Emanuele Ferraris: “In BBS I learned to seize opportunities.”
20 November 2018Emanuele Ferraris, alumnus of the Master in Business Management with address Made in Italy, shares his experience and the path that led him to choose BBS to complete his training and combine his passion for motors with his professional growth.
“And if I told you that all my BBS experience could be symbolically summarized with a biscuit? But let’s take a step back.
My name is Emanuele Ferraris, I was born in Turin and since I was a child I have always been attracted to the world of motorsport. So much so that my father, to make me fall asleep, could not do anything but load me in the car and take me for a ride, although I returned to weep as soon as he got back into the garage and turned off the engine. Later I started racing with competition karts, progressively getting better results, so much so that a manufacturer of frames asked me to direct the development of their products on the circuits.
Although over time I have given priority to the study, the passion for racing has allowed me to meet people who believed in me and gave me the opportunity to test the Formula Azzurra and to participate in events of automotive companies on the track. Among the latter I was chosen as a finalist to participate in the selections for the Audi TT Cup championship held in Ingolstadt, Germany.
Once I got my degree in Marketing and Brand Management, also thanks to the presentation of my entrepreneurial initiative – a digital platform able to merge the showrooming and webrooming worlds in the fashion sector – I felt the need to complete my education with a master which could give me more skills in business management. And here, BBS came into play.
Attracted by the important partnerships with the major companies of the Motorvalley, I started the selections process to take part in the Master in Business Management / Made in Italy. The strength of this Master, however, does not only reside in an ad hoc training program and in a breathtaking location. The key point of its success is, in my opinion, its ability to give you the tools to create a network, to give you the chance to meet business executives and prominent professionals, from whom you can learn and confront with in such a direct and informal way, that we ‘Piedmontese’ almost have difficulty understanding it.
And this is exactly what happened to me in front of a biscuit, which perfectly represents the metaphor of the opportunities encountered during my year in BBS. During a meeting organized by the School, I took advantage of the favorable situation and, together with one of my classmates, we asked a guest to have lunch together. This person was none other than Federico Minoli, successful manger and President of Dainese, former CEO of Ducati and author of several turnarounds. Fascinated by the stories of corporate adventures and previous experiences, at the end of the lunch we shared a biscuit that in a certain sense, changed the course of my professional path.
During that lunch, the exchange of stories focused on the passion for motorsports made the goals that I had set for my career, and on which I had built my course of study, falter a bit. In my head, I kept thinking about the possibility of trying to send my resume in Dainese, benchmark for motorcycle clothing. And so I did, passing several interviews until I got an internship in the Product Management department, also refusing offers from one of those famous companies that I was aiming for at the beginning of the Master.
I preferred to opt for a solid and stimulating path, where to combine the skills acquired in BBS with the world of engines that has always fascinated me. My decision proved to be a winning one and I have been a full member of the Dainese team for almost a year now, covering the role of Product Manager for the Racing and Sport segments. If this sector, which I consider central and never boring, joins a prestigious brand like Dainese, the result is a situation in which you can really have fun and create something important. Especially if you have the opportunity to prove your value regardless of your age.
I believe that the experience of the BBS Master in Business Management was perfect to get to the position I hold. A Product Manager needs to achieve the objectives taking into consideration multiple business aspects: from strategic plans, market analysis, feasibility, costs, supply chain problems and technical inputs up to the management of product range and the communication / marketing output. Therefore, we need a transversal knowledge of company functions, from commercial to research and development, and I am fully convinced that BBS has given me an in-depth basis to move in this direction and allowed me to understand and react to different situations without being limited by the so-called ‘tunnel vision’.
Because basically this is what BBS does: in addition to giving you the knowledge and skills necessary to play your cards at best, it makes you question and find out who you are and what you really want.
And then it gives you the biscuit, the opportunity you were waiting for. It’s only up to you to bite it without hesitation. ”
Emanuele Ferraris – Turin
Master in Business Management / Made in Italy – Class of 2016/2017
