Limerick woman wins place at MIT
A NEWCASTLE West businesswoman is celebrating this week after being accepted onto one of the most prestigious entrepreneurship courses in the world.
Rani Dabrai, a former director of Dublin’s World Trade Centre, beat 2,000 applicants to land one of only 64 places on the entrepreneurship programme at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in America.
She is the only Irish person to be taking part in the three-year course, which takes place both virtually and in-person, and believes she is the only European participant on the programme.
An entrepreneur, Ms Dabrai founded and sold Miss Moneypenny, a firm which provides services in telecoms, call answering and concierge services.
During her time at Dublin's World Trade Centre she chaired international boards in trade and agriculture. Now she owns an organisation helping the owners of high-potential start-up firms grow quickly.
Asked how she feels about being awarded the place, she said: “It’s a combination of elated and relieved, but also shock, because I really didn’t expect it. To this day, I’m still waiting for an email saying they’ve made a mistake!”
In order to win a place on the course, Ms Dabrai had to send a detailed application, as well as a video and a personal statement.
As well as her business career, she also elected to identify chapters in her life in which she’s learnt from, and opened up on times she has not been successful.
“I think I’ve learnt more from my failures than my successes,” Ms Dabrai added.