2018 MBAs To Watch: Hashima Charles, University of Rochester (Simon) - Poets&Quants

Hashima Charles

Simon Business School, University of Rochester

“A creative, genuine, music loving strategist who is a change agent and a lover of numbers.”

Age: 28

Hometown: Brooklyn, NY

Fun fact about yourself: I am a thrill seeker who enjoys adventures. I bungee jumped from one of the highest tours in South Africa, it was a superb experience.

Undergraduate School and Degree: Rochester Institute of Technology, Bachelor of Science in Accounting

Where did you work before enrolling in business school? C&C Apartment Management LLC, Accounts Payable Accountant

Where did you intern during the summer of 2017? AT&T Inc. | Bedminster, New Jersey

Where will you be working after graduation? AT&T Inc.| Finance Leadership Development Program

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School: (Include school awards and honors)

• President – Simon National Black MBA Association
• VP of Club Communications– Graduate Business Council
• Board Member: Alumni Relations – Simon Consortium for Graduate Study in Management
• Member, 2018 Grad Week Planning Committee
• Student Career Advisor, Special Projects – Career Management Center
• Event Ambassador & Panelist– Admissions Office
• Venture Capital Analyst – Simon Venture Fund
• Israel iTrek MBA Consultant – Porcupine.Tv
• Pro Bono Consultant and 2nd Year Advisor – Simon Vision Consulting
• MBA Consultant – Wegmans Food Markets, Inc.
• Ambassador – Jump Start Advisory Group
• Fellow– Forte Foundation
• Fellow – The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management
• Racial Equity Fellow – Net Impact

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? One of the extracurricular achievements that I am most proud of is hosting the Women Who Lead Luncheon. As the President of Simon National Black MBA Association, I revamped our signature Black History Month programming. I created the Women Who Lead Luncheon to honored African American women in the Rochester community who are breaking glass ceilings. This year, we were able to increase the luncheon’s attendance by 10 percent due to the great reviews from past the honorees and attendees. It was an amazing experience highlighting the accomplishments of these women while creating a new platform to showcase the greatness of Black Girl Magic.

Secondly, I also created and produced a video project for Career Management Center, A Second Year View. This project shares the career journeys of second year students from when they started at Simon to when they accepted their full time offers. It highlights various Career Management Center resources that students used throughout their career journey at Simon. This will be a great resource for first years and other students in the future.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? One of my professional career achievements that I am most proud of is creating an accounts payable training program for all newly hired, and relevant employees at C&C Apartment Management LLC. This project was challenging because it was a new system for my department and the users of the system were not all a part of our department. I took on this task, as one of the youngest members on my team and trained employees with more industry experience. This program was used by over 15 employees over the span of two years; I received great feedback on the ease of use of the training material and how it helped them do their jobs better, and increased their productivity. After the success of this program, I was asked to chair an employee satisfaction program championed by the company’s CEO.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? My favorite MBA Professor is Avi Seidmann, he always brings great energy to the classroom and pushes us to bring our best self to class every day. He was always open to meeting students outside of the classrooms to further discuss topics that peak our interests and expanded my interest in information systems and new technology. He is also a great storyteller, bringing real world examples from his background to drive lively discussions.

What was your favorite MBA Course? One of my favorite courses was Economics of Competitive Strategy with Guy Arie. It gave me a deeper understanding of firms’ competitive strategy and provided me with the tools to analyze any set of actions a firm takes to maximize its profits. This course changed how I read and analyze business news.

Why did you choose this business school? I chose Simon Business school for many reasons:

1. The people; its warmth and vitality of community is one that provides a unique learning environment and supportive community.
2. Simon’s analytical basis and its integrative and strong finance curriculum, which allowed me to fill the gaps I needed to transition careers.
3. Simon’s exceptional Frame, Analyze, and Communicate (FAct) model, allowed me to distinguish myself in the workplace because its influence provided me with resonance decision making skills that will successfully impact any organization in a distinctive way.

What is your best piece advice to an applicant hoping to get into your school’s MBA program? You should network as much as possible and get to know the current students and the Admission Team. Simon is a small school; what makes us unique is the people. The more you network with people within the school, the more you will know if this is the right fit for you. As you network, try to build relationships because it helps with creating a support system once you get in. The Admissions Team will also be able to connect you with different resources within the school and available scholarships.

What is the biggest myth about your school? The biggest myth about Simon is our rankings. Simon has a world-class program with great faculty and a diverse community. Our ranking fails to appreciate the educational opportunities available at Simon.

What was your biggest regret in business school? I wish I participated in more case competitions while in business school. Case competitions allow you to use the skills learned throughout our coursework to solve a particular problem in a short period of time, providing a chance to put these tools to work immediately.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? One classmate I admire the most is my friend Gilbert Bonsu, also a Consortium fellow. He is brilliant and is always his authentic self. He organized and led one of our global immersion courses to South Africa. It was one of the best trips I’ve ever taken and an eye opening cultural experience. He has also created impactful programming on campus such as the Rochester Africa Business Conference that exposes students to leaders and business issues on the continent of Africa. I admire him because he is always willing to speak up and challenge the way people think in a respectable way, allowing you to view issues through a different lens. It takes courage to challenge people and be willing to face the consequences head on because the diversity of thoughts leads to greater good.

Who most influenced your decision to pursue business in college? My mentor Del Smith, Dean of Alabama A&M University, influenced me pursue a graduate degree in business. As my club advisor during my undergraduate studies, he exposed me to the different opportunities available for those with an advance degree in business that didn’t know existed. As the owner of an information technology company and leader of an incubator, he serves as an example of a business leader who has used his advanced degree in business to take advantage of the various opportunities that such a degree affords.

“If I hadn’t gone to business school, I would be…exploring accounting roles in another industry outside of affordable housing real estate or making strides to become a social entrepreneur, providing financial literacy education to students in urban communities throughout Brooklyn.”

If you were a dean for a day, what one thing would you change about the MBA experience? If I were Dean for the day, I would change two things: I would host more workshops on Fridays with industry experts and alumni. This would grant students the opportunity to see how tools they learn in class are applicable outside of the classroom and grant a chance to learn about various industry topics. Second, I would add more variety to cultural immersion courses and make it mandatory for each student; I would ensure that students leave the program with a global perspective.

What are the top two items on your bucket list? My top two bucket list items are to visit the 7 wonders of the world and fly a helicopter.

In one sentence, how would you like your peers to remember you? I would like to be remembered as a connector, a doer, a resourceful individual and someone with a sense of humor known for bringing great executable ideas to the table.

What is your favorite movie about business? The Pursuit of Happyness: Will Smith showcases some of the best life lessons. He shows everyone that you can accomplish anything with hard work, persistence, and determination. You also have to have faith in yourself and your abilities, you should never let anyone tell you that you are not capable of accomplishing any goal you set your mind to achieving. It showcases what it means to overcome adversity.

What would your theme song be?  “Go Get it” – Mary Mary and “Can’t Knock the Hustle” – Jay Z

Favorite vacation spot: St. Lucia

Hobbies? Boxing, Cooking, Painting, Reading and Community Service projects (“To much is given, much is required.”)

What made Hashima such an invaluable addition to the class of 2018?
“I have had the pleasure of working with Hashima since the day she arrived on campus back in June 2016. Watching her grow personally and professionally over the duration of her program, and being able to be part of that process, has been amazing.  She is one of the most determined, hard-working, fun-loving, genuine students I have worked with in my ten plus years at Simon. She jumped right into the Simon community as an active member of many clubs and organizations.  Hashima is a Fellow through the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, Forte Foundation, and a Racial Equity Fellow through Net Impact. She was heavily invested in promoting the organization missions and visions through programming she helped design for the Simon community.  Her “In My Shoes” event in the Spring of 2017 is something I will always remember. In collaboration with the Simon Net Impact chapter, “In My Shoes” gave students an opportunity to learn more about racial equity in the United States, unconscious biases and inequities, raising awareness of racial issues in our country through open dialogue, and students sharing their own stories.  Hashima understood the impact open discussions around these hard-to-talk-about topics could make on someone’s outlook on life and the importance of being open and learning more about new perspectives.

Hashima stepped up and took on a number of different leadership positions during her time at Simon.  She was the VP of Club Communication for the Simon Graduate Business Council, President of Simon National Black, Alumni Relations board member through the Simon Consortium for Graduate Study in Management, volunteered for countless Admission and Career Management Center programming, cultural immersion classes and trips, and most importantly always came out to support her classmates and school programming and events.  Through her work in these positions, she will leave a lasting legacy on how our student led clubs operate and the high-level programming they put on. Turning her ideas into new processes and programs, and her leadership with the class, have added tremendous value on the Simon student experience.

I am realizing how much I will miss Hashima the closer we get to commencement in June 2018. She stops in to see me so often we joked that she has standing meeting with me all day, every day. Her smile and energy are contagious, and no matter how my day was going, even a quick 5-minute chat with Hashima would make my day. I have even jokingly asked her to hire me as her personal assistant in 10 years wherever she is!  Having the opportunity to work with and get to know students like Hashima make me realize how lucky I am to be part of the Simon Business Community.  I look forward to watching her career progress, and I am proud to call her a friend and to have been a part of her growth here at Simon.”

Nathan Kadar
Director of Student Life
Simon Business School, University of Rochester

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2018 MBAs To Watch: Gilbert Bonsu, University of Rochester (Simon) - Poets&Quants

Gilbert Bonsu

Simon Business School, University of Rochester

“Giving Imaginative Leader, Bold Easygoing Reasonable Teammate.”

Age: 29

Hometown: Newark, NJ by way of Ghana

Fun fact about yourself: Former DJ (Undergrad years)

Undergraduate School and Degree: Rutgers University, B.S. in Public Health; Boston University – Master of Public Health (Health Program Management & Global Health)

Where did you work before enrolling in business school? Peace Corps – Placement & Assessment Specialist

Where did you intern during the summer of 2017? 3M (Strategy & Marketing Development), Minneapolis, MN

Where will you be working after graduation? AT&T Leadership Development Program

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

• President – Simon Africa Business Club
• Class Gift Committee
• Fellow – Consortium of Graduate Studies in Management
• Managing Director – Simon Vision Consulting (pro-bono student-ran consulting firm)
• OP Prep Committee – Consortium
• Captain – Simon Soccer Club
• Admission Committee Ambassador
• 2017 Dean Leadership Community Award

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? There are two things I am most proud of during business school years. They are serving as a Managing Director for Simon Vision Consulting and co-leading and creating Simon Business School’s first global immersion program to the continent of Africa (South Africa).

As the managing director of Simon Vision Consulting, I oversaw over 20 consulting projects in the greater Rochester area and managed over 100 student-consultants.   This was a wonderful opportunity for my teams and I to witness the impact of our work and give back to Rochester community.

As one of the co-lead of a student group that pitched the South Africa Global Immersion program to our school, I also had the opportunity to serve as a teaching assistant for the class. The class-trip exposed 20 Simon students to South Africa’s history, economy, and culture. This was a proud moment for me as a returned Peace Corps volunteer of South Africa.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? One achievement I am most proud of in my professional career is restarting a failed community bakery in rural South Africa during my Peace Corps volunteer service. The bakery, which was a high visible project supported by Nelson Mandela Children Fund and Atok Platinum Mines, was in debt and had to shut down. I took on the challenge of serving as the general manager of the bakery against the advice of my supervisor who felt without large influx of outside cash the bakery cannot be restarted. After conversations with the bakery staff, I restructured their compensation package and identified new material suppliers. We began production within two weeks. Within three months, I led the newly formed management team in redesigning marketing strategy, streamlining operations, and repositioning the bakery’s brand. These changes resulted in improved bread quality and 100% debt reduction by the ninth month. I was happy to see the bakery still functioning and maintaining its goal of delivering affordable products to its communities when I visited in late 2018.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? This is a tough one! I will have to say Professor Greg Shaffer, who teaches pricing policies. He perfectly blends both the theoretical and practical examples to demonstrate the importance of creating value through pricing. In addition, it was like a history class: we learned about the first coupon and air plane ticket price discrimination. Simply, he made pricing fun and easy to understand.

What was your favorite MBA Course My favorite MBA course was Market Research taught by Professor Mitch Lovett. In this era of big data and data-driven decisions, you are not always going to have complete information to analyze. This class was designed to help us improve our ability to use imperfect information to make decisions as well as frame, analyze, and communicate decisions from big data.

Why did you choose this business school? After visiting Simon for an admission event, I just felt a connection to the school. The students I met were accomplished, talented, highly motivated, and humble. From observations, I could see this was not a front and that it was truly a supportive environment. I saw what the school meant when they say #SimonStrong and #Meliora. Students, staff, and faculty worked together to help each other be a better version of themselves.

What is your best piece advice to an applicant hoping to get into your school’s MBA program? Know your story and be yourself. This may sound cliché but the reminder is needed.

What is the biggest myth about your school? People believe that Simon is for Finance folks. There is some true to this but Simon is more than Finance. With a concentration in Competitive and Organizational Strategy and Marketing

What was your biggest regret in business school? I wish I could have attended more conferences.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? I am in awe at most of my classmates, but one that always standout to me is Treadwell Singfield. Treadwell is truly unselfish, genuine, inspiring, and committed to serving others. He is a catalyst of change and community builder. In addition, he is technically gifted and always provide valuable insights in discussions.

Who most influenced your decision to pursue business in college? It was a combination of my mentor and former supervisor who advised me to supplement with my field experience in business with a technical education.

“If I hadn’t gone to business school, I would be…a foreign service officer with the State Department.”

If you were a dean for a day, what one thing would you change about the MBA experience? Improve the diversity, women and professors of color, of faculty members at Simon.  

What are the top two items on your bucket list?

• Visit 100 country (#Roadto100countries)
• Seize opportunities to make positive impact in people’s life (a continuous item on my bucket list)

In one sentence, how would you like your peers to remember you? I would like my peers to remember me as a positive deviance and community builder.

What is your favorite movie about business? Office Space – The movie depicts the importance of organizational strategy and managing human capital. Although not breakthrough revelations, the movie reminded us of the importance communication, defined roles, and building a productive work environment.

What would your theme song be? “M.anifest” – No Shortcut to Heaven

Favorite vacation spot: Mozambique

Hobbies? Playing soccer, basketball, and DJ’ing

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

“Gilbert Bonsu is one of those quiet leaders who brings his depth of experience and maturity to any endeavor he tackles. Gilbert is viewed as a leader among peers, but his style is one that brings others along. You will always find him working alongside others, bringing out their strengths, helping to develop their own leadership style.  He is the co-president of Vision Consulting, a student led program that provides pro bono consulting to non-profits, community businesses, and organizations throughout the world. However, in some ways, these are the expected activities of any student leader in a top tier MBA program.

There are two initiatives that really stand out with Gilbert’s time at Simon. He initiated the concept to bring students to South Africa, at a very early stage in our broadening of international immersion opportunities. He wanted to share the key learnings from his time in the Peace Corps, but also show a different side of Africa – that it is clearly poised to be an economic engine in the next 20 years, with the right leadership and infrastructure. His idea bloomed into a complete slide deck and itinerary, and in less than two months, this immersion opportunity was being offered to students. It was approved as a course, and nine months later, the inaugural class of 18 toured cultural, entrepreneurial, corporate, political and social elements of South Africa. He appropriately captured a key concept from our time there in his presentation – Saubona – a Zulu phrase that is used as a welcome. But, it’s literal translation is, ‘I see you’. It defines Gilbert’s view of the world and his leadership style. One must truly see and get to know one another to learn and to grow.

And finally, it is possible that many student leaders have had successful new initiatives such as the new immersion course. However, what else makes Gilbert’s efforts stand out is the understanding of how to make something sustainable. He led the effort to create the Simon Africa Business Club. First, it demonstrates the size and breadth of the African continent, with presentations from Egypt, Ghana, Niger, Zimbabwe and South Africa. It also created a sustainable structure to continue the work that immersion started, which is a better understanding of this emerging economic driver in the world.

Gilbert epitomizes our leaders at the Simon Business School, with a constant drive to succeed, develop others, and continuously use his strength and talents to give back to the community and those in need.”

Carin L. Cole ’99 MBA
Assistant Dean of Students
Simon Business School

 

 

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2018 MBAs To Watch: Veselina Angelova, University of Rochester (Simon) - Poets&Quants

Veselina Angelova

Simon Business School, University of Rochester

“I’m a citizen of the world who works with spirit, smile and dedication towards a better and more equal society.”

Age: 30

Hometown: Sofia, Bulgaria

Fun fact about yourself: I’m a published author. I got my first book with poems and short stories published when I was 16. My high-school years were the heyday of my creativity.

Undergraduate School and Degree: School: Sofia University, Bulgaria. Undergraduate: BA Cultural Studies. Graduate: MA Women’s and Gender History

Where did you work before enrolling in business school? Company: Sloan International Management Consulting. Role: HR Project Coordinator

Where did you intern during the summer of 2017? Company: TESLA. Role: HR Business Partner

Where will you be working after graduation? Company: CITIGROUP. Role: HR Management Associate

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

• MBA Coach (mentored two first-year MBA teams)
• Forté Fellow and Forté Ambassador
• VP Marketing & Communications – Club Europe
• VP External Affairs & Acting President – Simon Dance Club
• MBA Event Ambassador (Admissions Office)
• Admission Committee Ambassador

Awards (Just for fun):

• “The Person Most Likely to Brighten Your Day” Award (Closing MBA Party, May 2017)

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I need to admit that when I started the program, I was terrified that all odds were against me. I had a quite untraditional pre-MBA background and couldn’t even imagine how I’d compete with all those talented and capable people. Indeed, there was a steep learning curve, but I’m lucky to say that every assignment, every final exam, every project, was a small victory for me and I made sure to celebrate it. However, what I’m most proud of is my mastery of time management. I believe that the first half of the second year was the most hectic, yet most rewarding time for me. I managed to maintain very high GPA while balancing multiple club activities and events, recruiting and interviewing, conference prep, coaching of a first-year MBA team, case competitions, and regular workout (so, I stay sane in the process). Enthusiasm, hard work and the support of my safety net – that was the recipe for success for me.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? I’m extremely proud and thankful for the opportunity to intern at Tesla last summer. Tesla is one of the most competitive and wanted companies to join. I had the chance to be a part of a company that changes the world in a positive direction. I worked with an amazingly mission-driven team and I learned a lot from them. Furthermore, I was given the autonomy to lead a positive change for hundreds of people through my work. The job was exciting, challenging, and fast-paced (it moves in Tesla time, as they call it). Above all, it made realize how important purpose is for my career choices.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? I have many favorite professors, but three definitely stand out: Guy Arie, who teaches Competitive Strategy, Jeanine Mikos-Thal for her Game Theory class, and Greg Shaffer, who teaches Pricing Policies. Three very different classes and unique teaching styles, but each one of them contributed greatly to my understanding of current business realities.

What was your favorite MBA Course My favorite MBA course was Organization and Strategy, taught by Professor Michael Raith. I enjoyed the fact that we were able to master important organizational strategy framework while implementing it in real-life cases. The best part of the class were the discussions going on – I appreciated my classmates’ points of view that were constantly challenged by the professor. My biggest takeaway from the class is that no matter how successful from business perspective one company is, its success can always be hindered if its organizational and business strategies don’t align.

Why did you choose this business school? The decision to join a business school was anything but easy for me. Therefore, I wanted to be a part of a school and program that would give me a competitive edge but that wouldn’t be at the expense of the sense of belonging to a greater community. A close friend of mine graduated from Simon Business School several years ago and she was my strongest connection with the school. I loved her stories about the courses she took, the events she visited, and the friends she made here. I was also attracted by the school’s proximity to New York City. However, before committing, I visited the school twice and that was when they got me. I was impressed by the friendliness and positive attitude of the people I met here. Today, I couldn’t be happier of my choice – here, I’ve felt nothing but wanted, supported, appreciated and recognized.

What is your best piece advice to an applicant hoping to get into your school’s MBA program? Be ready to get surprised by how much this school can change you. But make sure, you own it. Simon combines challenging curriculum, inspiring leaders, supportive network, and multiple opportunities for skills enhancement. Take advantage of all of them and thrive to embrace the true Meliora (“Ever Better”) spirit of the school.     

What is the biggest myth about your school? The biggest myth is that we are a heavy business, data-driven school. We absolutely are unabashedly analytical and we have a renowned finance curriculum, but we are also so much more – our talent goes beyond sectors, functions and geographies. Many of us are going into tech, product or project management, operations, pricing, brand management, entrepreneurship, HR, etc. I wished more companies and employers were able to recognize this tremendous shift, so they could take advantage of our talents.

What was your biggest regret in business school? Honestly, I think, I should have done more while here. I was never sure if I was doing enough. Did I take advantage of all resources I had – classes, professors, classmates, advisors? Did I give enough – to the school, to the community, to my classmates and friends? If you are in a different environment, two years usually seem a lot, but here we live in our own MBA dimensions – time flies and it’s never enough.  

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? I admire all 106 of them because each one of them left their comfort zone by being here, and yet they all are rock stars. However, there are two people in specific that deserve to be recognized.

Saniya Shaikh: Saniya is VP Academic Affairs of the Graduate Business Council and worked tirelessly to make our academic lives better. She was our voice and a person of action when we wanted improvements.

Preeth KP: Preeth was my teammate for two quarters and he had been the most reliable and pleasant person to work with. He was not only a great teammate, but also the voice of reason and wisdom when our spirits were getting too hot.

Keep up with the great work, guys!

Who most influenced your decision to pursue business in college? Two people influenced my decision in the most tremendous way: My former manager and lifetime mentor – Julia Sloan and my partner in crime – Lyudmil Milanov. Both believed in me, gave me constructive feedback, and supported me at every step of the way.

“If I hadn’t gone to business school, I would be…doing a PhD in International Affairs and Human Rights.”

If you were a dean for a day, what one thing would you change about the MBA experience? My biggest dream regarding Simon is that my classmates get more exposure and career opportunities. We nourish great talents here and they deserve to be recognized and appreciated. Simon Business School has a very prestigious name on the East Coast and in New York state specifically, but we are still quite unknown on the West Coast. Majority of my classmates (especially the international ones) join the program with rich, diverse backgrounds and extensive work experiences. Furthermore, the curriculum here prepares us to be knowledgeable and highly competitive. If I were the Dean for a day, I’d make sure that I invest in them by paving an easier path for them to companies like Google, Facebook, Tesla, IBM, etc. In business school, your network is the most precious asset you might have. That refers to faculty members, career advisors and even the dean. So, they all should invest in building an extensive and diverse network where they can promote and advocate for us.

What are the top two items on your bucket list? My bucket list is enormously big but in general there are two main themes – traveling and self-improvement:. I want to volunteer in Ecuador, Columbia and Peru (let’s start from there) and I want to go on a trip to India and learn yoga.

In one sentence, how would you like your peers to remember you? I want to continue being the person who brightens their day no matter in what part of the world I am.  

What is your favorite movie about business? One of my favorite movies is The Pursuit of Happiness with Will Smith. The story of this entrepreneur who lived with his son, homeless for almost a year, has always touched me and inspired me never to give up. This movie made me cry both out of sadness and happiness.

What would your theme song be? “The Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor.

Favorite vacation spot: Barcelona, Spain.

Hobbies: Morning yoga, cardio workout, Latin groove dances, languages, volunteering, superhero movies.

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

“Veselina, or “Vessy” as she is known among the Simon community, has been an amazing addition to our MBA community over the past two years. Her prior work experience in fund-raising and project management for women’s rights issues translated into leadership and involvement in Simon as a Forte Foundation student liaison. In this role, she has worked closely with the Simon Women in Business leadership team to sponsor programming for our current MBA students. She has also been actively involved in Women’s recruiting activities with the Simon Admissions office, including our annual Women’s Conference, and on-boarding for our incoming women who will attend the annual Forte Foundation Conference prior to their MBA studies. Vessy also was involved in the “Women in Tesla” mentorship program for middle school girls to encourage them to pursue STEM careers through her summer internship at Tesla. She was a co-leader in planning and running our annual Garden Party networking event in spring 2017 to celebrate diversity and inclusion at Simon.

Vessy has held leadership roles in several other key organizations including serving as a 2nd year coach to a first year MBA study team, and as a Senior Advisor for the Simon Consulting student club. More recently, she was selected to serve as an Admissions Committee Ambassador and is involved in screening candidates for admission by reviewing applications and conducting admissions interviews.  Finally, she has been involved as Vice President of Marketing and Communications for the Simon Club Europe, and Vice President of External Affairs for the Simon Dance Club.

While it is hard to believe she has any additional free time, Vessy has been involved in a few other key roles during her time as an MBA student. These include serving on the Simon Vision Consulting group that provides consulting assistance to start-ups and small companies, and participating in the MBA Human Capital Case Competition co-sponsored by Deloitte and HP, and participating in the Simon Volunteers Club that focuses on social impact activities to better the Rochester, NY community.

Vessy has worked tirelessly to create a legacy that will out-live her MBA experience, and has positively impacted the Simon and Rochester communities.”

Rebekah Lewin, MBA 2002
Assistant Dean of Admissions & Financial Aid

 

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2018 Best MBAs: Shahbaaz Mubeen Mamadapur, University of Rochester (Simon) - Poets&Quants

Shahbaaz Mubeen Mamadapur

Simon Business School, University of Rochester

“Action-oriented, driven, and always on a learning curve.”

Age: 29

Hometown: Bijapur, India (A town in South India)

Fun fact about yourself: I was a skinny kid growing up. I added 20lbs of muscle in first 2 years of my undergrad and went on to win in two categories (best physique and power-lifting) in the Intercollegiate body building competitions.

Undergraduate School and Degree: NMAMIT, Visvesvaraya Technological University, India – Bachelor of Engineering (Computer Science)

Where did you work before enrolling in business school? Accenture – IT Consultant

Where did you intern during the summer of 2017? Amazon (Seattle, WA)

Where will you be working after graduation? Amazon (Seattle, WA) – Sr. Program Manager

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

Community Work:

• Simon Career Advisor – Simon’s Career Management Center
• Admissions Ambassador – Simon’s Admission Office
• Diversity and Inclusion Ambassador
• Graduate Teaching Assistant to Ron Carlson – B2B Pricing (Course taught by Senior Consultants/Partners from Simon-Kucher & Partners)
• Graduate Teaching Assistant to Gerard Wedig – Economic Theory of Organizations
• Tutor – Business Modeling
• MBA Consultant – Vnomics Corp.

Leadership Roles:

• VP Events – Simon Pricing Club
• Consultant – International Immersion Trip to India (Ideated and consulted for Simon’s first ever International Immersion Trip to India to be launched in Dec ’18.)

Awards:

• Recipient – Dean’s List (for outstanding academic achievement)
• Recipient – Merit Scholarship

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I am proud of two:

First would be my role as a Career Advisor. This role incorporates a huge responsibility as you help the students chart the course of their career. Throughout the year, I met with more than 150 MBA and MS students, reviewing resumes, developing value propositions, helping with job search strategy, and conducting mock interviews and workshops. This role was extremely rewarding and allowed me to give back and help students land their dream jobs, especially considering the current job market.

Second would be as the VP (Events) of Pricing Club. Pricing is a niche field and many students do not know about it coming to business school. To cope with that, I sought ways to strengthen the club and increase its presence. I organized a corporate trek to Boston in early Fall where we visited three companies, each with a different pricing practice. The trek gave students the opportunity to learn from the best minds in the field of pricing and connect the dots to their academic learning. In addition, I co-organized the first-ever Pricing Case Competition in Spring ’17 within just 3 weeks of taking charge as the new board. This set the stage for the second Pricing Case Competition in Spring ’18 which was co-sponsored by Volvo Trucks and was a much bigger event – both on scale and participation.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? It would have to be my summer internship at Amazon. I interned as a Sr. Program Manager in the North America (NA) – Outbound Transportation Team. I led a very interesting Upstream Containerization Project. As part of this project, we move the sortation of packages upstream to reduce touches, increase sortation capacity, and protect packages from pilferage.

During my 12 weeks, I addressed two components – firstly, I developed a Network Optimization Model to help build cost-effective containerization plans. Secondly, I conducted a pilot test to understand the technical and operational constraints to be addressed before a network-wide launch. I loved the fact that I not only got to work with large datasets to build a network-wide model, but I also got to implement the pilot project in a Fulfillment Center.

Through my pilot project, I not only proved the feasibility of containerization with multimillion dollar cost savings, but my work (model, process, and standard work procedures) became the foundation of a NA network-wide program managed by a dedicated team.

What was your favorite MBA Course? My favorite course was Process Improvement, where we learnt about measuring processes, designing experiments, studying interactions, and also learnt about Lean and Six-Sigma methodologies. The most interesting part of the course was designing and running a lean toy factory that delivers finished K’nex models. This advanced course in operations provided me the perfect tools to succeed in my internship.

Why did you choose this business school? The excellent faculty, the strong focus on analytics, the quant-heavy curriculum, and Simon’s expertise in pricing appealed to me the most. Additionally, Simon’s small class size was important to me as I wanted to be in a collaborative environment where I can make the most of my business school experience. Moreover, the Simon community was extremely helpful and approachable during the application process and also assisted me transition smoothly to business school. I felt I was already a part of the family even before I got here.

What is your best piece advice to an applicant hoping to get into your school’s MBA program? It does not matter where you are in the application process, please make it a point to reach out either to the admissions team or current students. You can go beyond your application and essays by networking with the admissions team. More importantly, determine the fit. When I say fit, it goes both ways – how the school will help you and how you fit the school culture.

What is the biggest myth about your school? It would be judging Simon based on its rankings. Rankings don’t do justice to the quality of the program we have here. The professors are incredibly knowledgeable and resourceful. Being a small school, we get a lot of facetime and personal attention from the amazing faculty and the ever-supportive staff.

What was your biggest regret in business school? I wish I had taken more Finance courses than I did. Given Simon’s excellent faculty in Finance, I could have gained invaluable knowledge from some of the best minds.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? I have two:

Raven Hudson – Raven is energetic, passionate, and confident. As an early leader, in spite of having relatively less experience, she faced challenges head-on and always looked for opportunities to improve herself. As the president of Simon Vision Consulting, Raven closely mentored early leaders and career switchers, helping them gain valuable industry experience and build a competitive advantage for their job search. She is truly an inspiration.

Chris DiGiacomandrea – Chris came from a non-profit background and was interested in consulting. While still on a steep learning curve himself during the first year, Chris proactively started group case workshops which immensely helped students looking for consulting jobs. Chris is a good friend with a strong bias for action and someone I can always bounce ideas off of.

Who most influenced your decision to pursue business in college? It was an Enterprise Architect from my client team at Accenture. I was the lead developer working on a critical Nordic project. I was specifically impressed by her clarity of thought, depth of knowledge, and how the recent MBA-grad spoke the language of both technology and business with such panache.

“If I hadn’t gone to business school, I would be…working on my entrepreneurial venture that provides consulting services for start-ups and medium sized firms.”

If you were a dean for a day, what one thing would you change about the MBA experience? With almost a third of the class coming from tech backgrounds, and a strong analytics and quant-heavy curriculum, Simon is a competitive target school for Tech companies. In addition to the annual West Coast Trek, I would create an Exchange Program in partnership with a West Coast school to provide students the opportunity to spend a semester in the Silicon Valley and network with their target companies. This would also be beneficial to the partner school as they can leverage our expertise in Finance and proximity to New York.

What are the top two items on your bucket list? 

• Coming from a family of lawyers, I have closely seen the Indian Judicial System and the hardships faced by the weaker sections of the society. I am working with my brother to establish a Legal Service Center that provides legal aid to these sections at zero or nominal cost.
• Complete a full marathon – considering the number of pizzas I have had these last two years in business school, this seems much harder.

In one sentence, how would you like your peers to remember you? Focused, hardworking, and fun loving.

What would your theme song be? “The Measure of a Man” – Elton John

Favorite vacation spot: Wales, UK

Hobbies?

• Working out – Body pump and spinning
• Watching Hollywood classics
• Cooking – Lamb Curry and Biryani are my specialties

What made Shahbaaz such an invaluable member of the Class of 2018?

“Shahbaaz is someone you will read about in the Wall Street Journal or The Economist in the future.

He is the exemplar for what it means to be a strong leader as well as an all-around good person. To put it plainly—Shahbaaz crushed his internship with Amazon. Due to non-disclosure Agreements, we can’t tell you exactly how much he saved the company, but we can tell you his analysis and recommendations resulted in the company reallocating four managers to a dedicated work team that rolled out a new product—before he even finished his summer internship!

Shahbazz is a trusted advisor to his fellow classmates. He is one of our top Student Career Advisors, meeting with dozens of students each week, regardless of function or career interest. Students who meet with Shahbaaz experience his “tough love,” (e.g.: “here is what you need to do to position yourself for success in your internship or job search.”). He is passionate about helping students, and genuinely cares about their improvement.

For example – he took on one particularly challenging student, putting him on a ten-week “improvement plan.” He was tough, clear, specific, and held the student accountable. The student respected this approach, came in for weekly meetings, and moved from a “zero” on job search engagement to a “ten” – received an offer—within the ten-week timeframe. This is one example out of many where Shahbaaz’s involvement truly transformed the student’s job search capabilities and enhanced his possibilities for success.

Simon has a unique expertise in the area of Pricing. Our students learn content that is coveted by hiring organizations because although most companies need this knowledge set, few managers internally have the expertise needed. Shahbazz is an elected officer in the student-run Pricing Club. In this capacity, he created the first annual Simon Pricing Case Competition which brought in the expertise of top company executives and gave the students valuable learning as well as the opportunity to engage with potential hirers.

In addition, Shahbaaz built bridges between Pricing and other clubs such as Marketing to offer integrated case competitions, corporate info sessions, webinars, corporate tours and internship panels. While it is not unusual for P&Q top nominees to have extensive club involvement, building bridges between organizations resulting in improved offerings for all is a hallmark of Shahbaaz’s leadership and an example of the impact he has had at Simon and will continue to have in his career.”

Other comments about Shahbaaz from administrators:

“Shahbaaz is extremely bright and humble.”

“An all-around good guy to be around.”

“Excellent rapport with his classmates.”

“Carries himself professionally.”

“The type of person you can put in front of clients without concern.”

“Always grateful; appreciates and acknowledges others.”

“Known informally as a Mentor to many students.”

“Active Simon community member and is close to many of his peers – First Year and Second Year MBAs alike.”

Karen Dowd
Assistant Dean, Career Management & Corporate Engagement
Simon Business

 

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