Joana, student of the MSc in Luxury Marketing & Management
Tell us a bit about your background.
My name is Joana Kfouri and I am a half Lebanese half German 23-year-old. I have a Bachelor in media management. I was born and raised in the north of Germany by my German mother and my Lebanese father together with my two sisters. Since I was a little girl I was always fascinated by the fashion and luxury industry. During my studies in media management, I decided to follow my interest and got an internship at the luxury fashion brand Escada in London, where I had my first working experience in the luxury sector. After this internship I decided to spend my practical semester at a luxury fashion brand as well. After applying to different luxury fashion houses I ended up in the events planning and customer relationship management department at Louis Vuitton Germany in Munich. This was my first long-time working experience in the luxury field, which made me realize that I wanted to extend my academic knowledge by enrolling in a postgraduate program in the field of Luxury Management and Marketing. That’s when I decided to apply to emlyon business school. Before joining the program, I decided to take one year off between my Bachelor and my Master in order to gain more work experience in the luxury sector. I worked again for Louis Vuitton as a project assistance during the exhibition “Time Capsule” in Berlin, where I planned, organized and implemented the exhibition as well as several side events. At the moment I am working in the marketing department of Cartier Parfums in Germany until I start my studies at the beginning of September.
Why did you decide to join the program?
emlyon business school was my top choice for my Master studies; aside from the outstanding academic reputation, I particularly value the cultural diversity and experience in more technical fields that the campus has to offer. The content of the curriculum in Luxury Management and Marketing fits very well with my specific interests and career objectives. Especially the fact that the program will take place in three different cities is a major advantage, as the students will be able to learn about luxury aspects in different cultures and environments, which is one of the main reasons that I chose this program for my further academic path.
What do you expect from the program?
I do believe that it is very important to always challenge yourself in order to be successful in what you are doing. My next challenge will be emlyon business school, where I hope to learn more theoretical aspects about the luxury industry in order to apply them later on in my daily working life. Further on, I expect to enter a network of motivated and ambitious people from many different countries and cultures, which will form a community that shares the same interests and goals in order to help each other to succeed together in the same industry.
Three words to describe yourself?
Open-minded, trustworthy, buoyant
