Chukwuka Stanley Ekeocha

Indiana University, Kelley School of Business

“A Dad, a personal development enthusiast, an evolving business leader, who is passionate about excellence.”

Hometown: Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria

Fun Fact About Yourself: I relish my childhood memory of sitting out in the village square at night under moonlight and listening to folk tales

Undergraduate School and Major:

Undergraduate – Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka (Applied Microbiology and Brewing),

Graduate School – Federal University of Technology Minna (Business Management Technology)

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Hyde Energy Limited – Regional Sales Manager

In the second half of the year, you will be completing an Academy devoted to areas like Marketing, Finance, Operations, Digital Enterprises and more. Which Academy interests you the most and why? I find myself attracted to the Business Marketing Academy. The Kelley School of Business is renowned for the phenomenal impact it makes on students through curricular and co-curricular activities, as well as support by experienced staff. This is evidenced by impressive ranking of Kelley’s marketing concentration across various platforms. As businesses strive to allocate resources optimally to meet their goals, there is need for strategic marketing decisions. There are constant changes in consumer tastes, preferences, technology, government policy, world events such as COVID, and wars (with capability to disrupt supply chains) and many more. As a result, businesses need to find innovative ways to profitably engage with their partners and customers. Kelley’s Business Marketing Academy will equip me with the resources to make such marketing decisions using data and insights. I am also drawn to the concept of Philanthropy Marketing, in which the sole aim of marketing activities would not be profits, but rather to make the world a better place which aligns with my personal goal.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of Indiana Kelley’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? Having worked for over 10 years in Nigeria, I needed an MBA program that will help reinvent and position me for the future. In the course of interacting with various business schools, I found the ‘personal touch’ from Kelley School of Business outstanding. The small class size, interaction with staff, students, and alumni all showed a passion not only to know me by name, but also to know my background, my story, and my aspirations — with the intention to guide me through the journey. These they do in all humility. After going through the components of the Kelley Full Time MBA program, I immediately knew that Me, Inc was essential to my evolution journey and I was drawn to the school like a magnet.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at Indiana Kelley? The Global Business and Social Enterprise (GLOBASE) program is an activity that excites me the most at Indiana Kelley. It serves as a platform to support various business entities around the globe, equipping them to attain higher level of impact in their communities. The diverse culture, work experience, and expertise that the MBAs bring to bear through this program have the capacity to revolutionize businesses which in most cases have not had such level of professional touch. I find such engagement exciting and fulfilling as it opens a world of opportunities to business owners while offering Kelley an avenue to give back to humanity.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: One of my biggest accomplishments so far is successfully turning around a brand which was already in death phase in a region (5 states) to growth phase starting from month one. Consumers and trade partners’ apathy was high at the time of resumption with three prior months recording no revenue. At exit (36 months), the region had grown tremendously to achieve the highest sales revenue (value and volume) in its 50-year history.

Also, through my startup, Ruthstan Integrated Services Limited, I have helped scale businesses in Nigeria access micro credit of over $1.1 million in two years.

What is one thing you have recently read, watched, or listened to that you would highly recommend to prospective MBAs? Why? I would recommend that prospective MBAs go beyond first line information of business schools to identify their program of choice. It would help them discover if the business school is indeed a good ‘fit’ for them. In my case, I actively searched for Podcasts of various business schools to gain more insight into their culture. Kelley’s ROI Podcast was amazing. The topics and resources shared were so rich. It was such that while waiting for admission decision, the application of the knowledge gained helped me in my personal and professional life. It also affirmed that Kelley School of Business was a good fit for me.

Prospective MBAs will also find interviews with admission gatekeepers and admission events helpful. Also, I would recommend that prospective MBAs write out their school selection criteria (possibly five or more) in order of priority. Thereafter, use a table to make comparisons across various business schools. This will help them to stay focused in their school search while ensuring their long-term goals are met.

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into Indiana Kelley’s MBA program? My advice to potential applicants is for them to reflect on their life story, identify where they are in their journey, and envisage how a Kelley MBA will help them advance towards their goal(s). The outcome of the above should be communicated in their application and essays. Indiana Kelley’s website managers and communication team are doing a great job. The website contains a lot of information that will be helpful to prospective MBAs. Ample time should be dedicated to read through the website and I am sure they would love to go from “Moment to Momentum.”

DON’T MISS: MEET INDIANA KELLEY’S MBA CLASS OF 2024