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Exploration Helped Her Find the Right Hands-On Job — Stanford GSB School News
Celina Johnson, Stanford GSB MBA ‘08, is currently the COO of Man Crates, a San Mateo-based company that sells gifts for men. But these aren’t just any typical gifts—they are special presents enclosed in wooden crates that recipients have to open with a crowbar. Meanwhile, gift cards come in concrete bricks that must be smashed; certainly not your average Pollyanna affair.
In a recent interview with her alma mater, she discusses not only her current role at Man Crates, but also also how her experience at Stanford helped get her there.
“In my first meeting with the Stanford GSB Career Management Center, they asked me what my goal was, and I said I wanted to work ‘at a company.’ I knew that I wanted to move out of investing. I loved the strategic part of it, but I felt that something was missing. I wanted to roll up my sleeves and execute,” Johnson says.
Johnson graduated right before the peak of the Great Recession, which, thankfully for her sake, didn’t seem to hamper her career outcome. Her first role after earning her degree was with Sears-owned Orchard Supply Hardware, which had a headquarters in nearby San Jose. She left after five years, saying “If investing was a lot of strategy and not enough execution, Orchard was a lot of execution and not enough strategy.”
Stanford ’08 MBA alum Celina Johnson, COO of Man Crates / Photo via Emily Billings
Rather than working from the ground up, Johnson felt her particularly skills were best utilized in a “company that already had product-market fit where my skills could be applied to improving the business.” Months after her Orchard Supply Hardware departure, she connected Stanford ’09 MBA alum Jonathan Beekman, who had already begun growing his Man Crates team.
You can read more about Johnson’s journey here.
Delphine Sherman Named as Haas Chief Financial Officer — Haas School News
Delphine Sherman, who graduated from the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business with an MBA in 2006, has been named as the school’s new chief financial officer. An expert in the areas of education and financial management, Sherman told her alma mater that she is excited to take on the challenges of her new job.
“It’s a very exciting time to see how far the school has come during this really challenging financial time at the university,” she said. “I’d love to capitalize on that and bring in some strategy around what we want our long-range plan to look like—diving into the long-term and where we go from here.”
Learn more about Sherman and her credentials here.
SCU’s McChesney to Lead Jesuit MBA Network — Leavey School News
Toby McChesney was recently named the chair of the Jesuit MBA Network (JEBNET) — a worldwide network made up of 27 AACSB-accredited Catholic, Jesuit institutions and three Catholic institutions, works towards helping people earn their MBA. McChesney led the graduate programs at the Santa Clara University Leavey School of Business over the past 18 months as the school’s senior assistant dean for graduate business programs. As chair, McChesney will lead these meetings and become the face of JEBNET.
“I am honored to be selected as the chair of JEBNET where I can use my expertise to ensure that the group continues to thrive in graduate management education,” said McChesney, who will serve a three year term. “I look forward to working closely with other Jesuit business school leaders in ways that will benefit the entire network over the next three years.”
Learn more about McChesney and JEBNET here.