So last week may have been my best week at the Freeman School yet. Over Christmas break I had been selected to go to New York City for final round interviews at L’Oreal. Their internship program has an amazing reputation and they have a luxury products division, which is right up my alley. The competition was extremely tough, they started out with over 830 applicants, narrowed that down to 100 for phone screening, and finally selected 35 of us to come and interview across three divisions. I was the only student from Tulane there and the majority of the MBAs were from Harvard, Wharton, NYU, and Columbia. It was a crazy whirlwind weekend of interviews, wine tastings, networking, and finally a case competition, and while my team didn’t win, it was a pretty awesome experience. I’ll be honest, at first I was a little intimidated (and that doesn’t happen easily), but when I started working on the case competition I was able to apply what I’d learned in both my marketing class and my management communication class. I realized that the professors at the Freeman School really are preparing us to go out into the corporate world and dive right in. I was just as prepared and knowledgeable as any of the other students sitting at my table. We were supposed to hear back on January 23rd and when I didn’t get a phone call, I didn’t know what to think. But I was patient and on Monday I received a phone call from L’Oreal, and they offered me the internship!!! I’m going to spend the summer in NYC working in the luxury products division. How cool is that?!?
The second highlight of my week was that The Retail & Luxury Goods Association had our first speaker in our Speaker’s Series. Ms. Elsa Brodmann, came and spoke to students about her experiences starting her own fashion label, where she saw the industry going, given the state of the economy, and how she finds inspiration. It provided a great opportunity for students to get to ask questions, not only of someone who is an up and coming designer, but also an entrepreneur. Speaking of entrepreneurs, I’ve been busy helping get the word out about the upcoming Tulane Entrepreneurs’ Association business plan competition. Ms. Brodmann, is a judge in the competition and will be an exciting addition to the panel. Business and fashion, can life get any better?
Amina