MBA Interns Share Their Summer Experiences: From Investment to Marketing and Entrepreneurship

Florian Förstl, Roger Romero Borda and Shanna Walia share their summer internship experiences and how they landed these opportunities. From working on investment projects at Viessmann to taking on a key role at a startup in Paris and diving into marketing strategy at L'Oréal’s Armani beauty division, they reflect on the skills they gained and how their MBA journey helped them tackle real-world challenges.

Name, Graduation Year: 

Florian Förstl, MBA ‘25

Internship title and Location: 

MBA Summer Analyst on the investment team at Viessmann in Munich

How did you find this internship opportunity? 

Personal network.

Overview of your internship role and responsibilities:

As part of the Viessmann team, I contributed to portfolio management, analyzed market trends, assessed the financial performance of investment opportunities, and collaborated with auditors on due diligence.

What skills did you gain from this experience?

During my internship, I honed my skills around financial analysis, investment evaluation and effective communication.

What was your professional background pre-MBA? 

Corporate Finance

What is your post-MBA career goal?

My post-MBA goal is a role that drives impact, challenges me intellectually, fosters collaboration with driven peers, and supports mutual growth and learning.

What was the most rewarding experience during your internship?

The most rewarding experience of my internship was contributing in a meaningful way to Viessmann, a purpose-driven family company focused on long-term growth and sustainability, whose purpose is “co-creating living spaces for generations to come." My highlight was to actively collaborate in the investment process, from analyzing opportunities to building a leveraged buyout model, and observing due diligence, while working closely in a team with exceptional investment professionals.

How did the internship align with your MBA?

My internship was the ideal opportunity to apply the knowledge I gained from the HEC MBA core courses and the HEC M&A Certificate. It allowed me to bridge academics with real-world investment experience.

Name, Graduation Year:

Roger Romero Borda, MBA ‘25

Internship Title and Company:

CEO’s Right Hand at Mauna

How did you learn about this internship?

The HEC MBA Entrepreneurship Club, Sustainability Club, and the HEC Paris Incubator organized a ‘speed-dating’ recruiting event for startups at Station F. It was a smart move, because we set clear expectations from the beginning with a focus on English-speaking students to do summer internships, which may or may not include renumeration. It was the key success factor that allowed students and startups to have more effective conversations. Out of all the companies, Mauna was the one that captured my attention. I researched the company and prepared as much as I could to meet with them.

Overview of your internship role and responsibilities:

My role was Right Hand of the CEO, so I’d help him with anything he needed, mainly in business development, strategy and operations. In business development, I developed relationships with professional clubs, athletes, CEOs, entrepreneurs, angel investors, agents, government agencies, venture capitalists, Station F, and the HEC Incubator. We executed more than 100 cold calls/emails combined, which helped gain insights into clients’ needs and perspectives. It also helped me to better understand the mindset of different sectors in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. On the strategy side, I helped review the go-to-market strategy, proposed initiatives to improve our digital reputation on LinkedIn, and sourced new media contacts in the local press. I also reached out to famous podcasts in France to promote our brand and so that famous personalities could interview the founders. As for operations, I collaborated to personalize and adapt the sales pitch for investors, users (coaches and athletes), term sheets, and any formal document to be sent out. Overall, it was a valuable experience that pushed me forward on my path post-MBA, and I especially valued the great connection we made with the co-founders who are very kind and amazing people.

What skills did you gain from this experience?

I learned how to evaluate pitch decks from the investor perspective, and also how to pitch to potential investors during formal presentations. Some days I worked on term sheets, and it gave me an understanding of the data and projections that were needed. I also had the opportunity to improve my French because the three co-founders spoke both French and English to me.

What was your professional background pre-MBA? 

Before joining the MBA program at HEC Paris, I worked in consulting related to IT and digital technologies: six years at IBM and seven years at other consulting firms. During the three years prior to my MBA, I was the senior consulting manager at Factor IT and concentrated on the Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador markets. We worked with clients across various sectors such as banking, telecom, insurance, retail and other industries to help them extract value from their data and grow as a consequence.

What is your post-MBA career goal?

I’m targeting management consulting in the Middle East, as the region’s fast-paced growth represents a great opportunity and it resonates deeply with what I aim to accomplish. I see it as a platform to leverage my consulting skills, while making a genuine impact in potential clients and in my life. In the long term, I plan to create my own business in biohacking (how to live longer and better), and also invest in Real Estate, and Private Equity. Right now, I’m connecting with potential mentors in Private Equity and founders who exited their startups successfully many years ago.

What was the most rewarding experience during your internship?

I visited the CCI (French Chamber of Commerce) with the founders and presented along with other startups to explain the value of our solution to the public. Another great experience was when I visited the UK Embassy for an event hosted by a famous South Korean venture capital firm. Lots of investors attended as well as innovative startups from South Korea, whose solutions in manufacturing, engineering and physics were really outstanding.

How did the internship align with your MBA?

One of the main reasons I came to HEC was for the great business networking opportunities. According to statistics, after Harvard and Stanford, HEC is the alma matter of most CEOs in the world. During the internship, I was able to live through the founders’ experience to see what it would be like to launch my own Paris startup from A to Z. It also opened my eyes about how venture capitalists and angel investors evaluate and decide where to invest their money and how long it takes to get significant funding when starting from nothing. On the other hand, the way the founders managed Mauna helped me reflect on the insights of teamwork and scaling up a business, which I learned during the Organizational Behavior course, as well as in the Management Accounting and Control course, and the Outdoor Leadership Seminar.

Name, Graduation Year:

Shanna Walia, MBA ‘25

Internship Title and Company:

Marketing & Digital Innovation Strategist at ARMANI beauty (L’Oreal - DMI)

How did you learn about this internship?

As the Vice President of Marketing for the MBA Tech Club, I helped organize brand ambassadors for each company onsite for the tech fair. Through this, I was able to connect with L’Oreal recruiters directly at HEC. They directed me towards Nandini Bhalla who is the L’Oreal point person for the MBA internship program. After I applied and received a call back, I worked with my career advisor Sophie Dimich-Louvet to prepare for the interview. Sophie was able to help me better understand the L’Oreal DMI structure and guide me throughout the interview process. She also helped connect me to HEC Alumni like Lyrus Lo who had interned with L’Oreal in the past. I also reached out to another former L’Oreal intern Nelly Stavro, an alumni I’d connected with when I was first considering applying to HEC. 

Overview of your internship role and responsibilities:

As an MBA Summer Hire at Armani Beauty within L’Oréal’s International Marketing Division (DMI), I was entrusted as a sort of internal consultant. I was tasked with enhancing the Armani Privé fragrance line, a couture collection positioned at the pinnacle of luxury. My focus was creating an exclusive loyalty program tailored for very important clients (VIC), seamlessly blending online and offline elements to elevate their experience. The goal was to ensure the program felt distinct from the rest of Armani’s portfolio, embodying the elevated exclusivity of Privé. I developed a comprehensive customer journey map to highlight critical digital and physical touchpoints, and I crafted  strategic briefs for CRM and direct-to-consumer teams across global markets. After conducting internal and external stakeholder research, analyzing consumer insights, the competitive landscape, and contextual cultural trends, I proposed a series of activations and partnerships to enhance brand awareness and loyalty by seamlessly blending the physical and digital loyalty experience. The concept of creating a “Same but Separate Universe" was central to my work. This is a distinct identity for Privé that exemplifies its ultra-premium positioning and price point to help set it apart from the broader Armani Beauty brand for their VIC’s, while maintaining a cohesive global message across markets.

Why is it important to do a summer internship?

I know I want to stay in France after graduation, so it makes sense for me to start putting down roots and gain work experience with a French company and practice my French in a work setting. 

What skills did you gain from this experience?

Having worked predominantly in client-services (boutique consultancies and agencies) this internship gave me the opportunity to experience being on the other side. I got to write the briefs for client services and brief them. Getting in-house experience in a marketing strategy role was the natural next step in my career plan. The opportunity gave me a chance to build up my skills in developing comprehensive briefs for creative, media, branding, experiential, and CRM agencies, ensuring clear direction that aligned with Armani Privé’s strategic goals. I also worked closely with these agencies, guiding their outputs and re-strategizing it to better integrate seamlessly into internal workstreams. Additionally, I was responsible for collecting and synthesizing insights from market-level teams, consolidating this data to create scalable playbooks that informed global strategy and could be tailored for local markets. This experience allowed me to see how global strategy comes to life across markets, giving me a more complete and nuanced perspective on luxury marketing operations.

What was your professional background pre-MBA?

Senior Strategist, Integrated & Experience Strategy at Dentsu

What is your post-MBA career goal?

I would like to pivot from working in the client services industry to in-house brand and experiential marketing. I hope to implement strategy and drive impact directly at the source within a luxury Maison in Paris (although I am still open to opportunities elsewhere).

What was the most rewarding experience during your internship?

The most rewarding aspect was working cross-functionally with teams in education, public relations, social media, product development, and even Armani couture, as well as global market teams from NYC to Korea. L’Oréal’s culture of FIT chats enabled me to connect with colleagues across brands and functions—from corporate sustainability to beauty tech—broadening my perspective on luxury and beauty. These interactions made the experience not only educational but also deeply enriching.

How did the internship align with your MBA?

This internship allowed me to apply skills honed over 10 years in client services with luxury brands like Chanel, Tiffany & Co., and Shiseido, while expanding my expertise in global strategy and local market alignment. For the first time, I could see the entire puzzle—how data, insights, and strategy come together from within to drive initiatives. It reinforced my goal of transitioning into an in-house luxury role in Europe, where I can directly shape impactful strategies for global brands.