A career as a global marketing theorist and practitioner - Dr. Alby Anand Kurian - Episode 9

How do you take a career risk without betting everything? Dr. Alby Anand Kurian built a rare career as marketing theorist and practitioner, teaching from India to the UK, now Senior Faculty at Exeter. His "Affordable Risk" idea reframes risk for anyone with responsibilities. Hear it on My First Job.

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

Dr. Alby Anand Kurian has built a rare, multifaceted career spanning both marketing theory and practice — teaching at universities across India, Singapore, New York, and the UK, and currently serving as Senior Faculty at the University of Exeter. In this episode, he unpacks "Affordable Risk," one of several marketing concepts he has authored alongside "Reality Plus" — a framework for taking calculated, affordable career risks without staking everything, even when you have real responsibilities and a family depending on you.

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU'LL LEARN

• What it took to build a career as both a marketing theorist and a practitioner — a combination he notes is genuinely rare
• - How teaching across India, Singapore, New York, and the UK shaped his view of global marketing and global career-building
• - What "Reality Plus" and his other published marketing concepts actually argue
• - The "Affordable Risk" framework — how to take calculated career risks without putting everything on the line
• - How to apply affordable risk-taking to your own career goals, even with financial responsibilities and a family to support

TIMESTAMPS (approximate)

00:00 — Intro: a career as a global marketing theorist and practitioner

03:59 — Dr. Kurian's early academic path and first roles in marketing

14:42 — The turning point: building a career across India, Singapore, New York, and the UK

24:09 — The hard part: balancing theory and practice, and life as Senior Faculty at Exeter

35:07 — Introducing "Affordable Risk" and "Reality Plus"

45:50 — How to apply calculated, affordable risk-taking to your own career

50:19 — Closing thoughts

ABOUT DR. ALBY ANAND KURIAN

Senior Faculty at the University of Exeter (UK); marketing theorist and practitioner who has taught at universities in India, Singapore, New York, and the UK. Author of published marketing concepts including "Reality Plus" and "Affordable Risk."

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alby-anand-kurian-0359911a3/

University of Exeter faculty profile: https://experts.exeter.ac.uk/40927-alby-kurian

TOPICS

career risk, unconventional career, marketing career India, global career, academic career, second career India

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