We continue our Executive MBA student profile series today, highlighting another student who made a significant career switch during (or shortly after) their program. Check out the recent posts featuring Skip Arny (EMBA ’20), who transitioned from military to private sector, and Teddy Mekianov (EMBA ’22), who made the leap from automotive and retail to strategy consulting.
Daniella Levy (EMBA ’22) is also recent alumna, and she recently started a new role with Major League Baseball after nearly a decade working with Marriott. While she’s currently based in Arlington, Virginia, Daniella is in the process of relocating to New York City, and we caught up with her to talk about her decision to pursue an MBA, her job search strategies and the impact of her Darden experience.
Q: You recently made an exciting career move! How is that transition going?
A: I currently lead Brand Management for Major League Baseball, and I’m helping MLB to redefine their brand positioning and the development of a long-term creative platform. I will also be ensuring marketing campaigns and platforms are integrated and effectively reflect the brand.
Prior to my current role with MLB, I led brand management and brand marketing with Marriott International for 9.5 years and worked in a number of marketing roles prior to my time at Marriott.
Q: What led you to Darden?
A: I had been at Marriott for 8 years and was not sure what I wanted to do next. I felt somewhat stuck and knew I didn’t want to do what my boss or my boss’ boss was doing, but was not sure about my future direction. I started thinking about an MBA, and during my research process, I attended a Darden women’s networking event and literally found my people. I have never looked back (two people I met that night and I are still VERY close friends!)
Q: You made a career change through the program. How did you find this opportunity?
A: I found this opportunity from a personal network connection, but could not have done it without the Darden Career Center. They helped me create my overall game plan of how I wanted to execute my career search, helped me rewrite my resume and LinkedIn profile and generally advised me throughout the entire process.
I used a slightly tailored version of the 2-hour job search to create my company list and then set out my on my networking journey. This opportunity took about 4 months to finalize and there were a lot of other roles that I was also interviewing for, but I always say, what is supposed to happen will happen, so I know I was meant to land here!
Q: Could you share a bit about the impact of your Darden experience?
A: I didn’t think I could make 20 more best friends in such a short amount of time, but the bonds we made during the program truly changed me. I now have 140 of the smartest people I know in my corner – That also would not have been possible without Darden. The Executive MBA program helped me feel confident about myself and helped me find the tools that I needed to be successful, whether they were new things or talents I had inside of me that simply needed to be found.
Q: Any advice you would like to share with prospective students?
A: Do it! Stop thinking about it. You will never regret this decision.
