Good Morning, Harvard Business School!

“This makes it a lot easier for me to get to know people on a lot deeper level, beyond just name and home town and, ‘What did you do before coming to business school?'” he says.

BECOMING A ‘ROCK STAR’ AT HBS

Later in the episode, he discusses what’s required to become a “rock star” at HBS, where each class of the day covers a different business case, and simply knowing the material is not enough.

“Classes really thrive off of class participation,” he says, “not only in you being prepared as far as what the case is, but also being prepared to share what you need to share and bring value to the conversation.”

In Episode 3, Blackett answers the big question: Is HBS a party school?

After taking a three-hour cruise aboard a multi-level party boat with fellow students on “Yacht Day” and participating in additional revelry, Blackett reveals no lurid details and presents a rather bland conclusion: “It’s a school that definitely has its fair share of parties,” he says. “If you’re definitely looking for a way to unwind and to relax and meet new people and have fun, this is definitely a good place to be.”

So far, Blackett has recorded all three episodes in single takes. “I just really wanted to make sure it’s as real and authentic as possible,” he says. About 100 people have viewed each episode, he says.

Blackett had two other motivations for starting his podcasts. When he’d been preparing to apply for business school, he’d read Poets&Quants religiously, he says, and that got him thinking about what resources were available for b-school applicants. “I’ve taken an example from what [Poets&Quants] were doing. Where is there a void to fill?”

FILLING A VOID WITH PUBLIC SERVICE AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

He identified a void in the area of first-person experience, and by filling that void with his podcasts, he would be accomplishing his other two goals: provide a useful service, and take a step into entrepreneurship.

“A big part of me nowadays as I’ve gotten older is looking at how can I help other people as I go on my own journey,” Blackett says.

Nate Kelly, who’s taking an online MBA program from Arizona State University, became friends with Blackett after coming across “Life in the MBA” on LinkedIn.

“It dives in really deep,” says Kelly, 27, of Phoenix, a senior executive for digital content marketing company Vertical Measures. “There’s a lot of value in there.”

Kelly says he was particularly impressed with Blackett’s thoughts on the importance of business school experiences beyond classes and case studies.

While in college, Blackett relates in Episode 2, he was “really, really academically competitive,” but now at Harvard, he realizes the importance of balancing school work with all the opportunities attending B-school offers.

“You make sure you can cross your Ts and dot your Is when you’re in the classroom, and be able to participate and offer value, definitely, on every one of the cases you read,” Blackett says. “But at the same time, I think, ‘These are two years I likely will never have [again] in my life, and I want to really just maximize what I have, and truly enjoy every bit of the experience, from the academics, to the social events, to the clubs and organizations, to the meeting new people every day, to exploring Boston and Cambridge… not to mention trying to get some sleep every now and then.'”