Rising Star: Wedding Photographer Transitions to PepsiCo

How does a banker-turned-wedding photographer land a coveted brand management job at beverage behemoth PepsiCo? Mohamed Boraie, MBA ’17 and MFin ’17, happily shares his path.

Born and raised in Egypt, Boraie studied economics and spent a year in commercial banking before moving on to the International Finance Corporation in Cairo, the investment arm of the World Bank.

Boraie developed a passion for taking photos during international work trips and eventually started a wedding photography business on the side. After five years with the World Bank, Boraie joined his business school-bound wife in a move to the United States.

He planned to apply for another job in finance, but decided to pursue his photography business full-time.

“After two-and-a-half years focusing on the wedding photography business, I decided I really wanted to combine my analytical side and my creative side,” he says. “I felt like brand management and marketing would be a great way to do this. I knew I had to go back to get my MBA.”

Boraie enrolled in Smith’s MBA program, then after his first semester decided to add on the Master of Finance dual-degree program, allowing him to emerge from school as a more well-rounded leader.

A summer internship at Campbell’s cemented his career goals, and he was planning to take a job offer at the soup company when a different opportunity presented itself at PepsiCo’s North America beverage headquarters in White Plains, N.Y.

“I was looking for a marketing career that would prepare me to become a business leader at an organization, and Pepsico is one of the top companies that offers this path,” he says.

When he moves, he says, photography will become a hobby, a way to spend weekends exploring nearby Manhattan. “For now, the lovely brides are paying for my business school degrees,” he says.

Between taking wedding photos and Smith classes, Boraie spent much of the past two years working on his personal brand to establish the career he wants. He encourages others to do the same.

“You might move between companies, but your personal brand stays with you,” he says. “Reflect on what really makes you unique and how this translates to a specific company or your own business. It doesn’t have to be Pepsi — at the end of the day, you want to bring value wherever you land.” /CH/