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Continued from previous page
Citizen of the World: Stephanie Wong, WG'98
By Juliana Delany
Shortly after arriving at Wharton, Stephanie Wong felt herself
powerfully drawn to the field of international management.
For Wong, who had lived in Hong Kong, Berlin, and throughout
the U.S., it was a natural fit. She custom-designed a degree
called international and financial management and has
never looked back.
After graduation, Wong landed a job as a consultant at
McKinsey, first in the U.S. and then in Berlin. "McKinsey was
amazing in that it not only reinforced, but continually refined,
the 'tool kit' we received at Wharton," she remembers. In
2002, she decided to test the advice she had been giving her
clients at McKinsey and co-founded a marketing consultancy
and advertising firm called Fusion. As the venture moved
ahead, it led to an even greater entrepreneurial opportunity,
and now Wong is working with two Omnicon companies, one
in the U.K. and one in Germany, to build and run a marketing
strategy consultancy.
"I believe we will be one of the first major agencies, at
least in Europe if not more broadly, to achieve a truly
integrated strategic and creative offering," she says with
excitement. "This would be both a powerful proposition to
clients and a true competitive advantage."
Even with all of the demands of an international startup,
Wong didn't think twice about coming back to Wharton for
her five-year reunion. "Although it was a somewhat long trip
for a weekend, it was never a question that I would attend,"
she explains. Was it worth the trip? "I'm sure this will sound
corny," she says, "But it was much more nostalgic than I ever
expected, and absolutely worth every minute." One of the
best moments, she reports, was the enjoyable and
informative Jeremy Siegel/Peter Lynch lecture.
When asked about her favorite memory of her Wharton
years, Wong replies, "I'm lucky to be very up to date with lots
of Wharton people, in particular my cohort, for whom I act as
alumni cohort rep. So Wharton doesn't seem like a memory
for me - rather, it is very much ongoing."
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