MBA Alumni Profile: Philippe Mira, ESSEC & Mannheim

Philippe Mira had to wait more than a decade before the opportunity to embark on his Executive MBA presented itself. Mira is no stranger to challenges or new experiences. Before his EMBA, he’s backpacked around Brazil, scuba dived with sharks in New Caledonia, and in 2004, ran the New York City marathon.

"I started my career in 1995 as a software developer for Matra Communications," the Frenchman recalls. "I wanted to pursue an MBA about ten years ago, but I didn’t have the opportunity. When my professional career brought me the opportunity in 2009, I jumped on it without hesitation."

Mira, a freelance business consultant, has more than 15 years of professional experience in the telecommunications sector, but he is now dedicating all his time to creating his own company.

"The [EMBA] program had an impact on my career just three months after I started," he recalls. "I realised that creating my own business would be possible and was actually the obvious next step for my career."

Does he believe he would have had this opportunity had it not been for the Executive MBA? "In my case, it is not a question of opportunity but one of being ready. The program had a strong impact on my priorities and my self-confidence in my ability to do it [launch his own business]. An EMBA is not mandatory to create a business, but in my case it did trigger something in my mind.

With such a positive experience of business school, it will come as no surprise that Mira recommends the EMBA to others, but he does so for three reasons. "First, because it might have the same impact on others that it did on me regarding the opening of new opportunities. Second, because it is a real challenge to take up that you can be proud of at the end. Third, because it makes you meet great people, teachers and participants, whom you learn a lot from. And last but not least, as an added bonus, because it enriches your list of friends!"