College Experiences That Helped a Senior Manager Strategy and Special Projects at Professional City Orchestra Succeed
Kevin's UT Austin experience highlights three key factors contributing to career success: embracing mistakes and pivoting—"being okay with making mistakes and pivoting"—, stepping outside of comfort zones through experiences like studying abroad, and active involvement in organizations to develop crucial interpersonal skills and networking opportunities. This approach, exemplified by their journey from an initially unrelated major to a fulfilling career in arts management, emphasizes adaptability, exploration, and the cultivation of essential soft skills.
Career Exploration, Overcoming Challenges, Resilience, Networking, Communication
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Kevin Ma
Sr. Manager, Strategy & Special Projects
Professional City Orchestra
The University of Texas at Austin, 2014
MBA - UCLA Anderson School of Management
Business Management & Admin
Arts, Entertainment & Media
Business Strategy
Immigrant
Video Highlights
1. Embracing mistakes and pivoting: Kevin emphasizes the importance of being adaptable and open to changing career paths. His own experience of switching from a music major to a business degree highlights the value of self-reflection and making proactive decisions about one's future.
2. Stepping outside of your comfort zone: He stresses the transformative power of experiences such as studying abroad or pursuing internships in fields of interest, even if unrelated to one's major. These experiences foster personal growth and valuable skills.
3. Getting involved in organizations: Kevin highlights the benefit of participating in both social and professional organizations during college. This helps develop essential interpersonal skills like empathy and collaboration, highly relevant in a professional environment and also expands one's network and provides exposure to different fields.
Transcript
Kevin, taking you back to your time at UT Austin, what did you do in undergrad that set you up for success in your career?
My first answer to this is not what I initially acted like I did, but it was being okay with making mistakes and pivoting. I mentioned earlier that I initially started college as a music major but graduated with a business degree. For me, that was a pretty low point during that transition.
Looking back, I'm glad I worked through that and took the time to make the decision to pivot. It was instrumental for me to be able to take a look at what I cared about and what my priorities were at the time. It made me a little more sure that what I was doing coming out of undergrad was the right decision for me.
The second thing I would say is getting outside of my comfort zone. I had the privilege of studying abroad for a few months, and that was a transformative experience for me. I had the opportunity to do that in both a music and a business capacity.
It doesn't have to be studying abroad. But certainly, if you have the financial means, I'd recommend something like that. Or, I would say spend your summer after your freshman year working in a field that you've always had an interest in, even if it's not related to what you want to major in. It's just about getting yourself outside your comfort zone and trying something new.
In a time when you can and you have basically nothing to lose, I would say that was something formative for me. The last thing I would say is I got involved in organizations, both social and professional. Regardless of what the organization is doing, being part of your undergrad experience, or at least for me, helped me grow as a human being.
You develop a little more empathy for others and also learn how to work with other people who you might not normally work with. Those are skills that I feel are valuable in my day-to-day job. From the professional side, at the very least, it gives you exposure and knowledge to what it means to be interested in or focused on joining a particular field. Through that process, you also expand your network of friends and colleagues who you can rely on for support as you progress through college.
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