I was in the retail jewellery trade for circa 15 years as the MD of my own company. I am a serial entrepreneur & a history of being involved in different companies from the inception stage.
One of the main requirements was that the college was to have an interest in the entrepreneur. After talking to a few of the Alumni I knew that HEC was the only one occupying that space with the right amount of depth &enthusiasm. After seeing who the lectures were to be I decided that the obvious decision was to select the Luxury major. It was refreshing to see that the primary lecturer had real world experience in my industry.
The greatest surprise of the course was the fellow students. When we were in the same location, college & hotel for two weeks it was an amazing experience, an incubator of innovation! The close interaction with the other students for the two weeks was the making of the course. This cannot be overstated. The International element of the program was excellent, this is both from the student & lectures side. The lectures looked for the feedback from our group & that is when the real learning just took off. We educated each other.
Originally I thought the major would just add polish to my operation but I had the major completely underestimated. I was able to re-create my company after the two tracks & the innovation continues, in fact it will take years to implement the full learning from the course. On completion of the course I have expanded my horizons to new markets. Previously I was content with owning an operation that solely operated in Ireland, now we will be expanding to the UK and then Europe - the more you learn the more you dare!
