From Nurse to International Enterprise Chief: How One MBA Redefined Her Profession Path
MBA Weblog / fifteenth October 2025
GBSB International Enterprise College
When Religion Ann Norman left her job at UT Southwestern Medical Heart in Dallas, Texas, few would have guessed that she was headed to Barcelona, not for trip however to earn an MBA and rework her skilled id.
A registered nurse with 5 years of surgical expertise, Norman had constructed a stable profession specializing in neurosurgery and otolaryngology. Through the pandemic, she was promoted to cost nurse, a management position requiring her to handle assets, coordinate groups, and make vital choices rapidly beneath strain.
This expertise made her surprise: What if management may very well be her subsequent full-time job?
“I started to appreciate that my actual curiosity was in fixing complicated issues,” Norman remembers. “The MBA wasn’t only a diploma—it was a solution to enhance my impression.”
A Non-Conventional Candidate in a International Classroom
Religion Norman enrolled at GBSB International Enterprise College in Barcelona, an establishment identified for its various scholar physique and emphasis on innovation. Though she lacked a background in enterprise, she introduced a set of abilities honed in high-pressure conditions.
At first, the training curve was steep. “ROI and provide chain weren’t a part of my vocabulary as a nurse,” she admits. Nonetheless, GBSB International provided preparatory programs in Excel and accounting to assist bridge the hole. Quickly, her distinctive background grew to become a aggressive benefit.
Her classmates took observe. “Religion was the one one with out prior enterprise expertise,” says Christian Wilcox, an MBA scholar from New York. “However she introduced views that I merely wouldn’t have seen after ten years in an workplace.”
Norman rapidly realized to translate her nursing experience into enterprise phrases. Scheduling surgical procedures resembled challenge administration. Coordinating with physicians and surgical technicians resembled stakeholder administration. Even affected person advocacy provided classes in negotiation.
“In the future, I noticed that the working room had been my first MBA classroom,” she displays.
Changing into a Enterprise Skilled—With out Loosing Your self
By the tip of this system, Norman had undergone greater than an instructional transformation; she had reshaped her self-perception.
“On the primary day of Enterprise Analytics, I launched myself as a nurse,” she says. “On the final day, the professor informed me, ‘Now, you’re a enterprise skilled with healthcare experience.’ That second modified all the things for me.”
Her classmates seen the shift as effectively. “Religion developed into somebody fully totally different,” says Mostafa Salah Ahmed, a Cairo peer. “She tailored rapidly and shocked us all.”
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