First of all I am not embarking on this journey completelyÂ alone as I moved to Milan from Des Moines, IowaÂ with my girlfriend who is also attending Graduate School to get her Master’s in Interior Design at Scuola Politecnica di Design.

Secondly, prior to attending a Masters program at the young age of 28 I spent the last 5 years in B2B sales and marketing focused in the IT/Staffing industry. I was working full desk sales as well as Market Strategy, Branding, Brand Management, Digital Strategy, and helping grow a new office from the beginning. I realized through this experienceÂ that there is aÂ muchÂ bigger market out there and the trend isÂ global. I wanted to be a part of the global environment and was looking for career advancement.

Thirdly, I wanted to immerse myself in a new culture and study in an environment that I do notÂ know the language etc. I wanted to expand my horizons and my skills and really experience a multi-cultural experience whileÂ obtaining my Masters.

And Finally, MIP is triple accredited and one of the most respected schools in Italy! WeÂ also have partnerships with the brand Only The Brave, teamed up with major advertising firm UM McCann, leading Market Research company Nielsen, and the leaders in Global Analytics IBM. Throughout the year we will have theÂ opportunity to study, learn from, and work hands on with and alongside of these companies as well as great internship openings.

I am studying in the 1st edition of International Multichannel Marketing Management through MIP. We are represented by 27 students representing 12 countries,Â that is truly aÂ multicultural learning environment.

A quick background on me, I grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. At 18 I embarked on my college career toÂ Indianola, Iowa just 3 hours north of Kansas City to studyÂ and play football at Simpson CollegeÂ where I graduated with a BA in Marketing and a minor in SportsÂ Administration.Â After collegeÂ IÂ securedÂ a job, moved to nearby Des Moines, Iowa and started my professional career in 2010. I have worked in Healthcare, Finance, and Information Technology sectors. Prior to moving to Italy IÂ have never traveled to Europe and my only out of country experience was Spring Break ’08 in Cancun, Mexico.

Thus starts my journey into Graduate School and my desire to work in Marketing for Global Brands focusing, ideally, on the use of Big Data to help developÂ and create Brand Driven Digital Strategies.