What is a Personal MBA & Why Am I Doing One?
What is a Personal MBA?
According to Forbes Advisor, an average, “traditional” Master of Business Administration costs $61,800 and takes 24 months to complete. This begs the question — is the degree and resume line worth the price?
Never in human history have we had more access to inexpensive (often free) tools & resources that match the education that a traditional university or model offers.
A personal MBA is exactly what it sounds like:
A self-created curriculum built to teach the fundamentals of whatever business focus or skills you want to learn & achieve.
Personal MBAs sometimes include:
- Reading books & writing reports
- Watching webinars or long-form teaching videos
- Attaining online certifications
- Focus-group research studies
With over 1 Million copies sold, and one of the foundational books/authors behind this education strategy, Josh Kaufman in The Personal MBA, puts it this way. “Skip business school; educate yourself.”
Instead of wasting your time and hard-earned money learning outdated theories you’ll probably never use, it’s far better to spend your time and energy teaching yourself what you need to know to succeed. — Josh Kaufman, The Personal MBA
Why Am I Creating and Pursuing a Personal MBA?
In 2019 I graduated from Messiah University with a BA concentration in Graphic Design. Two years and two jobs later as a graphic designer, it became apparent that that job and career field wasn’t for me.
My gifting and skillsets naturally work to solve problems, innovate systems, and strive to make products and processes the best they can be. The design field drained me and didn’t allow me to use my gifts to their full potential.
In 2021 I decided to take a career-shifting leap and apply for a content role on the marketing team at LCBC Church. I had little authentic experience in this lane, but I knew I had the mindset and desire to learn everything I could.
After two years in the marketing field, I’ve learned a lot, but I am ready to further my education and gain the skill set of an executive-level marketer.
Becoming an executive-level marketer traditionally would require an MBA. After finding out my 6-year contract in the US Army would not be funding a traditional plan to attend a $61,800 24-month program, I set out to create my personal MBA. I’ve done the research, built a strategy, time-lined out a plan, and am excited to get to work.
Here it is: https://medium.com/@tylerkime/my-personal-mba-plan-1ecc137d976d
