Alumni Profiles

Founder and CEO, WeddingDates

 

In Conversation with Justine Emoe, Graduate Business School.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I'm the founder and CEO of WeddingDates. We were established in 2008. I participated in a program with the Graduate Business School in TU Dublin in 2020.

What motivated you to embark on the programme?

I started my business at a relatively young age. I was 25 with an undergraduate degree. I did a lot of learning on the job. I completed quite a few informal courses in the years after I founded the business to become a better business leader. But I had no formal education qualification beyond my undergrad. So I decided that a formal program would help me to build on my knowledge and capabilities – but I also I hoped that it might give me some reassurance that I was taking the best approach to management and strategy in my business.  I was curious to know if my learning on the job was valid; did it match up with best practice? That was one of the important drivers for me. And then, of course, the other important motivation was to take the learning and see how I could apply it to WeddingDates to make my business better.

So regarding those two objectives, were they fulfilled as you anticipated?

Yes, definitely. I discovered that in a lot of cases the concepts and methodologies that were presented to the class group were being applied to some extent in my business – let's say organically or naturally, but perhaps not in a very formulaic way...so it was quite validating for me. But the course also resulted in a considerable development in my thinking. It gave me a different way of looking at certain challenges and I applied a greater rigor to business processes that hadn't been there before.

And tell me, were there any unexpected outcomes from your participation?

Definitely one of the added bonuses was the peer-to-peer learning and the networking with the other participants on the program – they were a mix of business owners and senior leaders in their organisations. I found that hugely beneficial particularly as I hadn't done any formal study in a long, long time. Having that support network was very beneficial.

Tell me about your experience of writing assignments?

That was a learning process for me, developing that skill of really reading and understanding the question and breaking it down. I also honed my skills at prioritising information within written documents and ultimately creating useful, business-centric resource for WeddingDates.

So you applied the assignment work to live projects in the in the company?

Yes, pretty much for every module. There were elements of each assignment where it applied directly to the business. And you could take the framework or the model from the course and actually use it. I was able to use my business as a case study. We've since brought a lot of that work into the day-to-day running of the business. For example, the key account management dashboard – I was using that tool with my team only this morning. That’s a framework that came from the program. So definitely, it was very, very applied.  Particularly for some of those frameworks, you literally plug in your own information and see an immediate output.

Did your completion of the program allow you more time to focus on strategic matters?

 In the day to day running of the business there's always another email to send, there's always something immediate demanding your attention. Whereas, when we were on the program you were out of the office and I had to get these assignments submitted. And so, it really forced me to take a step back from the day to day. And that gave me a lot of clarity and a lot of headspace There were strategic decisions I knew I needed to make and the course forced me to make the time to focus on them.

What would you say to someone considering signing up for a Graduate Business School program in a discipline that was very relevant to their day-to-day business or their professional role? Particularly if they were grappling with the concept of the time commitment that’s required.

Obviously, everybody has to manage their own time. But I just think it's such a positive thing to challenge yourself in that way, with continuing education. For me, the sense of personal satisfaction when I graduated was huge along with that validation that I mentioned earlier. For me as a business owner, there's nobody giving you a promotion, you're not changing your job title as you progress through your career. So doing the Graduate Business School course was hugely validating for me. And I suppose my big message to anybody is, any further learning that you do, you get out what to put in. Attending the classes, engaging with your classmates, liaising with the faculty, staff, the lectures, and all of that, it is a big commitment but the reward on a personal and business level is huge, particularly when the course is as applied as the one that I completed with the Graduate Business School.  You know, if you commit the time turning up, being present in the classroom, completing the assignment work and using your business as a case study for that work, you will reap the rewards. No doubt.