A sneak peek in the life of our Alumni - Gabriel Brakha
Meet Gabriel Brakha, Principal at Florida Blue Local Agency in the United States of America and MSM MBA Alumnus. Mr. Brakha hails from Israel and is already for many years successful in business in the USA. In this blog, Gabriel Brakha shares his career journey before and after graduating from MSM in 1992.
After earning a first degree in Earth Sciences and Chemistry from the Hebrew University in Israel, I realized through the years that I was missing a certain skillset to be an outstanding scientific researcher. Therefore, I decided to expand my knowledge and apply for a business school. I aimed for business school in the Netherlands as I knew about the high academic standards of Dutch institutions and besides that, the Netherlands is one of the most welcoming countries in Europe.
Going back in time
Looking back at my decision to study an MBA, I can say that it was a unique experience in which I quickly had to grasp the basics in economics and business. Also, the social aspect of my MBA at MSM is memorable. The friendships that started back in 1991/1992 are still going strong 27 years later.
As it’s quite some time ago that I studied at MSM It’s quite difficult to exactly trace back business decisions that I made in my career that I learned in the MBA program. However, I definitely applied the learned strategic marketing and leadership skills over the years.
Exploring other avenues
At the beginning of my career I was hired by the Ministry of Commerce of Israel in order to build specific systems for Israeli exporters. Hereafter I moved into sales with a job as Sales Manager for a Swiss watches distributor in Latin America. After several years I was hired at Zurich Financial Services as a Sales Manager in Latin America. This changed my career path 180 degrees!
Unfortunately, the corporate offices decided to close the Miami hub, which meant that I was forced to look for other avenues in the insurance industry. This was the moment that I decided to build my own agency. I started Insurance Consultants International a medical and life insurance agency for US citizens and expats worldwide. Currently I have 50 agents working for my agency. As the owner I recruit, train and motivate our agents to increase the sales figures every year. Every day I’m working hard to make my business successful with the goal to increase my agency sales force to 400 agents.
My advice to you
I strongly believe in networking with a chamber of commerce and make sure that your LinkedIn profile is up to date. Also, don’t rule out the option of being self-employed after a few years of experience in the corporate world. I never imagined I would end up being self-employed, and look at me now!
MSM’s Alumni blogs is a series of guest blogs by our alumni sharing professional and inspiring stories of their career after MSM. Special thanks to Gabriel Brakha for sharing his career path after his Master in Business Administration at Maastricht School of Management.
Got inspired to also start your MBA journey? Have a look at the program page for more information.
More alumni stories:
A sneak peek in the life of our Alumni - Anton Tarigan
First hand tips and information from an MSM Master in Management alumnus
A sneak peek in the life of our alumni - Endri Bahja
