Alum of the Month

Maxwell Heavenrich-Vassilos

Maxwell Heavenrich-Vassilos

June 2016

London Program

March 2008 Intake


What and where did you study before your Mountbatten internship?
I went to Western State University in Colorado and studied Business Administration.

What made you apply for the Mountbatten programme?
I felt I wasn’t ready for the real world, and I wanted to travel and learn more.

Describe your sponsor company and your role within it.
I worked at Cantor Fitzgerald in the Futures AR, and then moved to reporting for the VP of the department.

What was the highlight/most memorable moment of your working experience during this year?
Probably when Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns went bankrupt!

What was the social highlight/most memorable moment during this year?
I threw the graduation party for our intake, and invited everyone to our flat! It included a video and photo competition.

Please share a little wisdom/philosophy that you acquired during your internship
The world is at your fingertips, you’ve just got to reach out and grab it.

If you could change anything about your internship, what would it be?
I wish I had networked more. I was surrounded by some of the most well connected people in the banking industry and didn’t take the opportunity to leverage their connections.

What happened after completing the year - what did you do next?
I lived in Thailand for 6 months, and then Iived and worked in Australia for a year.

Where are you now in your working life and what do you do?
I am an executive at a small branding/production and marketing company in LA, where I do just about everything from sales and finance, to overseeing operation and HR.

Do you have any future plans that you would like to realise & what are they (career & social)?
Instill the passion for travel in as many souls possible.

What three words would you use to describe yourself?
Ambitious, spontaneous, and adventurous.

For friends who have never been to Los Angeles, what would you suggest they see and do?
Spend some time at the major studios. Try to be part of a live studio audience, most of them are free. It opens the curtains behind the magic of Hollywood.
Max is also the Executive Producer of Culture Shock TV, and you can see what happens on his Culture Shock TV Sizzle Reel when "three young, wild, and experienced adventurers travel to the world’s most unique festivals, recruiting locals to be their guides and inspiring others to live life to the fullest". It also features Jesse Gleaton, a fellow London March 2008 alum!