5 Lessons Learned from Studying Abroad

Over the last year I have had the unique opportunity to not only attend MIP Graduate School of Business in Milan, but also was able to study for 2 weeks in beautiful Barcelona, Spain. The last year has been a wealth of experiences, lessons learned, challenges, and growing both personally and professionally. 

1) Learn from Other Cultures:

Studying in Milan and in Barcelona allows you to expand and grow by learning from and alongside students from all over the world

2) Travel, Eat, and Experience:

When visiting a new city or country, the first thing to do is try the local cuisine and look up all the amazing history and sights to see.  Barcelona is a wealth of experiences. Oh and the food is top notch!

3) Wealth of Knowledge from Professors:

When studying in a new city you are exposed to new professors and industry experts to learn from, as well as adding to your professional network.

4) Professional and Personal Networking:

Studying abroad allows you to meet, connect, and network with people from around the world, growing your network to have a wide reach. This is excellent for job search, knowledge, finding a mentor, etc

5) Cultural Differences:

Every culture is different and different cultures have different views and respond differently to marketing, advertising, new products, etc. Being able to learn about these differences is key in working for a Multi-National or Global Company.

When studying abroad, depending on where you come from, where you are going to, and how you look at and attack your time there will shape and define your experience. Make it unique and make it your own. 

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

- Mark Twain 

Lessons In a Startup: Part 1

For my project work at school I was fortunate enough to serendipitously fall into a role at an Italian Based, Global, eCommerce start up with clients around the world. First off, how did this all happen?

Well since I made the move to Milan and started Grad School, I was challenged to start blogging, and as I learned about finding my style and my voice in my blog, I wrote a post that exploded, ‘My Grad School Adventure: Football (American) in Italy’. I had a blast writing about my experiences and lessons, as well as educating my family, friends, and readers about my experience here. This lead to one Tommaso Finadri, President, CTO, and Co-Founder of Beast Technologies to read it as he is a player on the Parma Panthers American Football Team (the same Parma Panthers from John Grisham’s book ‘Playing for Pizza’, side bar: read it, it is a lot like the experiences I am having here). 

When I first got his email I was cautious, I had made the decision to leave a good Sales Job to explore the world and get a Master’s in Milan with the thought that I was going to fall into working at a Big Luxury Fashion Brand and live the life of the Fashion Industry (think ‘Devil Wears Prada’). But I entertained it and after learning about the product, a Strength Tracker that hinges on Data Analytics and IoT or internet of things, I was very intrigued. Also the name was Beast Technologies and the quote I have had as the background of my computer since I made the move was, “Everyone wants to be a Beast, until it’s time to do what Beasts do”, coincidence?

While I was in B2B Sales and Marketing I worked in the IT industry and learned a lot about technology and start ups and paid careful attention to the start up scene in Des Moines and followed companies like Dwolla. I have always been an early adopter of Social Media and jumped on the Spotify and Snap Chat train from day 1, just like I did with Twitter and Facebook in high school. I also love the laid back culture you get inside a startup.

So I decided to jump in head first and see what I could do to help a startup that launched just 2 years ago, into a new market, grab its footing and grow the company. My role at Beast was to come in a put on many hats blending my experience in Account Management and Sales, with my passion for Content Creation and growing our Social Media footprint. I currently am the Content Marketing Manager and Head of International Partnerships. In my role I manage a small team of 5 across Marketing, Sales, and eCommerce/Customer Support. 

Things I have learned and like about a startup, freedom to try out new things. I have established a Content Marketing Roadmap, something we did not have before, and have the freedom to try and do things to create buzz and generate awareness. I am getting to blend my schooling with my passion. 

Working in a startup is dynamic, different, always changing, and you have to be able to handle multiple roles and have the ability to pivot as needed, a skill I learned in Sales and honing here. I was able to spend some time with a professor in Barcelona who has founded 2 startups and after talking to him about the future of startups, I couldn’t be more excited about my role here and all the lessons that lie before me.

I love to compete, I love being the new kid on the block, the underdog, and I love to surprise people, so what better opportunity to drive this and work in a startup. To end with an often overused quote, “I didn’t choose the startup life, the startup life chose me.”

I am excited to see where this next journey will take me! 

Why I Decided go Back to School for a Master’s: 8 months later...

My journey back to school and across the world to Milan has flown by! 8 months ago I hopped on a plane with my girlfriend, next stop, Milan. When we met we both talked about getting a Master’s or MBA. She was about to graduate with a Degree in Design, and I had just bought a town home and was working in B2B Sales and Marketing for almost 5 years. What changed?

ME. I had always thought about it and I wanted to travel the world. This provided the opportunity for us to do it together. Since moving here, the question more than any other that I have been asked….. “Why Milan?” 

When you think about schools and education, yes most logically would be to go to a good school in the USA. But what people don't account for is the experience.Milan provided the perfect mix of design, business, fashion, and opportunity. And I wanted to study in a truly multi-cultural environment. And I wanted to challenge myself in a country that I couldn’t speak in. I also wanted to get a different view of business, marketing, and running a business. Now 8 months later I can tell you that the experiences have been worth it.

I truly have learned a lot about myself, as well as have a better idea of what is important to me. As a sales guy I always craved more support and materials that would help me sell. Now I am passionate about working in Content and Digital Marketing providing communication that does just that. I love managing social profiles, interacting with customers, and creating content for a brand. I have had the fortunate opportunity to obtain an internship with an Italian Startup called Beast Technologies. I am managing all the Content and Digital Media for the company as well as managing high level partnerships with affiliates, clients, and sponsors across the enterprise. 

Outside of this good fortune I had the chance to study for 2 weeks in the amazing city of Barcelona, Spain at one of the best Business Schools called eada Business School. What an amazing experience it was. Between experiences with partner companies like Nielsen, IBM, OTB, and Universal McCann, to studying in Spain, as well the friendships created, experiences say it best. 

My Business Innovation Design Team @ eada in Barcelona

As I am now officially done with classes and now working on completing my final project I can say that the experiences to this point have been amazing, but not without struggles. But those struggles have turned into learning experiences. Living in Italy is a challenge, but nothing great comes easy. 

IM4 Team in Barcelona

Football in Milano Part 2: American Football: Milano Seamen

Photo Credit: Ugljevarevic Photography

Part 2:

To say that this team is transforming is an understatement. After a slow start to the season, The #SeamenMilano have gone through some tough learning lessons with a young and explosive QB at the helm in Garrett Saffron and an emerging leader in HARD hitting SS David Guthrie. This past weekend we embarked on the long bus ride to Belgrade, Serbia for our first of 2 European Championship Qualifying matches, a bus ride that lasted 15 hours included with early morning wake up calls at the boarders to check passports. Once we arrived in Belgrade everyone looked like an excited dog that has been in a cage all day and finally gets to run around. And we all needed to stretch our legs and get out of that darn bus!

The European Championship is open to the IFL and all other league Champions and Runner Ups, they have the option to play in the European Championship or not. The Seamen after winning the Italian Football League Super Bowl in 2015 wanted to test themselves in the Euro League as they had before, and felt good about their chances this year. We were facing the SBB Vukovi Beograd who have made the Final Four the last 2 seasons. The Final Four this year is in Stockholm, Sweden. 

We checked into the Prestige Hotel which conveniently was located next to the stadium, the Seamen took over flying the Italian Flag and Seamen flag on the balcony out front letting everyone know that the Seamen have arrived! After everyone got refreashed and had some lunch a group of us headed to the city center to explore the beautiful city of Belgrade. We had a lot of fun taking pictures, picking up souvenirs, and exploring. This was a great time for the team to bond together and have a little fun. 

After film, dinner, and a short walk through I had the chance to hang out what the team without many distractions. It was interesting and fun to talk with some of the team leaders about the focus, determination, and legacy the 2016 team wanted to leave. The team was locked in and they wanted to make a statement after a slow start to the season.

The next day was hot, but the feeling of the team was ELECTRIC! It was game day and a chance for the Seamen to ball out! And ball out they did scoring 50 points in a great offensive showing, while also accruing 3 turnovers, including one takeaway returned for a touchdown by American Safety David Guthrie. The final score was 50-34 Seamen came out victorious. The Belgrade team was a strong team with a lot of talent and a very disciplined and well coached team, but the day was won by this group of guys who are so motivated and determined to make a statement about the sport here in Italy. I was also given the honor of leading the team onto the field and carrying the flag in! (pictured above)

I started this journey with the Milano Seamen in October of 2015 working out and coaching the guys. And after this long weekend with the guys away from Italy, spending a lot of time on the bus cooped up, I learned a lot about this group. These guys are true ambassadors of the sport of football in Italy. Seeing the way they sing on the bus, and live with passion and pride make me proud to be a part of this team. I truly believe in the power of sport and how it forms bonds, and teaches so many life lessons. From learning how to lead, how to follow, how to overcome challenges, and how not to be complacent when you are winning. For me personally I continue to learn a lot about the Italian culture this group of guys and appreciate how they help me with the language and teach me. 

Coming up this weekend is another big game as it is Derby week against our cross town rivals the Milano Rhinos who enter the game undefeated and the league leaders in the North Division. For all my friends in Milano please come out and support us this week at Arena Civica! Game time is 6 pm!

#ForzaSeamen #SeamenMilano #AmericanFootball #IFL #EuropeanChampionship #Italia #Milano

My Grad School Adventure: Football (American) in Italy

Football (American) in Italy:

When you hear the word football or futbol in Italy, everyone starts discussing the Champions League, or Juventus, Inter, or Milan. To me growing up in the United States, it meant Football, the hard hitting, action packed sport that I have played since I was 5 years old.

When wanting to specify, you have to say American Football, most people never knew there was such a thing as the Italian Football League or IFL. The IFL consists of 12 teams split into 2 divisions the North and the South.

North:

Milano Seamen

Milano Rhinos

Parma Panthers

Bolzano Giants

Torino Jaguars

Bergamo Lions

South:

Roma Grizzles

Lazio Marines

Ferrara Aquile

Ancona Dolphins

Bologna Warriors

Firenze Guelfi

There was a book written by John Grisham called “Playing for Pizza”, which I read over a year ago on a flight from Des Moines to Nashville. It was my first exposure to what football in Italy was all about. When I made the decision to move to Milano to attend Graduate School at MIP, I just knew I needed to be involved and find out more. I have played football for years and my last game was August 2015 as I finished up my career with a Semi Professional Team called the Des Moines Blaze (desmoinesblaze.com) where over 5 seasons we went 56-2, 5 league titles, and held the honor of National Champions twice. I was a 5-year starter, 5 time All-League, 4-year Captain, and 3-time Pro Bowl selection. I wasn’t sure what the situation would like once I arrived but I knew that if I couldn’t play then I wanted to coach. I contacted the 2 teams in Milano and within half hour, I heard back from the 2 time back to back current IFL Super Bowl Champions the Milano Seamen. Unfortunately, I was unable to play due to the rules of only allowing 2 import players (which they already had) and having troubles getting an Italian passport being 3^rd generation.

Thus my transition from Player to Coach has begun, and what an interesting mix of emotions and feelings it has been. I still get to practice with team and pad up and hit people which I love to do, but making the transition from player to coach has been a struggle. How do you make that transition from what you have done with passion for over 20 years?

The transition has not gotten any easier but it has been a wonderful experience full of emotions and experiences. One of the reasons I wanted to be involved in this experience is I wanted to continue being around the game I love, but I also wanted to transfer my knowledge and experience to help others from a culture where this sport is not mainstream and help them learn and grow. It also has allowed me to really ingrain myself in the city and learn many of the Italian cultures. Using the game as a way to break down communication barriers I am able to learn and improve my Italian skills while helping guys improve and learn English. I can tell you that many of these guys have taught me more than I feel that I have been able to give back to them.

It is a beautiful thing how sport can defy boundaries, cultures, race, etc and bring people together with a love and a passion for a game. The ability to bond together and achieve a goal, and be a part of something bigger than themselves. Sport, Football, provides many life lessons about how to work in a team, how to lead, how to follow, and how doing your job or not doing your job affects others. The bonds formed from playing sport are strong and stand the test of time. I have had the honor of being a part of the Milano Seamen organization for 6 months now and we have started the season 1-1 and have a long season ahead of us. I look forward to continuing to improve my skills as a coach, help mentor others to grow and learn, as well as improve my leadership and Italian skills. The ability to improve my life skills, forge new friendships, and be involved in the game I love is an amazing experience and has allowed me to divulge deeper into the Italian culture and the city of Milano!

Check out the Milano Seamen at www.seamen.it, or using #SeamenMilano on all social media. 

All Photo Credit: Dario Fumagalli 

Grad School Adventures: Work Life Balance: Student Edition

Work Life Balance: Student Edition

Too often we find ourselves opening up the Facebook app on our phones only to realize that 20 minutes later we are still scrolling our news feed. Too often we tell ourselves, just one more episode on Netflix, to it being 3 shows and hours later.

Why do many, if not all of us, have trouble finding balance?

Balancing our lives as students is tough, and we have to focus on the small habits we can form that will help find balance in a crazy, connected world.

What is balance anyway?

Balance is establishing equal or appropriate proportions of elements in life.

Why is this important as a Master’s Student studying abroad?

Simple: Everyday you have to balance school, personal and a social life. When living and studying in a foreign country you want to “take it all in” and “make the most of the opportunity”; but how? Some people only focus on school and forget to explore new cultures and discover new places in what is truly a one-in-a-lifetime experience they might never have an opportunity like this again. Some others however might explore too much and forget why they are here.

Finding harmony in each/every situation is an important life skill, and one that you might never quite master but continue to tweak with time -and experience along the way. We all have a long list of to-do’s and bucket lists; so how can you start channeling your energy to focus in on better balance?

1)   Sharpen your Focus and Clear your Runway Mind

•       Prioritize what needs to be done. Take the most important task first and accomplish so you can cross it off your list!

2) Create/Establish clearly defined Boundaries

•       Establish the categories of what you want to focus on in both school and personally and rate them

•       Focus on completing these weekly goals

3) Establish me time to work out, relax, and enjoy life!

•       It is no secret that top entrepreneurs and CEO’s talk about the importance of physical activity and adventure, plan it into your daily routine. Find the me time to help you re-center and re-energize!

The most important thing is to understand that there needs to be a balance between your school or work life and your social life. What works for one person may be a little different for someone else. BUT following a few simple steps with a focused and conscious effort and you can find your own balance. Keep in mind that we create our own energy; attack life with passion, proactivity and positivity, and focus on how you can achieve each goal.

Feel free to comment or connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter @RobbyNap!

Grad School Adventures: "The Value of IM4 Partners"

The Value of IM4 Partners:

To me our partnership opportunities are one of the most exciting and important opportunities available to us at MIP, and is a reason it really sets itself apart.

The 1^st edition of the IM4 or Master’s of International Multichannel Marketing Management kicked off in September of 2015. Since starting it has been a flurry of activity, experiences, case studies, lectures, and workshops. This program offers us the students a wonderful insight to real time experiences and examples by working with and hearing from large companies. Our official IM 4 partners are IBM, Nielsen, Universal McCann, and OTB. To date we have had the chance to hear from and workshop with most of them with more workshops scheduled!

Early in the semester IBM came in and delivered an insightful presentation on BI/Big Data and how this concept is constantly evolving. There is so MUCH data, what do we do with? We have to learn and be experts on the multiple tools that help us synthesize the data and we are working as Marketing Manager students to fine tune our intuition. For we have to be experts in the field to be able to make decisions based of the data and not let the data make all the decisions for us. It is very important in today’s data driven and evolving society to be able to understand the data and make decision not only on data but on our intuition and understanding of the market. There is a great TED talk by Sebastian Wernicke “How to use data to make a hit TV show”. Sebastian a Data Scientist used an example of Amazon and Netflix and how they used to data to make decisions.

Nielsen also came in and did an excellent workshop on Pricing. We had the opportunity to learn about price sensitivity and price elasticity and how pricing effects the market, competition, and how it can affect your brand image. We then got to work in teams using one of Nielsen’s pricing tools to have to create scenarios to work towards a desired outcome. This allowed us to change prices, product lines, etc to see how they affected overall pricing and sales. This was an excellent workshop and really brought together our lessons on pricing in the market and gave us that hands on experience you rarely find in other classrooms while getting to utilize and network with Nielsen representatives who are very well established and respected in their fields.

Recently we had the pleasure of welcoming Riccardo Belinni, Executive VP Diesel and Diesel Black Gold and Chief Marketing Officer at Diesel as well as the Global Head of Media Giada Gheno to give us an inspiring and bold presentation of Diesel Strategic Brand Strategy from where they started to where they are now with the #DieselReboot campaign as they look to continue being the market rebels with bold, exciting, and strong inspiring marketing campaigns. One of the areas that I thought was very cool was how they run all their digital strategy through one office in English to ensure that their message across platforms is consistent and strong! As a lover of Brand Management and Digital Strategy I really enjoyed hearing about their current campaign and what is to come next from Diesel!

The IM4 program has been an awesome experience over the last 5 months and looking forward to working with Universal McCann in the coming weeks. The class has really enjoyed these experiences and are making the most of every opportunity. It is partnerships like these and the constant variation in visiting professors from different areas of expertise and backgrounds that make this program rich with experiences and networking opportunities.