Annelise Wipfli

Imperial College Business School

“I truly believe enhancing your global perspective makes you a better person”

Hometown: Sacramento, California

Fun Fact About Yourself: Dual citizen of USA and Switzerland

Undergraduate School and Major: California State University, Chico

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Associate Commerce Marketing Manager, E&J Gallo Winery

What makes London such a great place to earn an MBA degree? London is a great place to earn an MBA degree because it is an incredibly diverse city with so much opportunity: not only are there are many large companies headquartered downtown, but many start-ups looking for top talent to contribute to their team. It is a high energy, fast-paced city that enables and encourages growth.

Imperial College 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 year? Imperial College Business School’s diverse program has and will continue to enhance my business education by enabling me to become a more empathic leader who can connect with those who are from very different walks of life. This will impact how I show up in the workplace by allowing me to work successfully on diverse teams and to increase my cultural awareness and curiosity. I truly believe enhancing your global perspective makes you a better person.

 Your MBA is known for innovation, business and technology. Has the program lived up to its reputation? What advice would you give to future students to help them thrive in the early months of the program? The MBA has lived up to its reputation. My advice for future students would be:

• There are endless resources at your fingertips, lean into it
• The program goes by so fast – you can do it all
• Don’t forget to have fun and spend time with your cohort after class to build relationships, it’s important

Aside from your classmates and location, what was the key part of Imperial College Business School’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? 

1. The small cohort size: A small cohort fosters deep connections. You are all in a single stream of classes, and you spend every day together. You can really lean on each other through the good times and difficult times.
2. Exceptional faculty: The professors in this program are excellent. The small cohort allows you to have a more personalized experience with them which aids in your learning of the material.
3. Global nature of the MBA program: My current cohort is 54 people from 21 nationalities. It’s an incredibly diverse set of people who all bring different life experiences and talents to the table and it was so important for me as someone who has goals of working for global companies, to immerse myself in a group of diverse people. Not only is the class of people diverse, but you also have to opportunity to travel to diverse locations and learn about business abroad, all adding to the global aspect of the program.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at Imperial College Business School? I am the Vice President of the FMCG, Luxury and Retail club. I am most excited for the opportunities for networking and connections that we will bring to our members.

What do you hope to do after graduation (at this point)? I hope to work in Product Management for a large tech firm.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far? My biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far has been being on the winning team for the Innovation Challenge Week. Innovation Challenge week is a highly immersive program where various teams are partnered with deep tech start-ups, the main objective being to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset and develop a business-oriented perspective by creating an innovative business plan that differed from the existing model of the start-ups.

In particular, my team had the privilege of collaborating with MakeSense Technology. They are currently working on a ground-breaking technology aimed at assisting individuals with visual impairment in navigating their surroundings. Together with my teammates, we devised a comprehensive business plan that aimed to expand Makes Sense’s consumer base by including individuals living with dementia, who could greatly benefit from their navigation technology during episodes of confusion.

At the culmination of the week, we had the opportunity to present our business model in a ‘shark tank’ style format. It was an honour for our team to be awarded 1st place.

What has been your best memory as an MBA so far? The best memory as an MBA so far has been all of the birthday celebrations. Our cohort has become very close and has celebrated every single person’s birthday together. It is such a supportive group of people. I know we will all be connected for life.