Jorgina Busquets

 

“The more I looked into LBS, the more excited I became. In the end, it was the only school I applied to.” 

By her own admission, Jorgina Busquets MBA2016 is intensely curious by nature. “At university I wanted to do every single degree, and of course that wasn’t possible,” she says. In the end, she chose engineering, later transitioning to a career that focused firstly on technical problems, and then on project management. But, says Jorgina: “I got to a point where I felt there was just so much more in the world that I didn’t know about. I’d look at client projects and think, ‘What are the numbers that make this company profitable? What’s the best marketing strategy?’ I realised I had a big knowledge gap in areas like marketing, finance and decision-making that had to be filled.”

Fuelled by this innate curiosity, Jorgina says London Business School’s MBA programme offered the perfect answer. “The more I looked into LBS, the more excited I became. I loved the mix of theory and case studies on offer, the languages, and the global variety and richness of the programme. In the end, it was the only school I applied to.”

Alongside her offer of a place on the full-time MBA programme, Jorgina was delighted to find out she’d been awarded a coveted Vodafone Group Foundation Scholarship – Sir Christopher Gent Award. “Without my scholarship I simply wouldn’t have been able to afford the MBA,” she says. “That’s the difference it made for me. I’d come from a job with a high level of responsibility, but it wasn’t a big salary compared to people from finance or consulting.”

The scholarship, which covers around a third of fees, was enough to tip the balance. “It changed my future completely. I got the phone call about the scholarship on Friday and resigned on Monday. I’d only been working for four years and didn’t have many savings, so it was the financial boost I needed.” Jorgina also says her scholarship provided more than just financial assistance. “As a scholar, I got a lot of recognition. I was able to go to Vodafone’s London headquarters and meet their senior team – I’m still in touch, and they are great connections to have,” she says.
Jorgina did two internships during her MBA, securing the first with her current employer, The Boston Consulting Group. “As soon as I got my LBS offer I was invited to the Women in Business conference. I met some BCG consultants while I was there and was inspired to apply.” Constantly looking to widen her horizons, Jorgina says that consulting seemed like the logical next step. “I see consulting almost like an applied MBA, one which gives me exposure to lots of different industries and functions,” she says.

Jorgina’s second internship, at Manchester City Football Club (MCFC), was a great opportunity to see inside an unfamiliar industry. “Football is a sport that breeds so many passions. I was curious about the opportunity and because the LBS MBA is so flexible, I was able to cram my electives into two terms.” This allowed her to work for three months full-time. “It was definitely LBS’s reputation that got me into MCFC though. Manchester City wasn’t actively recruiting at the time, but I met the CEO and was able to say – look, this is my background, and this is where I’m doing my MBA.”

Jorgina’s drive to experience everything she does to the full is clear. So too is her enthusiasm for LBS. “Every individual makes the LBS MBA their own – you can shape it to whatever you want it to be,” she says. “My own objective was to learn as much as I could and to widen my international experience. I went to India for my Global Business Experience because I felt I might not get that opportunity again, I joined the Japan trek, and I did an exchange at Chicago Booth in the US.” Jorgina was also invited to represent LBS at the World Government Summit in Dubai. “We spent four days discussing what happens at the interface between governments and private sector and what the future role of governments should be. It showed me a completely different side to the country than I had imagined.”

And as to where she’ll eventually end up? “I like challenges. I like to deliver. I like to make decisions and see them through," Jorgina says. “I like my role at BCG, but who knows, long-term I may end up back in industry, in an operational role, getting my hands dirty again!”

Five years later

That long-term happened earlier than Jorgina expected; when the itch to drive operations returned in 2018, she took the opportunity to join City Football Group, the owner of Manchester City Football club and nine other football clubs globally, as a Director of Football Education, and has since been promoted to Managing Director of Football Education and Recreation. She is also on the board of one of the group’s companies that operates recreational soccer in the US. She says, “I just felt that having the opportunity to build and run a new global division for such an innovative and disruptive organisation, with teams in the Middle East, Australia, USA and the UK, was too good to pass up.” 

Jorgina’s unique journey from rocket science to football often drives people to wonder how she came to switch from one to the other – what’s the connection? According to Jorgina, the answer for this is quite simple: “I like to solve interesting problems, and there are plenty of those in both environments.” And she continues to credit her MBA with her career progression, saying, “I wouldn’t be here without my MBA; it gave me a combination of knowledge, credibility, resources and connections that ultimately were the foundations for where I am today.”