Meet Victoria Hind

By her own admission, Victoria Hind is not the typical Executive MBA student.

Far from a background in finance or accounting, Victoria studied fashion and design and has worked in product development and production for a raft of luxury designer labels in the UK and the United States.

Now studying for a Cass Business School EMBA and a Scholar on the Cass Global Women's Leadership Programme, she hopes to take her career to the next level and help smaller fashion labels achieve their full potential.

“I was getting to a point where I was seeing a lot of small companies really struggling and I found myself wanting to help that business side work a bit better,” Victoria says.

“There’s often a disjoint between the design, the product development and production versus the finance and the business strategy so I felt that an MBA would help me to learn the business side of things and then combine that with my existing skill set on the product development side.”

Victoria says that while the fashion industry is dominated by females in some areas, the most senior positions of some companies are still very much held by men.

Programme is a pathway to effective leadership

She says she sees the Cass Global Women’s Leadership Programme as a pathway to becoming a more effective leader and businesswoman.

“It really resonated with me that the Programme supports women who want to be in board positions, who want to develop their business skills; women who really want to progress, move themselves forward and help other people as well,” she says.

“We have to support women, we have to support their progression and give them the confidence that they are able to grow.

“And already the Programme has opened up so many different contacts and support networks with other women on my EMBA course and within the Programme.”

Having grown up by the seaside in north Wales, Victoria moved to London at 19 and, aside from her experiences in America, she has never looked back.

“I’ve always loved the life in London and the opportunities it offers,” she says.

“Having an interest in fashion it was where I needed to be for that to grow.”

And Victoria says her continued interest in the fashion industry was part of her decision to continue her studies at Cass.

“When I decided that I wanted to do an MBA I was really keen make sure that the school I chose was right for me, one that really resonated with what I do and with my interests and where I want to be in the future,” she says.

"Cass was open-minded about interests and industries"

“Cass were really open-minded about other people’s interests and industries and not just one area of expertise.

“They were really open to my background in fashion saying ‘Brilliant, come on board and give us another aspect to what we are about’.”

The journey from seaside town in northern Wales to studying an Executive MBA in the heart of London is not something that Victoria dwells on a lot, though the juxtaposition between the two worlds is not entirely lost on her, either.

“I’ve always been driven, and I’ve always been passionate about what I did,” she says.

“I’d always thought about how I wanted to progress in my career from a very early age and the EMBA has been a natural progression that has happened at the right time.”

Mentorship scheme

She says now, with her involvement on the Global Women’s Leadership Programme, she hopes to combine her business knowledge and personal drive to inspire and help other women achieve their dreams.

“The Programme is allowing me to develop something that I am interested in and feel quite passionate about, which is supporting women in the work environment.

“We’re looking to help set up a mentorship scheme and develop some other elements to the Programme that will allow, not just myself, but other women and other members of the cohort to grow as well.”

Find out more

Find out more about the Cass Global Women's Leadership Programme here.