If you ask anyone in the marketing industry: “what’s the best way to sell a product?” chances are, they’ll all tell you the same thing. Understand how your consumer thinks. 

As a marketing professional herself, Debbie Glasman’s entire career relies upon her ability to comprehend different viewpoints, a career choice reflective of her own personal love for international immersion and interacting with as many diverse opinions as possible.

Discovering Her Passion of Marketing

Debbie’s family is originally from Argentina and she was born in the U.S. where she lived until moving to Brazil where she finished her high school education. That’s where her love of international study began. Debbie then went to Europe for college, attending IE University in Madrid.

After graduating IE in 2015 with a degree in Business Administration, Debbie was on the move again. She set her sights on working abroad, drawn to understanding people’s points of view and keen to immerse herself in a new place. With this philosophy in mind, she began her professional career working at Kimberly Clark Peru. She then went on to a job at BMC Strategic Innovation in Buenos Aires. At BMC, she was happy to work on a team helping global brands with marketing strategy and eventually decided she wanted to transition back over to the client side of things and back to the US.

Debbie believed that the best way to enter the US job market was by pursuing her MBA stateside. The first step was the GMAT, which took 5 months. and was done whilst maintaining a full time job. Whilst this is common amongst GMAT students it is no easy feat, and for Debbie, time management the thing to mastered. Arriving home after an exhausting day at work and sitting down to study is extremely taxing, but Debbie kept her larger goals in mind in order to motivate and position herself for success.

Debbie’s advice to prospective MBA candidates: If you are thinking of applying to business school, give yourself as much time as possible to prepare. If you are studying in addition to working a full-time job, it is likely that you may have to take GMAT under stressful conditions. The earlier you are able to prepare, the better. One thing to remember is that your GMAT score is good for 5 years after you take the exam.

Kellogg – The Perfect Fit

After researching different U.S. MBA programs, Debbie found her perfect fit that would allow her to reach her full potential: Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business. Kellogg provided Debbie with all of the resources she needed to excel: a strong marketing program as well as a cohort of active alumni who were keen to help MBA candidates succeed. Debbie was also attracted to Kellogg’s collaborative student culture and was excited to again be surrounded by classmates from so many different backgrounds.

Her time at Kellogg proved just how important community was to Debbie. She appreciated how her classmates were so willing to help one another for example through interview prep or resume edits. The Kellogg alumni were always willing to converse as well. Ultimately, Debbie fit right in with the type of student Kellogg values: motivated, intelligent, and collaborative. It’s a social school with many areas of expertise, namely marketing, tech, and consulting, but one of the best features of Kellogg is their emphasis on social impact and community engagement. They truly strive for their students to fulfill their true potential.

Debbie has definitely made her mark in her Kellogg MBA class and she holds many roles on campus. She is proud to have served on the executive committee of the Kellogg Marketing Club. Her role centered around bringing events to students about marketing industry insights. One of her recent achievements was being able to bring a professor to a 300 person virtual presentation seminar this past semester. In her second year, Debbie is also proud to hold a role in the Kellogg Hispanic Management Association as VP of Community Engagement. The club promotes community among members, celebrating culture as well as providing networking opportunities for students.

Outside of her already impressive campus involvement, Debbie is making great strides in her career. Debbie recently started an 11 week internship at Amazon as a Senior Project Manager. She is currently in week 4 of the Retail Leadership Development Program and is enjoying being exposed to tech.

Take a look at the video below to hear Debbie talk about the GMAT and Admissions experience.