Jan Pianca was only five years old when he took his first flight alone—across the Iron Curtain—and it sparked a love of travel that remains today. As the educational programs director for Harvard Business School’s Europe Research Center in Paris, he meets with students and alumni across the region. We talked with Jan about his work, his love of travel, and more.
Tell us about your role at the Europe Research Center.
I’ve been at the School for almost 14 years. Basically, I work 90 percent of my time for the MBA Program, with Admissions, to organize info sessions for potential applicants from across the whole of Europe. Twice a year, in London, we organize a small gathering with alumni and the MBA applicants who are going through interviews. Many of them have not been to campus so it’s to give them a first taste of the HBS community before they get in.
Then I also work for the Career and Professional Development office. I’m one of 60 career coaches for both students and alumni. Many of the coaches are quite US-centric in specific industries, while there are a few of us that work across industries but focus on a specific region. So those looking for opportunities in Europe might come to me. I also do employer relations, from time to time traveling to some of the main markets in Europe to meet with companies that might be of interest to our students and alumni.
I also work closely with our advisory board—each center has one. I take care of the logistics when there are meetings in the region, and we travel regularly to visit them and talk with potential new board members. They serve for three years and can extend once for a maximum of six years, so we visit them year-round to handle their renewal or acceptance.
How much of your job is travel?
A lot. I travel a lot personally, too. My mother is in the south of France, my father is in Italy, and my mother’s family is in the Czech Republic. So between personal and business trips, I take 100 flights per year. A round trip every week, more or less.
Is traveling that frequently something you sought out intentionally?
I always loved planes. I started flying alone when I was five, which was something you could do at that time. It was the easiest way for me to get on the other side of the Iron Curtain to visit my mother’s family. Before HBS, I used to work for an airline. It’s true that sometimes it’s hard to balance personal and professional life when you want to see friends or someone, and you have to say, "Well, I can see you in three weeks, because before that I’m in Boston, the week after I’m in London, and during the weekend I’m going to see my mother." So that sometimes is hard. But what is a job that doesn’t involve traveling?
Would you ever have a job that didn’t have travel?
No.
Give us an example of what that looks like—what trips have you taken recently?
Last week I was in London for two days. On Thursday, I’m going to Brussels for less than 24 hours to meet a potential new board member. I come back on Friday afternoon, and that night I’m going to Nice to see my mother. Next week is actually my birthday, so I took a couple of days off to go to Marrakech.
You said you loved airplanes from your first flight at five. What was that like?
I felt so grown up. You know, they took better care of you at that time, many, many years ago. I had a flight attendant just for myself who picked me up from check-in, and she worked the flight. The flights were never full at that time, especially the flights to Prague, because nobody could get into the country. Arriving in Prague was a little bit more traumatic because nobody but the passengers could set foot outside of the plane. It was a Swiss plane, so a neutral country, which is why they were allowed to fly in. But they could not stay. Another flight attendant came to pick me up from the plane. There were armed people all across the airport, and I was five with my teddy bear, looking for my grandparents
You mentioned working at an airline—what was your career path to HBS?
I studied business in Milan at Bocconi. I did one semester in Berkeley, California, which was super fun. And then my main job after that and a few internships was being in charge of marketing for Italy for Austrian Airlines.
It was fun because, again, I love planes, but I was also very young. Being 25 and managing a €5 million budget—deciding everything about the marketing policy of the airline in the second biggest market was fun at that time. I was there for six years. The airline was bought by Lufthansa and things got more centralized and became a little bit boring. I knew that I didn’t want to spend my whole life in Italy, so I moved to Paris, and here I am 15 years later. I became French as well, so now I have three passports.
How did you end up in this role?
I found a job posting. It didn’t mention HBS, it said "U.S. Ivy League School" because they didn’t want people to apply just because of the Harvard brand. I interviewed, and it went well. Straight away I had a good bond with the people in the office.
What is the Paris office like?
Well, it is exactly what you expect in Paris, it’s a Parisian-style old flat. The building is from the 19th century and it is centrally located, next to the Champs Elysées. It has high ceilings, with ornaments around, tall mirrors, and fireplaces. We are 11 in the office—me, an office manager who runs the office and all the administrative tasks, and nine researchers. The office manager and I are the only ones who don’t do research. Obviously, the executive director, Vincent Dessain, oversees everything in the office, including managing us.
Where did you grow up?
In Como, Italy. My father is still there, he spends winter in Milan and then summer on the lake. My mother started going to Nice for work and decided to move there. It’s not like we are jet setters, it just happened. I got lucky.
How many languages do you speak?
Fluently, four. And I can go up to seven.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I travel as much as I can—if I want to see my family, I have to travel. And I love spending time with my family, which includes friends—some I really consider brothers and sisters. One is a colleague from HBS with whom I spend Thanksgiving every year, which is nice. It is one of the gifts of working at HBS.
I also love cooking. As an Italian living in France, I need to keep up appearances. I cook every night, it’s my way of de-stressing and disconnecting. The day is over, this is for me, I’m taking my time. It really relaxes me. I usually cook stuff that needs to be left there a long time because I don’t want to feel pressured by time anymore.
I also love to read historical biographies—kings and queens, usually European or Asian. The more detailed they are about their life and what they did, the happier I am. I realize that it's not very common, but sometimes their lives are so incredible that they are better than fiction.
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