Meet The Class Of 2018 At Kellogg

Michelle Perkins

Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management

Describe yourself in 15 words or less: As a Brazilian-American digital business professional, I value innovative leadership that’s results-oriented, compassionate and embraces diversity.

Hometown: Miami, Florida (Born in So Paulo, Brazil)

Fun Fact About Yourself: I’ve lived in seven different cities across four countries and three continents. I don’t have a simple answer for the question, “where are you from?”— a fact that speaks to a lifetime of immersion experiences for which I feel very grateful.

Undergraduate School and Major: Barnard College, Columbia University, BA, Art History-French

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation:

Gilt.com – Supply Chain Analyst (2011-2013)

Gilt.com – Merchandise Assistant (2013-2014)

Gilt.com – Assistant Buyer, Beauty & Jewelry (2014-2016)

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: When I started as the beauty buyer at Gilt, luxury products made up a small part of the category. I identified the opportunity to develop this segment of the business and spent eight months sourcing vendors, negotiating pricing, planning inventory and developing brand strategy for the segment. My efforts resulted in 170% revenue growth year-over-year for the business. The project not only created opportunities for me, but also for junior members of my team to develop their responsibilities and eventually be promoted under my guidance.

Looking back on your experience, what advice would you give to future business school applicants?

On writing essays –

• Be yourself. Solicit feedback from diverse sources, but stick to what feels most true to you (and people will have opinions…).

• You don’t always need to know your “dream job” when applying. I had that expectation going in and it was overwhelming. Instead I asked myself how an MBA aligns with my career interests and strengths. Goals can change often, so I think the important thing is to start with your values, strengths and areas for growth and go from there.
• Find out the essay questions as early as possible so you have enough time for self-reflection. Have them in the back of your mind as you go about your day and keep track of your thoughts as they naturally occur to you (I used the Notes section of my phone). Then, create a working spreadsheet detailing personal and professional examples of your accomplishments, interests and goals. My essays came easily to me after I spent enough time thinking through them.

• You won’t be able to say everything you want to say about yourself, so choose a containing theme that best represents you and find a way to articulate it concisely.

• Stay continuously informed about the industries and functions that are of interest to you. This helped me think more comprehensively about the problems I wanted to solve with an MBA.

What led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA? I was attracted to Kellogg’s location near Chicago and reputation for developing distinguished leaders with exceptional interpersonal skills, strategic minds and analytical instincts. With this distinction in mind, I was especially drawn to Kellogg’s team-based learning model and data-driven, multidisciplinary curriculum. Ultimately, however, I chose Kellogg for its student-driven culture and the consistently incredible people I met there. In addition to being super-involved and genuinely passionate about their school, the student body is diverse, smart, interesting and fun. Kellogg really stood out as an inclusive community with a powerful support system and alumni network.

Tell us about your dream job or dream employer at this point in your life? I’d love to work for a disruptive, technology-centric organization and build out its short and long-term growth strategy. My experience at Gilt ignited an interest in companies that innovate, create high levels of customer engagement, and maintain collaborative, diverse cultures.

In my opinion, the most fascinating companies are those that meet an important market need, creatively leverage technology, are financially efficient, and recognize that consumers drive today’s evolving business landscape. My interest isn’t limited to any specific industry or company size. Sephora, Google and Spotify are good examples of such large-scale companies. On a smaller scale, I love cool disruptors like M.Gemi, Warby Parker and Giphy. What’s most important to me is that I help drive a business to re-define its market.

What would you like your business school peers to say about you after you graduate from this program? That I was curious about everything, that I introduced them to yoga as a useful method of stress relief, that I actively mentored in the Kellogg and Chicago community; that I was a good friend; that we shared a lot of adventures and answered some important questions together; and that we did it without ever taking ourselves too seriously.