Thinking MBA? Meet Three Women Who Are Glad They Did It

The MBA may have propelled her career forward more had she stayed in Atlanta, she says, where she could have capitalized on the relationships she formed.

Still, she has no regrets. She thinks the degree helped her land her current job. Also, she says, “in my personal life, I believe it has given me more confidence in my capabilities. I’m not afraid of numbers, and when it came to buying a a house, I could understand all the different loan options, interest, etc., because of my finance classes.”

Gretchen Effgen

Gretchen Effgen, a 2003 graduate of the London Business School, says she has seen a change in her career path due to earning her MBA. “Any education gives one confidence so, yes, an MBA certainly does that,” she says. “It allows you to go after positions that would be out of your reach otherwise.”

After a year traveling internationally and four years working in Washington, D.C., as an international trade and foreign policy analyst, Effgen decided to go to business school. She saw an MBA as a way to broaden her skill set and make herself more marketable. “While I had the international experience, I lacked the business skills,” she explains. “I was at a point in my job where I couldn’t advance without a graduate degree.”

Effgen researched American business schools but preferred to go overseas. “I wanted internationalism to be part of the fabric of the whole experience,” she says. The London Business School was her top—and only—choice. “I decided if I was going to spend the money and take the time out, it had to be the perfect place for me and my goals. I wasn’t going to settle.”

Some of the most valuable skills she mastered were entrepreneurial—Effgen learned business vocabulary, how to write a business plan, evaluate opportunities and secure financing to start her own company. In 2004, the mother of two founded World Notes LLC, a children’s international education media company with offices in London and Boston. She has also held a Presidential Management Fellowship with the Small Business Administration. Effgen credits her MBA experience with much of her business success. “It was an excellent investment,” she says. “I have never given [my decision to get an MBA] a second thought.”