Wisdom.MBA - Naval Officer Round Table and Advice for Students Considering an Executive MBA with Bailey Smith & Noah Smith.

Naval Officer Round Table and Advice for Students Considering an Executive MBA with Bailey Smith & Noah Smith.

08/27/20 • 73 min

For this episode, I try something a bit different by having two guests on the show. I interview fellow classmates from the Executive MBA program at Duke. Bailey Smith and Noah Smith (no relation) were both Navy Surface Warfare Officers (SWOs) with deployments in the Arabian Gulf and South China Sea. They both share their experiences from their time in the Navy and the challenges and similarities of managing sailors versus employees.

Noah completed this undergraduate degree from Clemson University and is now a Product Manager at Corning Incorporated, one of the world’s leading innovators in materials science. Bailey graduated from Cornell University and is an Assistant Vice President of Global Technology and Operations at the Bank of America.

In addition to talking about life in the Navy, we have open and candid conversations about what it is like to balance work, family and school during COVID-19, transitioning to all online classes, and in Bailey’s case, having a child while in the program and doing classes from the hospital the day after giving birth. If you are a perspective student contemplating an Executive MBA, I would encourage you to take a look at the podcast show notes to skip ahead as needed to where we provide our advice on how best to manage the program and give tips for success.

Discussion Topics:

(2:02) Deployments and navigating ships at Sea.
(9:22) Dealing with sleep deprivation.
(15:18) Naval officer portrayal in movies and literature.
(18:40) Traveling the world and favorite port calls.
(21:41) Earning trust and managing sailors versus employees.
(28:37) The decision to pursue an EMBA and why the format works.
(35:30) Adjusting to all online classes.
(42:55) Rapid fire questions on the pros and cons of an EMBA program.
(52:55) Time management advice for working parents doing an EMBA.
(1:04:01) #1 piece of advice for success in an EMBA program
(1:06:39) Having a child in the middle of term 2.

Discussion Topics:

Previous Episode

A $200M Exit, Recruiting Software Engineers & the Future of Digital Marketing with Joe Colopy

Joe Colopy is the founder and former CEO of Bronto software, a cloud-based provider of commerce marketing automation headquartered in Durham, North Carolina. Bronto grew its revenue from zero to $50 million dollars over fifteen years with a $200M exit in 2015, selling to NetSuite which was then acquired by Oracle. I’ve known Joe since 2006 when I started using the platform and have watched it grow and become an industry leader in omni-channel marketing.
Recently, Joe launched Jurassic Capital which invests in B2B software companies throughout the Southeast, leveraging his experience to help growth-stage software companies scale. Two years ago, he also launched GrepBeat which covers tech news and views for Raleigh-Durham and the surrounding area. It’s like TechCrunch for the Research Triangle Park with a bit of Buzzfeed. It is a great resource for entrepreneurs in the area to help their voices be heard and put RTP on the map as an emerging and world-class business hub.
Joe completed his undergraduate degree in Computer Science and Economics from Harvard University and has an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. With an MBA and Computer Science degree, Joe and I get pretty technical and talk about what it takes to scale a software business, hire and recruit developers, and we discuss future trends in digital marketing. Joe also provides his insight into how best to leverage an MBA education and the relationships you build while at school.
Discussion Topics:

(2:43) The skills needed to start a business and then scale it.

(5:44) Keeping motivated when faced with failures and setbacks.

(8:40) Bootstrapping a business from the ground up with the right partner.

(12:45) Launching GrepBeat and helping entrepreneurs share their stories.

(18:04) Building company culture and recruiting and retaining software engineers.

(23:56) Community involvement and Joe’s experiences in the Peace Corps.

(29:35) Future trends in omni-channel digital marketing.

(38:11) Advice for putting an MBA education to best use in one’s career.

Next Episode

The Global Art Market, Luxury Goods and Female Representation on Boards and in Business School Cases with Helen Bulwik

Helen Bulwik is an experienced CEO, board director, strategic advisor and executive mentor. Helen has been the CEO of six middle-market private equity-owned companies. She has led business development and client strategy for the retail management consulting practices of IBM, Accenture and the Tom Peters Group, and she started her career as a merchandiser for Macy’s. Helen has also served on more than a dozen private and public boards, and she has been the only female on every one of them. Helen has a Bachelor of Science and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley.

Helen is also the founder of Pacific Art Group which has over 10,000 images, sold in over 122 countries. As a retail and eCommerce art guru, Helen talks about the art market, recent changes to retail and what company’s like Macy’s need to do be successful going forward. Helen also provides her advice for female executives looking to join corporate boards. Finally, we discuss why only 11% of business school cases involve female protagonists and what needs to take place in order to help change that.

Discussion Topics:

(2:55) Adjusting to COVID-10 lock downs from a business and personal standpoint.

(5:51) The global art market and growth in Chinese contemporary art.

(9:22) Trends in online art and the impact of COVID-19 on sales.

(15:25) Macy’s Inc. plan to reclaim luxury leadership.

(20:21) The future of retail post-COVID-19.

(23:04) Advice for female executives looking to join corporate boards.

(27:25) Female protagonists in business school cases.