03/06/2024
Melody Ucros has always been interested in entrepreneurship. She was looking for a global opportunity that would give her the tools to become an expert in tech and continue to enhance her business skills. The Dual Degree Master in Management + Master in Business Analytics & Big Data was the perfect fit.
Completing her bachelor’s degree at just 19 years old, Melody Ucros was a young applicant to her master’s at IE University. She has quite literally grown up with an entrepreneurial mindset, which led her to hit the ground running. Her dad has owned a company for 20 years, and she has two other businesses with her family. She has surrounded herself with success from the get-go.
Melody really dove into the part, starting her first business selling handmade jewelry in elementary school. Originally from Puerto Rico, her family moved to the United States when she was in high school, and it was here that she discovered her talent for marketing and sales. This led her to pursue a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in Florida.
Throughout college, Melody continued her side gigs, and even landed an internship with Sharp Electronics in sales and marketing operations. This was her first real taste of corporate, giving her insight into business and showing her the importance of data analytics.
A new challenge was unlocked for Melody, and she decided to become a tech expert.
She was searching for an institution to pursue a master’s degree, and IE University proved the perfect fit.
The opportunity to move abroad was what first drove Melody to IE University, especially because she knew she could build a global network. The second factor was the ability to complete a master’s degree in tech at a well-renowned institution without having a technical background. Due to her success in high school, Melody was far below the average age for a master’s in big data, so to ease her transition into graduate-level courses, she decided to pursue not one, but two master’s degrees with the Dual Degree Master in Management + Master in Business Analytics & Big Data.
Creating her own path
For Melody, pursuing just one degree would be putting herself in a box. But as she says, the dual degree program was “creating my own, multi-dimensional box. I had the entrepreneurship side going into the programs, and then would gain the leadership and people management side and the technical side.”
The exposure to different cultures in terms of thinking and collaboration was a highlight for Melody during her dual degree. In her current global role, she sees this as a competitive advantage.
Thanks to her time in work groups and class discussions, she can better understand and relate to various cultures and their way of working, noting specifically the differing sensitivities.
“I think it’s a very unique competitive advantage, especially in change management. I can’t send just one strategy for a global market, I have to split it by country.”
The diversity of the program was not only in cultural backgrounds but also in languages, academic backgrounds and personalities. “Everyone naturally fell into their role in our group work. Our groups were very diverse, which allowed us to build on our strengths. I was able to develop the skills to translate technology into a presentation for real-life people who are not in the tech industry, which is what I ended up selecting as my career.”
Ready to take on the next challenge
When Melody completed her dual degree she was just 20 years old. Having two master’s degrees at such a young age meant she didn’t have 10+ years of experience to put on a resume. So she began looking for a strategic management role where she could leverage her sales and marketing experience. She was offered a position in Miami, Florida, as the Senior Management Intern to the vice president of Strategic Change for Latin America at TD SYNNEX where she assisted in managing strategic transformation projects. It all fell perfectly in place because they were looking for someone with both the business and technical knowledge to drive projects. Eventually, this role led to her current role as Strategic Change Lead for North America Logistics and Global Services.
Looking back, Melody is happy she made the choice to study the Dual Degree Master in Management + Master in Business Analytics & Big Data. “It’s important to have training in both data and management. It’s the world’s new reality—we move with data and AI, and companies want to invest in that at scale. So whether you’re on the technical or project teams, you can differentiate yourself by giving informed input.”
Although the dual degree was challenging, Melody would do it all over again.
The challenge was beyond worth it for her.
When asked to offer advice to other students considering a dual degree, her simple answer is “just do it.” She further explains, “My life would be very different without this experience. It was incredibly rewarding and allowed me to grow up. Plus, it’s just a year and a half. In my perspective, it’s a perfect combination.”
