Father of two, Thato Isaac, Entrepreneur at World Financial Group has lived in multiple countries including Botswana, UK and Canada, where he has spent the last 25 years.
Starting his journey in the education sector, his long term goal has always been to get more involved in the business world. Now, Thato is an Entrepreneur working in financial services. Completing his MBA in Entrepreneurial Management with AIB, we asked him more about his experience at AIB.
What was your motivation to start an MBA?
My long term ambition was always to be in the business world and I was fortunate that I knew one or two people have completed an MBA. And I’ve seen how much I changed their life.
In addition to that, when I was on LinkedIn, somebody actually reached out to me from AIB several years ago, but at that point in time, I didn’t feel ready. So when the opportunity came, somebody reached out to me again, I actually said, “hey, tell me a little bit about the program.” The individual was so good and they led me through the entire process. And I said, “Okay, well, how do I get started?”
Why did you choose AIB?
There were two things happening here. One, I discovered that you didn’t have to do exams, I was like, “I’m not a big fan of exams”.
And then the individual told me that instead of also paying everything one time, we’ll give you flexibility to pay in instalments until you graduate. So when I heard that and I read a bit about the university, I was sold.
How practical did you find the course?
It’s not all theory based. The ideas that are on there, the idea is that id I was to do that if I was to do a business plan, for example, like a lean business plan, it’s written out for you. I don’t need to be reading 20,000 books. Just from what the instructor taught me alone and add some additional research, I could apply that right away. That’s how practical I found it.
How was the support at AIB?
You could always send the Student Central team and email in advance and say, “hey, this is what’s happening my life”. For example, for me, I mentioned that my wife was pregnant. Around the due date, our child came early. And there was an opportunity where they say, “hey, this assignment, please forgive me, my wife is currently in labor right now is not gonna get in on time.” Of course, the student team understood that I am an adult, I am doing life and life that’s happened. The ease of communication was great.
How does this accomplishment feel?
Thanks to the system AIB have passed right now, I was able to finish my master’s and I will hopefully inspire another generation and my family for them to look into business – because the best thing you can do is be in business for yourself.
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