What are your short-term and long-term career goals, and how will an MBA from UCLA Anderson specifically help you achieve these goals?, Sample 3

As a child I would spend hours experimenting with combinations of paint, glitter and buttons that I scrounged from my grandmother’s art closet. I would be captivated by the shapes, colors and textures on the canvas before me, and could not stop working until I found a variation that captured the energy and joy I felt.

My grandmother is a magnificent artist, and I no doubt inherited my aesthetic sensibility from her. While she had to run her husband’s jewelry store after he passed away in his 40s, she returned to school at the age of 63 to earn a Fashion Design degree. She remains the oldest woman ever to have graduated from her alma mater.

There was a love of fashion on both sides of my family—my paternal grandmother was a fashion designer, and my maternal grandparents owned a textile business. As I got older and sought ways to combine my inherent creativity with my passion for business, I thought managing a fashion firm might be my destined path. Thus, I chose to study abroad in Milan. I wanted to learn both the art and business of fashion. In Italy, beauty was everywhere: from the impeccably dressed couples strolling down Monte Napoleone to the ornately sculpted edifices lining the piazzas. I realized the common thread connecting those entities was their dynamic energy—the opposing forces of function and form that harmonized in the creation of inspiring results. To me, that is the essence of luxury.

That energy in Milan transported me back to my grandmother's living room, where I worked on my art for hours because it did not feel like work at all. I knew then that I had to pursue a career in the business of luxury; if I loved my job, I could constantly push myself and inspire others through my passion. That is why I believe in the long-term, I can contribute most by leading a luxury firm.

My time in Italy and my subsequent career choices have positioned me to fulfill that goal. In Milan, I learned about working with creative products and people through courses such as The Strategic Management of Fashion Firms. In my final year at Michigan, I was selected for an internship at Gucci, where I learned more about luxury product marketing. That experience underscored the importance of developing solid consumer marketing fundamentals to support my career trajectory. At CDE, I consulted with top packaged goods companies and major retail organizations, devised integrated marketing campaigns and earned insights into the strategies employed by the most successful firms. Immediately after graduating from Anderson, I intend to move into a luxury marketing position; whether I am in a brand management function or focused on developing a retailing strategy, I can use the knowledge I gained at CDE and fortified at UCLA to be an asset to my post-MBA employer.

To prepare for this type of role, I will join the Anderson Marketing Association, where I will have unparalleled opportunities to learn from successful individuals in the marketing field and develop personal relationships with these impactful leaders. Through the company presentations, Days-on-the-Job and Dinner-for-Eight events, I will gain invaluable exposure that will help me achieve both my short and long-term professional objectives.

Further, I will need to complement my comprehensive marketing experience with a strong foundation in finance, operations and economics in order to ultimately lead a luxury company. At Anderson, courses like Corporate Finance, Operations Technology Management and Global Macroeconomy will help provide the solid base I require. An MBA at UCLA will also afford me an intimate understanding of effective leadership as this concept underscores every aspect of the curriculum. From the Leadership Foundations seminar through to the Applied Management Research program, I will constantly be able to hone my general management skills, both inside and outside the classroom.

Finally, both my time as a dancer and my volunteer efforts with the XYZ Foundation confirmed the benefits of a truly collaborative team environment. As such I am excited to immerse myself in the active and diverse community of the Anderson MBA program.

At UCLA, I can accelerate my development into the leader of a luxury firm.