Alice Nyman

Describe your role and what it is that you do overall and on a day-to-day basis.

I work as Growth Strategy Manager within the Commercial team at audiobook company Storytel, a position I started in 2020. Some of my responsibilities include analyzing growth opportunities, overseeing the budget process, and evaluating our offering from the customer’s perspective. What I really love about my role is that it is so versatile, one day I am deep into numbers and details, the next I need to take a step back and apply a strategic mindset to major business decisions.   

What interested you about the field/company/role you are currently in? 

To me, it was important to choose something that I would be proud of representing. Simply put, our service is something I understand and can relate to. I have always loved reading, and have recently become an avid fan of listening to books. I like to multi-task and listen to books while driving, cooking or cleaning; this makes me feel productive and good about myself.   
 
I was also impressed by Storytel’s growth plans, a growth I wanted to be a part of. I had already received a great impression from existing employees, many of whom are SSE alumni. They had told me how much they enjoyed working for the company, and the welcoming, friendly and fast-moving environment it promotes. I had spent many years both studying and working abroad (NYC, Providence, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, and London); hence a Swedish, yet international company such as Storytel particularly appealed to me. Today, I have Stockholm—my hometown—as a base, yet I still interact with people across the globe on a daily basis. 

Why did you choose to study your subject area at SSE? 

It was probably more by coincidence and chance, than anything else. In my bachelor’s program I was a teaching assistant in International Economics for two semesters and loved it, so I was pretty set on choosing Economics for my master’s degree too. In the end, I chose finance probably because I wanted to learn something new. Before SSE, I studied liberal arts at Brown (e.g. art history, cog-sci, Greek mythology), so I wanted to contrast this with some math and business, the exact degree was less important.   
 
Subject area aside, the best thing about the SSE program was the friends I made from all over; Germany, Greece, Croatia, Turkey, Italy, etc. We meet up for Midsummer in the Swedish archipelago every year.   
 

What path did you take from graduation to where you are now? 

Since graduation, I have been working for different banks, Alibaba, studying Chinese, working as a consultant at McKinsey for three years. McKinsey taught me top-down communication, structure, and conceptual thinking. The industry exposure one received was unique. Just like at SSE, the setting was international, and connected me with new friends from across the globe. 

Following your time studying at SSE, do you have any words of wisdom or advice you would like to share with our current students? 

Choose your boss and team, instead of your job, i.e. surround yourself with people who support and trust you. For more words of wisdom, I’d refer to a book I am currently listening to: ‘Barking up the Wrong Tree’ by Eric Barker.