“Design obsessed, detail-driven creative. Mother of two small humans and a rescue dog.”
Hometown: London, United Kingdom
Fun Fact About Yourself: I spent part of my childhood growing up on the sunny island of Barbados.
Undergraduate School and Major: University College London (UK); BA Hons Geography
Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Founder and Director of Ven Store; a knitwear-focused, luxury retail brand that I launched in 2018.
What makes London such a great place to earn an MBA degree? Living in London for 17 years, I am continually inspired by its diversity, rich culture, and boundless creativity. Innovation and entrepreneurship are championed. I think it is a city where you can truly experiment. This, coupled with the flexibility of the LBS curriculum, provides a unique opportunity to go on a really explorative MBA journey.
London Business School is one of the most culturally and professionally diverse MBA programs in the world. How do you see these global perspectives enhancing the value of your business education over the next two years? The early days of a start-up can be incredibly lonely. In my experience, running a lean operation made it impossible to invest in people initially, leaving me missing the diverse perspectives of working in a team. I quickly realized the necessity of building a network of collaborators to learn from and lean on, but often found it challenging to carve out the time to cultivate these essential connections.
Being immersed in the richly diverse community of LBS, engaging with a multitude of global perspectives and connecting with individuals whose career experiences vastly differ from my own, will be profoundly enriching. This exposure will undoubtedly enhance my skill set and has the potential to redefine my approach to business.
Aside from your classmates and location, what was the key part of London Business School’s MBA curriculum and programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? I decided to pursue an MBA because I had reached a critical crossroads with my business, a point where I needed to seek significant external investment in order to effectively scale the business to the next stage of growth. Whilst I have the entrepreneurial experience of running a small company, an MBA will offer me a deeper understanding of end-to-end business practices. I knew an MBA program would offer a unique experience to cultivate these fundamental skills and explore new areas of knowledge, but it was also essential to me that I could really build on the strengths in my skill set as well. LBS’ strong connections to the world of retail and luxury and the expansive scope of the electives that would further my expertise, meant that it was truly the only business school I wanted to attend.
What course, club or activity excites you the most at London Business School? There are a number of clubs (Retail, Luxury and Consumer Club, Women In Business) and a lot of courses that fascinate me at London Business School. However, the courses I am most excited to take are the electives “Negotiation and Bargaining” and “Entrepreneurial Negotiations”. I believe it’s crucial to use my MBA program to not only develop new skills, but to take the time to reflect on my own entrepreneurial journey, analyze my mistakes and build confidence for future challenges.
Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Developing my brand from the ground up is my greatest achievement. Throwing myself into the total unknown and creating a brand I’m immensely proud of, especially when navigating the unprecedented challenges of a pandemic early in its life. The brand achieved international recognition, building a wonderful community of customers all over the globe and attracting over 15,000 unique monthly website visitors. A notable highlight was a fantastic feature in the Wall Street Journal that led to every unit of stock selling out in under 48 hours.
What is your unique quality that will enable you to make a big contribution to the Class of 2026? Resourcefulness! Throughout my entire career, whether working in fashion publishing or creating my own start-up, I have worked with very limited budgets and often under great time pressure. In fashion editorial, it is not unheard of to have to produce a shoot with just one day’s notice, whilst running a start-up presents daily unknown challenges. One minute I could be tracking down and successfully persuading a prestigious manufacturer to take a chance on an unknown brand; the next I could be launching an innovative, low-cost marketing campaigns, such as the successful collaboration I ran with a top London restaurant during the pandemic. I have become highly resourceful and adept at crafting innovative solutions to overcome challenges.
What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into London Business School’s MBA program? It may seem obvious, but really spend time immersed in the application. I found the process pretty inspiring. To give myself the space and time to really reflect on my career goals, what I had genuinely enjoyed so far and identify areas where I wanted to develop. It’s essential to be true to yourself and create your own narrative. Also, to those coming from more creative backgrounds like mine, who might initially worry they wouldn’t be the right fit for an MBA program, don’t rule yourself out. LBS truly values and encourages diverse candidates.
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