Ask Stacy Blackman

Indian/29-Female/Married/ GMAT - 710 (Q 48, V41)

Undergrad Degree (2003-2007) - Bachelors of Design from NIFT - Accessory Design (GPA - 7/10)

Post Graduate Program (2011-12)- Fellowship program (on 100% scholarship) in Liberal Arts & Sciences from

Ashoka University & UPenn (www.youngindiafellowship.com) - (GPA - 3.26/4)

Other education - Startup Leadership Program (6 months program to

provide training and mentorship on formulating business plan and start-up strategy)

2007-2009 : Worked as a jewellery designer with India's leading jewellery retailer part of TATA Group

Launched retail business in USA - responsible for back-end design operations (handling new product development
brand identity design and contributed to visual merchandising) - experience of International business in this profile)

2009-2011 : Co-founded a design consulting firm, did multiple projects for a year but failed in scale up.

Currently, working with one of India's leading consulting firms Technopak part of Ebeltoft group (present in 22 countries) specializing in consulting in retail, consumer products and e-commerce. Provided consultancy to clients such as HUL, Swarovski, Arvind Ltd.,Sahara Group , GMR,etc. representing diverse industries such as food ,fashion, luxury, retail, consumer products and home decor.


Internships:
8 months marketing internship with KFC as part of post graduate programme.

Extra curricular activities -
1) Taught at NIFT to two batches of 30 students each for 1 semester.
Created the scope for the syllabus, created teaching tools and also designed assignments and projects for students.
2) Travelled across India to train unprivileged craftsmen and helped them in reviving the crafts through design intervention.
3) Volunteering with SLP as part of the admissions team, an international non-profit organization aimed at creating a sustainable startup & entrepreneurship community.

Hobbies - Travelling, Fashion Modelling, Writing, Singing & Cooking etc.

Post MBA Career Goals: Short term - Strategy Consulting or strategy teams of consumer facing businesses.

Long term - To be a subject matter expert in retail, consumer goods and e-tail and facilitate entry of global consumer brands into India.

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Since now you've formed some opinion about me, my work and potential - here are some specific questions I wanted to ask -

1.Can you please advise me which schools I can target - which ones will be my reach, match and safe schools?

2. Am I a diversity candidate since I graduated in design and also worked for a fashion jewelry brand or am I a typical feeder candidate since I come from retail consulting.

3.Being married - Do I need to communicate that in my essays? How does my marital status affect my chances of selection?

4. Low IR Score- Will it make a difference for top 5 schools? ( HBS, Stanford, Wharton etc.)
Also, do I need to retake GMAT for Top 5 schools?