Blonde MBADocumenting the life of a blonde MBA student in sunny California. Maybe some blondes DO have brains!

8/8/08, today’s lucky numbers…
See you next year for 9/9/09!

~Blonde MBA

I’ve started reading the MBA Jungle B-School Survival Guide to get ready to go back to school and figure out a little of what to expect from day one. I’ve only gone through the first couple of chapters, and will do a final review of the book when I’m done, but so far it’s been very helpful. 

My 2nd post questioned if an entrepreneur should go back to school, and this book has solidified that for me it is the right thing. Beyond the obvious ‘who you know’ and the ‘what you know,’ the book focused on the actual skills you can develop while in school, namely leadership, focus, problem-solving skills, and teamwork. 

Now if you have a million-dollar idea already, not only do you not need to go to b-school to figure this out, why are you still here reading this blog??

Well, we just got back from a few days away in Scottsdale, Arizona, visiting with my in-laws. I love getting away to the desert (as long as we were able to stay in the air conditioning and swimming pool in 110-degree heat)! The desert is something I never had growing up in Dallas, Texas, and it’s always a welcome getaway!

I definitely envy my in-laws…they personify ‘Mexican hippies’, not fitting in with the traditional Mexican family stereotypes (i.e. all la familia living under one roof), and definitely not conforming to a 9-5 corporate America! For example, my father-in-law dropped his 9-5 job at Dish Network, worked at Home Depot for a month, then became a plumbing handyman. Now his one-man company Phoenix Rooter Company is running nonstop, advertising just from Craigslist.com and the signs on his truck!

As a native Mexican, he is trying to reach more of the Latino market on their turf as well. As such, last Friday you could find me on Main Street in Santa Ana, the only guera for miles, scooping up Spanish language classifieds at the Mexican grocery store to see how others in his industry advertised. (On a sidenote, who thought to put out 10 weeklies just for cars in a mainly-pedestrian area??)

Beyond the stereotypes, this is a huge demographic just waiting to be reached, as pretty soon they won’t be the minority…just a reminder to pick up the Rosetta Stone and start working on my Spanish skills!

Leaving you now with some fotografias from our Sedona day trip…Blonde MBA

Last Friday was my last day of work and I didn’t get a chance to say anything about it before we left for Arizona. While I am SO GLAD to be done with that job and will not miss ‘working’ per se (at least not 9-5), I WILL miss the people I worked with. Most jobs are probably 10-20% actual work, 80-90% dealing with people, (depending on your industry of course). It doesn’t matter how well you can perform in a job if you can’t ‘play well with others’ and be a strong part of the team. 

That said, I was able to work with a strong team of office support staff. Unfortunately undervalued by management and the institution we worked for, nothing would get done without this team. I hope each of them are able to find the job satisfaction and growth they deserve, and beyond that, I hope to keep in touch with them as friends!

Blonde MBA