Anna Troein

Yale School of Management

“Swedish-born, U.K.-raised professional passionate about the arts, inclusion, and connecting cultures.”

Hometown: Windsor, United Kingdom and Vaxholm, Sweden (yes, I have two!)

Fun Fact About Yourself: My hobby is to make craft cocktails – it started with my trying to make stop-motion videos and showing what went into a cocktail seemed to be a good way to practice stop motion. The cocktails turned out to be way more fun than the videos. Favorite cocktail: a classic Negroni.

Undergraduate School and Major:

Chelsea College of Art and Design, University of the Arts London, Foundation Degree in Art and Design

Tufts University, B.A. Art History and French

Most Recent Employer and Job Title:

Advancement Associate, Assistant to the Deputy Director and Chief Curator, Smithsonian Institution, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: At the Whitechapel Gallery, only a few months into my first job out of university, the person managing the implementation of two new databases for the museum left. No one in the museum had the knowledge base nor the time to complete the implementation. I stepped in and implemented both databases and integrated them with the existing system. This was with no prior knowledge of how any of this worked! I was able to resolve the kinks along the way – such as the e-commerce platform not being able to apply membership discounts – and create a set of process that would minimize extra work for all involved. It made me realize that I can do something if I take the time to learn the skills and think critically, even if it isn’t my “field” or “job.”

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? A sense of purpose to make the world a better place. The student body is diverse, from those wanting to work in theatre management to investment bankers to dual degrees with the Forestry School. Yet, every person really believes that you cannot separate business and society – it is not just some tagline that the school uses. It is really how students frame their thinking when approaching problems facing businesses today.

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? From the schools that I was looking at, SOM seems to have the best track record with people from the arts – both those who stay in the arts after graduation and those who pivot out of the field. Many of the MBAs I have met or heard about in the field went to Yale SOM. It was important for me to go to a school where there is a framework to help those from non-traditional backgrounds succeed and to have a support network of people who understand where I am coming from. SOM without a doubt has that.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? The Design and Innovation Club – I have been interested in learning more about design thinking for a while now as a framework to create creative ideas. As someone coming from an arts background, I love the hands-on nature, plus it will allow me to meet like-minded creatives and learn how to transfer my energy to a business context.

The Yale School of Management is regarded as a purpose-driven program. What is your mission? How will your MBA at Yale help you fulfill that mission? I believe that in every action that a business, government, or non-profit makes, we need to think about how it has an impact on the world around and how we can make it a better place. From my experience in the arts, I could see that everyone agreed on the same principle, such as diverse hiring will make the institution stronger. How that is implemented and how we achieve those results, however, is much more challenging. Yale SOM can both teach me some of those practical ways to achieve real impact, but also connect me with professors, students, and alumni who can offer real-world advice on how to approach those problems.

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? Why is an MBA relevant to you?

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I always knew that to continue my career in the arts, I would need a graduate degree. However, after working in the field for several years in fundraising and administration, I recognized that neither a Masters in Art History nor a Masters in Arts Administration would teach me the skills that I would most need to succeed or the skills that would most benefit the places I worked. An MBA seemed like the clear choice – I would get a set of skills distinct from my peers in the field and gain skills that could directly help museums improve on the very things with which many museums struggle – managing people driven by a mission on a tight budget.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Kellogg, MIT Sloan, Harvard Business School

How did you determine your fit at various schools? For me, the most important part about fit was with my classmates. That’s because, ultimately, the value of a full-time MBA is from the network that you make. I wanted to make sure that these were people that I would get along with inside and outside the classroom. This is where SOM’s mission was important – I want to be around people who want to make the world a better place.

The most important technique that I used to research the culture was to speak with current students and ask about their lives and what they did during their MBA. I tried to imagine whether I would enjoy a similar lifestyle. For example, I would ask what they did during the weekends or what clubs they were part of (and what those clubs did).

Regarding how the schools fit with my career goals, I looked at the stats of where students ended up – including looking at employers, geographic locations, and salary. It was important to me that my degree translate well in Europe and in the arts too. Once I was deciding which MBA program to attend, I also surveyed people I knew in Europe and colleagues in the arts to see how they interpreted the prestige and value of the schools.

One factor that was different from most other students is that I applied with my partner. When it came to making a decision, we had to factor in each other’s priorities when deciding where we ultimately went.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? It was moving to the United States at the age of 20 to start my bachelor’s degree. It took a lot to get me there – the year before, I had attended Chelsea College of Art and Design and studied Fine Art, only to realize that I didn’t want to become a full-time artist. Recognizing that I was going down a path that wasn’t right for me was very difficult – but I also recognized that I didn’t want to remove art from my life. I decided to study in the United States, as it would allow me to continue to take art classes and broaden my scope of fields I could study. Arriving alone to the United States with only two suitcases was certainly a transition (just getting the suitcases to my new dorm room alone was a struggle!). I had to figure out the logistics like setting up a bank account. At the same time, I had to learn the cultural differences (such as certain phrases my American roommate said were not the popular slang in the U.S., it was just her). However, it made me a stronger, more independent, and (most important) a more flexible person. I have now lived in five different cities in four different countries.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? Working in a meaningful career that is making the world a better place, while still having time for my hobbies, including painting, making cocktails, and tending to my garden.