Uvika Chaturvedi

Columbia Business School

Describe yourself in 15 words or less:

One word – Empower

E – Entrepreneur

M – Mentor

P – Product Manager

O – Optimist

W – Women’s Health

E – Experience-driven

R – Reads Books!

Hometown: New Delhi, Delhi but lived in Bay Area, California for the last 7 years.

Fun Fact About Yourself: I am a Cartoonist. I love writing and illustrating books aimed towards children.

Undergraduate School and Major:

• Purdue University (Bachelor’s in Industrial Engineering)
• UC Berkeley (Master’s in Operations Research)

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Co-founder at TRST. I have worked in Product Management at Apple and Ro for most of my career.

What makes New York City such a great place to earn an MBA? What could be better than earning an Ivy League MBA in the business capital of the world. NYC has a fire that motivates you to do “change the world” kind of stuff. I can’t stop myself from quoting Jay-Z here, ‘The big lights will inspire you.’

Aside from your classmates and location, what was the key part of Columbia Business School’s MBA curriculum programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? I am most excited about The Lang Center at Columbia Business School, which supports students in solving big problems and leading change within a vibrant and collaborative environment of continuous learning and innovation. My current startup TRST is about behavior change for people trying to improve their cardio-metabolic health. It is an important yet competitive industry – the Eugene M. Lang Entrepreneurship Center has the resources and the power to help me change the way people think about cardio-metabolic health!

What has been your first impression of the Columbia Business School MBA students and alumni you’ve met so far. Tell us your best CBS story so far.

1. I talked to a lot of alumni who were at the top of their fields yet so approachable and humble, considering I reached them out on LinkedIn.

2. At Apple and even with my current startup, I have always prioritized working with people who make me feel creative and curious. The same spirit I found in the alumni I talked to. To give you an example, one of them was a theater actor pursuing a career in strategy (how cool is that!).

3. Lastly, all of them loved their time at CBS! Quoting a line from a CBS alum and the former VP of Entrepreneurship Club – “A CBS MBA will already put you at the top in the business capital of the world.”

What course, club or activity excites you the most at Columbia Business School? There are so many, but I am the most excited about the Entrepreneurship Club, Health Care Industry Association, and Health and Wellness Club. There is one course which seemed like it was just designed for me – Investing in Digital Health Startups.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: During my time at Apple, I got to work on Apple Women’s Health Study with Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, fostering more research in women’s health. An example of the work I got to be a part of was this study update that focused on destigmatizing menstrual symptoms. In addition to working in a field that is devoid of research and medical advancement, women’s health is close to my heart because of my own personal health journey!

What do you hope to do after graduation? While I am open to possibilities that my journey at CBS will lead me to, I am most excited to continue to build and scale my startup!

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Stanford GSB, Harvard Business School, Wharton, Yale SOM, MIT Sloan

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into Columbia Business School’s MBA program? In addition to the basics of the admission application – be yourself, research CBS well, and highlight the impact of your work – ensure you have a clear vision of how an MBA from CBS fits well in your big picture. I got interviews from most of the schools I applied to and the CBS one was the most rigorous. The interview is usually with an alum, someone very senior in your field, who ensures you have thought your decision through. At the end of my interview, I just knew CBS is the place for me!

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