Lesley Ho

Indiana University, Kelley School of Business

“Fashion design by trade, tennis and lounging by night, looking forward to expanding my horizons.”

Hometown: Lafayette, CA

Fun Fact About Yourself: Most people in fashion, including myself, can tape up any box with efficiency and ease. It’ll be weatherproof and secure.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of California at Berkeley, Architecture (BA); Parsons School of Design, Fashion Design (AAS)

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Sanctuary Clothing, Associate Product Developer

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My biggest accomplishments in my career are the overall journey, and achieving healthy work-life balance during my last two positions. Endurance has been important in my fashion experience, which has allowed me to grow and evolve into my more recent roles. As my roles have increased in autonomy, I have been able to better manage my productivity and have decreased my overtime at work.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? They have been open about their experience so far, so it has been very helpful and encouraging insight.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? Graduate Career Services. I can feel the importance that Kelley has placed in these services, which is something I find invaluable.  It seems that GCS greatly cares about our growth and has an award-winning program to aid us along this big journey.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? Me, Inc.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I was able to achieve what I had set out in my mind before potentially pivoting to a different industry (a great range of experiences and a healthy work-life balance). I want to expand upon my current skill set and am ready to explore a career outside of fashion design. I would like a larger impact in my future roles with greater flexibility. I think getting an MBA will put me in a great position to achieve those goals.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? My past work experience is predominantly in fashion design, so if I were pivot outside that, it would be fairly difficult. I think that with a Kelley MBA, many more opportunities will open up, and I am eager to learn more about finance, marketing, and the business world in general.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? McCombs and Haas

How did you determine your fit at various schools? Graduate Career Services, talking to alumni and current students and scholarships. I could also feel the warmth from the Kelley community, which definitely helped in the evaluation.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? Early in my fashion career, I was stuck in traffic, hoping to get a package shipped out on time (which was accomplished). I was reflecting upon how to promote a healthy work environment and what type of manager I wanted to be in the future. I ultimately knew I wanted to give myself more flexibility in my career. But first I wanted to gain a breadth of experience in the industry before potentially shifting to a different field.

What do you plan to do after you graduate?  Still quite open to different roles. I want to see how the Me, Inc and the first semester goes.

Where do you see yourself in five years? With an innovative company that values a work-life balance with opportunities to grow.