Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

My name is Emmanuel. I am 32 years old and I am from Strasbourg (France). I have a science-oriented background with a license in IT and an engineering degree in Networks and Telecommunications. I have been working in this industry since 2007 for many companies in Europe.
During the past two years I have realized that my professional career was lacking a real purpose and that my passion for the sports industry, and especially skydiving, was becoming increasingly important in my life. The idea to run my own company and contribute to society by sharing my passion for sports was born. As I needed new knowledge and new skills to achieve my goal, I decided in 2017 to walk away from my career in IT and chose to study in the MSc in Sports Industry Management at emlyon business school.

Why did you decide to join this program?

The first reason why I have chosen this program is its strong entrepreneurial mindset with its unique “early makers” approach.
The second reason is that the program has a strong multicultural and international perspective, all taught in English and with many trips to study different kind of sports businesses in the Alps, London, Munich and Shanghai. As my goal is to run my own business and I believe that having a global vision is key, it was a perfect match.

What did you like the most about the program so far?

I really liked the first semester in Paris. It focused on the “early makers” spirit, working on an innovative project for a company for 4 months, being part of a collaborative process and moving from insights to concepts and prototypes, experimenting, making mistakes, starting again and learning as we go. The program is not only about marketing classes but also management, design thinking, digitalization, lifestyle trends and user experience. It gave me lots of key learnings to help me build my project in parallel.

Finally, what advice would you give to future students of the MSc in Sports Industry Management?

My advices to future students would be to explore all their options – explore what you want to do, what you are good at, see where your strengths lie and keep your mind open. Enjoy every new experience and take advantage of every opportunity that comes to you.