomed 25 veteran students to NYU Stern and helped facilitate programming that would ease their transition to business school and civilian life.

Where will you be working after graduation? I will be working as a Financial Analyst for the U.S. Coast Guard Finance Division. In this role, I will be assisting with the Coast Guard’s budget implementation and working to solve big business problems that present challenges for today’s military. I will specifically be using my MBA to assist the Coast Guard in making important financial decisions regarding essential military projects, asset recapitalization, and operating costs.

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

• President and Co-Founder of Stern Chats, NYU Stern’s Official Student Podcast
• Co-hosted 26 episodes featuring NYU Stern students, alumni and faculty downloadable on iTunes, Google Play and Soundcloud.
• Has over 20,000 unique downloads and listeners in over 50 countries
• Grew the production team from an initial team of two to 20
• Created “Stern Chats Live” during orientation week for an audience of over 400 incoming students. The program featured current students providing honest advice about navigating an MBA program.

Graduate Fellow, Fertitta Veterans Program

• Welcomed and facilitated programming for the first group of MBA students who participated in the School’s Fertitta Veterans Program, easing the transition from the military to business school.

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I am most proud of founding the “Stern Chats” podcast at NYU Stern with my classmate Sheri Holt. During orientation, we were inspired to provide a platform for people in the NYU Stern community to tell their stories, build community, and highlight the incredible people that live and work in this School. Starting a professional podcast required a tremendous amount of entrepreneurial spirit and salesmanship. The podcast has been incredibly successful since its first season in 2016.  Immediately after launching Stern Chats, the podcast made regular appearances on the iTunes list of “Top 200” Education Podcasts and was eventually moved to a professional studio within Stern. Now in its third season, Stern Chats has over 20,000 unique downloads and listeners in over 50 countries. The podcast has hosted some incredible guests including New York Times best-selling authors, TED Speakers, Emmy winners, Navy Seals and even Professor Scott Galloway (he gets his own category). Since its founding, the podcast expanded from its two initial members to a group of 20 students that are dedicated to producing high quality, professional, weekly audio stories. With newly elected leadership and hosts, the podcast is certain to continue to be a staple of the Stern experience for years to come.

I was recently told by an Admissions Officer at NYU Stern that they are now starting to see prospective students talking about the Stern Chats podcast in their application essays. If our podcasts have played any part in helping prospective students understand the culture and magic of NYU Stern, then this endeavor has been truly worthwhile.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career?

I am most proud of earning “Jump Wings” while in the United States Coast Guard. Jump Wings are typically an Army or Air Force badge given after extensive parachute training and the completion of five successful training jumps. Although this is not a common Coast Guard training, I was provided the opportunity to participate through a brief exchange program at the United States Air Force Academy. While this achievement lacks the obvious impact of a million-dollar deal or the clear necessity of completing of a national security mission, I am most proud of this achievement because it was my earliest professional memory of making a deliberate choice to overcome fear in a task. While being afraid is a normal reaction to jumping out of a plane, there was great personal importance to acknowledging my fear and then jumping anyway (…and then again four more times).  This early lesson of not letting fear control you, and learning how to manage stress has been an important value I have carried throughout my entire military career.  When I wear the Jump Wings it is a reminder to ignore fear, trust myself and choose resilience over retreat.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? My favorite Professor is Nate Pettit, who teaches Leadership and Organizational Behavior. Professor Pettit is no stranger to Poets and Quants, as he was named one of the “Best 40 Under 40” MBA Professors in the United States. He has been an incredibly supportive influence for the Stern Chats podcast and recently joined as a faculty representative. He demonstrates excellence in many essential professorial tasks but especially his academic research and acumen in the classroom. What is most impressive about Professor Pettit is his open-minded approach to dealing with his students, his course and to important academic conversations. Professors Pettit’s examination of the governing dynamics of organizational behavior provides a logical and essential road map to prosperity.

Why did you choose this business school?By its own Admissions policies, NYU Stern focuses on the EQ + IQ of its students. This focus was meaningful to me because it signaled how important the whole person is to the MBA experience at Stern. At Stern, you are more than your resume, and I knew I wanted to go to a school where my personality and unique perspective mattered. NYU Stern’s EQ + IQ focus showed me that the School seeks students who demonstrate personality and heart combined with superior academic and technical ability.

Also, I am a Veteran in the military starting a new specialty in government finance. Not only is NYU Stern arguably the best Finance MBA program in the country, it is one of the most Veteran friendly. With the addition of the Fertitta Veterans Program, which offers scholarship, academic and professional support to U.S. military veterans and active duty students, NYU Stern has positioned itself (in my opinion) to be the #1 full-time MBA program for veterans in the whole country. These assertions aside, the Veterans community at NYU Stern is a prominent part of the school. While I was still in the application process, Veterans from Stern reached out to me as a prospective student to provide assistance and show support.

What is your best piece advice to an applicant hoping to get into your school’s MBA program? I would say: Focus on the attributes of the MBA experience that matter the most to you (or your future employer).

Instead of trying to being in 15 different clubs, try joining an affinity club and professional club that add articulable value. Use the extra time you saved to pursue challenging classes or other professional goals. Choosing is hard, but essential to getting the biggest return on your investment. You certainly can’t do everything and can’t make everyone happy. So pick what matters to you (and your future).

What is the biggest myth about your school? The biggest myth about my school is that it is unfriendly. Heck, people are so gosh darn nice! Although there are heavily structured recruiting cycles that can be stressful, students genuinely look out for each other and try to help. Recruiting seems to be a collaborative endeavor and there are whole clubs and organizations at Stern to support students through the recruiting process. The stress of school has never seemed to make people less friendly or hyper competitive. Quite the opposite, any stress associated with school has only caused classmates and peers to band together and form stronger bonds of friendship and camaraderie.

What was your biggest regret in business school? It wouldn’t be fair to say I have any regrets because honestly, the experience exceeded all of my expectations. NYU Stern is a perfect fit for me.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? I most admire my co-founder of Stern Chats: Sheri Holt. Although Sheri and I are incredibly different in both background, disposition and general opinions, our interactions have been truly beneficial to my growth as a professional. Sheri has a lot of excellent organizational and efficiency skills that have taught me to tighten up on my own time management when performing administrative tasks. She is also a loyal friend and teammate and her skills were essential to the founding of an innovative student venture.

Most important, Sheri is open-minded enough to have hard conversations that challenge preconceived notions or hardened ideological opinions. Sheri’s intelligence, ability to empathize, and willingness to have a dialogue is a unique combination that I truly admire.

Who most influenced your decision to pursue business in college? My parents were by far the biggest influence in my pursuit of higher education. In many ways, my MBA is the culmination of 30 years of dreams, hard work, and sacrifice on the behalf of my parents. Also, I have to provide some credit my Aunt Donna Balon who is an NYU Alumna and had great advice about class selection and the benefits of NYU.

“If I hadn’t gone to business school, I would be…continuing my career as an Officer in the United States Coast Guard, but likely back in Deployable Special Forces or Boat Forces communities rather than looking to specialize in Coast Guard Finance. There are always important missions going on for the Coast Guard so, whether it is responding to Hurricane Maria or mudslides in California or making drug interdictions off of Florida you can always see a Coast Guard unit performing rescues or protecting our borders. Although I would miss Finance, I am sure those other jobs would provide a lot of excitement.”

If you were a dean for a day, what one thing would you change about the MBA experience? This is an easy one. I would spend most of my day as Dean continuing to maximize scholarships to students. Also, I would order some of those nap pods they have on the Google campuses so students could rest between or during marathon study sessions.

What are the top two items on your bucket list?

Train Trip across the United States

Give a TED talk

In one sentence, how would you like your peers to remember you? I would want my peers to remember me as: “Frank always made me smile, saw my unique value and made me feel like I mattered.”

What would your theme song be? “The In Crowd”  by the Ramsey Lewis Trio (1965)

An obscure jazz track is not everyone’s logical pick for a theme song. When I imagine a theme song it has got to be something upbeat that plays in the background while the protagonist has a typical day. So upbeat jazz makes the most sense to me. Listen to the song and this will all make sense all, I promise.

Favorite vacation spot: San Diego, CA.  Having lived there for three years there is nothing quite like a short trip to sunny San Diego.

Hobbies? Playing the guitar, lifting weights and producing podcasts about Higher Education.

What made Francis such an invaluable addition to the class of 2018?

“From his first day on campus, Frank has been taking on the School’s mission to use the tools of business to improve the world around you and meet unrealized needs. He began right here at home, looking at ways of improving the Stern community. Frank led several projects that will shape the School for years to come, including serving as co-lead mentor to the inaugural group of Fertitta Veterans Program students, and starting Stern’s first student-run podcast, Stern Chats.

Frank, an active duty student himself, first worked with the Office of Student Engagement by volunteering to serve as the coordinator for the Fertitta Veterans Program, a first-of-its-kind program guiding U.S. military veteran and active duty students transitioning from military service to business school and the civilian world. He helped develop, plan, and implement the non-academic curriculum for the veteran cohort in coordination with fellow vets. Frank facilitated more than 28 hours of programming, specifically coordinating exclusive career treks to Google, Bain, Price Waterhouse Cooper, JP Morgan, Barclays and Inc. Magazine. Frank created this position from scratch, building a template for future students volunteering for this role and setting the entire program up for the future.

In addition to his academic success, Frank has made great contributions to Stern by launching Stern Chats, a student produced podcast that highlights influential and outstanding members of the Stern community. It is one of the only student-run MBA podcasts in the country. Frank and his classmate began by bootstrapping the model themselves to later convince the administration to allow them to use the school’s state-of-the-art recording studio for Stern Chats. Now in its third season, the success of Stern Chats is shared across multiple departments and offices and has created a relevant touch-point for the community to tune in weekly and hear about the incredible people that may not be covered in more traditional marketing materials. The podcast boasts thousands of listeners from over 50 countries and features professors, students, best-selling authors, TED speakers and influential CEOs

Now in his second year, Frank will be completing his degree and returning to the United States Coast Guard, where he will be using his MBA for his military service. Frank’s initiative, optimistic outlook and desire to provide for the common good embody all the best qualities of a Stern student. Frank’s positive impact on Stern will be felt for years to come.”

Andrea Candelario
Associate Director
Office of Student Engagement

 

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2018 Best MBAs: Mahum Yunus, New York University (Stern) - Poets&Quants

Mahum Yunus

New York University, Stern School of Business

“I’m a Pakistani-American on a quest for knowledge to make a meaningful positive impact.”

Age: 26

Hometown: Karachi, Pakistan

Fun fact about yourself: I have never met anyone who can speak faster than me

Undergraduate School and Degree: Stanford University. Major: Science, Technology and Society

Where did you work before enrolling in business school? Associate Consultant at Triage Consulting Group [Healthcare consulting company], Customer Success Manager at WalkMe [an Enterprise SaaS company]

Where did you intern during the summer of 2017? Google, New York City

Where will you be working after graduation? Senior Specialist Marketing for US Vaccines at Merck

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

• Kelly Kennedy Mack Scholarship (merit-based)
• Co-chair of Diversity Committee on Student Government
  • Worked closely alongside the Senior Director of Student Life to revamp the structure of Stern’s Diversity and Inclusion training, which all first-year MBA students participate in
• Graduate Ambassador for MBA Admissions office
• VP of Admissions Stern Technology Association
• VP of Admissions Entrepreneur and Startup Association
  • Created this position when it did not exist. Noticed a need to articulate Stern’s entrepreneurial resources, so I campaigned to create this Leadership Position on the club, and was recognized by the presidents as an insightful move because we saw a lot of incoming emails and interest from students.
• Orientation captain for MBA1 class, featured speaker for MBA1 Class “Tales in Possible”
• Selected for Leadership Fellows, an Executive leadership coaching program

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? As a co-chair of the Diversity Committee on Student Government, I worked with our administration’s Senior Director of Student Life to revamp our Diversity and Inclusion training. At NYU Stern, Diversity and Inclusion training is a mandatory part of the orientation experience for all first year MBA students. Based on feedback we received from our class experience last year, we worked closely with the school’s administration to change the structure of the event. We worked with a new organization to run the training, consulted with them to tailor it to the MBA experience, and made it a more interactive session. The goal was to give students an actionable toolkit to discuss and address issues around diversity and inclusion both during school and in the workplace. After working on the new event structure for months, I was really proud to be one of the facilitators for the workshop and see the positive response we received from the new MBA1 class about the value of the training.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? As an Associate Consultant at Triage Consulting Group, we worked on projects for a variety of the nation’s leading hospital networks. We worked to identify issues in the hospital’s revenue cycle, and then worked to recover the funds and advise the hospital on how to address this issue moving forward. When looking through some past accounts, I discovered a pattern of incorrect reimbursement to the hospital. Upon doing some further research, I learned it had occurred due to a code classification in the contract. I aggregated the impact of this issue and presented it to our project leadership. This was flagged immediately to our client, and helped them recover $2 million in payments that were written off as lost revenue.

Why did you choose this business school? It was a priority for me to get real-world experience working with companies on their business problems – and not just in the summer of my MBA experience but throughout my two years. NYU Stern’s location at the heart of New York City places it right next to companies in every industry. I was confident that I could take the lessons learned in school from exemplary faculty, and apply them to help companies solve pressing business problems. In this way, my MBA learning would be experiential throughout the two years. The opportunities presented at NYU Stern helped me work with three different startups in my first year. I was able to try different roles, stretch myself and make more professional connections in my intended field. This gave me ample experience to draw on to help me thrive and stand out in my summer internship role.

What is your best piece advice to an applicant hoping to get into your school’s MBA program?
NYU Stern’s MBA Program attracts students who can not only articulate how they can use the school’s resources to ignite their professional journey, but what experiences they bring to the classroom to shape their classmate’s learning. Given this, my advice would be to research all the opportunities unique to Stern that would propel you to success in your chosen field. I view the MBA program as a toolkit: if you are clear on what you want to build at the end of the two years, you can highlight what tools the school provides to help you create the best final product.

What was your biggest regret in business school? In the summer between my first and second year of the MBA program, I was asked to speak to the incoming MBA1 class about my experiences at Stern thus far. I had never spoken to an audience that large and was very nervous about it, but the administration encouraged me to share my story. I felt so proud after delivering that talk, and saw the value in being able to deliver meaningful presentations. After that experience, I committed to finding more opportunities to speak publicly to help me develop this skill set. My regret is that I didn’t embark on this mission sooner: in my first year, I was always nervous when it came time to deliver final presentations to large groups. It would have greatly benefitted me if I started building this skill sooner.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? I really admire one of my classmates who I think has had a great impact in building a tight knit community here at Stern. In any response to political events in the news, she reached out to impacted students who vocalized their discomfort and offered herself as a resource to chat. She also was the first one to encourage classmates when they were nervous about trying something outside their comfort zone or wanted an extra pair of eyes to review resumes. This kind of attentiveness and empathy with her peers is truly admirable.

Who most influenced your decision to pursue business in college? I deeply respect my father’s approach to problem solving. As a businessman, and business owner, he has had to face many difficult decisions. He has shared how crucial it is to understand not just the business, but the people with whom you conduct business. He showed me how success in business truly requires a multi-disciplinary understanding: it requires you to wield skills from various disciplines at different times to manage and grow your company. You have to be agile and continue to exercise your knowledge in each field to stay competitive. He has used these skills to not only start and grow a successful business, but to find creative ways to create positive social change. I came to business school to improve my multi-disciplinary understanding of business, strengthen it in places where I was confident, and especially build it in places where I was not. This will help give me the strongest possible problem-solving toolkit as I continue my professional journey.

“If I hadn’t gone to business school, I would be…working at a startup in Silicon Valley and finding ways to expand my business knowledge by working with clients in various industries.”

What are the top two items on your bucket list?

• I want to pitch an idea on Shark Tank
• See the Northern Lights

In one sentence, how would you like your peers to remember you? A great person to have on your team; committed to getting the job done and having a sense of humor while doing it.

What would your theme song be? “My Shot” from Hamilton by Lin Manuel Miranda: “just like my country, I’m young, scrappy, and hungry”

Favorite vacation spot: There’s a place in San Francisco called Lands End: it’s a short hike at the edge of the city and within the same place you can see forest trees, mountains, sand and ocean. It’s beautiful.

Hobbies? I enjoy watching documentaries, baking, sugar sculpting to decorate cakes, and any kind of DIY artistic project

What made Mahum such an invaluable addition to the class of 2018? “Mahum Yunus is a second-year MBA candidate at NYU Stern, who came to Stern with an entrepreneurial mindset and the goal of working for a startup or technology company. Mahum has taken advantage of every opportunity at Stern and created her own opportunities that would help her reach her goals and develop skills to be an empathetic leader.

Mahum has been involved in many experiential learning programs and extra-curricular activities at NYU Stern. Our office had the pleasure of working her in various capacities within her first year. I first met Mahum when she participated in our start-up industry immersion program. I could tell immediately how resourceful she was and knew she would be successful in her career. Mahum took advantage of everything entrepreneur-related in order to learn as much as possible and set herself up for success. In her second semester, she was selected to participate in a class called Tech and the City: Customer-Centric Digital Entrepreneurship in NYC. She worked in a team to help a technology startup in NYC figure out how to create and extract value for its employees. Her experiences and resourcefulness throughout her first year helped her land her dream summer internship at Google.

In addition to getting hands-on experience in the tech space, Mahum is the co-chair of the Diversity Committee. Her ability to connect with everyone has helped her excel in this position. Mahum planned and facilitated our Inclusive Leadership day: an entire day for new students that focuses dialogue on identity, diversity, and inclusion and the importance of these values in our community.

Mahum is among the most empathetic and mature leaders of her class, yet she is always striving to improve and be her best self. In her second year, she was one of 12 students chosen for a very selective program called Leadership Fellows, designed for students with strong leadership and entrepreneurial aspirations. Students in this program dive deep into their values, strengths, weaknesses, and leadership styles and emerge with a greater sense of themselves and their personal power to achieve. Mahum’s dedication, motivation, empathy, and desire to grow personally and professionally is something to admire. She has time and again proven that she will continue to do great things in her career.”

Lynn O’Connell
Associate Director, Experiential Learning
NYU Stern School of Business

 

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