Step by step change through an MBA

Step by step change through an MBA

Meet one of RMIT’s graduating MBA students, Ngo Tran Thuc Anh, as she opens up about her early career struggles and how the MBA transformed her mindset and enhanced her management skills.

It is a common decision that bachelor’s degree graduates face – whether to work for a few years and gain experience or jump right into a master’s degree. For many, choosing the former does allow for some career growth before entering a postgraduate program – however, for Ngo Tran Thuc Anh, she found it difficult to fit in with her chosen career. 

As someone who loves research and who wished to enhance their management skills, she didn’t feel that she was getting the opportunities she wanted. This dissonance came to a head after one year into her MBA studies. Thuc Anh shares that “the first year was so difficult. I stayed up till early morning to do assignments and complete company deadlines. Sometimes I had to take days off work to satisfy my school responsibilities. I’ll be honest and say I suffered and was stressed out, so I chose to take a break from work.”

Thuc Anh’s choice to focus just on her final year of studies brought about a great amount of positive change. “During this ‘chill’ time, I began to consider what to do about my future,” she shares. “It was then that I chose to follow my own path and launch WANNA DREAM - a reliable, responsible and innovative solution for businesses looking to enhance their brand image and reach their target audience effectively.” Thuc Anh’s business idea has two unique features: firstly, it’s run as a collective, compared to a traditionally structured company, and secondly, its target market is small-medium sized businesses, and family-run organisations. 

Ngo Tran Thuc Anh, MBA student at RMIT Vietnam Ngo Tran Thuc Anh, MBA student at RMIT Vietnam

Starting her collective coincided perfectly with what Thuc Anh was learning in her MBA courses. She notes that she wanted to learn more about people, how they made decisions and arrived at conclusions. She also stated that although she was familiar with the tools and innovations behind digital marketing, applying them to a start-up was a different story.   
 
Thuc Anh singles out the Strategy, Digital Entrepreneurship, and Personal Branding and Authentic Leadership courses as difference-makers in her growth as a manager. From the latter Thuc Anh shared a few personal stories. “In one exercise, the lecturer asked us to make a personal logo while asking the question what message we wanted to deliver to our clients or team. For me, I always want to be the mother cook – delivering warm meals and instilling joy. I created a logo that is based on an Italian pizza chef as Italian culture highlights family motifs centred around food, family and warmth.” 

The second story Thuc Anh shared is one that many younger Vietnamese face when placed in positions of management or leadership. “I asked the professor how to manage people who were older and more experienced than me. I wanted to know how I can gain their trust and have them listen to me. His advice was to be a friend with those you work with, don't be just a boss. Listen to them, ask them about their concerns. Tell them that you are there for them, to support them, and can advise them.” In taking this knowledge to heart, Thuc Anh has been able to build upon her ability to manage others, gain empathy and discover how others think, act and feel.  

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