Meshaun De Silva

International MBA

Meshaun applied for our International MBA course to progress in his tourism career and gain more knowledge of the sector. Now, BCU has given him the tools he needed to start his very own tourism business. 

“I enrolled via the Next Campus in Sri Lanka, the affiliated partner for BCU in Sri Lanka. During the Pandemic, all International Tourism came to a halt, which, being a small tropical island, Sri Lanka felt even worse.

As I was already working as a Sri Lanka Travel consultant and Destination Specialist, I had some free time on my hands and one of my friends actually suggested we do higher studies and do the MBA at BCU. I wanted to have the qualification of an MBA, and the recognition that would come with it. After going through the programme structure and reviews for BCU's International MBA, I felt that it was the best course for me.

My studies were a fantastic period of growth for me. Because it had been a few years since my undergraduate degree, I felt anxious and unsure if I was good enough to complete an MBA. Even though I knew tourism from A to Z, it still felt challenging to try accounting, HR, operations, and even the dissertation parts of the MBA. But the course was structured well, and everything started to make sense.

As I progressed, the lessons about those topics where I had less understanding became tricky. So, I had to put in extra effort, learn more, study new materials and refer to new sources to get a better understanding, which gave me more confidence in myself and my abilities.

Now, I am the CEO of MESHAUN Journeys Pvt Ltd, which isa Sri Lanka-based Destination Management Company. I started this company after finishing my MBA programme, as the skills I’d gained from my course, alongside experience from the last 10 years working in this sector, I felt that everything fell into place.

I felt that I could actually put the lessons I learned into practise and try to do the Tourism work differently and with a modern touch. So, I started MESHAUN Journeys.

It’s a completely different experience to become the CEO of my own company, to use the network I made during the MBA journey for my career and company growth.

All the modules I learned and passed during the MBA really helped me decide the shape and structure of my company. This made me realise this is a stepping stone into making my dreams and visions a success.

There are many questions and doubts for anyone to become an entrepreneur. With the MBA, the modules and the lessons, meeting the right people and the right type of learning environment, I gained self-confidence and the knowledge I needed to go for the next phase. Hence, MESHAUN Journeys was started, and the journey has been nothing but great.

Tourism in general is hands-on work. Since the product or the service is all for humans and experiences, there's no delays or technical work. It's a service-oriented job and I love meeting new people, helping them see my beautiful Sri Lanka, helping them explore Sri Lanka the right way, and the authentic way.

My proudest achievement since graduating would have to be starting my own company. It's been a dream of mine since I was about 15 years old, to call myself an entrepreneur. So, I felt proud when I saw my company's incorporation certification and received my first payment to the company.

Of course, leaving a steady job and starting on my own was scary. But the community around me helped with connections, and even gave up their time to support me. I am happy to say that I've overcome the biggest challenge, which was doubt in myself, and now I'm smoothly going ahead with the company operations and helping hundreds of tourists a month plan their Sri Lanka trips.

In my long-term future, I want to grow to become successful, so I can help others to reach their goals and achieve their potential.

For those considering studying an MBA at BCU, I'd say, do it. The lessons you learn are super practical and that makes it very interesting and enjoyable. The things you learn through your modules and education at BCU comes into play even without you knowing it. It helps you in a lot of ways and you can only understand the use of the studies and things you learn, when you put them into practise.

To me, I AM BCU means that I'm part of the BCU community. It makes me feel accomplished and gives me that boost of confidence to know that I'm already ahead in the game.”