Drew Stern, Class of 2008

Hometown: Sanibel Island, Florida
Undergraduate degree: BA in History from Tufts University
Graduate degree: MA in Music Theatre from NYU Steinhardt School of Education
Prior work experience: My work experience centers within Arts and Entertainment Management. After moving to New York for my first masters degree, I began working in television and concert production as a production manager. I had the opportunity to work on many interesting productions and events including a Dave Matthews Band Concert in Central Park, U2's Surprise Concert in DUMBO, the VH1/Vouge Fashion Awards at Radio City and the Tribeca Film Festival. After several years of this, I moved into Arts management and worked as the Business Manager on a very large private art collection housed in New York City.
Current specialization(s): Marketing, Strategy
Club affiliation(s): Graduate Marketing Association, OutClass, Block Leader
Career interest(s): Marketing (both Financial Services and Consumer Packaged Goods), Internal Strategy, Business Development
Summer internship: Marketing at American Express, Establishment Services Business Unit in Network and Merchant Marketing
Full-time position after graduation: Marketing Manager in Global Merchant Services at American Express
NYC neighborhood: Upper East Side

View past entries

As I’m getting into the middle of my last semester, I thought now would be a good time to write about my classes as a 2^nd semester MBA2. Classes this semester have been challenging and riveting. Since I have already taken enough classes in both my declared specializations, Strategy and Marketing, I decided that it was time to round out my business education by taking all the classes that I find incredibly interesting. To that end, I am taking Corporate Finance, Brand Strategy, Multinational Business Management with an emphasis on China, Global Perspectives on Enterprise Systems and Professional Responsibility. 

My classes really show the extent to which academics here at Stern are so strong. Most prospective students have heard of one of Stern’s most famous professors, Professor Damodaran. While I wouldn’t consider finance my strongest area, I find that Professor Damodaran’s lectures are enlightening to anyone that is interested in business. His ability to pull on real life examples and breath life into the finance topics is amazing to me. I especially look forward to his discussions and insight on current events such as the sub-prime markets and trading scandals. 

Staying with my interest in Marketing, I decided to take Brand Strategy with Professor Galloway. This class has been a great way to round out my Marketing studies here at Stern as it not only focuses on branding products, but also on ways to differentiate products, services, organizations and even oneself. We also have real world clients for whom we are doing a comprehensive brand strategy, so it’s great to know that the hard work we put into the class will actually be put to use in a company.

My Multinational Business Management class taught by Professor Guthrie is incredibly interesting because his main body of research has been on China. It is such a treat to study with someone who is so knowledgeable, in-tune and excited about a subject the way my professor is about doing business in China. Business in China is such a complex and nuanced subject that it is invaluable to have an expert leading you through your discussions. 

This is just a sampling of the great classes and topics I am taking in my last semester here at Stern. I hope this lends some insight that academics remain interesting and intense right up to graduation and that you have many great opportunities to learn amazing things here at Stern. 

As my time here at Stern nears its end (I can’t believe that I’m graduating in a few months!), I have been relishing all of the amazing social activities that are at my finger tips. Just in the last week, I have gone to four awesome events through my Stern network that were a blast.

Last Wednesday, one of my fellow classmates, Charlie Cole, performed a solo rock gig at a local bar. The turn out was great, and the performance was really fun. I think the popularity of Charlie’s show exemplifies the supportiveness of the Stern community. We all came out and filled up a village bar to support a friend’s performance. Pretty awesome. 

On Thursday, we had Beer Blast. With only a few Beer Blasts left, I have been making sure that I attend as many as I can. I love Beer Blast because it allows all the students to come together and chill after a hard academic week. I always get to know someone better and build deeper relationships with close friends. 

Friday was a truly awesome night. Stern’s Social Enterprise Association sponsored an event called Think Social, Drink Local at an architecture design studio by school. They also teamed up with the Luxury & Retail Club to put on a really cool fashion show. Fellow classmates were the models, and we even had an appearance by our own Dean Gary Fraser and Assistant Dean Pam Mittman! It was so much fun to see the show, hang out with friends and have a few local beers. The event was sold out and a great way to kick-off the weekend.

Lastly, on Saturday one of my blockmates organized the Beer Olympics at a local bar for Stern students. While you didn’t need to drink to attend (as I didn’t), it was a great time to play some bar games, hang out and have fun. It was great to get to see some of my blockmates that I don’t have classes with anymore and catch up with them.

Each of these events gave me one more opportunity to get to know my fellow classmates even better than I did before. I think the fact that there is always something going on and always something interesting to do is so typically Stern and typically New York. You have so many social opportunities here right at your fingertips, it is amazing. I know that I will miss all of this excitement when I start work! And I can honestly say that if I could start Stern all over again today, I would. So those of you that are coming to Stern, have fun!

Wow. I can’t believe that I’m back for my last semester here at NYU Stern. On the first day of the semester I had the realization that it was my last 1^st day of school! That might not seem like a big deal, but Stern is such an awesome place to go to school, I’m sad to see it ending so quickly. It’s hard to convey in a blog, but here at Stern I have some of my best friends, trusted colleagues and my network. I can simply walk into our building and know almost everyone, students and faculty, that walks by. That is am amazing feeling, and one that I know I will miss. I actually feel a little jealous of all of you out there that will be coming to Stern next year because if I could do it again, I would!

So, school’s off and running. I had an amazing trip to South America with other Stern students. We went to Argentina and Brazil for almost 3 weeks meeting with other NYU students here and there. It was so much fun to randomly meet up with friends all over the place, build on relationships and explore… and drink way too much wine and Caipirhanas!

This semester should be a fun and challenging one with tough classes but lots of social events to attend. In fact, I’m off to an OutClass bar blast in a few! Time to have a few drinks and catch up with the other club members! Catch you soon.

"Friendship is like a prism through which the many variations of beauty are revealed in our lives."  
- Anon.

Well, it has been such a quick semester. I really can’t believe how quickly it has gone by! You will find here at Stern that you are very involved in classes, networking, clubs and social events and the time just flies! I have had such a great semester, and there are a few things that really stand out in my mind about this semester that I would like to share with you.

• Starting this semester (way back in September) and returning back to classes was like coming home. After a long summer away from campus, retuning to classes in September was so much fun. Everyone was curious about each others summers, travels and lives. It reminded me how much I love going to school here, and how I have made some amazing friendships along the way.
• My classes were really interesting, and I learned so much. Having already finished my core requirements, this semester was more about honing my learning with more specific lessons. I truly think that I’ve not only further strengthened my business understanding this year, but also developed my critical business thinking. Stern really helps you learn how to think and react like a top notch business professional. This skill helped me this past summer and will help me in the future as well.
• My club and community events were amazing. For example, this year OutClass sponsored World AIDS Day on campus. We made and handed out over 750 red ribbons and passed out information about the epidemic to our peers. We stressed how AIDS is a global epidemic that affects us all personally and in business and the gesture was so well received. It is club events and collaboration like this that truly help Stern students network and build relationships. They really can be a highlight of one's time here.
• Lastly, planning my winter recess trip with my fellow classmates to South America has been really exciting. At Stern, spring classes are pushed back two weeks so that first years can interview for summer internships without having classes at the same time. So for second years, we have about five weeks off! Because of this, I have decided to go to Argentina and Brazil for almost a month! I will be traveling with my good friend and fellow GA Arathi Krishnamurthy the entire time but will be meeting up with other Stern students almost every other day. We will be staying with one of my Argentinean friends in Buenos Aires, meeting the Doing Business in Argentina Stern class some, traveling to Rio with one of my assigned study group mates (and his friends) and have another Stern travel companion meeting us in Rio for the last portion of our trip! I think the fact that I am choosing to spend my entire vacation with other Stern classmates, and the fact that I am meeting up, here and there, with so many of them, truly speaks to the strength of the relationships one builds here at Stern. My classmates are some of my best friends, and I cannot think of anyone better to spend so much time with!

With that, I say so long for now! I hope you all have a great holiday! 

"One belongs to New York instantly, one belongs to it as much in five minutes as in five years."
 - Thomas Wolfe

One thing is for sure… The Stern experience would not be the same were it not for being located in New York City. If you’ve never been, NYC has energy like no other city that I’ve been to in the world.  There is always something going on, at all times of the day and something new to explore.  The culture, the food, the shopping and the diversity of people make NYC an awesome place to go to school.

For example, this past Sunday, I woke up early got my coffee, went to the gym and then headed over to watch the NYC Marathon.  I love Marathon day because they shut down 1^st Ave where I live and the neighborhood turns into a big block party!  35,000 runners pant their way through the street, and it is a crazy sight.  I sat outside at a café for lunch and watched the runners go by and cheered.  After doing that for a while, I when to an art house movie theater and saw a really good foreign film.  I did a good bit of homework for my classes, and then headed out to a great restaurant for dinner and drinks with friends!  It was a great day, but honestly, it was like most of my days.  NYC always has something going on, and that’s what I love about it. 

Another special aspect of NYC is all the culture.  Theatre, opera, music, rock concerts, museums and dance are happening every night. I only wish I actually had time to do it all!  I do try and do at least a few Broadway shows a year (currently my favorite is Wicked), visit a few museums a year and head to some concerts too. 

Other than the culture, I spend a lot of time in Central Park.  The Park is always packed on warm days and it’s so much fun to walk around, bike, run or have a picnic.  Sometimes Stern’s Rugby team has matches in the park, and we head over and watch them play, which is always entertaining! 

It is so hard to convey the true awesomeness of NYC. It is a melting pot of people, culture and excitement!  If you’ve never been you have to visit, and if you have visited before… it’s time to live here!

Best,
Drew

"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand."
- Confucius

As a Graduate Ambassador, I hear many questions about the real-world learning opportunities here at Stern. Certainly there are many chances to learn more than reading from a text book, and professors here at Stern take advantage of those non-text book learnings. All of our classes here use cases to enhance our learnings. Some classes rely solely on cases for the main readings. Further, most classes will have speakers come in and discuss their experiences. With all this in mind, I will discuss some of my many real-world learning experiences for you now.

• Last year in my Operations core class we studied a Steinway Piano case. The case looked at issues the company was having within its assembly line as a custom operation. Essentially, it takes a really long time for a piano to be turned from raw materials into an actually piano, and the company was weighing ways to speed up the process while maintaining the highest quality. We then had the chance to go out to the Steinway factory in Queens and see first hand how they build their instruments. It really brought the case to life, seeing the wood chips on the floor, the workers bending wood and creating pianos.
• In my Marketing class, we reviewed a case on the NY Mets Baseball team. The team was considering how to allocate their marketing dollars. The marketing department had to forecast its marketing spend before the season actually kicked off and before the “winningness” of the team could be established. Also, advertising for season ticket holders and single game tickets had to be planned in advance. Our class talked about the case, and then the marketing team came to campus for a panel discussion. They were really able to shed more insight onto the case which was invaluable. (Also, the entire incoming class gets to go to a Mets game during Pre-term, so you can see we have a great working relationship with the team!)
• In my Strategy class, we had an awesome chance to go down to Atlantic City and visit with Harrah’s Hotel & Casino. Our professor rented a bus and took us down to the property where we met with the general manager and marketing team. Not only did they really shed light on the gaming industry and Harrah’s strategy, we also had a few hours to walk around the facility and see it all in action. The trip was a real eye-opener as I had never considered the intricacies of the hotel and casino industry. Also, the day was a blast!
• One of my favorites was when Martha Stewart and the Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia President and CEO, Susan Lyne, came to speak to us about the many businesses of their company, the challenges that they had experienced in the past few years and about their backgrounds. It was a really interesting discussion and Q&A. Stern students have this type opportunity weekly if not more often, to hear successful business leaders speak about their experiences.

I do have many other real-world experiences, but I think these really represent the highlights and are representative of the many opportunities available to Stern students. I hope this sheds some light on the awesome learning opportunities we have here at Stern! 

Things have been getting pretty busy for me here at school.

Last week I attended the Reaching Out National LGBT Conference in San Francisco. It was a blast. There were over 450 students from across the country and 400 recruiters there as well. I had the opportunity to meet with other LGBT students and professionals from all over and really build my personal network. We had panel discussions and round tables and social events! 

Another noteworthy aspect of the conference was that NYU hosted an Admissions table during the career fair. We were one of the only schools that decided to have a table, and I think it shows the true acceptance of LGBT students at NYU. The Admissions Department told me that they wanted to primarily support Stern students at the conference by having a table and also wanted to have a presence for both prospective students and recruiters. I believe that this commitment from NYU further exemplifies the supportive community here. I felt truly honored to be from Stern at the conference knowing that our OutClass club was being supported by the school!

Here at Stern, I’ve also been doing my best to make our weekly Thursday night Beer Blasts. For those of you that don’t know, every Thursday night we have a social mixer on campus with beer and wine. Each week the Beer Blast is sponsored by a different Stern club and has a different theme. The Blasts are really an awesome opportunity to hang out with your fellow students and just get a chance to chill. So much of B school can be about classes and recruiting, that it is really nice to have a time and place to just hang out. After Beer Blast ends, students all head to the same bar which just gives us all more time to have some fun as a group. I think that this social aspect of getting your MBA is important. I personally want a place where I not only like to work on projects with other students but also want to hang out and get to know them as well. Stern is a great place to do both and really provides a great opportunity to build your personal network. I have to say that many of my closest friends are now at school, and they will remain close friends for life!

"None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson 

So, I have some good news! I was offered full time employment at American Express next year in marketing, and I accepted the offer! I have to say that it feels great to have officially been successful in my career change. All the hard work of applying to B-school, studying hard, networking and recruiting have paid off. Not only that, I am so happy to be returning to American Express after a really awesome summer internship. With all this on my mind, I thought I’d tell you a little more about my recruiting experiences and summer internship.

Preparing for recruiting really begins day one of NYU Stern. You arrive with your resume completed in the Stern format for a working resume session during pre-term. After that, you begin career sessions on Fridays where you learn about industries, functions, interviews, career guidance and networking. A little over a month into school, formal recruiting begins. Companies give corporate presentations about summer opportunities, and students are able to network with employees. Also, companies sponsor "lunch and learns" where they might do a case study followed by Q&A. The Graduate Marketing Association was very good at setting up these types of events as well as visits to companies like Kraft and Colgate. Further, OutClass had several LGBT mixers with companies, including American Express, where I was able to network. (To see a full list of OutClass’ events visit people.stern.nyu/outclass or for the Graduate Marketing Association visit people.stern.nyu.edu/gma)

I also had the chance to participate in the IMI (Industry Mentoring Initiative) for career changers. About 15 students looking to switch into marketing were assigned to Stern alum mentors from American Express who helped in the transition of career functions. We had sessions on industry trends, holding an informational interview, mock interviews and resume critique. My mentor was very helpful in getting me prepared for my interviews.

Towards the end of the semester, the Office of Career Development holds mock functional and behavioral interviews which really help you prepare for interviews. Further, the Graduate Marketing Association holds “Mock Madness” where students mock interview each other (again showing how supportive the community is here at Stern). When my interviews started in mid-January, I really felt prepared. I interviewed both for summer positions in financial services marketing and consumer packaged goods. At the end of the day I actually had offers in each industry. 

I decided to accept a summer offer with American Express’ Global Merchant Services division. I had many reasons for this decision. First of all, I was impressed by the best-in-class marketing that comes out of American Express. Also, I liked that I would be working within marketing but still making important strategic choices. Lastly, I was very impressed by the people and culture at American Express. Everyone seemed so happy to work there, and I wanted to be a part of that kind of team. 

Over the summer, I worked on my very own project which had practical business implications and was a priority for the company. I had a great time working with my leader as well as my entire team. I really pushed myself to try to network with as many employees as possible to learn all I could about the company, career opportunities and build my personal network. Over the summer, besides working hard on my project, we had many fun events like weekly happy hours, a trip to a Yankees game, volunteering in Prospect Park and a Harbor Boat Cruise. At the end of the summer, I gave a presentation of my summer project and recommendations to about 60 employees including high level management. Receiving an offer was just icing on the cake after a really fun summer. My decision to accept my offer was very easy after such a great experience. I will be returning to American Express after school in the same business unit in which I worked over the summer.

And this is my career path to American Express! Catch you next week!

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."
-Dr. Seuss

One of the most important aspects of my life here at Stern is my club involvement. Last year I was AVP of Development (a shared position with fellow GA, Arathi Krishnamurthy) in the Graduate Marketing Association (GMA), and this year I am the Co-President of OutClass, the Stern student association for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) students. Clubs here at Stern give you the chance to work with your fellow students towards a common goal and get to know everyone a little better.

The GMA was great for me as a career changer. Last year they had many Lunch & Learns with top marketing professionals, sessions with second years on how to best have an informational interview, and interview mock madness, where students mock interview each other for hours on end. The club really prepared me to go out there and start networking with marketing professionals and not fall on my face. They also held events with companies like American Express, Citi, Kraft, Colgate, Unilever and L’Oreal where alums working at these companies would come back and speak about their experiences. Lastly, I had the chance to really get to know all the other students interested in marketing, build my personal network and have some fun at the same time. I seem to remember (or barley remember) a GMA cocktail hour where I had one too many “Marketinis!”

This year I stepped up my involvement in the Stern club OutClass and became Co-President with my good friend Dan Kurak. OutClass' mission is "to help gay and lesbian students at Stern to understand and manage work place diversity concerns as they relate to their personal career objectives." The organization seeks to serve as a professional, educational and social forum for gay and lesbian students, alumni, faculty, administration and the broader NYU community.

Essentially, OutClass is a family of LGBT friends that seeks to help our fellow business school students understand LGBT issues, recruit with accepting companies and have a blast! For those of you concerned about being out at school, Stern is a very supportive environment, and I’ve never had any problems being out and supposedly, Stern has the largest population of out students of any top business school. The club also helps students network with progressive companies, and last year we had recruiting events with companies like Bain, Citi, American Express, Lehman Brothers and JPMorgan. Also, a group of us went to China on a Trek and had the opportunity to meet some out Chinese students who took us out on the town in Beijing. For more information, check out the OutClass website.

Another upcoming OutClass event I’m really excited about is the Reaching Out Conference in San Francisco on October 11 - 14. Last year Stern co-hosted the conference in NYC, and it was awesome! LGBT MBAs come together along with out working professionals and companies to network, discuss current business issues facing the community and recruit. I will be there this year hosting a table for NYU Stern Admissions during the career fair, so if you are there, swing by and say hi! Also, I think Margret Cho is the keynote speaker! How cool is that? 

"Most successful men have not achieved their distinction by having some new talent or opportunity presented to them. They have developed the opportunity that was at hand." 
-Bruce Marton

In an attempt to get you all caught up on my MBA experiences, I would like to continue to describe my first year at Stern. Truth be told, my NYU Stern career did not start in late August as you might expect, instead, I had the great opportunity to join the Summer Start class in July, 2006. 

You know, when I was accepted into the Summer Start Program, I really had no idea what to expect. NYU describes Summer Start as “an innovative program designed to help students begin realizing their leadership potential while getting an early start on their course work. The program was launched in response to input from current students and MBA applicants who asked for formal summer programming and in response to corporate recruiters who continue to seek talent with well-developed soft skills.” So, was it a program for students with diverse backgrounds? Was it a “head start” so to speak?  I really wasn’t sure, but I decided that any additional programming or opportunity that was presented to me, while getting my MBA, I would happily take, so I went ahead and joined the program. 

I must say, I couldn’t have had a better experience during the summer. First, it really was helpful for me to start thinking about everything that goes into getting an MBA before all the madness of the first semester started. It helped me get ramped up into the whole “back to school” thing. Second, it was awesome to get the chance to knock out a few classes a little early. We took Statistics, Management Communications and Collaboration, Conflict & Negotiation (which was particularly fun to show up to class and get to simulate high-stacks negotiations with classmates!) Lastly, and to me, most importantly, the other students in Summer Start were truly amazing people to get know on such an intimate scale. There were about sixty of us, and we were the only MBA students in the building. Needless to say, we got to know each other really well and had a lot of fun.  Some of my best friends from school now include Summer Start students.

After the summer, first semester started in late August and was very hectic till December. First semester at Stern is often sighted as the hardest semester here for many reasons. You have 5 class (I had 4 since I already took Stats), you are recruiting with companies for summer internships, you a joining clubs and taking leadership positions and you are going out with friends! Yes! Very busy!!!

Since I had that one less class, I decided that I really wanted to take on some leadership roles here at school. I was elected to be a Block 5 Leader (along with fellow GA Rebecca Cohl). The block concept is really simple. The entire Stern class of about 420 students is broken up into 6 blocks of about 65 students with whom you take most of your core classes. Then each block elects 3 leaders to act as representatives to our student government, liaise with faculty and most important, set up parties! Being a block leader is really fun, and we had the chance to plan some cool events for the block like drinks in the AOL/ Time Warner building before the Charity Ball, organize teams for the Block Olympics and volunteer for the MS Bike Ride. 

I also joined the Graduate Marketing Association and OutClass, Stern’s LGBT Student’s club… But more on that next week! 

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."
-Confucius

Welcome, to my blog. My name is Drew Stern- no relation to Leonard! I’m an MBA 2 here at Stern, and I’m very excited to be writing my very first blog about my life here at Stern, New York City and my career aspirations.

I have to admit that several years ago I would have never imagined that one day I would be sitting in Stern’s Graduate Ambassador’s office writing a blog about how Stern has truly influenced my life. You see, I’m a career changer and have a non-traditional MBA background. In undergrad I studied history and music and then went on to get my masters in acting. At 22, I considered myself an artist and thought little about a business education. But life had other plans for me. After receiving my first masters degree, I began working as a professional actor here in NYC, but as you can expect, to make ends meet, I took on a side job. I started freelancing in TV and Concert production and very quickly realized that I was well suited for this type of work. I reveled in the excitement and accomplishment of seeing my hard work on the small screen. I soon found myself auditioning less and working more and more in production. This is when I started thinking about my MBA.

For me, getting an MBA really was to accomplish two different tasks. First, I realized that I wanted a career change. Many of the concerts and events that I worked on were sponsored by corporations like AOL/ Time Warner for the Dave Matthews Band Concert in Central Park or American Express’ sponsorship of the Tribeca Film Festival. While I liked the production aspect of these events, I longed to be on the other side of the coin, to be the one who came up with the concept behind these events. In other words, I wanted to go into marketing and strategy. With this in mind, I knew that going for my MBA would allow me to not only learn about career options in these functions, but also give me the opportunity to network and interview with top Fortune 500 companies.

Second, I realized that to work towards this career change, I needed to receive an education in the foundations of business. In undergrad, I never took statistics, economics or finance, and I knew that to be successful in my long-term career aspirations that I needed to gain a stronger foundation in business. So there I was, off to get my MBA.

I did the normal prep for applying to business school; I took the GMATs, read up on schools and visited ones that caught my attention.  And, I must say, NYU Stern truly captured my attention from the beginning. Every interaction I had with the school was a positive one.  The tour, class visit and admissions process all impressed upon me the importance of the Stern community and the strength of the education that I would receive. These two criteria were of the utmost importance to me and are two of the main reasons I love Stern now.

Stay tuned on my blog! I plan on discussing my first year experiences, recruiting, club involvements, summer internship, friends here and life in NYC!