After winning the Special Award in Yachting at the Mark Challenge Competition 2020 during her MSc in Luxury Management at IUM, Trudy Berger recently started her company called Brand Therapy.
What have you done since you graduated from the IUM MSc in Luxury Brand Management?
Once I finished the Master in 2020, I started thinking even more seriously about my future. Through my research, I saw that many companies are struggling with how to put themself in the market and how to develop an interesting brand identity and image. As there is a real gap, and there are not many solutions, I decided to open my own company, “Brand Therapy.”
Brand Therapy is a brand management agency located in the Principality of Monaco. The company helps premium and luxury businesses enhance their brand thanks to evaluating several dimensions, from concrete elements, like marketing and communication activities, to emotional perceptions such as customer experience. Brand Therapy is the turning key to unlock your brand.
Where does your entrepreneurial spirit derive from?
I think it’s a combination between my roots and my personality. I come from a very business-oriented family, particularly my mom, she’s a workaholic, and I’ve always admired her passion and determination. On the other side, there is my character. I’m an independent critical thinker with a strong character, and on top of that, I’ve always liked challenges to go out of my comfort zone.
You have been part of the 6th Edition of the Mark Challenge and your team, Sea Ahead, won the Special Award in Yachting. How did the Mark Challenge help you fostering your entrepreneurial spirit? Is there a unique/special lesson you learned from participating in the competition?
When you participate in a business competition, you have to find what is missing in the market, the issues and find a way to fill the gap by providing feasible solutions. My team and I worked several months behind this project, and we did a lot of research, talked with experts, but honestly, Sea Ahead was a complicated idea, and difficulties were not lacking. At a certain moment, we almost dropped the competition due to the complexity. Luckily, we had a good mentor to motivate us. I’m saying luckily because not only have we been selected as final participants, but we actually won the Special Award in Yachting! So, to reply to your question, during the Mark Challenge, I’ve learned many lessons. I improved my ability to work in teams. I learned that if you really want something, you can achieve it, no matter the difficulties. But most importantly, I learned to ask experts for their help.
How did that experience help you in your current position?
I think the Mark Challenge helped me look at problems and opportunities with an entrepreneurial mindset. When you study, you are in a sort of limbo: you are a student, but you also realize that you will be a real worker in adult life very soon. The Mark Challenge was a good bridge during this evolution, and it made me touch first-hand on how to build a business.
In your opinion, what was the best part of studying at IUM?
It’s hard to summarize in just a couple of elements! If I have to choose, I would say the international environment provided with the University environment and the dynamic Principality of Monaco. Also, the experiential learning IUM can offer, from field trips to guests lectures to networking events.
Do you have any advice to share with other business owners?
Be goal-oriented but passion-driven. In other words, it’s important to have a business mindset to run a company, but since work takes a huge percentage of our life, make sure you love what you do and let yourself be inspired by what surrounds you.
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