Sahar Mahroomi

Imperial Business School

“I am a curious and resilient problem-solver, turning messy, unclear situations into structure and direction.”

Age: 41

Hometown: London, United Kingdom / originally from Iran

Fun fact about yourself: I set myself a challenge to visit 40 countries before turning 40 — and completed it.

Undergraduate School and Degree: Undergraduate: SAE Institute – Digital Film Making

Where are you currently working: Project B — Project Manager, Live Events.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? For me, the achievement isn’t one moment – it’s the progression from learning as I went to being more intentional about the path I was building.

With that in mind, I’m most proud of the journey itself: moving to the UK, building a career, and finding my way into a highly competitive industry. Nothing about that path was linear or handed to me.

Along the way, I learned how to operate in complex, high-pressure environments, take ownership beyond my formal role, and create impact where it was needed. I also learned to be more innovative in how I approach problems and solutions. More importantly, I built the confidence to question whether the path I was on still aligned with the future I wanted to build.

It wasn’t an easy decision to step away from a stable corporate role as a Production Operations Manager at Sky, with experience across commissioning, production operations, live sports delivery and cross-functional project management, and move into freelance work to create space for future ventures. However, it has been one I’m proud of doing. It has allowed me to rethink my direction, build greater independence, and explore what I want to create next.

Why did you choose this school’s online MBA program? I chose Imperial Business School because I wanted a business education at the intersection of technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship. What stood out most was its strong entrepreneurial focus, particularly the support provided through the Imperial Enterprise Lab, which offers mentoring and resources for students with entrepreneurial ambitions. This aligned closely with what I was looking for from a Business School.

At the same time, I was working full-time and did not want to step out of my career completely, so the online format gave me the flexibility to keep building professional experience while studying.

Finally, I was drawn to Imperial’s global, rigorous, and innovative ecosystem, which was exactly what I was looking for from my place of study, so it felt like the perfect fit.

What was your favorite part of being in an online MBA program? My favorite part on the online program was being able to apply what I was learning almost immediately. As I was studying alongside work and building ventures, the MBA never felt purely theoretical. Strategy, finance, entrepreneurship, leadership, and operations all became tools I could test in real situations.

I also valued the diversity of the cohort, and learning with people from across sectors and geographies made the online experience feel far broader and more dynamic than a traditional classroom setting.

How did your online MBA experience compare with your in-the-classroom experience as an undergraduate student? My undergraduate experience was more traditional: you attended class, absorbed the material, and then applied it later. The Global Online MBA was much more integrated with real life. I had to be more self-directed, more disciplined and more intentional about how I used my time.

It also felt more professionally grounded. Everyone brought real-world challenges into the conversation, so the learning was never abstract and we were able to share our cross-disciplinary experiences to collaboratively develop and test solutions.

What is your best piece of advice to an applicant for thriving in an online MBA program? Do not treat the online format as a lighter version of an MBA. Treat it as a leadership test. You need to manage your energy, your calendar, your group work, and your motivation without the built-in structure of being on campus every day.

Be proactive early, speak up, build relationships, ask for help, and apply the material to something real in your life or career. The more intentional you are, the more value you will get out of it.

How has your online MBA education helped you in your current job? It has made me significantly more strategic and commercially aware. My background is in media, production operations, and project delivery, where execution is critical. The Global Online MBA gave me a broader lens across finance, market analysis, organisational behaviour, entrepreneurship, and strategy.

I originally pursued the MBA to start my own business. While that hasn’t fully materialised yet, two ventures emerged from the experience, and I’ve been able to apply my learning directly to them. It strengthened my confidence in areas I previously had no experience in, and it’s something I plan to build on in future ventures.

Did you earn a promotion while in the program or immediately after graduation? I didn’t pursue a traditional promotion. Instead, the MBA gave me the clarity and confidence to step away from a corporate role and transition into freelance work, enabling me to focus fully on building my own ventures.

Why did you pursue an online MBA program instead of a full-time residential or executive MBA program? I wanted the MBA to accelerate my career without putting it on hold. A part-time, online program allowed me to apply concepts in real time, while also benefiting from the university’s resources and network over a longer period.

The flexibility of the online format made it the right choice for balancing work, study, and building new ventures.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? One of the most valuable examples was through the entrepreneurship and AI-focused work incorporated into the program, including exploring how AI can be used to test, shape, and scale venture ideas. My own venture, EndoMate, evolved from an AI-powered endometriosis management idea into a broader trusted data platform concept. Working with AI made me realise that the technology is only as useful as the quality of the problem definition, the data, and the ethical choices behind it.

The insight I gained was that AI should not be treated as a shortcut; it is a multiplier. If the strategy is weak, AI amplifies the weakness. If the problem is well understood, AI can accelerate learning, insight and innovation.

Number of Hours Per Week Spent on an Online MBA: On average, I dedicated approximately 15–20 hours per week, with increased time commitments during group projects, exams and major assignments.

What is your ultimate long-term professional goal? My long-term goal is to build and lead ventures that combine commercial strength with meaningful impact. I want to have the freedom and capability to build organisations that solve real problems, create opportunities for others, and achieve financial independence without losing a sense of purpose.

DON’T MISS: BEST & BRIGHTEST ONLINE MBAS: CLASS OF 2026

© Copyright 2026 Poets & Quants. All rights reserved. This article may not be republished, rewritten or otherwise distributed without written permission. To reprint or license this article or any content from Poets & Quants, please submit your request HERE.