Smruthi Swaminathan

UCLA, Anderson School of Management

“A kind and curious data scientist, community service worker and pottery enthusiast rolled into one.”

Hometown: Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Fun Fact About Yourself: While I was a high school teacher (as part of Teach for India), I was fondly called the ‘Modern day Rapunzel’ because my 2.5 ft long hair was my unique differentiator.

Undergraduate School and Major: Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, India

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Gabriel & Co, Senior Business Analyst

UCLA Anderson is founded on the Three Pillars: Share Success, Think Fearlessly, and Drive Change. Which pillar resonates most with you and why? I think that I resonate the most with “Think Fearlessly”. I believe that thoughts have power, and that a person is only as strong as their thoughts. I was once ruled by limiting beliefs about what my life could be after seeing the struggles of my mother and experiencing a traumatic childhood.

I feared to dream because those dreams were clearly out of reach. My mother then told me how I could be truly liberated only when I start to think big and be fearless. That stayed with me and as a 11-year-old, I had a firm resolve to help women like my mother who face struggles in their society.

I still believe today that it was that fearless thought that pushed me to work for a Member of Parliament’s office in India on a policy brief to strengthen family counseling centers in my state as a ‘Young Leaders for Active Citizenship’ Fellow. If 11-year-old Smruthi had succumbed to her mental blocks, she would have never seen this day. As a Forte Fellow, I proudly walk into the future carrying valuable lessons from my childhood (that define me) and my mother’s inspiration to think fearlessly. After all, only people with dreams once perceived as “unachievable” and “crazy” have ever been the ones to drive change and share their success with the world.

What makes Los Angeles such a great place to earn an MBA? As an international student visiting the U.S. for the first time, Los Angeles (LA) was my first choice to pursue an MBA. First, LA is home to a varied industry landscape that houses Fortune 500 companies and thriving industries like technology, media and entertainment, and healthcare to name a few.  LA is a dream location for aspiring business students as it opens infinite opportunities for internships and future careers.

Second, the city is the hub for innovation, networking, and a startup culture. The city gives students like me the courage to dream and the toolkit to realize that dream. As the third-largest startup market in the U.S., LA provides excellent opportunities to meet and network with industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and fellow students from top business schools in any career path.

Third, for anyone who prioritizes a good quality of life alongside an intense high level education, LA’s pleasant climate throughout the year with 75 miles of coastline, is what makes it a desirable place to study for domestic and international students alike.

Finally, LA is renowned for the cultural diversity of its people. With an excellent mix of Hispanic, Asian, African American among many others, the MBA experience from this city offers a global perspective on business and leadership. It naturally teaches valuable lessons on inclusivity and unity despite differences, in my opinion.

Aside from your classmates and location, what was the key part of UCLA Anderson’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? I’d like to highlight the UCLA Anderson’s approach to learning using a hands-on approach. With a multitude of tools at the university’s disposal, my interests were piqued by the Applied Management Research (AMR) which involves consulting work for real life clients; the Business Creation Capstone option (BCC), which provides the classes and structure for students to launch their own business; and the management of the Student Investment Fund (SIF), which allows students teams to make investment decisions with real money.

I was impressed by how many opportunities (including 15 specializations and many electives) that were mindfully created for students like me to develop the skills that we want to grow while the program. These opportunities will help me to understand what suits me, better define where my interests lie, and equip me for my future. As an aspiring management consultant, these opportunities will empower me to deliver impactful work for future clients and expose me to multiple industries before working in the field of consulting. I feel all these choices will make me ready for the job and life that I had always envisioned.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at UCLA Anderson? The course on ‘Foundations of Inclusive Leadership’ struck a chord with me as soon as I saw it on the Anderson website when I was applying to Anderson. It was a unique core course that I didn’t see on the websites of many top B-schools. I fell in love with the idea of learning about Equity, Diversity and Inclusion as it relates to Leadership, as I am a firm believer in the strength that arises from the collaboration of individuals with different identifications, experiences, and worldviews.

What is your unique quality that will enable you to make a big contribution to the Class of 2026? My exposure to global perspectives while working for Fortune 500 clients, my upbringing in a diverse country like India and active engagement with community initiatives strengthens my ability to contribute to the environment at Anderson.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I derive great satisfaction when I design technology- and data-backed solution frameworks for projects that impact the society. During one such venture, I had the unparalleled opportunity of getting selected as a member and curator of the Chennai Hub for the Global Shapers Community. It is an initiative of the World Economic Forum, with a network of 14,000 inspiring young people, across 150 countries under the age of 30 who are working together to address local, regional, and global challenges. The community’s motto resonated with my belief about how young people should be at the heart of solution-building, policy-making and lasting change.

In recognition of my projects, I received a momentous invitation as one of the few representatives from India to the Annual Global Shapers Summit in 2022, which was held at the Headquarters of the World Economic Forum and United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. I had the privilege to be one of the youngest speakers at the workshop on strengthening civic engagement. During the workshops and interactions with WEF founder Klaus Schwab, I discerned that from Johannesburg to Chennai, people’s issues were similar. This journey shaped my worldview and revealed my identity as a global citizen.

What do you hope to do after graduation (at this point)? I intend to pursue management consulting after graduation. Getting into a strategy-forward role would put me in a unique position to creatively solve problems from the lens of a data scientist. I envision being a close ally to C-suite representatives in their decision-making process.

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