Meet the Babson Olin MBA Class of 2018

Blake Chanowski

Babson College, F.W. Olin School of Business

Describe yourself in 15 words or less: Non-profit operations expert who wants to find a way to sell “joy” to consumers.

Hometown: Newton, MA

Fun Fact About Yourself: I have a “see the change,” jar. I taught public speaking and every time I saw an immediate and impactful change in one of my students I put their name and the date in the jar.

Undergraduate School and Major: Emory University – Political Science

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation:

Improper Bostonian – Marketing Intern (6 months)

Charley’s Saloon – Bartender (2 years)

Swim Across America – Senior Vice President of Operations (9 years)

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Tripling the size of Swim Across America’s (SAA) revenue. SAA is a non-profit that raises money for cancer and I was able to meet some of the physician scientists whose research wouldn’t be able to continue without our support.

Looking back on your experience, what advice would you give to future business school applicants? Pick a program that doesn’t define success as immense wealth only. Spend your MBA learning not only to be efficient and strategic, but also impactful. A program that values social and environmental change will attract the kind of people you want to be in the trenches with.

What led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA? Babson was the only school I applied to. If I didn’t get in, I wasn’t getting my MBA. I felt that I could probably fill the gaps in my institutional knowledge on my own, but Babson would change my state of mind and mold me into the kind of entrepreneur I want to be.

Tell us about your dream job or dream employer at this point in your life? I came to Babson with the value proposition that I want my business to provide, but without the actual business idea, which seems strange to say. My dream is to provide instantaneous joy at an affordable price. I want to share a product or service that causes an immediate and apparent change in mood.

What would you like your business school peers to say about you after you graduate from this program? After I graduate, I would want my peers to say that I was brave, and that I took appropriate risks. Coming from a non-profit background, risk is generally avoided, so moving to the private sector requires something of a change in attitude.