Manifesting an international future

Having graduated with a double-major in Economics and Mathematics from Cornell University in the USA, as well as undertaking a stint in London as part of a six-month student exchange program, Min Buranaphong had experienced much of the world by the time she finished her undergraduate degree. However, it was her time completing her full-time Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the University of Sydney that kickstarted a chain of events, which continue to positively impact her career to this day.

“I had been in market research at Nielsen and then moved over to Unilever but after a few years, I started eyeing off a higher education program,” she explains. “I felt like I hadn’t explored Australia before, and this was important to me because how could one overlook Australia as one of the significant driving forces of the APAC region?”

At the time, the University of Sydney Business School hadn’t yet opened their full-time MBA program, so Min was preparing to apply to another course instead. “I kept checking the website and thinking, "I wish they’d launch a full-time MBA,” she says. The day before submitting her application to the Master of Commerce, Min noticed the full-time MBA had been launched – an outcome she couldn’t quite believe. “I manifested so strongly that the University created the MBA program I wanted,” jokes Min.

Upon applying immediately, Min became a member of the very first cohort to undergo this particular MBA program. “I was so happy because being the very first group defines so many things you might not even think of initially,” she explains. 

Min believes she benefited significantly from the strong relationships she built with such a diverse cohort and faculty, remembering how easy it was to express her opinion and influence the course. “It was an amazing experience, and I was just so lucky to be there.”

A recent trip back to the University saw Min further reflect on the driven personalities she connected with during that time. “If you were in cohort one, you had an element of wanting to take risks, because being first is really taking an innovative path,” she says. “You wouldn’t have pulled the trigger to be part of that first group if you didn’t have that edge.” 

While Min started her MBA in 2019, her cohort’s graduation was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This saw them unable to conduct their graduation ceremony in-person. “It wasn’t ideal, but we managed to finish the program completely, so I’m just happy we had that on-campus experience,” she says. 

As most students moved to different cities or even countries upon graduating, Min’s journey saw her return to Thailand to accept a role that would take her down an exciting and rewarding career path. “The borders started closing and I wanted to be back home in Thailand to be with my family, so I interviewed with Google based in Bangkok,” she explains. “Even though I’d had past experience in marketing, retail and CPG, I was able to secure a role as an Account Partnership Lead.” 

Min believes it was her MBA that triggered a desire to find a role that provided a more holistic view of things. “Originally, I was quite comfortable with marketing, but I liked the idea of being able to zoom out to understand the larger business context,” she says. “It was about leaning into a more integrated view to look at a business.” 

To this day, Min still refers back to the materials from her MBA that enabled her to embrace a more well-rounded opinion and understanding of business. “The case studies we looked at were real and allowed us to learn about our colleagues and their perspectives,” she says. “I still feel like all the stakeholder management we did in groups in class has been beneficial – I’m still using these techniques now.”

While initially joining Google in a sales role, Min now holds a senior position as the International Growth Insights Lead for the APAC region. “I get to empower APAC businesses to expand and thrive in global markets by developing market entry strategies, conducting in-depth market analysis, and fostering collaboration across a global network of export consultants within Google,” she explains. 

In doing so, the business is able to encourage sustainable international trade, balance opportunities and manage risks for the region as it scales.

The skills acquired during the MBA have helped Min on a professional level and they’ve also translated into the mastering of interpersonal soft skills that can make or break business relationships. “This was so important because now as I work with big markets like Australia, India, Japan and China – I’m not going in with zero knowledge of the cultural nuances that may be at play, and how these countries interact with one another,” she says. “In a regional role, this is so important because it makes you more mindful, and when it comes to sensitive stakeholder management, that matters a lot. Everyone has different ways of seeing things.”

Being able to connect and work with people from all backgrounds and apply an international lens to her work is something Min is hugely passionate about and hopes to encounter in future roles and adventures. “It allows you to grow intellectually but also as a person because you need to constantly check your own assumptions,” she adds. “It’s really humbling and helps me engage with different experiences every day.”