Valentina Flora Angelucci

ESSEC Business School

“I’m a creative designing, broad systems-thinking, ambitious, resourceful, hard-working, pasta-loving bookworm.”

Hometown: Johannesburg, South Africa

Fun fact about yourself: When I was in highschool, I represented South Africa in the Japan Karate Association World Cup!

Undergraduate School and Degree: I did my undergraduate degree, Bachelor of Architectural Studies, at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. Following that, I did a dual master’s degree at Columbia University in New York, in Architecture and Historic Preservation.

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? I was working at Atelier Tsuyoshi Tane Architects, an Architecture studio based in Paris. I was focused on two hospitality projects, one of them a grand hotel, both based in Japan, and scenography design for an exhibition called “Beauty Speaks for Itself” showing select works of Van Cleef and Arpels, The Musée des Arts Décoratifs, and The National Palace Museum in Taipei.

Where did you intern during the summer of 2024? I was working at Atelier Tsuyoshi Tane Architects.

Where will you be working after graduation? I am waiting for my applications to come through, but the goal is somewhere that leverages both my training and experience as an architect – and also my newly acquired business acumen. My target position is in the design/creative department of a consulting firm working on design strategy and creative, human-centered design consulting.

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School: I am one of our class reps, and a leader of an ESSEC Ambassadors program. When I have a bit of extra time, I find mentoring and teaching students and young architects very rewarding, helping them to bring out the best of themselves!

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I was recently selected to participate in the Harvard Global Case competition along with a few of my classmates. It was a big opportunity and learning experience for me since the project is an M&A case, and I come from a non-traditional business background. The opportunity to partake, along with our self-imposed pressure to perform, made it an experience that I’ve gotten a lot out of, and that hopefully carries some clout as my next career step makes itself evident.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? Well, despite the trauma of having to move countries due to visa issues (from New York to Paris) where I haven’t known anybody prior, I’ve been able to build a great personal and professional network in both cities, and have had the opportunity to work on some truly special and formational architecture projects, such as a branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, a whisky distillery for DIAGEO in China, and the Van Cleef and Arpels exhibition in Taiwan! The MBA is the current highlight, and I’m super excited to see where the path leads next!

Why did you choose this business school? There were 2 main factors driving my decision to choose ESSEC. The first is its strong recognition within the luxury industry! ESSEC holds the Louis Vuitton Chair, and the Estee Lauder Beauty Chair within the Grand Ecole, and the current GMBA program was partially born out of the luxury-focused MBA track of previous years. This means that the faculty and opportunities the school can provide are exclusive, inspiring and highly-relevant. The second reason was that this GMBA is a boutique program. The small class size allows for personal attention and coaching from staff and faculty, not to mention that there are some company visits you just can’t do when you’re in a class of 100-200 people!

Who was your favorite MBA professor? Denis Morisset!! He is the head of the luxury program, and he is so passionate and knowledgeable about the luxury industry and all sectors within it. As a professor with tremendous experience in the industry, he has been able to share so much insight, personal anecdotes and provide us with great company and savoir-faire visits thanks to his connections in the industry. He is also so invested in his students, having maintained good relationships with many alumni and really taking an interest in our individual directions within the luxury industry.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? I really enjoyed the Entrepreneurship course, so much so that I am focusing all my electives in the entrepreneurship and innovation course category. The course was led by Prof. Yann Cramer, who coached us through the very first steps of what it entails to develop an idea into a business. I really enjoyed the ideation and problem-solving aspect of it, and all the assignments were very actionable and insightful. I would love to start my own business one day too!

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? I really enjoyed our introductory weekend away that the MBA group goes on every year. This year we went to Chantilly for some team-building song performing, sightseeing, and an overview of French culture like playing petanque and learning to make Chantilly cream – a soft launch into the busy MBA program! Amongst us we also often went to a bar and pizza place near campus to decompress and catch up.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? Coming from a non-finance background, I think I could have benefitted from doing some prep before the program began, such as an Excel course, basic accounting and probably some basic intro into working with data. These would have helped make the transition a bit smoother.

What is the biggest myth about your school? Mmmm I’m not aware of any myths…

What did you love most about your business school’s town? Paris doesn’t need any introduction, but what made Paris so perfect for the GMBA for me, particularly with my focus in luxury, was the proximity to art, culture and the most inspiring, historic, luxury maisons.

What movie or television show (e.g. The Big Short, The Founder, Mad Men, House of Lies) best reflects the realities of business and what did you learn from it? I watched Silicon Valley a couple of years ago, and it is so funny precisely because it is so accurate. The jokes are an absurd reflection of the actual trials and tribulations faced by the startup world and tech industry.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? We had a class on Using AI in Data Science and a course on Sustainable Innovation which highlighted some of the pitfalls of AI’s potential trajectory if we don’t use it responsibly. We also had a course that included how AI is currently being implemented across various sectors. Coming up, we have another one called Managing AI. As someone who has been more of the skeptical side of AI and what it means for the future of work (and humanity) – I’ve kind of viewed it as a form of outsourced thinking – I’ve ended up using it quite a lot through the program to supplement my knowledge and understanding. I’ve also used it as an extension of my professors and the books I’ve read, and also to help with learning French! If you use it as a way to teach yourself and develop yourself rather than to do the work for you, it feels less like a tool that relieves you of the ‘effort’ of thinking. And of course, once you’ve done a certain amount of work, ChatGPT is great for proofreading, editing, and supplementing.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? Vidhi Jha! We were groupmates in the first semester and she is very bright, hard-working and insightful. She happens to be an architect too, and one of the youngest in the program, but one of the best and brightest I’ve worked with!

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? I would love to have my own creative studio someday, operating between architecture, design, art, and creative strategy. And maybe not a top item, but I want to have a career that allows me to travel often – either for certain projects or missions, or a relocation to another country that inspires me like Latin or South America!

What made Valentina such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2025?

“Valentina is a natural leader who has made an invaluable impact on the Class of 2025. As a class representative, she not only takes on responsibilities with dedication but also effortlessly brings people together. Her open-mindedness, kindness, and strong work ethic make her a key contributor to the program. With a diverse background in architecture, she offers fresh perspectives that inspire new ways of thinking and add depth to group interactions. Her willingness to collaborate and her supportive nature have made her a highly valued member of the cohort.”

Clio Fregoli
Program Manager of the Global MBA

DON’T MISS: THE 100 BEST & BRIGHTEST MBAS: CLASS OF 2025