Shams Mammadli
MBA ’21
Shams Mammadli was born on the coast of Baku, Azerbaijan. She grew up there for most of her childhood and later, her education would take her all over the world.
As MBA graduation approaches, Shams is reflecting on her time at McCombs and how her upbringing shaped the worldview she brings to the MBA program.
An International Perspective
Multiculturalism is embedded into the very roots of Azerbaijan. Its culture is a fusion of two factors: the Soviet Union’s 70-year influence on the country and its Eastern European geography. It’s the combination of these two factors that provided Shams with fluency in four languages.
Shams Mammadli (left) and her mother (right) during her childhood.
“Imagine growing up in a family where you speak Azeri to your grandma but Russian to your mom; a childhood where your school classes are held in Russian, but you only watch Turkish cartoons; you grow up in a city with mosques, synagogues, and churches.”
The omnipresent immersion of different cultures molded Shams’ perspective of the world to this day. “It becomes a part of you,” she says. “I feel truly fortunate for having experienced such a level of multiculturalism this early and having seen the benefits it poses to society.”
Shams graduated from Azerbaijan State University of Economics with a bachelor’s degree in International Economic Relations in 2014. Aside from Baku, Shams has lived in Moscow, London, and Kansas in pursuit of her education.
“I learned very early on how to feel at home anywhere in the world.”
If There’s a Will, There’s a Way
Regardless of location, there is one common link that has driven Shams all her life: entrepreneurship.
“It’s what gets me excited: To hear others build something and turn their ideas into reality.”
Shams Mammadli holding a bouquet of flowers from her entrepreneurial venture, Precious Flowers Houston.
A few years ago, Shams took a leap of faith and started Precious Flowers Houston, an online boutique specializing in floral arrangements packaged in customized boxes. Here, she became familiar with the startup process from start to finish, namely, “designing the website, marketing, networking and building relationships with vendors, communicating with customers, and creating the arrangements.”
This startup allowed her entrepreneurial drive to blossom, but she attributes her biggest lesson learned as something more personal:
“Following your dreams is always worth it, and if there’s a will, there’s a way.”
Currently, Shams is a financial analyst at Leschaco, a transportation and logistics company based out of Germany. Although corporate finance is different from individual entrepreneurship, Shams says her entrepreneurial experience is a “useful foundation” to set her up for future success.
Shams’ Why McCombs
In 2015, through the Diversity Immigrant Visa program, Shams and her husband moved to the United States.
“As someone who has been traveling quite frequently and is always ready for a new challenge, I didn’t think twice before leaving everything behind and moving to the other side of the world.”
Shams at The University of Texas at Austin
However, Shams’ #WhyMcCombs moment almost happened back in 2014, when she was still living in Baku, Azerbaijan. She had started an application for her MBA degree at Texas McCombs, but never got around to submitting it because the prospect of it seemed, “so far and unattainable.” Nevertheless, be it a coincidence or destiny, Shams finally submitted and got admitted to the Texas McCombs MBA at Houston program in 2019, after she moved to the city.
Some of the key factors that played a role in Shams’ decision to apply to Texas McCombs were the university’s prestige and the Longhorn network:
“Apart from being a top-ranked program, it’s really the people that make it an amazing place to be — the admissions office, professors, classmates, and the great alumni network that is always willing to help and support.”
Shams attended information sessions held by other universities, but says that she quickly knew McCombs stood out and would be her home.
“Right from the start, I could tell Texas McCombs is a community of people that genuinely value diversity and are passionate about doing incredible things for the world.”
The Road Ahead
While at McCombs, Shams has worked on multiple projects that have accelerated her knowledge of the type of work she’d like to do after graduation.
Shams (middle) along with her Texas McCombs at Houston classmates.
Shams says that MBA+ projects have allowed her to, “try on different hats,” and decide whether a specific venture would be something she’d want to pursue full-time. This past summer, she completed a mergers & acquisitions MBA+ Project in the healthcare industry, and currently she is working on a sustainability project for United Airlines — an experience that’s completely new to her.
“I believe McCombs provides all the resources for those who want to make most out of their experience.”
With graduation just around the corner, Shams is planning to pursue a corporate finance opportunity with a tech company focusing on product development and strategy. However, true to her first true passion, she’s hoping to pursue another entrepreneurial venture sometime down the road.
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