Federica Catanzaro

HEC Paris

“Friends call me “Economically blonde”: fashion geek, workaholic, animal lover, and major coffee enthusiast.”

Hometown: I was born and raised in Catanzaro, a small city in the south of Italy (Yes, my surname is the name of my hometown) – I am now based in Rome.

Fun Fact Yourself: I can watch the same movie and read the same book several times in a row before getting annoyed (My record is Hamilton for a month).

Undergraduate School and Major: My Bachelor’s degree was in Economics and Finance, and I majored in International Business.

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Junior Content & Programming Manager in Zalando SE in Berlin.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of HEC Paris’ MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? One of the features of this program that impressed me the most was definitely how “personal” this academic path can be. With the specializations offered, practical components, and numerous clubs, each of us can tailor our studies so that they best suit our professional goals. HEC just seems like the perfect place to grow, both professionally and otherwise.

Personally, after my MBA, I aim to focus on strategic planning and business development. To achieve this, I want to deepen my strategy knowledge, applying these concepts in a practical yet supportive environment alongside classmates who share similar goals and aspirations.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at HEC Paris?  HEC offers a wide range of activities, and I am still exploring my options. However, I am particularly interested in the following:

Women in Leadership Club: In my academic and professional career, I have experienced first-hand the disparate behavior between genders in the business world. As I embark on this journey of knowledge and insight, I am extremely excited to have the chance to contribute and be part of a community that shares my commitment to fostering more equity and inclusion in the business world.

Retail and Luxury Club: Thanks to my experience in Zalando, I got to know the world of fashion and luxury more closely and fell in love with the culture, and the artisanship that this field requires.

In the future, I would like to keep working in this industry by also shifting my focus towards sustainability in fashion. Although much progress has been made in the last few years, we still have a lot to do to make this business beneficial for our future.

The Sports and Wellness Club: I love doing sports: for me, it is not just an essential part of my routine, but something I cannot renounce.

During the years, I’ve practiced several sports from kickboxing to horse riding (my personal favourite, as it allows you to create a real bond with the animals and to become more empathic and emotionally sensitive).

This club would give me the chance to still do something I love but also push myself by interacting with my classmates in a more relaxed and fun environment.

I’m also quite intrigued by some of the activities HEC offers, like bouldering or hiking, which I’ve never tried. My classmates and I are already making plans together!

The French Connection Club: As for today, my goal is to settle in France, which is why this club represents an opportunity to better integrate into the French community, while also having fun.

HEC Paris is just 17 kilometers from Paris. What do you see as the best part of earning your MBA so close to Paris? I have been lucky enough to have lived in Paris in the past and I can honestly say that I left part of my heart there. Paris always stimulates people with its beauty, its mix of cultures, and its food (I love French patisseries), so it is very hard for me to identify the best thing about this experience.

I would say that Paris allows people to always be in touch with an incredible art and cultural scene that, from my point of view, can be compared to very few cities in the world. Moreover, Paris plays an important role in shaping European trends: from fashion to literature, Paris has been able to influence the world we live in by also attracting some of the greatest cultural pioneers of our times like Baldwin, De Beauvoir, and Davis.

What is your unique quality that will enable you to make a big contribution to the Class of 2026? I had the unique chance to spend almost all my working-student experience abroad: first in China, the United Kingdom, Belgium, France, and finally Germany. These experiences have heightened my awareness as a global citizen, transcending national borders and giving me a profound appreciation for cultural diversity and its importance, both in our work and as a society.

My international exposure enabled me to collaborate with individuals from diverse backgrounds and work in an inclusive, multicultural environment. Hence, I think that a significant contribution I can make is to help build a multicultural and inclusive setting in which fertile ground is created for the emergence of unique perspectives, skills, and ideas, greatly enhancing everyone’s capacity.

Why did you choose a 16-month  program over a one-year program? How do you see a HEC Paris MBA giving you an advantage in the marketplace? I decided to apply for the 16-months program as I think it will allow me to fully experience the different options the MBA offers: not only the clubs and the social gatherings, but also later taking the opportunity of doing an international experience, an internship or specializations.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: One significant accomplishment was contributing to Zalando’s “Stories on Zalando” project. This project aimed to engage a more niche clientele with cultural trends, and required the creation of a new team and business model. Despite the many risks this project entailed, I gained a lot of experience. I had to balance expectations from new unexpected stakeholders, support the development of its financial plan, and manage high-impact marketing campaigns for extremely sensitive fashion brands.

Though demanding, the project turned out to be how I imagined: exhausting, but also extraordinarily creative and engaging. In the team, we all worked hard together, in difficult conditions and under great pressure. We encouraged and supported each other and it was, above all, a great human experience. A confirmation of how much it pays to work with inclusiveness and transparency.

Looking ahead 16 months, what would make your MBA experience successful? I think about this big adventure from different perspectives.

First of all, I would consider this a success if I were able to make long-lasting relationships with my future classmates. When I met Liesbet, my recruiter manager, for the first time I also had the chance to get to know several alumni who were living in Berlin; their support and friendliness with each other greatly influenced my decision to choose HEC, and I am eager to experience that sense of community.

On a professional level, I would be very satisfied if I were able to keep working in fashion but in a higher managerial role. In particular, I would like to specialise my efforts in strategic planning and business development in a company that values sustainability and inclusiveness and that develops a business that determines socially useful impacts.

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