Rosenna East
Nationality: British
Programme: Modular Executive MBA, 2023
Pre-MBA: General Manager, Nevill Holt Opera Festival
Post-MBA: Managing Director, Sinfonia of London
Current industry: Creative Arts
Hitting the right notes
How one Bayes MBA graduate made the transition from professional musician to Managing Director
If you imagine a ‘typical’ MBA student at a London business school, you might conjure the image of someone working in the City, in Financial Services. So thought Rosenna East, a 2023 graduate of the Bayes Modular Executive MBA, who was fully expecting to be the odd one out in her cohort when she started her MBA in 2020:
“I'd been working as a professional musician for 15 years, and so my background was very different from most of the intake into a business school in the City of London.”
Yet at Bayes, she soon realised she wasn’t the only one with different experience to bring to the classroom.
“At my interview, I remember being shown a pie chart of the backgrounds of previous cohorts, and I was surprised that it wasn’t as heavily dominated by the financial services sector as I had expected. There were people with backgrounds in education, medicine, and a broad range of professional services. It was a moment where I recall thinking 'there's a clear direction of travel here - more and more sectors are going to need business expertise from their leaders - I should do this.'"
Making the transition into management
At the time Rosenna applied for Bayes’ two year Modular Executive MBA in the winter of 2019, she was the General Manager of a summer opera festival called Nevill Holt Opera, in Leicestershire. She had been there for five years, and before that she was a professional violinist with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra based in Edinburgh.
“I was already in my first management role and it was going well and I was enjoying it. But I wanted to do the MBA to support the transition into management, to boost my potential opportunities in the sector, and to facilitate career progression. I wanted to give myself a better and more confident grounding in managerial and business skills, such as are required to run creative arts organisations and many other businesses as well.”
Coming from the creative arts, it is unusual to have an MBA. That was one of the reasons I wanted to do it, to give myself that competitive advantage.
When searching for a business school for her MBA, location and diversity were important considerations for Rosenna.
“I live in London, so I was looking for a London-based course, and Bayes’ internationalism was a real draw for me. It was very obvious how diverse the cohort was and I was particularly drawn to that, as it was something I didn’t feel I was getting in my professional work. I wanted to broaden my horizons, figuratively and literally.”
“The other thing was when I came for interview, I found the academics very approachable and likable, but serious. I just liked the vibe. Plus, the modular structure attracted me.”
A unique MBA experience
Shortly after starting the programme, two significant events completely changed the course of Rosenna’s MBA: the Covid-19 pandemic and discovering she was pregnant with her first child. Rosenna had also recently changed jobs to become Managing Director of Sinfonia of London. When the UK went into lockdown in March 2020, MBA teaching moved online. Like all students, Rosenna had to adapt.
“Truthfully, I wouldn't have chosen online learning to start with. I was very keen to have the in-person experience, as most people will be, because a huge part of the value of an MBA is always going to be the network and the one-to-one interactions that you have, the relationships that you can build and the knowledge and experience you can gain that way.”
“Yet, when we went into lockdown it was great to have the focus of the MBA. I had my daughter during the second lockdown and it made continuing the degree a lot more feasible, because the modules were being offered in flexible formats. Some people would go into class when it was allowed and some people would join online because they were studying from abroad.”
“Borders were still closed, and travel was restricted. Which meant there was a lot of flexibility in how you studied, which of course, for a woman who just had a baby, was a real blessing and a facilitator for my continued improvement.”
Rosenna cites the support she received from Bayes, both during pregnancy and in maternity, as crucial to her success.
“Everyone at Bayes was very supportive. My course director, Dr Alessandro Giudici, was very encouraging of both me continuing the MBA during my pregnancy, then taking a bit of time off to have the baby, and then come back to my studies. He was very flexible about which cohorts I did modules with, which meant that I could plot out the degree in my own time.”
“I'm lucky to have had great family support as well. The examinations period was probably the hardest thing because it’s a pressurised time. I could not have done it without the members of my family who looked after the baby while I sat my exams.”
As challenging as it was, I enjoyed the ‘stretch’. Maternity period is a wonderful, special time, but it suited me to do some studying at the same time.
Another source of vital support was from the Global Women’s Leadership Development Programme. Rosenna received a scholarship, which contributed 50% of her course fees. The Programme pulls together scholars from multiple MBA cohorts, with activities including a peer-to-peer mentoring programme, skills workshops and networking events.
“I really was honoured to receive it. I very nearly didn't apply for it, but Bayes’ staff encouraged me to apply and I was completely thrilled to get it. It was a huge financial support and a great help, even though the Bayes MBA is very competitively priced.”
“It is also a great endorsement to have on your CV. And it was a wonderful experience – one of the most valuable aspects of my MBA experience at Bayes. It offered a real community and support network at a time when those things were really valuable to me, both in lockdown and in maternity.”
You have people really rooting for you, advising and guiding you through the degree.
“The variety of modules was key”
“One of the things I really enjoyed about the MBA was the range of modules it covered, and the sheer variety of topics. There were mandatory modules that I might not have originally chosen – I thought corporate finance was probably less relevant to somebody working in the arts, but I found it so interesting.”
“With the Bayes MBA you get a thorough grounding in a huge spread of business areas. For somebody like me, who is looking to be a generalist in business rather than a specialist, I think that variety of modules was key.”
Although she didn’t take any international electives because of the pandemic and her maternity, Rosenna is keeping this in mind for the future. Graduates of the MBA have the option to take a new elective each year, studying alongside that year’s cohort.
“It’s a really nice option to have as it means you can continue to develop as your career evolves, explore new interests and subject areas, and keep moving with the times.”
Another highlight of Rosenna’s time on the course was her final project, which she undertook following the Consulting to Management module. Rosenna worked with arts organisation Sage Gateshead (now rebranded Glasshouse International Centre for Music). Following that successful collaboration the venue has gone on to become one of Rosenna’s clients in her current role.
“It was an invaluable real-life work opportunity.”
Putting learning into practice
“The orchestra I now run is relatively new, and a bit of a challenger in the market. We have had some fantastic results over the last couple of years – putting out a remarkable number of acclaimed recordings, winning awards and delivering some fantastic live performances – one highlight was performing at the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms.”
“There are a lot of factors involved in our success, but I think the business education I’ve received has helped me enormously. It has given me confidence and ideas and broadened my sense of what’s possible. I’m using the skills which were taught on the MBA, such as negotiating, accounting and financial reporting, and relationship-building and shaping partnerships. It has really helped to drive better results for the orchestra.”
Personally, the MBA has given me confidence. I feel more fluent in running a business and engaging with the business world.
“For someone who initially trained as a violinist, early on in my career I felt I was ‘flying blind’ and going on instinct. That’s not always a comfortable place to be psychologically. It’s very different now. I feel great - I've got the credentials, I've got the learning, and I can see what I've delivered.”
New perspectives on business
“The MBA exposes you to people who think differently, and I think that’s very important. That’s one of the ways you keep learning through life. It's a huge advantage to expose yourself to different mindsets, different assumptions. Business people think differently to how arts people think.”
“What I aim to do is straddle both worlds and so it was a huge advantage to me to be in the minority, coming from an arts background, to be learning about different ways of seeing the world and solving problems.”
Having been through such a transformational experience, Rosenna has advice for anyone thinking of doing the MBA at Bayes:
“Go for it. No one can pretend it isn't hard work. It is hard work but make the most of it. Build relationships and networks and you’ll learn just as much from your peers as you learn in the classroom. The highlight of my time was the beautiful variety of people I met and engaged with.”
You learn something from everybody if you’ve got your eyes and ears open.