Sam’s Story

Hi everyone! I’m Sam and I completed NC State’s International Business Dual Degree program in partnership with ESB Business School in Reutlingen, Germany in Summer 2024. I most recently completed my Master of Science at the University of Edinburgh Business School in Global Strategy and Sustainability. I’m now living in Düsseldorf, Germany and working as a Strategy Consultant at E.ON’s in-house consulting firm in Essen. Studying at NC State for my first two years and then ESB for my last two was an amazing experience academically, professionally, and personally. 

During my two years at ESB, I made friends with so many other international students from countries like Ireland, Brazil, Italy, and, of course, Germany. It was such an eye-opening experience to take courses and do projects with students from such diverse backgrounds. It broadened and shaped my way of thinking to be more global. In Germany, I completed a full-time internship, a work-study position, and a research assistantship. My first internship was six months at Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart where I worked in product management for in-car data products contributing to European cities’ net-zero goals. My tasks were focused on helping vehicles be more environmentally and socially sustainable within traffic-heavy cities. 

This sparked my interest in sustainability, which led me in my last year at ESB to partake in a seven month work-study position with KPMG in ESG Value Chain Transformation consulting. I learned a lot about supply chain due diligence and the challenges/ forces shaping sustainability policies within Europe. This led me to write my bachelor’s thesis on due diligence and sustainability in the lithium-ion battery upstream supply chain, combining experiences/ insights from my time at Mercedes-Benz and KPMG. Concurrently, I worked for a year as a research assistant with one of ESB’s research groups, the Cluster for Economic Research on Africa. This research group gave me a more tangible perspective on how business is truly interconnected no matter where you’re located in the world.

All of these experiences and my courses at ESB and NC State inspired me to do a master’s degree at the University of Edinburgh Business School in Global Strategy and Sustainability. My master’s program focused on topics like carbon accounting, corporate responsibility, systems thinking, and net-zero politics. I focused my research on Germany’s Supply Chain Due Diligence Act and how it has impacted sustainability and innovation in the German automotive industry. Throughout my degree, I found that the global energy transition is a cornerstone of meeting sustainability targets worldwide. Discussions ranging from micro-level consumer energy use to broader renewable energy policy inspired me to pursue opportunities in the energy industry for my first full-time professional role.

I’m currently working at E.ON, one of Europe’s largest energy companies, at its headquarters in Essen, Germany. As an in-house strategy consultant, I support projects across energy retail, energy infrastructure solutions, and energy networks. My current project with E.ON UK gives me the opportunity to leverage both my global outlook and my background in sustainability (and I get to travel quite a bit, which is always fun).

I can truly say that the IBDD program shaped my past couple of years and my career aspirations. It gave me the confidence to pursue opportunities abroad, the curiosity to explore complex global challenges, and the foundation to build a career at the intersection of strategy, sustainability, and international business.