Meet an Alumna: having a key position in the creator economy, a fast growing industry

Caroline Haack graduated from EDHEC’s MSc in Creative Business & Social Innovation in 2020. She is an Agency Coordinator at Jellysmack, a creator growth company.   

What was your background before joining EDHEC Business School? Why did you choose the MSc in Creative Business & Social Innovation?

Before I started studying at EDHEC Business School, my previous studies predestined me to a very different path. I had just finished a Bachelor in Fine Art at Central Saint Martins in London, preparing me to become an artist. Nevertheless, I wasn’t convinced by what I had experienced in the current art world but I still knew I wanted to work in a creative industry. I wanted to learn more and consolidate my skills, which is when I discovered the MSc in Creative Business & Social Innovation. I was also interested in the Philanthropic world, which goes hand in hand with the creative industry, so the MSc was a great fit for my profile. 

What are the main strengths of this program?

I think it is through this duality between Creative Business and Social Innovation: it is a very multidisciplinary program, offering introductions to many parts of both industries, as well as more classic business classes, but adapted to these industries. 

I also appreciated the diversity in the professors: a majority come directly from the professional world or worked for a solid part of their life. As the MSc is the last step before heading into the workforce for most students, it allowed them to get teachings applied to the real world. It is also a networking opportunity, allowing the students to have direct connections in some closed industries. 

What was your favorite course? Your favorite professor?

My favorite course was the Project Management one, as it was a year-long project, allowing us to have a direct impact in the real world. Acting as a group of consultants for a creative or social enterprise (in my case, for the Villa Cavrois), we built a relationship with them, shaping their needs and giving them feasible solutions that they could apply short-term to their business. The amazing teacher of this course was Patrick Rosenfeld, that brought us support and guidance during the whole year, allowing us to learn how to pilot a project on a professional level. 

You chose the MSc in Creative Business & Social Innovation. How did it prepare you for your role as Agency Coordinator at Jellysmack?

Working at Jellysmack, I work at the heart of a new upcoming industry, the creator economy. Even if there wasn’t a course fully shaped around this industry at the time, I still learned about all the specificities of different creative industries, how they are organised, how they are growing, and how they are staying relevant. I also still use a lot of skills learned in various courses in my day-to-day activities: lobbying, ethics, public policies, copyrights law, finance, etc. 

What can you tell us about your role?   

After working for more than a year as a Content Strategist at Jellysmack, where I was in charge of the social media strategy for a portfolio of creators, I recently shifted to Agency Coordinator. As the core of Jellysmack is offering social media video editing services to creators, I am now in charge of facilitating relationships with postproduction agencies. As Jellysmack is exponentially growing, it is a critical role to make sure we are able to scale up alongside partner agencies. 

Your best memory of EDHEC will remain...    

I think it was our Halloween party where the whole MSc came together to have a costumed party in Lille! As one of the class representatives, we had organised this for the class to meet each other better, 2 months after the start of class. It was very nice to see everyone’s personality coming out through their creative costume. 

A piece of career advice for young graduates?

Say yes to every opportunity! Maybe not 100% of the time but definitely consider everything.

For example: if your university is inviting you to a networking event: go for it, even if it is not your dream industry. If a recruiter is contacting you for a position that you never considered before: have a chat with them, it is always interesting to learn more about it and their company. If your friend wants to start a little project and offers you to get involved: see what you can bring to the enterprise and what you could learn from it. At our young age, we still have so much to learn and it is difficult to truly evaluate what is worth our time or not: the only way is to consider everything and try them out.