Olivia Manousos

New York University, Stern School of Business

“An entertainment enthusiast bringing stories to life through curiosity, creativity, and connection.”

Hometown: Verona, NJ

Fun Fact About Yourself: I am a bar trivia host!

Undergraduate School and Major: College of William & Mary; Government

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Deloitte Consulting; Consultant

What excites you the most about living in New York City and how do you see it enhancing your learning experience? I am so excited to be in one of the entertainment capitals of the world. My favorite celebrity is on SNL this weekend? Let me just hop on the subway to 30 Rock and join the standby line to get a ticket. An artist is doing a pop-up concert in Washington Square Park? I’m there!

There are so many unique entertainment experiences right at my fingertips in NYC, which will enable me to learn and participate in the entertainment industry year-round. I won’t have to wait until my summer internship to dive deep into the industry. Instead, I will be able to talk one-on-one with industry leaders and gain hands-on experience daily, helping me pinpoint exactly what parts of the industry I want to grow my career in.

Also, moving back to the Tri-State means I get more home-cooked meals from my grandfather, so that’s not too bad either.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of NYU Stern’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? Stern’s Entertainment & Media MBA Specialization made the school an automatic yes for me. The specialization is uniquely holistic, with opportunities to explore the industry across entertainment-specific classes, experiential opportunities, networking events, global trips, and clubs. No other school, even those that had similar focuses in entertainment, had this much to take advantage of in entertainment across its entire programming. Pairing that with the ability to take 25% of my classes in other NYU schools (which I hope to fulfill at Tisch Kanbar), I will have an understanding of the industry inside and out, both from the business and creative sides.

The best part? NYU Stern has already paved the way for these opportunities. Rather than having to spend my short two years in the MBA program building entertainment opportunities, I am able to be completely immersed and accelerate my industry pivot.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at NYU Stern? One activity that I’m excited to be involved in at NYU Stern is Stern Follies, an end-of-year sketch show about the past year at Stern’s MBA program. I can’t wait to collaborate with creatively-minded peers, reflect on the year’s highs and lows, and bring the entire Stern community together through comedy and storytelling.

What does EQ (Emotional Intelligence) mean to you and when have you seen its value in your career? For me, EQ (Emotional Intelligence) stems from connecting with people. Connecting with others requires you to be curious about other people’s experiences, build trusted, authentic, accepting environments to learn about those experiences, and understand how those experiences make people who they are. As a result, you’re able to respond with empathy, communicate more meaningfully, and build relationships that go beyond small talk.

I’ve found that connecting with work colleagues beyond typical work conversations (deliverables, due dates, etc.) has allowed my team and me to improve our collaboration, directly enabling us to make those deliverables more effective.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My biggest career accomplishment so far was building a new practice for Deloitte’s Media & Entertainment sector, entirely from the ground up.

Through this experience, I created and executed the practice’s Go-To-Market Strategy, identifying and communicating the practice’s innovative offerings to new and existing clients. I led a team of three junior practitioners and collaborated weekly with partners across divisions, ultimately bringing together five siloed groups to present Deloitte as a unified front to clients.

Although I was just a junior practitioner, I was considered an equal part in determining the strategy and design of the practice, directly enabling me to expand the firm’s footprint in the media space and secure multiple high-impact projects for the firm.

What is your unique quality that will enable you to make a big contribution to the Class of 2027? I tend to live by the saying “do it for the story.” My spontaneity and curiosity have given me so many experiences and friendships that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.

At Stern, I want to encourage my classmates to be unafraid — take a class outside of their comfort zone, travel to a part of the world they haven’t been to before, or explore a hobby they’ve been dreaming of trying. By leaning into discomfort, my classmates and I will not only grow individually, but also will gain the skills to help others do the same.

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into NYU Stern’s MBA program? I think it can be easy to just start writing your essays, getting your recommendation letters together, and building a resume. Before jumping in, do some real exploration on what your values are, how you’ve applied and explored them in your past experiences, and how you want to apply them to your future career. Then, it’s much easier to cohesively implement them throughout your entire application.

Also, make sure to take regular breaks away from the application process. Do a PowerPoint night with friends! Go on a hike! Eat a jar full of Nutella! Whatever makes you feel good! It’s so easy to go-go-go, but I wish I took time away from the laptop and came back with a rested, clear mind.

DON’T MISS: MEET THE MBA CLASS OF 2027: STUDENTS TODAY, LEADERS TOMORROW, INNOVATORS ALWAYS

 

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