Category: Short term study away

Written by Alena Malloy, Part-Time MBA class of 2019

 

I walked through the outdoor market, killing time before my bus arrived. There were the standard fruits and veggie booths, a handful of street musicians, and locals buying their groceries for the week. I noticed that there was one booth surrounded by people that had a variety of yellow ribbons, Catalonia flag with a star keychains, canvas bags, and a few t-shirts. Curious, I wandered over and asked, “Hola, comó está?”   (This is about the extent of my Spanish skills, by the way.)

The woman turned to me and rattled off in Spanish for about four minutes! I must have had a deer in the headlights look because she paused, mid-sentence (I think?) and asked in English, “Oh, you don’t speak Spanish?”.

Smiling, the woman explained in English that the booth was to raise funds for Catalonian independence. She went on to explain what it meant to be independent and how that would impact the community.

We didn’t speak for very long as there were other customers who were trying to show their support (I think?). But I realized how much passion was behind the campaign. Not just at a local farmer’s market but with Catalonian Independence flags flying across the city. Even at the government square, the Federal building had the Spanish Flag and the normal Catalonia state flag, while the State building across the plaza boldly raised the Independence flag.

This fervor wasn’t just limited to Independence. We met with several entrepreneurs throughout the week. Each one had the same level of passion for their business.

As an example, we met with Exceed which is a start-up app that partners with different bars/club venues in major cities to promote events. The 30 year old CEO explained his business model and discussed funding. He and his partners had been working on the business since early college. They sacrificed for the business, even eating ‘tuna cans’ dinners for years while they got it running. They entered multiple funding competitions, only to place 2^nd in several. The CEO was even informed by the VC that they should have won but the VC just “couldn’t justify giving government money to a Clubbing app”.

But this didn’t derail him or his team.

And we heard similar stories from other entrepreneurs. The struggled, they sacrificed, but they were chasing a dream, creating a vision.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I took this class to help me decide how I should change my career. While it did not narrow down any specific paths, it reminded me that being passionate about your career is just as important as the job itself. It has been a long time since I felt enthusiasm about my advertising jobs, and I see the difference between work and what a career path should look like.

This trip created a new qualifier for whatever career choice I make: I need to be passionate about it.

We’ll see where I land! #careerlifegoals

Written by Alena Malloy, Part-Time MBA class of 2019

 

This trip has been even better than I anticipated. I knew that I didn’t have much knowledge about the entrepreneurial sector and my assumptions about it were challenged in the very first meeting.

We started our day with a lecture at ESADE, a Spanish business school that has the main campus about an hour away from Barcelona. ESADE has beautiful, modern buildings set in the green foothills of a quiet suburb of the city. We were taken into a container like structure for our first lecture given by one of the business school professors, Javier Agular.

An energetic man, it was easy to see how he could be an entrepreneur. He explained a portion of his experience, which included several successful business and many failures and gave a lecture on key elements in developing a new business. Professor Agular also detailed his learnings from each, including the importance of a good team.

This struck a chord with me and also continued to be a theme throughout our meetings with other entrepreneurs and organizations. Each one emphasized the critical need for recruitment, having the right fit, the right team, and so forth. One CEO went as far as to say that you may not get funding for your project if you haven’t been friends with your partners for at least a year. And apparently, there have been significant struggles in this sector to find good talent in Barcelona. Each employee was getting several offers every single day, particularly programmers and developers. People are constantly in transition here.

Another piece that has struck me so far this week is how Barcelona itself feels like it is in a start-up phase of its own technological revolution. Each of these companies that we have spoken with have commented on how they are moving faster than the regulations are yet the City is providing grants to them to keep growing. They are creating open spaces, new offices and other investments to make the transition to the new era easier on the city. One CEO commented that they are not quite like Silicon Valley yet where start-ups are the norm, but they are working towards it.

That doesn’t mean that Barcelona is letting go of the past however. Just last night, I walked into a tea shop that looked fairly standard. It was a small storefront on the corner of a building. However, when you went to the bottom floor, you found yourself sitting under lighted archways; the original foundations of the building had been remodeled to fit the needs of this little start-up tea shop.

In many ways, I think that little tea shop is a depiction of what is happening all over this city. The Catalonians are moving towards the future, increasing opportunities and technology, lighting up the way. And yet, making sure they are preserving their heritage and their foundations.

Written by Alena Malloy, Part-Time MBA class of 2019

 

I took a deep breath as I approached the door to the classroom. Beyond that door was a group of people that I would be spending 7 days with in a foreign country. I’ll admit, I was a bit nervous but I also very excited.
I was going to Barcelona!

The short term study abroad program was one of the more important decision factors when I was deciding to which MBA program to apply. I have always loved traveling but didn’t have the opportunity as an undergrad to study abroad. With each new friend that had that experience, I was a bit more jealous!
With a full-time job, I would not be able to study internationally for a full semester. So when admissions director told me about the program, the GW MBA program shot to the top on my personal ranking of schools.

So why did I apply to the Spain program?
Couple of reasons actually. First, I really love Spain. I was lucky enough to go to Seville, Granada and Madrid a few years ago. The country is beautiful, historical, full of wonderful people, and amazing food. Unexpectedly, I got a little homesick for California. I grew up with stories about how the Spaniards came to California and loved it because it reminded them of their home (among other reasons). Honestly, I felt right at home. I desperately wanted an opportunity to go back. I even had a few Spanish MBA programs on my short list of schools!

Second, and just as important, I started the MBA program with the goal of changing my career. I worked in the advertising industry for a long time and wanted something new and different for my next step. Shifting to a Global Management concentration was a big decision for me as I am not one to make major life choices quickly. But it feels right and I love the material so far. As part of the Global Management requirements, I needed to do a study abroad.
This course in particular would help me achieve my goals. The objectives of the course include “understanding the challenges of global innovation” and “how to design a global innovative strategy”. How amazing does that sound? How appropriate for my career shift? I have always been interested in innovation and how that applies on a global scale and now I would get to see it in action!

And if the first day of class is any indication, I will get a lot out of this program. After a lecture on innovation and what that means to the business world (spoilers: innovators destroy the norm!), we had an overview of the innovative companies we would meet during our week. With everything from an Uber version of a house cleaning service to a chocolate museum to FC Futbol, we are experiencing what Barcelona has to offer!

It’s going to be an amazing trip.