Meet the MBA Class of 2025: Colby Blatnik, TCU Neeley

Colby Blatnik

“I’m a former Division I student athlete and the youngest member of the cohort”

Hometown: Frisco, Texas

Fun Fact About Yourself: I got married off the Amalfi Coast this past summer.

Undergraduate School and Major: Oklahoma State University, BSBA in Marketing

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Lockton/Health care Consultant

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far:
Earning the Oklahoma State Student Athlete Award. This award has been my biggest accomplishment thus far because it represents how I was able to dedicate more than 50 hours per week to athletics while concurrently achieving academic excellence by graduating in three years with a 3.94 GPA.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career?
I chose to enroll into an MBA program directly from undergrad to differentiate myself in the job market and gain different perspectives from my fellow class candidates.

What word best describes the TCU MBA students and alumni you’ve met so far?
Passionate. Every current student and alum have a passion to become great in their field and passion for the university.

Aside from classmates, what was the key part of TCU’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you?
I chose TCU for their focus on experiential learning and the small cohort size. I am excited to begin Neeley & Associates Consultants this spring. This unique class offers students the opportunity to work as an outside consultant within their industry of interest. As the youngest member of the cohort, I truly value experiential learning opportunities because they will allow me to gain the much-needed industry experience I lack.

What is your favorite course as an MBA and/or favorite professor and why?
One of my favorite professors thus far has been Dr. Weltman because of the excitement and passion for business analytics that he spreads through his lectures. The occasional Kahoot quiz also keeps the class engaged and competitive.

What club or activity have you enjoyed the most so far at TCU?
My favorite activity is the weekly graduate student pickleball games. It allows for our cohort to connect with each other, as well as graduate students from other Neeley programs. It’s a very fun, light hearted competition that lets us all take a break from our studies.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far?
My biggest accomplishment so far as an MBA student has been winning the Dell Case Competition in Austin, Texas, during our orientation. Our entire cohort traveled to Dell’s headquarters in Austin, where we were given a current problem, the company is facing within their 13-inch laptop market. We were given 48 hours to come up with a data-backed solution to present to a panel of executives. Our final product showcased how quickly our team was able to fuse together, determine everyone’s strengths and weaknesses, and put forth a great final product.

What surprised you the most about business school?
I’ve mostly been surprised by how conceptual this program has been and the focus not only on understanding strategy, but on its implementation to achieve specific results and impact. For example, we just wrapped up financial reporting where we had an eight-week long project to understand a company’s financial well-being by analyzing their 10-K report. We discussed the company’s organizational structure, financial statements, and earnings to identify challenges and opportunities. While difficult, this conceptual project furthered my knowledge and comfortability to work with financial statements and apply them to help steer future direction for a company.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list post your MBA?
My two goals are to become a top medical device sales representative in the DFW metroplex and be in a position of management within 5 years.

DON’T MISS MEET TCU NEELEY’S MBA CLASS OF 2025