Why did you decide to do the Copenhagen MBA?
It’s been planned for a while that I should do a Masters degree. Having worked in both the US and Asia, I wanted to get a european business perspective. It ended up being between the UK and Denmark, and Copenhagen won out.
What attracted me to Copenhagen – what’s amazing about Copenhagen – is the fact that sustainability is embedded into so much of the city. Both with this MBA program, but also the city. You can take the metro 10 minutes into the city center and go to all sorts of talks, and meet people, who are really into sustainability and are creating sustainable solutions. You get to talk to people who are actually living it right now. That’s what we need, sustainability woven into everything we do, and not pushed off to the side.
Was this sustainability focus something you knew before you came to Copenhagen?
Yes, it was something I knew beforehand, a lot of us knew beforehand. A lot of us are coming here because we want to work for Ørsted or Ramboll or these companies that are being frontiersmen/women in the sustainability world. Personally, I had been to Copenhagen before joining the program, so I knew how easy it is to become part of the sustainability community.
Many of my classmates, knew this was a thing, but not how big of a thing it really is until they arrived and started looking on facebook and eventbrite and saw all these events going on in the city.
How did you end up in the non-profit / sustainability world?
It just sort of happened, it fell in my lap. A thing we learn at the business program is that you to be a good business person, you have to grab the opportunity when they come your way. And my road into the non-profit world was one of those. Through volunteering, I got into that world and landed a non-profit world after my graduation from UC Berkeley.
Another thing that brought me in was the mission statements, it’s something that I really love about that world. How important it is to have a purpose in what you are doing. Knowing that what you are doing is having a positive impact on the world, or in your community.
I’ve been very lucky to get a purposeful job right away, where others have to spend years on learning, and pursuing. And I think there is something very important about that. There are so many great skills and experiences that you can bring into the non-profit world, don’t forget that.
That’s a great point! I use to look back at my own career and think, wow, that was a bit of a waste of time. But, you’re right, I’ve really learned all my skills in those years. Skills that have made me able to build Impactful Jobs, and the indignation to push me through it – so yes, you have to embrace all your steps along the way. That’s also what gives you opportunities in the future.