It’s not uncommon for professionals to find themselves at a crossroads in their career. While some might opt for the traditional route – staying in their secure, comfortable jobs –, others, like myself, wanted more.
I grew up in Los Angeles, the world’s leading entertainment hub. My mother was an actress, and I was submerged in the industry from a young age – an interest I fuelled by taking Cinema and Media classes during my undergraduate degree in Human Development at The University of Chicago.
After graduating, I moved back to LA, working in a wide range of jobs on film and TV sets. A few years later, I landed an HR position at the global film production company Participant, where I had the opportunity to work with multicultural teams in London and Amsterdam.
MBA Alumna Ariana Gadd
The European Experience
However, despite my success, I still didn’t feel fully accomplished professionally. After about seven years, I decided that it was time for me to take a career break. I had been through so much with the organization without any formal business training. I really wanted a refresh, and I also wanted to enhance my skills in finance, accounting, management and leadership.
I had always thought about getting an MBA, and so I decided to look into programs in 2015. While I enjoyed living in LA, I was also eager to relocate abroad. Based on my experience working with the teams in London and Amsterdam, I was interested in programs based in Europe. This, in addition to the typical one-year program length and the lower tuition costs compared to US programs, was important when I considered my options. I wanted to go to a program in an English-speaking country, so I looked at programs in England and Ireland.
Eventually, I landed a spot on the MBA program at Trinity Business School, which I chose for the real-life business opportunities the school offered students.
Front Entrance, Trinity College Dublin
A Challenging But Rewarding Process
In 2016, I started my MBA. I remember the experience fondly as challenging but extremely rewarding. I loved the learning process of the MBA experience. It was an incredibly challenging endeavor, but I was so thrilled to use my brain in a different way. I had not been in that academic mindset for years and it was exhilarating. I also enjoyed my classmates tremendously and the opportunity to learn from them.
I really wanted to expand my understanding of finance and accounting. I knew I would never choose that as a career path after the MBA, but I wanted to build a foundation which would allow me to be part of a more strategic and thoughtful conversation when I went back into the workforce.
From my HR background, I was most interested in leadership and professional development. How does one manage and influence effectively? I would say this course at Trinity was what I got the most out of and continue to use today.
The Atrium, Trinity Business School
Working for Sean Penn
After my MBA, I relocated to the US, where I worked as a consultant on various recruitment, HR, accounting, and strategy projects at an entertainment firm. But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, I suddenly found myself with a lot of time on my hands and a desire to utilize my skills for the greater good.
I saw an interview on CNN with Sean Penn, who was talking about his organization CORE and what they were doing in Los Angeles. I looked it up and began to volunteer. CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort) is a non-profit set up by the actor to provide relief to vulnerable communities during the coronavirus pandemic – a mission that I was excited to be a part of, and that would ultimately change her career.
The need for COVID testing was growing so rapidly and they needed as much help as they could get. I was hired to manage a site which was only open for a few weeks before it had to close due to the location needing to return to a parking lot for a shopping center.
The CFO found out I had an HR background, so I began to work with the LA team on HR issues. Before I knew it, I was helping to provide HR services to the whole organization nationwide.
I was attracted to the work and found myself at the right place at the right time to support the growth of a company doing incredibly needed work and building something completely new for the world.
How the MBA Changed My Life
I'm currently working on building a nationwide HR department for CORE. The non-profit grew much quicker than anyone had expected, jumping from 10 to over 1,000 employees since its launch in March.
I can attribute much of my success to my MBA experience and the valuable skills it provided me with. I am working to create a team to ensure sustainability in the future. This requires project management and systems implementation. It is all about iteration. We look to create the team for now so that we can iterate and adjust once things stabilize. I learned this in the MBA.
Additionally, as we build our systems, I am looking to not just implement in order to get something more automated quickly, but rather to look at the business need and create a solution that works for the way we operate.
Without the opportunity to go through the MBA, I would have never been able to take on such work without getting thoroughly overwhelmed. I would never have been able to believe I could confidently balance the challenges of project management, rapid growth, and personnel management in this new normal – the world of COVID 19.
Since I developed the role as I went, I would say that the MBA gave me the opportunity to believe that I can do anything. I know this sounds a bit cliché, but it’s true.
This article originally appeared on QS Top MBA here.
