From Astronomy to TikTok Shop: How Farley Shaped Emia Musabegovic's Entrepreneurial Journey

Emia Musabegovic (’24) shares her Farley alumni story—tracing her path from aspiring astrophysicist to innovative TikTok Shop leader—where entrepreneurial thinking became her key to solving big problems in tech.

When Emia Musabegovic (’24) arrived at Northwestern University, she imagined herself studying the stars as an astrophysics major. Today, she's managing sellers at TikTok Shop, applying entrepreneurial problem-solving skills she never knew existed before discovering her first class in the Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.  

Her journey from curious first-year student to confident business professional reveals how her educational experiences — particularly at the Farley Center — transformed not just her career path, but her entire approach to solving complex problems in the business world.  

Below, Musabegovic shares insights from her education, career progression, and how entrepreneurial thinking shapes her approach to being an innovator within a large tech company.  

What influenced your decision to attend Northwestern?  

My biggest priority was having the ability to expand my connections and be surrounded by plenty of resources that help me develop and excel far past the classroom. Northwestern was a lifelong investment, which is what really drew me to the school. 

You initially planned to study astrophysics but ended up with a communications degree. How did that change happen?  

I came into school knowing that there were so many options, so many majors, and so many different things to check out. I spent my first year just exploring — taking all kinds of classes like linguistics, anthropology, communications, and astronomy. By dabbling in everything, I got a better understanding of where I wanted to investigate further.   

How did you discover Farley's entrepreneurship program?  

I stumbled upon a Farley entrepreneurship course when I was looking through the course catalog one quarter. I took ENTREP 225: Principles of Entrepreneurship with Neal Sales-Griffin, and it completely opened my eyes to entrepreneurship. I didn’t know that there was pedagogy around it — that it was something I could learn in class. It was not the standard “know your customer” thinking; I was able to reframe the world with my new “jobs to be done” mentality. 

How did your perspective on entrepreneurship change through your education?  

My parents are both small business owners in the restaurant industry, so I grew up understanding the grit it takes to be an entrepreneur. I didn’t have a reference point for entrepreneurship within enterprises, though, so that was a discovery process. I always thought that in large, established companies everything would be squared away, but that’s not always the case. There are so many opportunities for individuals and companies to use their entrepreneurial perspectives to optimize the biggest systems in the world.  

What made the Farley professors stand out to you?  

The Farley Center is a place at Northwestern that I feel a deep connection with. I trust Farley professors; I trust the Farley network in a way that I know that we'll do right by each other. People like that are worth the world.  

How has entrepreneurial thinking shaped your professional approach at TikTok Shop?  

The problem-solver mindset we developed in Farley classes has helped me to identify problems at work within my scope and beyond it. Farley classes taught us that finding possible solutions is way simpler than it seems, so it’s really driven me to go above and beyond. They also gave strong communication skills newfound value; I have seen how collaborating and connecting effectively can be the crux of innovation. 

What specific problem-solving skills did you develop through Farley that you use today?  

The biggest skill set is simplification: removing obstacles so that you can attack the problem at its source. Alignment are also so crucial. You need to be able to communicate and understand the priorities from all angles of a problem and consider the expectations and needs of all stakeholders involved.    

What advice would you give current Farley students?  

Say yes to literally everything. Say yes to every single opportunity, every networking event, no matter how out of your usual scope. Reach out to the professors that you have, talk to them outside of class, and make those connections. It’s rare to be surrounded by such talented and globally impactful minds, so take advantage of everything.