Why inspiration is the key to MBA success

Angela Guido is an MBA Admissions Expert and founder of Career Protocol. We spoke with her to learn more about her journey, how she helps people get accepted into their dream program, and the long-term benefits of an MBA.

In short

The “magic” intersection of creativity and helping people

As a former MBA student herself, Angela Guido knows what it takes to get accepted into a business school. She also understands the profound impact that an MBA can have on your life. She says that even now, 16 years on, she still benefits from her MBA.

“I continue to reap value from my MBA every day. It didn’t benefit in exactly the ways that you might think, but it has continued to pay off and I would do it again 100 times out of 100,” she tells MBAGRADSCHOOLS. (10:05)

Angela’s passion for her MBA experience eventually fed back into her career. After graduating, she worked as a consultant for Boston Consulting Group before transitioning into recruitment. It was here where she started to reconnect with the MBA world and discover the “magic formula” that led to her next chapter.

“At that time my job was to get more diverse individuals into the firm through assisting them in preparing for interviews. And at the time I was studying screenwriting, so I created this workshop where I went around to all of the top MBA programs and delivered it on behalf of BCG,” she recalls. (00:26)

“[I was helping] people learn how to tell their stories in the most inspiring way in their interview, so they could get an offer from BCG. This particular intersection of creativity and helping people was just like a magic formula for me.” (00:48)

Finding the inspiration to succeed

Angela soon made another transition – this time into career and MBA admissions coaching. As the founder of Career Protocol, Angela is now using her experience as both an MBA and a recruiter of MBAs to help the next generation of candidates achieve their goals. The chance to work with so many inspiring people is a big motivating factor for her.

“Everyone who works with Career Protocol has a desire to lead a major change in the world,” she tells us. “They’re really trying to have a positive impact on our society, on the world, on their fellow human beings. From my perspective that just makes them the best people to work with.” (02:01)

Inspiration is a keyword in the MBA application process. Over the course of many months on each client engagement, Angela and her team help clients discover their stories and then learn how to tell them across the many parts of the application: the resume, essays, and interviews. By doing that, she’s also helping them understand their own motivations for doing an MBA.

“We put a lot of emphasis on helping clients really understand who they are, understand their values, their strengths, and their most important experiences that translate to who they are and where they want to go in their career,” she explains. “That’s really the key to success. [It’s] being inspired by who you are and inspired by where you’re going. We put a lot of investment into that.” (03:05)

Why getting into business school is the easy part

When Angela speaks of success, she’s not just talking about getting into business school. In fact, she says that’s the easy part of your journey. She focuses on equipping candidates with the skills and knowledge that will benefit them in all aspects of life.

“What most people don’t understand is that getting into business school is the easy part. Getting the job you want on the other side is actually much harder [and] much more competitive because you’re competing with all the amazing people who got into your school,” she says. (04:54)

She adds, “Our goal is really to develop our clients in the year or so that they’re with us so that they’re more capable and more successful in the short- and long-term – because the MBA is just one of many, many steps in your career.” (05:49)

The questions that will help you decide whether an MBA is for you

It’s difficult to know whether an MBA should be one of the steps in your career. Given the amount of money and time spent on pursuing an MBA, it’s important to make sure it’s right for you. Angela says you should ask yourself the following questions: What do you want to achieve? Who do you want to become? And how will an MBA help you do it?

“In the short-term, it will benefit most people by potentially giving you a bump in your salary. In the long-term it will potentially amplify what you’re able to achieve, the respect and credibility you’re able to engender with people, and the confidence you’re able to have in yourself,” Angela explains. (11:08)

“Can you see the concrete benefits that your MBA will give you in the long-term? As long as you see that the answer to that is “yes”, then you should apply,” she suggests. (11:55)

MBA application success is all about inspiration – being inspired not just by a program or school, but by yourself and your own journey. And if you see an MBA as part of that journey, maybe it’s time to start looking within to find that inspiration.

Share this article: