Rafael Braga

Vanderbilt University, Owen Graduate School of Management

“A passionate person whose motivation is based on exploring what takes off the comfort zone.”

Hometown: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Fun Fact About Yourself: I used to swim professionally for seven years until I quit before I entered in the university to focus on my studies.

Undergraduate School and Major: Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro – Industrial Engineering

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Clubbi – Head of Growth Strategy

What has been your favorite part of Nashville so far? Why? Undoubtedly Centennial Park. I go there very often to exercise or just chill. I think the atmosphere of that place is unique and a perfect place to refuel my energy.

Aside from your classmates and location, what was the key part of Vanderbilt Owen’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? What really caught my attention during my decision process was the Leadership Development program. As my leadership skills development was one of my main goals with the MBA, being part of a personalized program that mapped my critical aspects to be improved with the assistance of renowned coaches of the market bringing a realistic opinion about how to approach my weaknesses was fundamental for my professional growth.

What course, club or activity have you enjoyed the most so far at Vanderbilt Owen? The Consulting Club, specifically the Sunday Sessions on the first module. That was an incredible opportunity for people with different areas of interest (not only consulting) to read a problem and approach it the best possible way, asking the right questions, applying a variety of frameworks, and communicating in a concise way.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: The biggest accomplishment of my career was to develop a solution – an interactional chatbot – able to support a company which growth went from 0 to 100,000 clients in a year and became a reference in the Brazilian market.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far? By now, my biggest accomplishment outside the classes is helping Vandy community with my job as a Student Fellow in the Recruiting and Admissions team. I support prospective students for the next MBA Class sharing my experience and encouraging them to overcome the fears I had in the past with the application process.

What has been your best memory as an MBA so far? My best memory as an MBA was on the first meeting with all MBA class after the orientation week and Math camp, when I was able to meet all my colleagues in a conference with University’s Dean and the university staff that helped throughout the process.

DON’T MISS: MEET VANDERBILT OWEN’S MBA CLASS OF 2025/