Evan Brush

Columbia Business School

“I have attempted to live for others and want to maintain that ethos in business.”

Hometown: Virginia Beach, Virginia

Fun Fact About Yourself: I am married to the most beautiful librarian in New York City.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Virginia, English and History

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC), Intelligence Officer

What word best describes the Columbia Business School MBA students and alumni you’ve met so far and why? The word that best describes everyone I’ve met in the CBS community has been compassionate. That’s not an easy thing to achieve in a city stereotypically thought of as one of the busiest and toughest on Earth. Despite the constant buzz of opportunities, activities, and fast pace of the program and city, students and alumni went out of their way to set me up for success from initial informational chats, the application process, starting recruitment, and moving across the country to Manhattan.

Aside from your classmates and location, what was the key part of Columbia Business School’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? One awesome thing about Columbia is that in addition to jumping into their Core Curriculum, they also begin your first semester with an intensive ‘Lead: People, Teams, and Organizations’ course. Professor Akinola is as engaging and insightful as it gets and it has been a tremendous start to group work, in-person learning, and diving into business school.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at Columbia Business School?Having spent nearly three years of my career overseas, I am really hopeful that study abroad opportunities will be possible during my time at CBS. Their Chazen Institute for Global Business promotes travel opportunities around the globe. I would love to participate in one of their Global Immersion Programs, which is a half term class that culminates in a one-week trip to a particular country of focus. Past trips have included incredible locations like Ghana, South Africa, Israel, and the Philippines among many others.

What makes New York City such a great place to earn an MBA? A huge part of an MBA is not just networking with classmates and potential employers but truly building friendships with them. There isn’t a more fun, interesting, and diverse place to do that in than New York City. Every night that we aren’t studying or completing group projects, there are events and activities that I would never have been exposed to were it not for my creative classmates planning an incredible range of activities in one of the most vibrant cities on earth.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I am honored to have had the opportunity to learn from some of the most competent intelligence professionals in the military while at MARSOC. I am proud to have led a team of them to Somalia and return having made a difference there.

How did COVID-19 change your perspective on your career and your life in general? I was deployed during the beginning of COVID-19 and, to the shock of many of my classmates, used Zoom for the first time when doing my first business school interview more than 10 months into the pandemic. However, since returning, it has made me truly appreciate and cherish in-person learning and social events with my classmates. Finally, it has made me realize that there will always be unexpected challenges for our society that require us to look out for one another and strive for the greater good in both business and our personal lives.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point and what do you hope to do after graduation? Although the networking and recruiting opportunities from an MBA are unparalleled, I truly need to build a new skill-set in order to successfully transition to the private sector. I look forward to building the quantitative toolkit I will need by learning from my incredible professors and classmates at CBS.

I plan to recruit for consulting. I hope both when in consulting — and possibly in a subsequent career at a startup — to help bridge the gap between private sector innovation and our military. I would love to help bring cutting edge technology to our soldiers, sailors, and Marines around the world who need it most.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? HBS, Wharton, Stanford, Columbia, and Tuck

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into Columbia Business School’s MBA program? To other active duty military and veterans thinking of applying, I would give them three pieces of advice. First, reach out to vets who are current students or alumni via on campus veterans clubs for advice and guidance in the application process. Second, suck it up and put in the study time for the GRE or GMAT — but still apply even if you aren’t totally happy with your score. And third, New York is different than most of the places we experienced in the military, but it is really an amazing and unique place to take the next step- keep CBS in mind when applying!

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