Miranda Mallows: For me, the personal ROI from the EMBA experience is being able to take the lessons from the classroom back into business. The EMBA had an immediate impact at work. I was able to tackle some of our strategic goals, including our international expansion, our pricing, help our young company grow and disrupt our industry. I started my career in the Royal Air Force, and when I left the military and went into the private sector, I felt like I had a lot of experience in leadership and management, but not so much experience in business.
So I chose to study at Booth firstly, because of its excellent reputation. It’s so well renowned, you know the academic staff are incredible. Secondly, for me, the quantitative method in the Chicago Booth approach was really important. I wanted to be able to learn frameworks and tools that I could apply in day-to-day life and my leadership. As a veteran, team spirit and team ethos is very important to me. And I felt like I had a natural affinity with Booth as soon as I started to meet Boothies.
The really incredible thing about Booth is the international community. The London cohort itself, has 30 different countries represented. They’ve got very different backgrounds, beliefs, and cultures, but actually there's that real commonality about the way they like to learn and how they want to push their boundaries. But I think what surprised me about the EMBA was the friendships that we made. And I just know that whatever problem I face, whether personally or professionally, there is a network of people around the world that I can reach out to.
I became a mother for the first time during this program. The school have been incredibly supportive, in that being a new mom and doing the EMBA at the same time has its challenges. It’s not easy. But I think actually my little girl will be really proud of the fact that, you know, I did this.
What excites me about my future career is continuing to evolve and develop as a leader. For me, education is a lifelong commitment.