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Posts published in “Stern Spotlight”

The Graduate: Jolawn Victor, Chief International Officer at Headspace

This month’s The Graduate features Jolawn Victor, MBA ‘09, Chief International Officer of Headspace, Inc, where she oversees Headspace’s international operations and expansion. Headspace is a mindfulness app containing guided meditations and sleep-casts that promote a better mind and overall well-being. Her career began in engineering, followed by an MBA at Stern that pivoted her to marketing, and she ultimately transitioned from consumer packaged goods to technology. Jolawn’s global C-suite executive role now is the culmination of her experience spanning numerous industries, markets, and continents. I had the pleasure of getting to know Jolawn from not just a career standpoint, but from one that anyone (especially women) can find inspiring in making your mark in any room you step into.…

Stern Faculty Spotlight: Michael S. North

Our Stern Faculty Spotlight this month is on Dr. Michael S. North, Assistant Professor of Management and Organization, and the Founding Director of the Accommodating Generations in Employment (AGE) Initiative, focusing on cutting-edge topics in intergenerational workforces and workplaces. Professor North’s work has been featured in various media sources, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CNN, BBC, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Forbes, and TIME. He has been named a “Rising Star” by the Association for Psychological Science, and a “Top 50 Undergraduate Business School Professor” by Poets and Quants.

As The Oppy Interviewer walked in, she was pleasantly surprised to see a different avatar of the Professor than in his classes (normally in a formal blazer).

Stern Somebody: Christian Blanchet

The Oppy staff is proud to continue a feature called “Stern Somebody,” telling the stories of remarkable classmates and how they became the exceptional people they are today.

Christian Blanchet is a second-year EMBA student at Stern. He has a B.S. in Business Management from the University of South Alabama, where he graduated as an NCAA Academic All-American in men’s golf. Over the past year, Christian launched a men’s swim and resort wear brand called Marèa Maréa. He found a partner his first year and leveraged the NYU network to help build it. I got the chance to sit down with Christian to discuss his exciting venture!

Stern Singles Presents: Jeetendra Khilnani

Spring is almost here, and we have another edition of Stern Singles for you. If you would like to nominate a classmate (or yourself) for future features of the Stern Spotlight, please email the Oppy staff at Oppy@stern.nyu.edu or fill out this form.

Meet Jeetendra, MBA1, originally from Mumbai, India, who came to Stern to pursue a career in investment banking or consulting. When he is not recruiting for every industry, you can find him relaxing at the nearest AMC. He describes himself as “a film critic gone wrong.” More on that to come…

Jeetendra! What a pleasure. What brought you to Stern?

The Graduate: Nadja Bellan-White, Global Chief Marketing Officer of Vice Media

This interview has been edited for conciseness and clarity.

This month’s “The Graduate ” features Nadja Bellan-White, who is the Global Chief Marketing Officer of Vice Media. Since receiving her MBA from Stern, she has had an eminent 25+ year career in brand transformations at Digitas, Publicis Modem, and Ogilvy, where she became CEO of Ogilvy & Mather Africa and consequently Executive Partner/Chief Client Officer of Ogilvy in London. Her career, beginning in New York, has taken her across the world to help brands through pivotal transformations. Notable brand transformations Nadja has worked on include for clients such as American Express, LG Electronics, IKEA North America, RBS Citizens, Bharti Airtel, Coca-Cola, Siemens, and Safaricom/Vodaphone.…

Stern Faculty Spotlight: Ilan Lobel

Our Stern Faculty Spotlight this month is Dr. Ilan Lobel, Associate Professor of Technology, Operations and Statistics. Dr. Lobel received his Ph.D. from MIT in Operations Research in 2009 and came to Stern in 2010. His research focuses on how marketplaces are changing the nature of operations management and his teaching accolades include being named to the 2017 Poets & Quants Top 40 MBA Professors Under 40 list and receiving the 2018 Stern Distinguished Teaching Award.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Would you please introduce yourself, your areas of expertise, and what you teach at NYU?

I grew up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, but I have been living in the US for almost 18 years now.…

Stern Singles Presents: Aakoo Hans

Folks, Valentine’s Day is a-coming and we have another edition of Stern Singles for you. We are excited to introduce Stern bachelor, Aakoo Hans. If you would like to nominate a classmate (or yourself) for future features of the Stern Spotlight, please email the Oppy staff at Oppy@stern.nyu.edu or fill out this form.

I had the good fortune of meeting Aakoo a few weeks ago on the Stern Ski Trip. Being one of the few other Langone students on the trip, we infiltrated the full-timer groups and partied as if we weren’t returning to full time jobs and being inundated with work emails.

Stern Singles Presents: Elena Politiski

Sternie testimonials:

“Elena is smart, funny, and an overall great person. She’s  extremely down to earth and chill and the type of person that’s always down to talk and build her friends up!” 

“Elena’s the best. She was one of my first friends at Stern and I’ve been lucky enough to work with her in a few different classes since we started the program in 2020. She was a lifesaver during our Accounting class, and her positive attitude and sense of humor give me something to look forward to every day when I show up to class or group projects. Most importantly, I’m grateful to have her in my life, and anyone who’s lucky enough to meet her will be eager for the opportunity to get to know her better.” 

Stern Somebody: Michael Modak-Truran

Michael Modak-Truran is a J.D./ M.B.A. at Stern. Growing up, he was inspired by his parents who are both lawyers and is now pursuing specializations in intellectual property and technology law, media & entertainment, and business strategy. In addition to his school work, Michael is also taking on an ambitious project of directing the first and only authorized feature documentary about William Faulkner, a Nobel Prize winning author. Featuring Academy Award nominee Eric Roberts as Faulkner, the film is nearly finished after 5 years in the making. I had the opportunity to have a conversation with Michael where we spoke more about his background, interest in law and passion for storytelling.…

The Graduate: Mark Smukler

“Find the intersection of what you’re passionate about and what you’re good at, find an opportunity that fits that intersection – and then pursue it. And don’t give up.” – Mark Smukler

The Oppy is reconnecting with some prominent NYU Stern alumni with our ‘Graduate’ series. Each month, we’ll interview notable alumni that have made an impact on their community and industry.

This month, The Oppy is featuring Mark Smukler (‘12), CEO and founder of Flow, a location-based app that makes it easy to discover and access the best coworking spaces, gyms, spas, and experiences around you. Mark and I sat down, virtually, to talk about his journey from finance to entrepreneurship, proptech, future of work and the challenges of building a marketplace business.…

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