Fernanda Camilo Aguiar

London Business School

“Passionate leader driving tech impact, empowering women, exploring the world, and inspiring others through action.”

Hometown: Curvelo, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Fun Fact About Yourself: I’m a Brazilian female leader making waves in the tech world, with a background in chemical engineering. I’ve explored over 30 different countries – most of them solo –, brewed my own beer during undergrad, and I cheer passionately as a dedicated football fan.

Undergraduate School and Major:

UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DE MINAS GERAIS, Brazil – Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering

LONDON SOUTH BANK UNIVERSITY, UK – Chemical and Process Engineering (exchange)

FUNDAÇÃO GETÚLIO VARGAS, Brazil – Business Administration Post-Graduation

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Business Manager, Red Ventures

What makes London such a great place to earn an MBA degree? London is the global epicenter for pursuing a dynamic career in technology and obtaining an impactful MBA. Renowned for its unparalleled diversity and rich cultural scenery, the city offers equal opportunities for individuals from all walks of life to thrive.

With an exceptional quality of life, London provides an environment conducive to both professional and personal growth and the city even received the 2023 title of “Best City in the World” from Resonance.

Being the heart of Europe’s tech scene and a global financial hub, the opportunities here are as diverse as the city itself and it hosts an ecosystem where innovation converges with financial prowess. Its expansive job market caters to diverse career aspirations, ensuring that every individual finds their niche.

At the heart of this landscape, is London Business School and graduating from here isn’t just about earning a degree, but also about gaining access to an exclusive network. The school’s reputation is unbeatable and it gives you a serious advantage in the job market right from the beginning, with access to unparalleled job prospects thanks to the school’s influential network and its strategic location at the crossroads of business and technology.

In a world where progress hinges on adaptability and insight, London stands as the ultimate launchpad for a career of profound influence, merging opportunity, diversity, and knowledge into an unmatched professional journey. And the best thing is that London isn’t just about business; it’s a democratic paradise too. Your voice matters here, adding an extra layer of excitement to being part of this bustling city. So, if one is looking for an impactful career in tech, an impressive MBA, and the experience of a lifetime in the world’s best city, London is the place you need to be!

London Business School is one of the most culturally and professionally diverse MBA programs in the world. How do you see these global perspectives enhancing the value of your business education over the next two years? Embarking on an MBA journey within the diverse community of London Business School (LBS) is a transformative opportunity that propels careers to new heights and cultivates a comprehensive global business perspective. The unique blend of individuals at LBS fosters an environment where diverse backgrounds converge to create unparalleled value through collective brilliance. This is a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience that attests to how powerful the collaboration of like-minded individuals can be, each bringing their distinct strengths to the table. From the outset, LBS’s diversity nurtures a sense of belonging, as the community comprises individuals from various backgrounds who can resonate with each other’s experiences. Personally, I felt that I could belong here from day one, as opposed to other schools I visited.

The diverse composition of LBS’s student body surpasses mere statistical diversity found elsewhere. This inclusivity extends beyond nationalities and encompasses a rich array of backgrounds, reinforcing the authenticity of belonging. Moreover, the LBS curriculum’s global approach is truly unparalleled. While still an applicant, attending a macroeconomic lesson at LBS gave me a multi-perspective exploration of the impacts of the financial crisis, including invaluable, regionally-specific insights from individuals hailing from different places around the world. I was also amazed by how LBS’s faculty possessed a remarkable grasp of the nuanced dynamics across the globe, allowing for a holistic understanding that transcends a singular US-focused lens, which was what I experienced when participating in a similar lesson in a US school.

In essence, an MBA journey at London Business School provides an immersive experience that equips individuals with not only a world-class education, but also a comprehensive global mindset. The convergence of diverse minds and the deliberate focus on a worldwide business perspective empower graduates to navigate the complexities of the modern business landscape with unparalleled agility and insight, which becomes a valuable competitive advantage to handle different scenarios.

Aside from your classmates and location, what was the key part of London Business School’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? It was the flexibility of the curriculum when it comes to availability of electives, different exit points, and the fact that you can tailor your program in the best way for you and your future goals. In addition, the fact that you can do many different internships and explore different career paths were the most distinctive thing about LBS, besides the community and location. This was very important to me since I want to really immerse myself in the UK job market and be as prepared as possible to continue leading technology businesses from here after graduating from the MBA.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at London Business School? The Women in Business Club is the one club I’m committed to investing time and effort into for sure. Being a female leader with experience of working in male dominated fields, I have first-hand experience of why it’s important to have support networks for women to thrive so organizations can actually achieve better results with diverse, high-performing teams. I led and developed a mentoring program for women in my last organization. I did this after seeing how important it was for women to have guidance on how to navigate different challenges in the workplace, be it public speaking, talking in meetings, analyzing data, conducting sprint planning and prioritization, or creating powerful business presentations. I saw how limited the impact was if I didn’t create a real network where more people could help each other.

I truly aim to use LBS’ reach to achieve an even bigger impact for women aiming to pursue MBAs and successful careers in the future and truly hope to reach even more diverse people from now on. I want to help women handle their finances better and be able to explore the different alternatives to make sure they have more freedom of choice. This is something I really aim to keep working to improve and my plan is to start with our amazing community of women in the MBA, partners and fellow students from other courses.

I believe that by doing this, we help women to have the means to achieve their best selves and to make their dreams come true, which also unlocks more value for society and businesses in general.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: It was successfully building a digital solution and complete product in Onze in 2021 and scaling up an MVP to a fully functional product used by more than 30 B2B clients during the Series A stage. We created a platform to help people save for their retirement, giving Brazilians an alternative to the broken public pension system. We also created a mindset of financial health and savings for people who otherwise wouldn’t make long-term financial decisions, while also giving alternative funds with higher returns than other private pension funds. I led a team that went from 12 to 40+ people in one year and built both technological and data stacks from scratch – all while customizing our solution to better fit our different customers’ needs. This was not only an analytical challenge, but one of leadership and partner management. It led to me gaining seniority inside Red Ventures, reporting directly to the c-suite in only my second year in the company and in technology. I’m really proud of what I built and how much I grew both personally and professionally during the time I worked there.

What do you hope to do after graduation (at this point)? My main objective is to continue creating impact in people’s lives through technology and help people, especially women, to make better financial decisions, while making solutions and information more accessible and democratic for everyone with a global reach.

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into London Business School’s MBA program?

Take the time when preparing your application to really get to know yourself, reflect on your professional and personal goals and understand exactly how the MBA can help you get there. This will not only help you be more passionate about describing it in your essays, but to be intentional from day one on what you want to engage in to make the experience the best for your specific objective!

Recently, I heard a podcast from the Duolingo founder who mentioned how it is important for them to hire nice people and have a diverse team so that they can maintain their high performance, and that’s my utmost advice. To get into LBS and truly belong to the community, you need to be a high achiever but you also and mainly need to be a nice person and someone who can create value within diverse teams. At the end of the day, that’s how you’ll get the most out of this experience. So be a committed person who takes the lead, gets things done and thrives within diverse setups. That’s not only how you’ll get in but also how you’ll succeed in having an amazing MBA experience after becoming a student and part of this community for life.

DON’T MISS: MEET LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL’S MBA CLASS OF 2025