Straight after graduating from law school in 2003, Vivian spent three years as a consultant at Ernst and Young. She then moved into a business development role at Connect New Zealand, a non-profit economic development agency which helps local tech start-ups get "market ready", and then joined Precept Health, a medical technology company, as the general manager.
Vivian was awarded a full tuition scholarship by the Cranfield MBA New Zealand alumni. With only six weeks left on the programme, we caught up with her to find out if her expectations had been met.
Can you sum up your Cranfield experience in a few sentences?
The Cranfield experience is really unique and amazing. Cranfield is an hour north of London. It is remote but the location is a tremendous asset because being isolated means the cohort gets a chance to gel together early on. This year there are 85 students and by week two everyone knew everyone.
I can comfortably say that I know the majority of my colleagues very well. I know so much about them and their families that in five years time, even if I haven’t seen them, I can pick up the phone and call them and get chatting again immediately. I also enjoy knowing that I have this amazing network that is global.
Your career has grown quite successfully over the last seven years, why did you opt for the MBA when you did?
I have a degree in law, international business and marketing. At law school I already knew that I didn’t want to be a lawyer although I had the choice.
I was fortunate enough to work with Ernst and Young and they really looked after me. I had the option to work my way up the career ladder within Ernst and Young or take a risk and check out what other industries can offer me. So I switched to the business development role with Connect New Zealand where I worked with local organizations in technology. This was really exciting because as a 27-year-old I got the chance to coach young companies but also networked to pull together seasoned entrepreneurs and advisors, pack them into a room and facilitate a meaningful conversation for the benefit of the young companies.
The opportunity to join Precept Health, my final role before coming to Cranfield came through that job. At Precept Health I redesigned the business model, raised capital for the company, and took it to the export market selling technology solutions to Europe and South East Asia.
The move to Cranfield was again about taking a risk. For anyone in business, the aim is to move the business into new markets and to continue growing them and I see my career in a similar way.
What makes the Cranfield MBA stand out?
Each MBA is different and so it's important to know what you want out of it if you’re a prospective student. Cranfield has a mature cohort compared with many other MBAs. The average age on the MBA is 32, with an average of seven to eight years of experience. We have colleagues who have entered and exited three to four businesses successfully. One of my colleagues had a business with a turnover of £28 million. Another one is a very senior executive at a major bank in the Middle East.
Having these types of people is exactly what I wanted because the learning experience is better. Cranfield has a track record of fostering entrepreneurs and you get the opportunity to meet with alumni who are doing so well. I recently got the chance to meet with Warren East, who is the CEO of ARM Holding plc, a world’s leading semiconductor intellectual property supplier; Richard Salvage, group director of MEDSA Group; and UK entrepreneur Sarah Willingham.
Also, my place at Cranfield is thanks to a generous Cranfield New Zealand alumni scholarship that covers the full fees for the programme. I was grateful that I applied for the scholarship and I got it. From that I learned that it's important not to discount yourself. If you want something just go for it.
What are some of the highlights of your time at Cranfield?
Competing at the European final of this year’s Venture Capital Investment Competition in Barcelona. We competed against Oxford, Cambridge, INSEAD, ESMT Berlin and SDA Bocconi, and we won the Entrepreneurs' Choice award. I had so much fun because as students we don’t often get opportunities to play the role of investors and look at business plans, listen to pitches, investigate the financials and negotiate with business owners.
Winning the award is something that really shows the type of students who come to Cranfield because as well having the business knowledge to make the right choices, you also need soft skills such as being able to relate to people easily and to build a rapport with them.
We just got back from a trip to Tanzania as part of Cranfield MBA International Business Experience (IBE) where we visited three local companies helping locals convert to more sustainable sources of energy. For instance, moving them away from using basic charcoal stoves to Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) which is greener and more fuel-efficient.
I also helped organize a ski trip earlier in the year where 32 of us went to St. Anton in Austria and that was a lot of fun.
What’s next for you career wise?
The challenge is to take my career to the next step. I’m planning on moving to London after the MBA. I’ve just started the job search and I'm looking at opportunities where I can put my unique combination of experience and skills to good use. Having worked in both corporate and small businesses, I have the discipline, professionalism, and general management skills you get from being involved with so many areas of business. It is about scaling up my career after the MBA. I’m interested in a variety of opportunities, but predominantly where technology crosses with media, consumer goods, luxury products or medical technology.
Vivian is happy to assist prospective MBA students who are reading BusinessBecause as part of their search for the right programme for their needs. You can connect with Vivian via the "connect" button next to the article.
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