Silvia Mercedes Porturas Flores, Manchester AMBS MBA Class of 2028
Age: 33
Hometown: Lima, Peru
Undergraduate Institution and Major: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP), Bachelor’s Degree in Management
Pre-MBA Work Experience: I am a Peruvian business leader with more than 10 years of experience in banking and fintech, where I have worked on digital transformation, growth, customer experience, and innovation projects.
I started my career at Banco de Crédito del Perú (BCP), where I had the opportunity to work on different types of projects and learn how a large organization operates. Later, I joined Culqi, a BCP fintech, where I took on new challenges related to commercial strategy, growth, and business management.
Throughout my career, I have had the opportunity to lead complex projects and multidisciplinary teams. What I have enjoyed the most is working with people from different areas, understanding a problem from different perspectives, and then turning all those ideas into something concrete that creates value for customers and the business.
Why did you make the decision to attend business school? Why now?
For many years, doing an MBA was a personal and professional dream of mine. I always knew I wanted to do it, but I wanted to wait until I had enough professional experience to really take advantage of the experience.
After more than 10 years working in banking and fintech, I felt that I had reached the right moment. I had learned a lot from my career, led different kinds of projects, worked with great teams, and faced many challenging situations. But I also felt that I was ready to challenge myself again and see the world from a different perspective.
For me, the MBA is not only about learning new business concepts. I want to learn from people from different countries, industries, and backgrounds, challenge the way I think, and understand how the things I have learned in Peru can be applied in a more global context.
I see this as a pause in my career, but definitely not a step back. It is an investment in myself and in the next stage of my life.
Why did you choose Manchester AMBS? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
There were several things that made Manchester the right choice for me.
First, I wanted a strong MBA in a university with a global reputation. The Manchester MBA is currently ranked 49th globally, 15th in Europe, and 5th in the UK in the Financial Times Global MBA Ranking 2026.
Second, I was really attracted by the diversity of the cohort. We have more than 30 nationalities in the class, and people come from very different professional backgrounds. I knew that I didn’t want to spend my MBA surrounded by people who thought and worked exactly like me. I wanted to be challenged by different perspectives.
Third, I really liked the Manchester Method and the focus on learning by doing. That fits very well with the way I learn. I understand things much better when I can discuss them, work on a real problem, make mistakes, and then reflect on what I could have done differently.
And finally, I was attracted by everything around the MBA: the networking opportunities, exchanges, scholarships, career support, and especially the possibility of getting involved in entrepreneurship.
I wanted the MBA experience to be much more than just classes, and Manchester felt like a place where I could do that.
What do you think is your most valuable or differentiating contribution to the Class of 2028?
I think I can contribute with a combination of experience in complex business transformation and a very people-oriented leadership style.
I really enjoy bringing people together, understanding the different perspectives and turning ideas into tangible outcomes.
But probably the most important thing I bring is my leadership style. I care a lot about people and team wellbeing. I believe you can be very ambitious about the results you want to achieve while also creating an environment where people feel supported and comfortable being themselves.
I have also learned that, when things become difficult, staying calm is a superpower. Not everything goes according to plan, especially in transformation projects, so I hope I can be someone my classmates can count on when we are facing a difficult challenge.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself that didn’t get included on your application:
I love travelling, but I think I love planning trips almost as much! I organize my own itineraries down to the details: Flights, accommodations, routes, restaurants, activities, transportation, maps… everything!
Over the years, so many friends started asking me for my itineraries, recommendations, and travel documents that I sometimes joke that I could have become a travel agency. Sometimes I think that if I hadn’t studied Management, tourism could have been my first degree. And who knows… maybe one day I will combine both!
Post-MBA career interests:
I would like to continue my career in a multinational company in the UK or Europe, ideally in banking, fintech, or technology. I am particularly interested in roles related to strategy, transformation, growth, or innovation, where I can combine the experience I already have with everything I am learning during the MBA.
But I also want to keep an open mind. One of the reasons I came to Manchester was to explore industries and opportunities that I may not have considered before.
And there is another goal that I don’t want to lose sight of: I would love to start my own business in the future. I don’t know exactly what it will be yet, but I hope the MBA helps me discover and test that idea.
Advice for Current Prospective Applicants:
–What is one thing you would absolutely do again as part of your application process?
I would absolutely speak with alumni again.
Those conversations gave me a perspective that I could not get from a website or brochure. I asked them what their day-to-day experience was really like, what they valued most about the programme, the career opportunities, and how the MBA had actually affected their careers.
Websites can tell you what a programme offers, but alumni can tell you what it feels like to be there. Those conversations helped me understand whether Manchester was the right place for me.
–What is one thing you would change or do differently?
Looking back, I would have researched scholarships in Peru and other external funding opportunities much earlier. It is definitely something I would recommend prospective applicants to start exploring as soon as they decide they want to do an MBA.
–What is one part you would have skipped if you could—and what helped you get through it?
Definitely the English exams! Haha.
Preparing for them was challenging because, at the same time, I had just been promoted and moved into a new industry. I suddenly had a lot of new responsibilities and a steep learning curve at work, while also trying to prepare for the exams.
What helped me was organizing my time carefully. I had to plan my weeks, set small goals, and be disciplined about protecting time for preparation. But honestly, what motivated me the most was remembering that this was part of the process. Starting an MBA had been a dream of mine for years (I used to daydream about it! Haha)
So whenever I felt tired, I reminded myself: this is one of the steps that will get me there… and eventually, it did!
What is your initial impression of the Manchester AMBS students/culture/community?
I love it!
What has impressed me is the diversity of the people. Not only because we have people from more than 30 countries, but because everyone has such different experiences: we have engineers, doctors, musicians, lawyers, pharmacists, entrepreneurs, psychologists, and people from many other backgrounds.
I think that one of the most valuable parts of the MBA is that sometimes you come to class thinking you have a good answer, and then someone with a completely different background says something that makes you look at the problem in a totally different way.
What student organizations have you joined/are you hoping to join and why?
I would love to be part of the Student Council because I really enjoy creating connections between people. I would like to help organize activities that bring the cohort together, support everyone’s wellbeing, and make sure we enjoy the experience—not only academically, but also personally.
I am also interested in the Tech, Entrepreneurship, and Women Leading in Business clubs. Entrepreneurship is something I want to explore more during my MBA because I have the long-term goal of starting my own business. I would love to meet people who have similar interests, exchange ideas, learn from their experiences, and hopefully start developing some ideas of my own.
I am also excited about connecting with women who are building careers and businesses internationally, learning from their experiences, and hopefully supporting others in the same way.
What is one thing you have learned about Manchester AMBS that has surprised you?
I was really surprised by how much support there is for entrepreneurship. I knew Manchester had an entrepreneurial ecosystem, but I didn’t expect there to be so many resources available to students.
The Masood Entrepreneurship Centre offers courses, mentoring, competitions, and different opportunities to develop an idea. There are also opportunities to access funding, including equity-free funding and prize funding.
For someone like me, who has always had the idea of starting a business but hasn’t yet taken that step, this is very exciting. It makes me feel that I don’t have to wait until after the MBA to start exploring entrepreneurship. I can actually use these 18 months to test ideas, learn, meet people, and maybe discover something I would not have found on my own.
What is one thing you are most excited about in your first year?
I am especially excited about the client consultancy projects. The idea of working with a real organization, facing a real business challenge, and having to move from analysis to recommendations and tangible outcomes is exactly the type of learning experience I was looking for.
I am also looking forward to learning from my classmates during the project. Everyone comes with a different country and way of thinking and solving problems, so I am curious to see what happens when we put all those perspectives together.
And, of course, I am excited to learn more about how companies work in the UK and how the consultancy approach differs from the way I have experienced projects inside companies in Peru.
I think it will be challenging—and that is exactly what I am looking for 😊
