Ginelle Reed
Nationality: American
Programme: Full-time MBA, 2023
Pre-MBA: Business Innovation Lead, Denso, Detroit, USA
Post-MBA: Strategic Product Design Manager, Eurostar
Current industry: Transportation
“The Bayes MBA isn’t a shark tank. It’s a pod of dolphins.”
How the Full-time MBA programme creates a culture where everyone thrives.
For Ginelle Reed, a 2023 graduate of the Full-time MBA at Bayes Business School, one of the standout memories of her year came early on.
“The Course Director, Dr Dimitris Paraskevopoulos, stood up to give his welcome talk. I remember his words so clearly. He said:
‘Unlike other business schools, we are not going to be super competitive with one another. Obviously, it’s a competitive programme, but everyone is here to support you. Our MBA isn’t a shark tank, it’s a pod of dolphins.’
“That sounded a little ridiculous, but it was absolutely the best thing he could have done as it set the tone for the year – we all supported and helped each other throughout the programme in order to be successful. That was a very different experience from my friends on MBAs at other schools who told me of toxic environments, where people were overly competitive and constantly trying to get one over each other.”
“From day one, everyone at Bayes gave the message of ‘everyone supports each other’ and they reinforced that throughout the year, consistently backing it up with actions.”
Today, Ginelle is a Strategic Product Design Manager at Eurostar. Before relocating to London for the MBA, she was living in in Detroit, Michigan, working for Denso, the second largest automotive component suppliers in the world. In her role as the business lead for innovation, she would create long term strategy for new ideas and evaluate research and development projects.
The search for a European MBA
“One of the reasons why I chose to do a Full-time MBA is because I wanted to relocate to Europe. I knew that I wanted to change industries, but I wasn’t really sure which industry to change into. I thought an MBA would be a really great opportunity to explore different industries and grow in weaknesses that I had seen within my career that I wanted to work on.”
“The Full-time MBA was ideal because it is only one year, which is the most I wanted to spend away from the workforce.”
“To have a year to live abroad, explore industries and guide the direction of my career is essentially what I was looking for.”
Bayes Business School – the standout choice
With many business schools in Europe to choose from, Ginelle says Bayes stood out from the crowd for several reasons.
“Whenever I communicated with Bayes, they really cared about who I was, what my goals were and my experience overall.”
“Bayes considered me as an individual person. When I was looking at other schools, I felt like a statistic or number.”
“The Admissions Team is amazing – they really listened to my needs and what I wanted. I have a cat and I was very nervous about moving my animal abroad – I didn’t know all the steps and how to work through that. The Admissions Team remembered this and would send me guidance on finding pet-friendly apartments, and how to work with relocation services. Of course they cared about my background, my career and education, but they also cared about me as a person, because they wanted me to be happy and successful when I was here. I really saw that end-to-end care through the Admissions Team, that I didn’t see in other schools.”
Bayes’ academic excellence was also a major factor in Ginelle’s decision.
“Bayes has a really strong reputation for strategy, which is what I wanted to continue doing, particularly product strategy. I liked the structure of the programme, and the range of electives were attractive. At other business schools I saw they moved quickly through certain subjects, but at Bayes I feel like they dive deep into core topics. They make sure that you walk away having learnt as much as possible.”
The London experience
“London has been great, and I’ve opted to stay here after graduation. When I was choosing a location for my MBA, I wanted an international experience, and you get that in London. It’s such a diverse place to work and study. The range of experiences you can have – you can try any type of food, go to the theatres and museums, and it’s very accessible to the rest of Europe. If I had chosen a different country, then I would have immersed myself into that particular culture.”
“The great thing about London is because it’s so diverse, you get an international experience.”
“Diversity is everything when you talk about an MBA. It’s the reason why I chose an international programme. I didn’t want to go to school in America and do what Americans have always done. There were 49 of us on the Full-time MBA, and there were 26 different countries represented, from different regions.”
“The MBA really taught me how to work with people and to work internationally while being more emotionally intelligent to other cultures.”
“In my current role, I am tasked with harmonising the Eurostar and Thalys services after a merger, to make sure that customers are getting the same experience. That involves people from different working cultures in Belgium, France, Germany , the Netherlands and the UK. It’s very European-centric, but there are different cultures within them. The MBA really prepped me for handling change and uncertainty.”
Applying learning directly to the workplace
Ginelle’s favourite modules covered topics including operations, organisational behaviour, strategy and finance.
“Finance was a weakness of mine. It wasn’t in my realm of responsibilities in my previous job and wasn’t something I concentrated on in my undergraduate degree. It was something I was self-conscious about, and as you move into leadership, you do need to have a solid understanding of finance. Now I know how to understand if a business is healthy, and how to be more strategic with financing – it’s built my confidence in the overall area.”
Ginelle has been able to apply her learning, directly to her new role, to make an immediate impact.
“I really enjoyed the organisational behaviour module, and I also took a change management elective. It’s been invaluable for me, given my current role. I could draw on those modules because we looked at how you handle organisations and their people post-merger. It helped me understand where to be sensitive, how to work with people, and how to function in an organisation that’s still trying to figure out how they are going to achieve their goals.”
“In class we’d go through realistic, recent case studies, but to actually live it is completely different. It made me more confident walking into my new job being able to draw on that learning.”
“When you begin any job, they need you to start performing immediately – you don’t have time to spend three months acclimating. The MBA really helped with that.”
Exposure to different business ecosystems
Ginelle took two international electives – the Sustainability elective in Amsterdam, and the Technology for Social Good elective in Kenya.
“The reason I chose those two was because I was looking to move into a sustainable industry. They gave me a global view of what different countries and areas of the world are doing in terms of sustainability and product development.”
Working and studying in a number of countries has given Ginelle an insight into different business practices.
“I wasn’t expecting there to be such a big difference in what’s important to each of those countries. I’ve realised there is an overall ecosystem in each that you really have to understand. That ecosystem is pivotal – with its stakeholders, competitors, government, activist groups and related sectors. You really need to work in harmony with that ecosystem.”
“The international electives do a really good job of giving you that perspective. We visited a variety of businesses as well as government agencies, non-profits, start-ups and incubators. That gives you many different outlooks on what’s really going on in that country.”
Excelling in a supportive environment
During her time on the MBA, Ginelle was awarded the Women in Business Award, and joined the Bayes Global Women’s Leadership Programme.
“One of the best things about that was the mentorship programme and having someone to bounce ideas off and discuss how to approach problems or challenges we had. We kept each other accountable towards our goals and offered advice. It definitely helped build my overall confidence, being a woman in business.”
Ginelle also cites the support of her fellow students as being key to success.
“I think we were an especially strong unit as we were all international. I didn't know a single person when I moved here to London, and to have a support system was huge to me. It still exists after the MBA – we are a network and can refer people into our organisation or connect with contacts we know.”
“Another great thing about the Bayes MBA is that the Global, Modular, Weekend and Executive MBA cohorts mix together to do the electives. That then builds your network even more, and you meet more people who can teach you about their industry. People are so willing to help.”
Personal and professional benefits
When Ginelle reflects on what the MBA has given her personally and professionally, she is quick to answer:
“Personally, I walked away having lifelong friends, and so many of them have chosen to stay in London like me. It’s great that I get to see these people once a week and still hang out with them. They are a huge part of the reason why I chose to stay in London after graduation, because of this network that I built.”
“Professionally, I’ve learned a set of very valuable skills. I know how to handle tight deadlines, work with people from all backgrounds and across multiple teams. The MBA mirrors the business world because there is always a lot of change. You have to adapt, learn to manage your time, your stress, and how to communicate with other people.”
Focus on your own growth
What is Ginelle’s advice for someone considering taking their Full-time MBA at Bayes?
“There is never going to be another time in your career that you're going to have this opportunity to try new things, make mistakes, and really work on yourself. When you're in a career, you're just pushing so much. It's very hard to focus on your own growth.”
“You can do things that maybe you were too intimidated to try, because the MBA is such an open and caring environment, it allows you to experiment without true repercussions.”
“I really recommend for people who come to Bayes to just take advantage of all the opportunities they give you.”
“The MBA is what you make it, so make it the best you can.”