Ava Kavoossi, UCLA Anderson MBA Class of 2020
Age: 29 (eek I’m old!)
Hometown: Corona del Mar, CA
Undergraduate Institution and Major: University of Southern California, major in Business Administration, minor in Music Industry
Pre-MBA Work Experience (years, industry): 7 years : started in retail (6 months), then moved into music industry traditional (2 years), then music industry digital (2.5 years), and finally Saas (tech) (2.5 years)
Why business school? Why now?
I worked for Tubular Labs, a SaaS startup, for 2.5 years. I started out in partner strategy and management for our strategic clients, and quickly grew into developing customer success operations for the company. From there, I realized that in order to scale, the company needed to have a legitimate customer learning center so that customer success managers could spend their time on more value-add projects (instead of repetitive and inconsistent trainings).
Thus, I initiated the idea, and moved into a newly-created role to build out this new product. Because I was in charge of the new learning center end to end, I dabbled in many areas I had never worked on before, including sourcing and budgeting vendors, curriculum creation, customer research, sales enablement, and product development. It was through this experience that I realized my excitement for product marketing and sales enablement, and thus the need to go back to school to master them!
Why Anderson? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
I chose to attend Anderson most prominently for its curriculum, resources, and environment. Anderson has a strong reputation for grooming great leaders in the tech industry, which its able to achieve through multiple incredible resources including: Easton Center for Technology (and the associated workshops it offers), technology leadership electives, AnderTech (club), Parker Career Center, and amazing Anderson alumni.
I knew that I wanted to get in with this incredible crowd! Additionally, Anderson students are known for being collaborative and supporting each other throughout the business school experience. Share Success isn’t just an Anderson value for marketing reasons; you genuinely trust and support your peers, wanting them to do just as great as you hope for yourself. When I came to visit campus, I felt this among the students I chatted with. And now, as a first year full-time students, I 100% feel this among my peers!
What do you think is your most valuable or differentiating contribution to the Class of 2020?
What do you think is your most valuable or differentiating contribution to the Class of 2020?
Unofficial leadership. In the startup world, you learn that supporting others in their goals is just as important as accomplishing your own. Things move quickly, and you can’t accomplish everything yourself. I have adopted this philosophy in life, feeling that my role as a leader is to remove obstacles from the success of my team, and to lift others’ up in their ideas and goals.
I practice this at Anderson as well, encouraging others in my class to run for positions, speak up in class even if they’re unsure, and provide feedback to the administration on a regular basis. I see that this has already made an impact on my peers–we already have held student-initiated and run fireside chats to discuss issues around discrimination and initiated our own feedback process for orientation. Although it’s still early, I hope that by leading from behind, I can help others around me step up to their full potential at Anderson.
Fun fact that didn’t get included on your application?
Fun fact that didn’t get included on your application?
I often times get mistaken for a reality TV star in Los Angeles, resulting in photos of me with fans floating around the internet!
Post-MBA career interests?
Post-MBA career interests?
Product marketing and sales enablement at a tech firm
Advice to current prospective applicants:
–One thing you would absolutely do again as part of your application process?
Advice to current prospective applicants:
–One thing you would absolutely do again as part of your application process?
Have my friends read through my resume and essays! It really helps getting an outside perspective to make sure your words are clear, concise, and easy to understand. Flow is important!
–One thing you would change or do differently?
I would have attended more post-admission events prior to orientation. They’re super fun, and you actually do bond with people!
–Part you would have skipped if you could—and what helped you get through it?
Rewriting my resume was tough. I had always written it a certain way, but was advised to change my flow to focus on my development (instead of big wins). It was helpful to have current MBA students read through it, to make sure my story and branding was clear.
What is your initial impression of Anderson’s students/culture/community?
What is your initial impression of Anderson’s students/culture/community?
Collaborative, kind, diverse!
One thing you have learned about Anderson that has surprised you?
One thing you have learned about Anderson that has surprised you?
The number and quality of extracurriculars we can participate in, particularly workshops in certain industries.
Thing you are most anxious about in your first year?
Thing you are most anxious about in your first year?
Recruitment! It’s a lot to do 🙂
Thing you are most excited about in your first year?
Thing you are most excited about in your first year?
Continuing to meet more classmates, landing my summer internship (hopefully!), and taking electives!
Clear Admit Resources
As you work on your UCLA / Anderson MBA essays and application, we encourage you to consider all of Clear Admit’s UCLA / Anderson offerings:
- UCLA / Anderson School of Management on the Clear Admit website: up-to-date advice and admissions information
- Clear Admit UCLA / Anderson School Snapshot: overview of key curricular details and application information
- Clear Admit UCLA / Anderson School Guide: in-depth program and campus information and side-by-side school comparisons; everything you need to know for a successful application
- Clear Admit LiveWire: admissions updates submitted in real time by applicants to Anderson
- Clear Admit DecisionWire: school selections in real-time by admits to Anderson
