Women at MIT Sloan

Lisa Pradell, MBA ’07

Educational background: University of California at Santa Barbara, Biology
Past position: Fresh Samantha Juice Company, Manager

Delivering the goods

It's been an interesting odyssey so far, from graduating college and taking a job driving a fruit juice delivery truck, to coming to Cambridge for business school. My mother was shocked when about six years ago I went to work for Samantha's Juice, a beverage alternative start-up company. After a year of driving, I moved inside and learned the ropes of sales, marketing, distribution, and operations. When Coca-Cola acquired the company recently, I had the choice of staying on in a management position or learning the nuts and bolts of business management.

It didn't take long to zero in on MIT Sloan. At first, my perception was that it was too technical, too engineering-focused. Then, I spoke with two women in the MIT Sloan Women in Management (SWIM) program and an admissions office representative. I could see very quickly that yes, those things were part of MIT, but there is so much more as well.

Learning to swim

One of the interesting things I've discovered since starting here is that the program is designed for you not to be able to do it all. You have to prioritize. Sometimes you can't put as much time into things as you'd like, and you just have to do your best and deal with it. This strikes me as being real-life. MIT Sloan has one of the hardest core programs among business schools. They want to give you a skill set first semester. No matter how well organized you are, you're going to be sunk — or at least submerged — for a while. But that's okay. You can't do everything yourself, and you have to trust your team members — just like at work!

Another big surprise was the faculty. The professors really know their subjects and really want to teach. One of the world's leading experts on stats teaches my course on Monday mornings at 8:30. This is a pitiful time slot, but it's my favorite class. It's amazing! The teaching at MIT Sloan is such high quality.

I don't have a quantitative background at all, but there's plenty of help. I'm never afraid to go for help and have never come up short on it. Yes, I'm working hard, and my parents don't understand why I can't see them for a few months, but it's an unbelievable experience.

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