My journey to an MBA was rather atypical. I came from a humanities background, studying Political Science and History at the University of Pennsylvania. I spent my summers working in a law firm first as an intern, and later as a clerk. In the States, a law degree is obtained through a 3 year graduate program and I wanted to make sure that this was what I wanted before I committed myself.
It wasn’t.
I was doing everything a first year associate would do, even managing my own clients. Simply put, the law wasn’t for me.
In my spare time at university I acted as Marketing head and Producer on a number of theatrical productions. In effect, I was managing teams, working with limited budgets and turning profits for these student run companies.
I spent my free time (during and after uni) educating myself about the fashion and luxury markets, keeping tabs on the health of iconic brands and innovations brought about by smaller competitors. It took my best friend to point out to me that I could combine my marketing experience and my love of luxury into a fulfilling career.
That’s when the lightbulb went off.
I found out about MIP when another good friend took me to the QS World Tour of International MBA programmes in Miami. At that time, Italy wasn’t a country I’d thought about studying in, although I knew I wanted to go abroad. It wasn’t until I met the representative from MIP (who 5 years on I’ve kept in touch with) that I realised that for the kind of education I wanted, this was the best programme for me: full time, international, ability to work with local companies and build my CV whilst studying with world class professors, and of course, a concentration tailor made for me (Design & Luxury Management).
I chose to do an MBA because for me, it was a gateway to a new career. I was able to build upon the skills I already possessed and integrate the new ones into my work.
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