Hospitality to Kellogg MBA [Show Summary]

Libby Angst is a 2018 graduate of the Kellogg MBA program and Accepted’s newest MBA admissions consultant. Libby shares her experience in the hospitality industry, her motivations behind her job changes, her decision to pursue an MBA and what she thought was most valuable in the Kellogg MBA program. Along the way she also shares insights into the unique qualities of the hospitality industry and in the Kellogg MBA program as well as the lessons she learned as Co-Chair of The Kellogg Student MBA Admissions Committee.

Interview with Libby Angst [Show Notes]

Can you tell us a little about your background and where you grew up? [1:56]

I grew up in a suburb 45 minutes north of Chicago. I went to a high school with over 1,000 students in my graduating class, so with a class so big it was important for me to find a niche. Mine was the tennis team, volunteering with organizations around Chicago, and my big activity was policy debating on a national circuit with my high school varsity debate team before I ended up going to Northwestern for undergrad.

You worked in the hospitality industry before joining Kellogg. How did you choose that industry to launch your professional career? [2:50]

During high school and college I always had odd jobs in the service industry. One of them was working at a high-end boutique folding and selling clothes, and I also worked as a tennis instructor for a nearby country club, so both required me to deliver a high level of service to discerning customers in my teenage, formative years. Additionally, in college I developed a passion for traveling after studying abroad in Madrid my junior year, my first trip to Europe. After I got back I really wanted to learn the ins and outs of the hotel industry from a highly regarded luxury chain, so luckily Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts had a worldwide sales office that hired me as an intern for two summers.

Why did you choose to work for TravelClick, and then why did you decide to earn an MBA? [4:05]

I had been working for Four Seasons in their property in Palo Alto, and I began using a lot of the TravelClick products to help me achieve my sales goals. A lot of them were benchmarking our performance against competitive sets - I used the tools to figure out what times of year I could charge higher rates for my corporate and group clients in order to reach my goals. After a number of years using their products I had developed a relationship with our TravelClick representative, and began exploring opportunities at that company in a sales role where I could work with large hotel chains to share how TravelClick products could add value to their companies.

While I was at TravelClick working with the large hotel brands I began working a lot with asset managers. I realized the real estate side of the hotel business was not something I knew too much about, but was probably one of the most important things to know to progress my career in the travel industry. So after working at TravelClick for two years I decided I needed to learn more about business. With a liberal arts background I didn’t have the skillset, particularly in finance, that I needed so I decided to earn an MBA in order to transition into the business side to progress my career.

What do you think are some of the more distinctive elements of the hospitality and travel industries? [6:30]

The industry feels immediate impacts from the economy. Hotels are signing essentially 24 hour lease agreements and are extremely sensitive to things going on in the economy.