Meet London Business School’s MBA Class Of 2020 - Poets&Quants

“Diversity” has emerged as a contentious concept in society. That’s because it means so many different things to people.

At the surface, diversity covers the usual variables: nationality, gender, background, religion, and economic status. However, it is far more than affiliation or aspiration. Diversity is also a strategy – a code of conduct, even – that demands that everyone be included and heard. Here, differences aren’t just ‘appreciated.’ They are leveraged for the benefit of the whole. In this 360 degree view, people and views clash – and that’s a good thing. That just sparks more encompassing and lasting solutions. In diverse settings, students absorb more than models and mindsets – they also encounter everything from the intricate workings of Asian legal systems to the conflicting criteria for making eye contact. That makes the learning even richer.

Diversity isn’t an easy path to take. As the saying goes, when you master working with people different than yourself, you can work with anyone.

AN INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY THAT MIRRORS AN INTERNATIONAL WORKFORCE

Diversity is also the backbone of the London Business School –where classes are carefully crafted to maximize differences in a high expectation, high talent environment. That’s particularly true for the Class of 2020, a 485 member cohort, where 91% of the class hails from outside the United Kingdom – including students from 64 nations. When first-years were asked to describe their class, “diverse” was easily the first word they’d use.

That includes Nasi Rwigema, an aeronautics engineer and project manager from Johannesburg. “I was most attracted to LBS, as an MBA institution, for the impressive diversity of its student body and faculty – diversity in terms of upbringing, international exposure, and professional experience,” he explains. “In my view, the greatest benefit of an MBA is the personal, mental development that is gained in and around class practicing problem solving with people who are smart but, more importantly, have different approaches to you – all under the guidance of world-class educators. To maximise the breadth of perspectives to learn from, inherent diversity is key.”

London Business School
MBA Orientation

David Simpson has spent 22 years as an administrator at London Business School, most recently being elevated to the school’s admissions director of the MBA and MiF programs in 2012. For Simpson, LBS’ brand of diversity doesn’t just stimulate students intellectually, but also brings out the best in them socially.

“We work hard on building diverse classes made up of high achievers from all over the world,” he tells P&Q in a statement. “Students join us expecting to be surrounded by the best – all together to learn on London Business School’s amazing MBA experience. The story they tell me is how they had underestimated the highly collaborative nature of their fellow classmates and just how great everyone is. This isn’t just first week fun either. This is fellow students helping each other with exam or job interview prep. I even heard about a student taking his classmate along to share a coffee chat with a key recruiter (with their permission), because he knew she would be a great fit for the firm though she hadn’t considered them previously. Both ended up employed by the company! I know to expect this collaboration, as we focus hard on selecting the ‘right kind of people’, not just applicants who can give us the best class stats.

A “MULTIFACETED” CLASS FOR A “DIFFERENT KIND OF MBA”

You’ll find similar sentiments among the incoming full-time MBA class. Nikki Gupta, a UK EdTech entrepreneur (and P&Q columnist), has been impressed by just how smart her classmates are. “They can describe the most complex technicalities of their industry in the most wonderfully simple manner,” she observes. “This really does reflect how accomplished they are in their industries – they know their stuff!”

Accomplished, yes – but Gabriela M. Kestler – a “tiny, yet mighty Guatemalan” – uses a different term for her classmates: Multifaceted. “When joining LBS, you can throw all your previous misconceptions of what MBA students are like out the window,” she asserts. “From day one, I’ve been thrilled to be amidst a truly diverse community of the most outstanding individuals from every background imaginable. On any given day, we can be discussing Apple’s most recent valuation one minute, switch over to sharing our perspectives on classical violin concertos, make a small detour to set up a next day friendly soccer match, and then wrap the conversation up with witty recommendations of London’s best pubs. For most of us, the spirit of genuine friendship combined with an unparalleled sense of humility to enable and learn from others has already been a transformative experience.”

Simpson condenses the LBS experience down to a “different kind of MBA” – one where students “are pushing themselves even further outside their comfort zones than students at most other schools.” Take Tyler Hayes, a MD candidate at Harvard Medical School and research assistant at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. He is considering a move to both Western Europe and venture capital. His classmate, Dr. Faheem Ahmed, is taking a break from medical work to pursue social enterprise – an area that produced his biggest achievement: “Leading international relief teams to rural Bangladesh, providing free medical treatment to over 15,000 villagers who would otherwise have no access to healthcare.”

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Want global heft? Meet Stephanus Wicardo, who worked on the President’s Advisory Board for the Republic of Indonesia, where he worked with leaders in both the public and private sectors. At the Kellogg Company, Gabriela Kestler earned a K Value Award for reversing the sales decline in her region’s biggest customer – nearly breaking double digit growth in just nine months. After launching the b-to-b arm of a tea company in India, Priyanka Ahuja turned it into the source for nearly half of the firm’s revenue. Think that’s pressure? Just picture yourself in Nasi Rwigema’s shoes: She was already managing a large solar power plant soon after earning her degree. Alas, Rwigema wasn’t the only member of the 2020 Class shouldering big burdens early in their careers. Look no further than Andi Frkovich. A self-described “Harry Potter nerd,” Frkovich also happens to be a U.S. Navy Lieutenant on a guided missile cruiser – including serving as the “Officer of the Deck” who oversees all ship operations.

LEARNING HOW TO NEGOTIATE…WITH NORTH KOREA

Alas, some members of the 2020 have already stepped out of their comfort zones long before arriving in Regent’s Park. Take Jacob Appelbaum. Since 2007, he has been running a clam and coral farm in the remote Pacific Atoll islands. A castaway who’ll be chatting up a volleyball in the hallways, you think? Quite the opposite: This entrepreneur is a force who can run with anyone in an LBS classroom.

“Running a business in a remote island setting forced me to be resilient, resourceful and adaptable, while working with live animals meant constant surprises and challenges,” he explains. During my time managing the Mariculture Farm, I was able to more than double the number of species that we grew and exported. Developing effective methods to grow one particular snail species took over a year of repeated failures with incremental improvements coming from experimentation with new techniques and discussions with colleagues throughout the region. When we finally succeeded and started exporting them in large numbers, it felt like a great victory.”

Then there’s David Tshulak, who faced a major dilemma after graduation. On one side, he could’ve taken the safe route and work for a global consulting firm – a respectable and potentially lucrative choice. His other option? Working as a runner for the BBC’s answer to Dancing With the Stars – replete with low pay and even less job security. Turns out, Tshulak’s shift to media was the right choice. Eventually, he climbed from being a producer at Warner Brothers to a development head at Argonon to the founder of his own media company. In the process, he lived the dream: “scouting beach locations in Jamaica, composing a theme tune for a property series that briefly aired in Norway, and leading a team responsible for inventing new TV show ideas that we pitched all over the world.” He even persuaded North Korean authorities to allow Monty Python’s Michael Palin into the country to shoot a travel documentary!

Non-traditional experiences granted, but ones that taught him lessons that some professionals never learn. “I gained invaluable skills that I may not have gained had I gone straight into a corporate environment – in particular, the entrepreneurial savvy that comes with regularly seeking the next freelance opportunity,” Tshulak adds.

CLASS SIZE JUMPS BY NEARLY 50 STUDENTS

In a 2017 interview, David Simpson told P&Q that that LBS was looking to add 60 more students to the full-time MBA cohort in two years. Turns out, he was more than a man of his word. The 2020 Class witnessed a growth of 53 students. These 485 students now represent a larger class than similar cohorts at Northwester Kellogg and Duke Fuqua. In fact, LBS managed this feat despite a 10.5% drop in applications.

Better yet, the quality of students remained relatively even with the 2019 Class. Average GMATs slipped by a point to 707, with the median holding steady at 710. At the same time, the percentage of women rose a point to 40%, with the percentage of international students getting an equal 1% boost to 91%.

Go to Page 2 for 13 in-depth profiles of the Class of 2020.

Aerial view of the London Business School

This news also comes on the heels of a stellar employment report for the Class of 2017. Despite the supposed threat from Brexit, the school reported a 94% placement rate for students within three months of graduation. Adding to a stellar year, base pay rose from €77,693 to €79,866 ($92,400). By the same token, other guaranteed compensation jumped over 20% to €34,894. While LBS has the reputation of a finance school, it has become a AAA talent development outpost for consulting firms, with McKinsey (37), the Boston Consulting Group (36), and Bain & Company (35) landing the most talent from the 2017 Class.

STUDENTS HAVE CHOICE TO GRADUATE IN 15, 18 OR 21 MONTH INCREMENTS

Beyond the input and output numbers, London Business School is as healthy as ever. In the 2017 Bloomberg Businessweek ranking, LBS finished 2nd to INSEAD among international schools, while placing 2nd as well in the employer satisfaction survey. Similarly, the program ranked 4th in the world according to The Financial Times, including being the 5th most-recommended program by students and alumni. One reason? LBS offers a flexibility unmatched in the business school universe. Here, students can set the length of their full-time program from 15 to 21 months. In other words, LBS students are given an exit point to start work earlier with lower cost – all without losing the opportunities for networking, internships, and community in a two year program.

That community will come in handy. Overall, the Class of 2020 can tap into 42,000 alumni, who operate out of 150 countries. That doesn’t even count the 162 faculty members who come from nearly 30 countries. It is an international experience, par excellence – one that also boasts some unexpected benefits too, says Margaret Millea Walsh, who worked in consulting with Nielsen Consumer Neuroscience.

“My husband and I wanted the added challenge and adventure of the global experience. It’s easy and tempting for us to take a U.S. centric perspective to business, but it’s not only fair, but also practical, to understand cultural and political situations globally. It’s also a personal challenge to be in a different country. Just figuring out the washing machine took us some time.”

LONDON “BUZZ” PLUS LBS “WARMTH”

London Business School students
Photo by S. Burnett

A different country? London can seem that way sometimes. Let’s just say calling London “cosmopolitan” would be an understatement. Home to 250 nationalities and 300 languages, London is an experiment in diversity at the largest possible scale. More than that, it is a cultural, recreational, and business hub. In fact, London features over 240 museums and 100 art galleries, with over a third of city land devoted to parks. At the same time, it is the headquarters for nearly a quarter of Europe’s 500 largest firms, with 75% of Fortune 500 firms maintaining offices within greater London. It also ranks with New York City as the world’s center of banking, accounting for nearly 40% of all foreign exchange trading.

For Tyler Hayes, London was a place where he could stay current professionally, considering the cutting edge life sciences and biotech research being conducted in nearby Oxford and Cambridge – not to mention the wealth of global pharmaceutical powerhouses headquartered nearby. However, it was the “cultural richness” of the city that truly sold him. “I love that I can walk one mile and be in a new neighborhood with a totally different architecture and ethnic makeup, and all of the sounds, smells and, most importantly, tastes that come with it!”

That makes the London Business School a complementary spirit to “The City,” says Nikki Gupta.

“In one day of classes at LBS,” she writes, “I meet far more nationalities than I would anywhere else in the city of London. All the stereotypes of Londoners being grumpy, reserved, and always in a rush do not apply to the day-to-day at LBS. Instead you get the perfect marriage – London’s location, influence and buzz combined with LBS’s warmth and almost refreshingly friendly presence.”

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING TAKES CENTER STAGE IN GBE AND LONDONCAP

London’s business prowess has also sparked an entrepreneurial explosion. In 2017 alone, the city chalked up 145,993 startups, with recent additions like Revolut and Deliveroo already reaching billion dollar valuations. LBS has broadened its curriculum to amplify these location advantages. Stephanus Wicardo was sold on the deep roster of entrepreneurial-themed electives and an entrepreneurship summer school. For her part, Nikki Gupta, who has already co-run a startup, LBS was the place to truly experience the “day-to-day” of startups “in a grass roots manner.”

“I want to work in education technology – and I already have my next month booked up with peer leader sessions with alumni in technology, presentations from Amazon and Google and multiple coffees with experts who work minutes from the school at the offices of Microsoft and Pi-top,” she shares. “David Morris who heads up careers in technology, could barely fit the possibilities into his presentation to us [at orientation]. There was one common thread to his message: If you want to work in technology, London is the place to be. The sheer number of incubators, meetups, VCs, hackathons and workshops just minutes away from school mean you can literally get your foot through the door and ask for internships.”

David Simpson heads up MBA admissions at the London Business School

That said, the development inside London Business School are nearly as dynamic as the hyped-up, non-stop, get-ahead ethos of the London outside its doors. Not content to rest on its laurels, LBS has been conducting program reviews for its Masters in Finance and Masters in Management programs, according to David Simpson. This is an outgrowth of the MBA’s new ‘Tailored Core’ program, a flexibility-driven structure designed so students can customize the second term based on their interests and needs. This includes the LondonCAP module, which taps into London’s dizzying business ecosystem. Here, students can immediately apply what they learn in projects with London-based institutions ranging from Amazon to the Bank of England to the British Fashion Council.

The same is true for the Global Business Experience (GBE), considered by many alumni to be a life-changing experience. The international version of LondonCAP, GBE enables students to travel overseas and complete projects on behalf of employers, gaining both cultural understanding and practical experience in the process. This year, Simpson notes, the school has added Brazil to a stacked roster that already includes India, China, Israel, Peru, South Africa, and Myanmar. Jacob Applebaum, for one, can’t wait for it to start. “Exploring the business environment and challenges in another part of the world will be a great opportunity to further broaden my horizons and apply classroom learning to real scenarios.”

THREE WORDS: ANALYTICS, ANALYTICS, ANALYTICS

Even more, the school is investing more heavily in electives. That includes Dan Cable’s Employee Engagement and Positive Portfolio – an extension of his acclaimed Alive at Work: The Neuroscience of Helping Your People Love What They Do. Located in a fashion capital, LBS is also bulking up in fashion-related offerings. This includes Luxury Strategy, a new course led by Professors Stefano Turconi and Dominic Houlder. “Our Retail and Luxury Goods Club is one of the fastest growing student professional clubs in LBS,” says Simpson. “Our Luxury Management Development Programme in collaboration with Walpole, the organisation that represents British Luxury, is proving to be a very popular option.”

Like many top business schools, LBS is also pouring heavy resources into analytics – and for good reason. In a 2018 interview with P&Q, Gareth Howells, executive director of the school’s MBA and MiF programs, sounded the alarm on the urgency of mastering analytics for MBA graduates.

“Analytics is transforming the way the world does business. We need students who are going to be adaptable, who are going to be agile, and be able to be comfortable with ambiguity. What we want to do is give them those tool and frameworks with which to manage ambiguous situations, get their hands round the data, but go that next step — turn that insight that they gain from data into business transformations and genuine business action and improvement.”

London Business School

To capitalize on this opportunity, Simpson notes that LBS is “mainstreaming” analytics across the curriculum. “We aim to lead the way on closing the growing gap between analytics and management,” he explains. “Firms are amassing big data in ever increasing volume, government is increasingly concerned with how we protect it, but maximising its potential is the biggest question. This takes talented managers schooled in the philosophy of experimentation, who are able to translate the results of big data into compelling strategy that shareholders will buy into…[Along with] the obvious data analytics elements, students will be working on Data Visualisation and Storytelling, Decision Technology and Managing a Digital Organisation. A live company-based project is another critical component, leveraging our London location and building our students’ experiences.”

WHAT’S NEXT?

These new degree programs, courses, and opportunities, Simpson adds, are courtesy of something more fundamental: funding and growth. “Following a very successful £125 million fundraising campaign, we opened our Sammy Ofer Centre, increasing our teaching space by 70% and giving students a magnificent environment for learning in our central London location. We have responded to ever-increasing demands for our talent from recruiters by growing student numbers on our MBA, Masters in Management and Masters in Financial Analysis programmes and have record student employment levels.”

Looking ahead, what does the Class of 2020 hope to accomplish? Dr. Faheem Ahmed is looking to gain better understand of the business of healthcare, so he can pair it with this medical experience to “design and lead high-impact programmes.” Similarly, Stephanus Wiardo plans to channel his inner Muhammad Yunus and bring affordable financial services back to Indonesia. And if all goes to plan, says David Tshulak, he’ll “be in a role that I love, still living in Walthamstow (East London), just swapping my casual media wardrobe for slightly smarter attire.”

For Gupta, a successful career after LBS involves something far less grand, yet lies at the heart of what every member of the Class of 2020 seeks: “Working with great people, on a great product that makes work not feel like work at all.”

What led these professionals to enter business schools? Which programs did they also consider? What strategies did they use to choose their MBA program? What was the major event that defined them? Find the answers to these questions and many more in the in-depth profiles of these incoming MBA candidates. 

DON’T MISS: MEET THE MBA CLASS OF 2020: PROFILES IN COURAGE

Students	Hometown	Alma Mater	Hometown
Dr. Faheem Ahmed	London, UK	King’s College London	NHS England
Priyanka Ahuja	Bhilai, India	VTU, India	Uber
Jacob Appelbaum	Shrewsbury, MA	Dartmouth College	Marshall Islands Mariculture Farm
Andrea (Andi) Frkovich	Dana Point, CA	Duke University	U.S. Navy
Nikki Gupta	London, UK	University College London	MarkIt.education
Tyler Hayes	Allenhurst, NJ	Duke University	Harvard Stem Cell Institute
Gabriela M. Kestler	Guatemala City, Guatemala	Universidad Francisco Marroquin Guatemala	The Kellogg Company
Audrey Koh	Singapore	National University of Singapore	foodpanda
Margaret Millea Walsh	Cincinnati, OH	University of Notre Dame	Nielsen Consumer Neuroscience
Karthik Rathinasabapathy	London, UK	Imperial College	Harris Federation
Nasi Rwigema	Johannesburg, South Africa	University of the Witwatersrand	Solafrica Energy
David Tshulak	London, UK	Durham University	Big Content
Stephanus Wicardo	Jakarta, Indonesia	University of Indonesia	President’s Advisory Board – Republic of Indonesia

 

Dr. Faheem Ahmed

London Business School

“Medical doctor with a penchant for technology, global health and social entrepreneurship.”

Hometown: London, UK

Fun Fact About Yourself: Started my first profitable business aged 11, selling pick & mix sweets from my classroom locker.

Undergraduate School and Major:

• UG – King’s College London, Medicine (MBBS)
• PG – London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Public Health (MPH)

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: NHS England, National Clinical Entrepreneur Fellow

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Leading international relief teams to rural Bangladesh, providing free medical treatment to over 15,000 villagers who would otherwise have no access to healthcare.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why?Comradeship – many have already expressed a desire to support my global health and social impact projects.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? London – located at the heart of the social problems I am seeking to solve, in the city I was born and raised, at a time of Brexit-induced uncertainty and opportunity.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? Net impact club – exploring new avenues and expanding my network to generate business for good.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? Natural break from my medical training prior to specialising, allowing me to dedicate my time towards scaling up existing projects and pursue my passion for social enterprise.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? Plenty of conversations with a range of MBA graduates at different stages of their careers from all across the world.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Harvard and Wharton

How did you determine your fit at various schools? Researching student and alumni profiles online and their career choice after graduating.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? Awarded a scholarship at one of the UK’s most prestigious secondary schools, Dulwich College, giving me the opportunity to be the first family generation to receive any formal education.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? Gaining the experience and understanding of the business of healthcare and development to help design and lead high-impact programmes.

Where do you see yourself in five years? Leading a successful social enterprise or project for a multilateral organisation such as the World Bank or WHO.

Priyanka Ahuja

London Business School

“A life explorer driven by passion for new experiences in the form of startups, travel, cuisines, life stories and spirituality.”

Hometown: Bhilai, India

Fun Fact About Yourself: I am always thinking startup ideas – even at 17000 foot altitude in the Himalayan range. I sold roughly 500 pre-paid camera straps online from the remotest tiny artisan shop, generating enough money to get the artisan’s daughter enrolled in a city college.

Undergraduate School and Major: VTU, INDIA – ENGINEERING in COMPUTER SCIENCE.

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Uber, Head – City Sales.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Building the B2B arm from scratch, for an Indian startup, taking it from 0 to a 45% contributor to the organizations revenue that developed the foundation to launch India’s only IoT-enabled fresh-brew tea vending machines.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? I haven’t met my classmates yet, but have had interactions on social groups and individually and I can easily say that a high collaborative spirit is what stands out. Even though we haven’t met each other personally yet, everyone is willing to connect, share relevant information with the whole community and help each other out if anybody is stuck in a certain process as simple as figuring out accommodation, oyster card or even a local sim. I am very excited to meet my classmates from such diverse backgrounds and immerse in the global LBS spirit of learning and collaboration.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? The global diversity of the class was definitely a great pull for the kind of perspectives and networks it would offer. Aside from that, the global recognition of the school and its location (especially in the global startup ecosystem) and the strength of its alum network back in my country, India (since I want to go back and start a venture in India) – were important to me in my selection.

India is a powerhouse of a startup ecosystem currently. My past experience gave me an opportunity to not only delve deep into this ecosystem but also realize how much I loved the spirit of entrepreneurship. I was clear I want to plunge into my own entrepreneurship journey. At this point, I wanted an ecosystem that empowers me with a global context and in itself also gives access to a powerful and progressive global startup hub. LBS offered a program that is truly global, highly-ranked and set in one of the fastest growing entrepreneurial hub – London. These factors speak of a holistic development program set in a place that is strongly pacing with the fast-changing business world while fostering innovation and disruptive value-creation through startups solving challenging real-world problems. The ecosystem is perfect for my goals. Adding to this, was the strong alum network of LBS in India. I was inspired by a lot of alums who have started their own ventures within India and in UK. Their stories underlined the entrepreneurship resources that LBS and London provide.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? Entrepreneurship Club and Women in Business Club.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? As a core team member of an Indian startup, I experienced the strength of immense tenacity towards realizing a large vision and saw the company grow from scratch to India’s largest tea retail chain worth multi-million dollars. In the process, also realized how it is easier to create a brand but much tougher to create a “loved” brand that strikes a chord with consumers on an ongoing basis in the dynamic business landscape. Further, at Uber, I saw how globally scalable processes empower global companies to surpass cross-border growth-challenges but also act as bottlenecks to local innovations and disruptive strategies against home-grown competitors.

Having worked at a local and a global consumer business driven by technology and innovation, I am now seeking a powerful ecosystem to hone my perspectives in a global context, evolve my own leadership style, and develop a much larger vision for myself and for the venture that I aspire to build. From being a “founding team member” to being a “founder” required me to pause and re-invest in my holistic learning and hence an international MBA at this point that will propel me towards my next big stint.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? I want to pursue my own entrepreneurship journey. To add-on to my prior professional experience, I wanted a learning platform that not only propels me towards my goals with collaborative learning, global perspectives, an exceptional network and holistic self-development, but also prepares me to fulfil my dream of building an Indian startup that will make its mark on the global map. Towards this goal, an MBA from a global school like LBS is an investment that offers everything that I needed at this time to create the future that I aspire for.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Stanford, Wharton, MIT

How did you determine your fit at various schools? An entrepreneurial spirit, collaborative community, world-class faculty and a global peer group are the factors that mattered the most to me while selecting schools. I used the school website and various MBA blogs to determine the top two things that stood out in the schools own vision, curriculum, and faculty – as well as from the perspective of aspiring and current students. Post this, I reached out to 10 alums of each school from different batches working in industries of my interest. The responsiveness of the alums and their ways of speaking about the school; the schools culture that they shared through various experiences that mattered the most to them; and their vision post-school and their view of how and if the school will be a solid bridge to my career goals – all of these combined made a huge difference in final school selection. I have to say this about LBS alums: not only they were the most responsiveness, but were also very quick in connecting further to more relevant alums basis my career goals. This was something I only saw in the LBS community and was a huge pull for me. I instantly knew I fit into this collaborative spirit as I could relate very easily to the same spirit with which I engage in the Indian startup ecosystem. I was also convinced by the professionalism and research prowess of the faculty and global nature of the academia. Apart from these, the focus on entrepreneurship both within the school (through the nature of activities in the entrepreneurship club) and outside (through the entrepreneurial ventures of alums) was a big factor for my school selection.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are?  The defining moment of realization of the uncertainty of life and death defines me as a person and keeps me going as I strive to answer 3 questions in every pursuit: “Did I live? Did I love? Did I matter?”

The defining moment of my life was by the side of my father while he was taking his last breaths. I sat beside him in those last hours, holding onto every moment even though it meant aimlessly watching his dropping pulse rate. I had never paid attention to a breath so minutely – while counting each breath he took until his last, I unknowingly started, in parallel, counting mine. And for the first- time, I consciously appreciated the truth of being alive. His life ran like a movie in my head and in that moment, I realized that the biggest gift he bestowed me with, one that matters most to me – to always live beyond myself – to work with purpose, to contribute, to give, to lead, and to love till I have this blessing of life.

The most transformative phase of my life was seeing my father through a battle with cancer for three years and trying to understand the meaning of life for the next three years after losing him. Talking to other cancer patients and their families, I developed a spiritual bent inside me – from questioning the meaning of life, I transformed into experiencing every moment, good or bad, in its entirety and giving back moments of kindness wherever and whenever I can.  I traveled solo to far-off places, living in the mighty Himalayan terrain or trekking the Cherrapunjee Rainforest, initially to heal myself of the trauma of losing my father but eventually appreciating the myriad forms of life through life stories of people from across the world. In the process, I developed empathy and embracing the connectedness in human spirit beyond filters of religion, country, social status, cultures and more.

In the same spirit, I realized the importance of pursuing a work that gave me happiness more than the salary figure. I left my corporate job to join the founding team of a young startup, Chai Point, when startups were not the flavor of the town. I felt deeply for their vision of re-imagining “tea” in a nation that is literally fueled by this beverage. Luckily, I also found a life-long mentor in the founder – Amuleek who imbibed in me how to lead with a larger vision. Sleepless nights and multiple prototyping failures later, I built the B2B arm of Chai Point that disrupted the Indian beverage industry, creating an impact that lasted beyond me! This business today contributes 45% to the organizational turnover and has launched India’s only IoT-enabled fresh tea vending machines for corporate companies.

Most importantly, despite a busier schedule, I consciously started spending more time with my mother.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? My prime effort during school would be to figure out the pieces for my own startup idea and be ready to pilot it by the time I graduate.

Where do you see yourself in five years? I envisage building a consumer-centric Indian venture that makes it mark in the global business map. And in 5 years, I see myself anchoring this home-grown venture towards its global journey.

Jacob Appelbaum

London Business School

“Adventurous small island clam farmer trading board shorts for business school.”

Hometown: Shrewsbury, Massachusetts

Fun Fact About Yourself: For the past eleven years I have lived on several remote Pacific atolls with populations between 300 and 27,000. Moving to London is a major change!

Undergraduate School and Major: Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology, Dartmouth College

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Manager, Marshall Islands Mariculture Farm. I ran a small business on Majuro Atoll, the capital of the Marshall Islands, growing 100% aquacultured giant clams, corals and other marine invertebrates for the aquarium industry.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far:Running a business in a remote island setting forced me to be resilient, resourceful and adaptable, while working with live animals meant constant surprises and challenges. During my time managing the Mariculture Farm, I was able to more than double the number of species that we grew and exported. Developing effective methods to grow one particular snail species took over a year of repeated failures with incremental improvements coming from experimentation with new techniques and discussions with colleagues throughout the region. When we finally succeeded and started exporting them in large numbers, it felt like a great victory.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Diverse! Throughout my interactions with alumni, current students and my classmates, I have been impressed by the wide variety of backgrounds represented in both geographical locations and prior work experience. I always enjoy working with and learning from people from cultures and backgrounds different than my own so for me this was a major factor in my attraction to LBS and I look forward to getting to know more of my classmates as the program commences.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? The diversity and international nature of the program was paramount in my decision-making, but I was also drawn by its flexibility. As I am planning to change careers, the opportunity to do multiple internships and projects will help me build connections and gain critical experience.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I am most excited about taking part in the Global Business Experience. Exploring the business environment and challenges in another part of the world will be a great opportunity to further broaden my horizons and apply classroom learning to real scenarios.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? My recent work gave me a crash course in business management and after several years I was looking to broaden my horizons and expand on my experiences. An MBA offers the perfect opportunity to build on my existing knowledge while allowing me to transition to a new career.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? An MBA is a significant investment of both time and money, so it was not a decision to take lightly. Researching career outcomes and speaking with alumni, however, gave me the confidence to move forward without reservations.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Tuck, Kellogg, Darden

How did you determine your fit at various schools?

I was interested in finding a school with a diverse student body, a collaborative atmosphere, a wide variety of electives, and strong support for partners. I reviewed information on program websites and other sources including Poets & Quants. Unfortunately, due to my remote location, I wasn’t able to visit schools before applying but I reached out to alumni and current students and found them a valuable resource to learn more about each school’s program, culture, and career opportunities.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? Moving to Tokelau (a small group of Pacific atolls near Samoa) for five months to conduct research for my undergraduate thesis had an enormous impact on my life. Living on a remote atoll with only 300 residents was a transformative experience. My love for the Pacific and excitement about the challenges of working in remote developing countries led to years of amazing opportunities and experiences.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? After graduating, I hope to continue working on issues affecting the developing world. Although I am drawn to the renewable energy sector, I also have interests in other areas and plan to use my time at LBS to explore a variety of options and opportunities.

Where do you see yourself in five years? I plan to be working hard to establish myself as a leader in my chosen field. Most of all, I hope to be continuing to learn and challenge myself every day.

Andrea (Andi) Frkovich

London Business School

 “I am a passionate traveler, yogi and foreign language enthusiast who believes attitude determines everything.”

Hometown: Dana Point, California

Fun Fact About Yourself: I’m a big Harry Potter nerd; I own and have read the entire series in English, Arabic, and Spanish.

Undergraduate School and Major:

Duke University, BA in Arabic Language & Middle Eastern Studies

University of Cambridge, M. Phil in Politics

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: United States Navy, Lieutenant. I served for two years leading diverse teams of sailors onboard a Guided Missile Cruiser before transitioning to a security position at a Coastal Riverine squadron, where I led international teams providing security for the Port of Jebal Ali, UAE.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I consider my leadership successes serving as Officer of the Deck onboard a Cruiser as my greatest professional accomplishment. In the US Navy, the Officer of the Deck is designated by the Captain to oversee all shipboard operations; he or she is directly responsible for the safe navigation and tactical maneuvering of the ship, as well as overseeing the operations of and granting permissions to combat systems and engineering watch teams. As Officer of the Deck, I trained a team of sailors to effectively drive and fight the ship. We successfully completed two international exercises involving over 50 high-risk exercises and 120 international warships, enabling the ship to certify for deployment to the Middle East. My bridge team was also selected to execute the test launch of a Tomahawk cruise missile.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? ‘Cosmopolitan’ is the word that best describes my classmates. During registration alone, I met students from Singapore, Brazil, Ireland, Australia, and China, each with a unique global perspective and an interesting range of international experience.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? LBS’s emphasis on internationalism is ultimately what led me to choose the program. As an undergraduate Arabic language major, I have always believed that travelling and learning from people from diverse backgrounds is one of the best ways to grow, both intellectually and socially. Beyond excellent academic credentials, I knew LBS would provide me with a truly global experience that would help challenge and develop my ideas, enhance my global perspective, and help me become more socially and culturally aware.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I am most excited to travel with my fellow classmates as part of LBS’s student-organised ‘Treks’.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? The military has given me extensive leadership and management experience, but I admittedly have limited exposure to the corporate world. I chose to pursue an MBA to improve my business acumen and to further cultivate my network, affording me a wider range of job opportunities as I transition out of the military.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? To decide if an MBA was worth the investment, I researched career trajectories for the industries and functions I was interested in. As an aspiring public sector consultant, I realized that an MBA can be a key credential for advancement and that it would also help me enter the consulting industry at a more senior level. This potential for accelerated career growth made the MBA worth it for me.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? I applied to Rice University (Jones), Georgetown University (McDonough), Emory University (Goizueta), and University of Texas at Austin (McCombs).

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I initially narrowed my applications down to five schools by considering the schools’ geography, job placement, specializations and target industries. Once I narrowed my list, I based my final decision on my interactions with students and alumni. LBS immediately stood out to me for two reasons: the helpfulness of student contacts and the level of enthusiasm that students and alumni displayed for LBS. Not only did my student contacts reach out to me to answer any questions, but they also followed up periodically to help with the move to London and to put me in contact with various alumni who worked in my fields of interest. The enthusiasm and helpfulness displayed by LBS students and alumni convinced me it was a community I wanted to join.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? My most defining experience has been spending six months living and working in Egypt as an undergraduate. Egyptians have a saying, “ma’lesh” (which loosely translates to “Never mind that”), that they often use when plans go awry. Having a ‘type A’ personality, this saying initially irritated me. However, after a couple months of cultural immersion and one particularly rough day, I began to embrace the beauty of the “ma’lesh” mentality; “ma’lesh” wasn’t used to excuse the speaker from responsibility for the situation at hand, but rather to remind the speaker that situations tend to affect us to the extent that we mentally allow them to. I carried the “ma’lesh” mentality home with me, and since then, it has enabled me to successfully navigate a myriad of stressful and unpredictable situations with a cool head and a positive disposition.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? I hope to leverage my MBA and my military experience to pursue a career in public sector consulting.

Nikki Gupta

London Business School

Private tutor turned Edtech startup founder who gets giddy about helping students learn.

Hometown: London, United Kingdom

Fun Fact About Yourself: I followed an ostrich on a quadbike in South Africa once but stopped because I had no clue what I would do if I actually caught up with it!

Undergraduate School and Major: University College London, Math

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: CoFounder of MarkIt.education, an EdTech startup that helps high school math students.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Growing MarkIt to a team of 5 from just two cofounders. These were some seriously smart people and they bought our dream and made it their own, often with large personal sacrifices.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? They are incredibly smart. They can describe the most complex technicalities of their industry in the most wonderfully simple manner. This really does reflect how accomplished they are in their industries – they know their stuff!

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? London was of prime importance to me. It is the place to expand your network and spend time with startups to really experience their day-to-day in a grass roots manner.  I knew that not being in this city would mean immersing myself in a purely academic environment that felt more distant from the practical world of business. Since the ultimate goal is to get my dream job in Edtech, I needed to be where Edtech was.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? Having attended the Net Impact conference earlier this year, I am very excited to be more involved in the Net Impact club on campus. Hearing the Founder of Bethnal Green Ventures speak at the conference inspired me to look at startups through a lens of social good and sustainable business models. It showed me that there are great companies doing great things for humanity while also delivering returns for investors. This impressed on me how LBS can open my mind and show me different dimensions of EdTech that I might not have explored otherwise.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I have been self-employed since I was 18. While running my startup, I saw how this somewhat disjointed background was a big plus, but I felt that my ability to think strategically and deal with ambiguity was lacking. I saw my cofounder (an LBS alum) deal with financial modelling, product road mapping and fund-raising with much more ease than myself. I wanted to have that confidence too. The MBA is a way for me to be better at my future job and handle ambiguity with confidence.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment?I looked at a 20 year trajectory of my career with and without an MBA. I did this by speaking to people who have the job that I want – Chiefs of Product at VC funded startups. I basically pursued them on LinkedIn and pleaded for a 15 minute skype call. It was pretty clear that decades on, those that had the MBA had really benefitted from it in terms of career progression and being able to tap into a powerful network of alums. I knew I did not need one to get my next job, but it became clear that 10 years down the line I would have more opportunities if I did have an MBA.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Cambridge Judge Business School

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I went to campuses and met with students. This is common advice and it is also the best advice I got. The extra step I recommend taking is to reach out specifically to students who are doing what you want to do. When I spoke to MBAs at other schools who were interested in EdTech, I sensed lukewarm responses as perhaps the schools were stronger on other dimensions, or the location made it hard to venture out. I know that LBS is not exactly an EdTech hub, but I found students who wanted to be in EdTech really benefitted from LBS’s London location and how well connected the careers service is with startups of all industries. This is how I made my choice.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? The first time my cofounder and I successfully pitched for and secured investment for MarkIt. Until then, we were two starry-eyed people with an idea; that’s when we became a business that someone who was not our parents believed in! It taught me not to underestimate just how much I care about education and the way students learn. It showed me how passion can lead to tangible results and I should never hesitate to channel that.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? I want to be a Product Manager in a VC funded EdTech startup

Where do you see yourself in five years? Working with great people, on a great product that makes work not feel like work at all.

Tyler Hayes

London Business School

“Nerdy Jersey Shore native-turned-European-implant struck by wanderlust and infatuated with food culture.”

Hometown: Allenhurst, NJ

Fun Fact About Yourself: My first paycheck came when I was less than a year old…as a chubby baby model!

Undergraduate School and Major:

Graduate School: Harvard Medical School, MD

Graduate School: King’s College London, MRes (Master of Research) Translational Cancer Medicine

Undergraduate: Duke University, BS Biology and French & Italian Studies (double major)

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Research Assistant

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: For two years before beginning medical school, I worked as a cancer researcher in the UK focusing on oral cancer. Publishing and, thereby, sharing my discoveries with the world was an unforgettable occasion, as it meant that we might be one step closer to curing this devastating and increasingly common disease responsible for over 300,000 deaths each year.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Diverse – from their personal and career experiences to their cultural and geographic backgrounds, no other word can more accurately capture the fabric of an MBA class that represents over 60 nationalities.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? London. As is made clear in its name, LBS’ big draw is its location right in the heart of this vibrant city. When settling on an MBA program, it was important for me to be somewhere I could develop myself not only professionally but also personally. As someone who’s interested in the life sciences and biotechnology, being in the epicenter of the so-called “golden triangle” of top-tier universities in Oxford, Cambridge and London, along with the vast number of global pharmaceutical companies headquartered in the region, means that opportunities borne from advances in research won’t be too far from home.

Having bounced back and forth between the US and Western Europe many times over the last decade, I’ve also come to realize that grounding my career in Europe may be better fit for me. Given LBS’ strong presence across the UK and the rest of Europe, whether through students, alumni, faculty, academic partnerships or networking opportunities, it made sense to land at a school where I could easily springboard to this part of the globe that always seems to pull me closer. Another huge factor for me was the cultural richness of London. I love that I can walk one mile and be in a new neighborhood with a totally different architecture and ethnic makeup, and all of the sounds, smells and, most importantly, tastes that come with it!

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I am most excited to be part of LBS’ LGBTQ-oriented Out in Business Club and the chance to help organize its flagship annual EUROUT conference, which brings together hundreds of LGBTQ MBA students, faculty and top-tier employers from every corner of Europe and beyond.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? Despite my rich experiences in biomedical research and patient care, it became clear that one fundamental piece of my training in “translational” medicine was missing – an understanding of the mechanisms that target and invest in viable discoveries, finance their transformation through clinical trial to therapy, and ultimately bring them to the global marketplace. I hope to capitalize on my MBA experience by understanding the forces that drive innovation across key players in drug development and helping to close the gaps that stall innovation between them.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? This was a very hard decision, as interrupting one’s career to pursue an MBA can lead to many unique opportunities but also comes with plenty of sacrifices, both immediate and delayed, and personal and professional. I called on a lot of family and friends, both within and outside of the B-school world, who I knew would give me honest appraisals of my ideas and decisions. Ultimately, the two questions I asked myself were  these: “What are the short- and long-term career paths, whether established or unchartered, that are most appealing to me at this moment; and what would those journeys look like with and without an MBA?” I learned about the professionals in the roles I admired, by reading about them and arranging conversations when possible, and tried to get a sense of the direction their field was heading and how relevant an MBA would be for me to succeed and accomplish my goals in that sector.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Harvard Business School

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I took a multimodal approach to finding the best school for me. I started by making a list of the schools that I might be interested in and would need to research deeply. There were a few from the get-go that I knew I was interested in from what I had already learned from friends and colleagues with ties to the schools. For the rest, I took to the web –school websites (especially published curricular information), school profiles on Poets & Quants and the more well-regarded rankings for US and international schools formed the cornerstone of my first phase of research.

In paring down my list, I looked to faculty and courses matched to my professional interests in healthcare, geography (I wanted to be in a city that would leave me fulfilled outside of B-school) and employment destinations of graduates, both the breakdown of general industries as well as specific employers. If I ever had any questions or wanted more information, I would call or email a recruitment manager, which uniformly resulted in a quick and satisfactory reply.

For the small number of schools left on my list, the most important piece came next – chatting with current students and alumni. If I didn’t have a friend or friend-of-a-friend at a school, I would find a student ambassador listed online or ask a recruiter to recommend students based on my interests. I spent hours chatting, online and in-person, with students and alumni about their own motivations for business school and why school X was a good fit for them. I asked pointed questions about their experiences, both positive and negative, to get a sense of the class culture and how the advertised school offerings actually played out in real life. Whenever possible, I arranged a campus and class visit. Seeing faculty-student and student-student interactions was indispensable in pinpointing where I thought I would feel happy and supported during my MBA.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? I will never forget the moment when I first “came out” as gay. It wasn’t until my senior year of college that I decided to share with a group of friends something that had haunted and plagued me for so many years. The outpouring of love and support that I received from both my friends and family not only helped me gain confidence in that element of my identity but also empowered me to be proud of everything else that makes me me.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? My dream role post-graduation is to be part of a nw business development team in a life sciences or biotech company.

Where do you see yourself in five years? While my longer term career aspirations are often in flux, I would be happy to see myself working as a Principal in a life sciences or biotech venture capital firm, helping to identify and accelerate the next breakthroughs in healthcare.

Gabriela M. Kestler

London Business School

“Tiny, yet mighty Guatemalan, passionate about exploring the link between business and global social development.”

Hometown: Guatemala City, Guatemala

Fun Fact About Yourself: I’m left-handed, with all the associated quirks included. My Myers-Briggs personality type is INTJ, which comprises only 0.8% of the world’s female population

Undergraduate School and Major: Universidad Francisco Marroquin Guatemala, BA in Political Science and International Commerce (double major)

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Kellogg Company, Senior Finance Head Central America & Caribbean

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: It’s hard to pinpoint something that can qualify as just my own accomplishment, because I have always worked in companies where teamwork is everything. Rarely is anything the result of just one person’s work, and one of the things I’m most proud of is my ability to lead, both formally and informally, multidisciplinary teams in addressing complex business issues. However, I am especially proud of recently earning a K Value Award at Kellogg for spearheading the financial plan that drove a complete business turnaround for our single biggest customer, shifting a five year consecutive negative growth trend to a high single digit growth in less than nine months.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why?  Multifaceted! When joining LBS, you can throw all your previous misconceptions of what MBA students are like out the window. From day one, I’ve been thrilled to be amidst a truly diverse community of the most outstanding individuals from every background imaginable. On any given day, we can be discussing Apple’s most recent valuation one minute, switch over to sharing our perspectives on classical violin concertos, make a small detour to set up a next day friendly soccer match, and then wrap the conversation up with witty recommendations of London’s best pubs. For most of us, the spirit of genuine friendship combined with an unparalleled sense of humility to enable and learn from others has already been a transformative experience, and we haven’t even formally begun our academic program!

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? Coming from such a small country, I wanted an MBA that could give me a sense of all the possibilities the world has to offer – and provided the tools to experience them first hand. LBS’s flexible curriculum enables you to do just that, providing a strong combination of business fundamentals, and unbelievable array of academic electives, and a challenging set of real world experiences that range from interning at the world’s most prestigious financial firms to advising budding entrepreneurs in developing nations. LBS can be a microscope giving you world class expertise on a field you already love, or a telescope opening your mind up to ideas and opportunities you never knew existed.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? LBS has over 70 student-run clubs, so there’s something for everyone to look forward to, but my personal favorite is the Women In Business Club. The momentum that the discussion on gender equality in the workplace has gained in recent years has empowered so many amazing female professionals to take on unprecedented roles in business, both as decision makers and role models. I would love to be involved in an organization that actively seeks to advance that empowerment, promotes a new perspective on how we do business, and redefines the future of our and new generations to come.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? Although I was having a great career progression, I felt I needed new tools to truly pursue my interest in socially responsible business. My experience at work was definitely helping me grow my business acumen, but it lacked the focus and resources to truly develop my idea of helping global corporations enable community development. In addition, I lacked a formal business education in my undergraduate experience and wanted to strengthen this area of my development before scaling to a regional management position. Finally, I felt I had rounded out my personal and professional profile in order to be a suitable candidate for the kind of programs I wanted to apply to, making this an ideal moment to take the big leap.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? Working in corporate commercial finance, numbers are always a big part of my day-to-day, so I started off with a tried and true cash flow forecast, and researched ROI’s that related program cost to post MBA average salary expectations. However, although the hard numbers checked out for themselves, I felt the exposure to new ideas, people, and career opportunities that LBS offers was certainly not something I was going to be exposed to in any other environment, and that was a critical factor in my decision. To me, my MBA is an investment in all the possibilities I can come across during these two years, more than just a tradeoff between program cost and expected future income. Some of the most transformative things we can experience can’t be measured in currency; their outcome is equally, if not more, valuable to our lives.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? UVA Darden, Oxford Saïd, Harvard Business School

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I did abundant research over the course of two years just to determine the schools I wanted to apply to. From the beginning, I knew I was only going to make such a significant investment of both time and money for an outstanding program. Reviewing three-year rankings from various sources (P&Q being one of them) was one of my first filters. I selected the top 10 programs from the US, Europe, and Asia, as I wanted to have a culturally diverse experience from my Latin American upbringing. Furthermore, I reviewed the school’s online resources, program brochures, and student and alumni blogs to have an idea about costs, program duration, core values, key differentiators, class composition, and student career placement.

After selecting a final group of 10 programs, I reached out to student representatives, alumni, and recruitment professionals at several companies I’d like to be a part of, to get their perspectives on what day-to-day life was like and the particular focus of each program. I selected then five final programs to which I was going to apply to but decided against a program in Asia because of language barriers that would difficult my husband’s professional placement. Finally, the interview and networking with other applicants was what made me decide on LBS. I instantly felt like it was a community where I felt both challenged and empowered, and that it could enable me to explore different paths to fulfill my long-term career goals.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? I think I am one of the few people who can set an exact date for this question. On July 23, 2008, I experienced first-hand one of the many destructive effects of chronic poverty and institutional collapse in developing nations: my father, who is my personal hero to this day, was killed in an armed robbery on the doorstep of our family home. “Common violence” is the term that was used in all official documents, and it pains me to understand that in many communities, stories like my own are indeed common.

It’s not surprising that this was the defining moment of my life, but it wasn’t defining just for the reasons you’d believe. To have had my entire world collapse at the age of 19 brought about many hardships, both emotional and financial. However, it also gave me the opportunity to find interior strength, resilience, discipline and gratitude in ways I certainly would not have experienced otherwise. Navigating this difficult journey has also given me absolute certainty that we are masters of our own destiny. Regardless of how hopeless our current situation may seem, there is an absolute truth that cannot be taken from us: the power of individual choice. I did not choose to have my family torn apart by senseless violence: that is just something that happened. However, I always knew I could choose the attitude with which I faced all subsequent challenges, and that my future would be the direct result of the decisions made by me alone. I am not a product of my circumstances, although I was certainly molded by them. I stand where I am today because of an unwavering resolve to accomplish my goals, and a rock solid belief in the absence of limits for those brave enough to question them.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? I plan to gain experience in the field of strategy consulting, hopefully focused on governmental and economic policy, as well as entrepreneurial development. In the long term, my professional aspiration is to launch my own consulting venture focused on the particular needs of developing nations, aiding both private entrepreneurs and government organizations in the development of business models that enable both private economic growth and societal advancements.

Where do you see yourself in five years? Still learning, breaking stereotypes as a female professional with a beautiful family, most likely gearing up to accelerate the ideation process behind my own business venture. However, I expect LBS to be a defining experience in every sense and am completely open to the lessons and adjustments that may arise as a result. Regardless of the way I choose to pursue my long-term goals, I am certain I will continue to focus on the role of business as a catalyst for change in developing societies, hopefully contributing as an entrepreneur, advisor and even a professor.

Audrey Koh       

London Business School   

A tropical islander with a taste for fresh, piquant, and satisfying dishes, and a passion for beach sports, sun-tanning and fishing (for big game).

Hometown:  Singapore, Singapore

Fun Fact About Yourself: I have a penchant for food challenges – everything from the Korean spicy Ramen challenge, to eating bugs, to eating 15 burgers in one go, to consuming a Trinidad Scorpion (which I immediately regretted).

Undergraduate School and Major:

Master’s Degree in Strategic Public Relations, University of Sydney
Bachelor’s Degree (Honours) in Social Sciences, National University of Singapore

Most Recent Employer and Job Title:

Regional Content Lead (Asia Pacific), foodpanda (Delivery Hero)

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I felt that the biggest accomplishment in my career does not measure quantitatively, but qualitatively in building a fantastic ten-member regional team, each member from each of our APAC markets, from scratch. Also, we (at foodora and foodpanda) are one of the first in the food delivery/tech business to develop a content marketing team that covers all marketing channels, rather than the conventional focus per channel (for example, a social media specialist that looks at content and also bidding). The efforts did pay off, as we have just won the Social Media Excellence Award as Best Food Delivery Service in Malaysia.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? It is difficult to meet or expand your friend network as you go older, but the MBA classmates I have met so far have gone beyond just being friendly ­– everyone goes beyond to help each other in their move to London (sharing housing tips, banking tips, food tips, and other school admin matters)! Moreover, I was quickly inducted into the community right after I received my admissions acceptance.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? The key factor was the supportiveness that LBS had lent during the whole process of applying to the admissions. I had a great impression of LBS when I visited the campus before my applications. I met one of the admissions officers, who gave an assessment on my application and also offered to have a look at my CV. I also had a very enjoyable interview process – thanks to an invite to interact with alumni and admits from other rounds and also interactions with my interviewer and my admissions officer. Having worked in a university, I felt that the mark of a good B-school does not only come from its academics or the student community, but also to the extent that the school supports the student during the whole course. This is even more important to me as I am looking to switch careers, and a supportive school with a wide global network is very important to me. Also, this made me felt welcomed and safe moving to London.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? Impact consulting. Also, the Wine and Spirits Appreciation Club, because I really love whisky.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I felt that in my career I lacked a lot of quantitative training and I realized the importance of performance measurement and asset management as I went up in my career. While I could have done a few courses here and there, an MBA provides the discipline and the right training ground for a well-rounded quant training and also the networking for future career prospects.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? I decided that the MBA was the only way that I am able to access the finance and consulting industries, and that the post-MBA salaries was more than enough to cover the school and living fees.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Cornell, Oxford

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I prioritized the following: 1) the global reach of the school; 2) how open the school is to new and innovative ideas; and 3) the career opportunities each school could provide (through their career centre support or their school network). I used to read reviews on several websites such as Poets and Quants and GMATClub, and also reached out to the schools personally (like visiting the campus or dropping in on events when I can) to talk to the faculty and admissions staff.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? The defining moment of my life was when I was given a restructuring and relocation notice six months into moving to Hong Kong for work.

I was forging a stable career path for myself in Hong Kong, having moved from Singapore and from the public sector into a tech one. I was doing what I love in social media and developing strategies that I wanted to see results from. The restructuring entailed that I was to move to a new country (Bangkok) in two weeks, lose my current team, move into a new and modified role (albeit a promotion), and to build a whole new marketing team on my own. It was difficult for me to grasp these changes, but I decided to take the plunge and made the move instead of quitting.

A year after, I had built a whole new team of ten and rebranded foodpanda across ten APAC markets. Through this experience, I have gotten to learn so much more about myself and increased my resilience and tenacity.

What do you plan to do after you graduate?  In the three years after I graduate, I foresee myself developing relevant skills as a management consultant in a reputable firm. Management consulting, with its exposure to a spectrum of challenges across business types, is the best training ground for problem-solving and interpersonal skills.

Where do you see yourself in five years? Working in Bangkok has opened my eyes to the transformative and equalisation possibilities when technology is adopted, but only 29% of the 89% of Thai leaders who want to digitally transform their business are equipped with adequate knowledge (2017 Microsoft Asia Digital Transformation Study). Small-medium business success will not only contribute to emerging economies GDP but will also impact families positively – like my own father who founded an engineering company during Singapore’s economic development and raised us on its success. In five years I hope to be leading a team of consultants focusing on helping small medium businesses improve their business process.

Margaret Millea Walsh   

London Business School

“I’m amazed by neuroscience but like to be in the thick of things in business.”

Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio

Fun Fact About Yourself: I have five very freckled siblings, and we could rival the Weasleys for arguments over the “good” breakfast cereal. I like to think I built some resilience and negotiation skills early in life, trying to talk my way out from under a wrestling pile of brothers. It also taught a bit of humility when even close relatives had to ask, “which one are you?”

Undergraduate School and Major: Psychology, University of Notre Dame

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Director, Client Consulting at Nielsen Consumer Neuroscience

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My proudest moment to date is the day I was able to promote my first mentee. I first joined the company as a neurophysiologist in the lab and discovered that the “lab” and “consulting” teams had little collaboration, with separate office locations. Recognizing that there were no formal opportunities to advance on the “lab” track, I began offering help to consultants during my breaks and evenings to learn through apprenticeship, and eventually applied for an open position on their team. I encountered some doubts because my background was “science,” not “business.” I redoubled my efforts and proved in time that my unorthodox background was not a liability, but an asset.

After I earned trust among the team, I became a vocal advocate for training and career development of other lab members. I recruited and trained a motivated and talented lab member who I was eventually allowed to hire as our client portfolio expanded. Working together, we created cross-training opportunities and developed mentoring relationships across teams. As a result, our team became more industrious and inventive, leading to more opportunities with clients, and a stronger business performance. Though the financial milestones have certainly made me cheer, nothing has been more rewarding than coaching; the fact that my mentees were initially underestimated by others has made it that much sweeter to watch them succeed.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Diverse – I haven’t met any American classmates (aside from my husband) yet.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? My husband and I wanted the added challenge and adventure of the global experience. It’s easy and tempting for us to take a U.S. centric perspective to business, but it’s not only fair, but also practical, to understand cultural and political situations globally.  It’s also a personal challenge to be in a different country. Just figuring out the washing machine took us some time.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? Social impact clubs – such as Impact Consulting, Impact Investing, etc

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I am inspired by the growth I witnessed in my six years at Nielsen Consumer Neuroscience – both in terms of tool advancement and the impact it had on an industry. I want to see new applications of neuroscience, including applications with a social benefit. I didn’t know how exactly to accomplish this, so I am pursuing an MBA to fill the gaps of my knowledge and skills. I wasn’t sure if I would be a competitive candidate, and I didn’t know any women who had done a two-year program. In the face of my fear and uncertainty, my husband has had faith in me, and encouraged me to take the leap.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? My mother taught me that educating yourself is never a wasted investment. Being practical, my husband and I also created some sheets based on the income data provided by the school and some projected income data we estimated for ourselves.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Wharton, Fuqua, Kellogg, and IESE

How did you determine your fit at various schools? My husband and I did the process together, so the schools had to have features that worked for each of us. We did research online, talked to former and current students, and used the interview process to gauge the program, culture, and fit.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? I am not sure I can choose one moment. Having great mentors has shaped me. One example is my high school AP Biology teacher. She inspired my interest in neuroscience, and taught that life (biology) is beautiful, but the world has its problems. She believes that more female CEOs, female scientists, and female politicians can help solve the problems. After I moved away, I visited to attend her retirement party, and she came to my grandpa’s funeral, and my wedding.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? I would like to build upon new uses and applications of neuroscience. Plan A is to do this back at Nielsen if they are open to the growth.

Where do you see yourself in five years? My long term goal is to lead an organization or division fueled by neuroscience innovation; to use this position to help drive research that benefits human interest.

Karthik Rathinasabapathy

London Business School

“Passionate educator committed to addressing educational disadvantage.”

Hometown: London, UK

Fun Fact About Yourself: I enjoy photography and have had several photos published in the Sunday Times travel section!

Undergraduate School and Major: Imperial College – Mathematics with Management

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Harris Federation (the top performing large multi-academy trust in the United Kingdom) Job Title – Vice Principal, Harris Federation Post-16

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Playing a key role in addressing educational disadvantage by helping pupils from poor socio-economic backgrounds in the state sector gain places at top Russell group universities including Oxford and Cambridge.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Their enthusiasm for starting an MBA at one of the most diverse and exciting schools in the world!

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? The incredibly diverse nature of the cohort provides fantastic learning opportunities, not just from an academic point of view but also a cultural one. My passion to addressing educational disadvantage extends to the global sector as well, especially in developing or under-developed nations. LBS provides me an opportunity to explore my ideas with an incredibly talented group of individuals and discuss with them sustainable ways in which the corporate world can work in partnership with schools and colleges.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I’m looking forward to going on the treks that are now embedded as part of the LBS culture.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? Having spent 12 years in the state education sector, I believe that the MBA provides me the perfect opportunity to consolidate my ideas and help me combine my passion for education with my entrepreneurial ambitions.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? I’ve had three siblings graduate from the LBS and I’ve seen first-hand how they thoroughly enjoyed their MBA experience. They were full of praise for the high quality of the programme – the faculty, alumni network, post-graduation careers support and of course their respective cohorts.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Cambridge, Yale, Columbia,

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I spoke to various alumni at the schools and also did my research on the incubator facilities. I also looked at the MBA ratings and read up on people’s experiences on blogs (including Poets & Quants). My sister, Prabha, has spent time in London, Berlin, Lisbon, New York and Portland setting up and growing her business after her graduation in 2015. She feels that the alumni network and careers service have provided for an incredibly supportive environment, one where you are encouraged to think outside the box and are provided with the right tools to facilitate your thinking.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? Doing the Teach First programme – the first year of teaching in an inner-city London school was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I had to invest a significant amount of energy and time into building good working relationships with the pupils, the majority of whom were from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The teaching experience helped me experience me the power of education in bringing about change in students’ lives by providing them with a wide range of options. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience and stayed on for sixth years in total in my Teach First school (usually a two year programme)

What do you plan to do after you graduate? I would like to stay involved in education long term and perhaps set up my own educational consultancy.

Where do you see yourself in five years? Running an educational consultancy that has a meaningful positive impact on the education system.

Nasi Rwigema

London Business School

“Kick your ball hard. Over the wall, over the river… have fun chasing after it.”

Hometown: Johannesburg, South Africa

Fun Fact About Yourself: My Father is Ugandan, Mother Zimbabwean, Partner Ghanaian, and I grew up in South Africa.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of the Witwatersrand – Major in Aeronautical Engineering

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Solafrica Energy – Project Director

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I feel most proud when my actions and efforts team broad-based positive impact with personal achievement. Being one of the very first renewable energy producers in South Africa, and arguably the first black professional in the field, affirmed my competence as a young professional in a highly competitive industry. Despite the small size of my firm, it was amongst the pioneers that I truly believe gave others the confidence to risk up-front capital and human resources to develop sustainable power projects and encourage governments across Africa to purchase power from them.

Years later, I was challenged to rescue a run-of-river hydro power plant that was in heavy violation of environmental and social conditions, as well as 19% behind its construction schedule. In the 5 months since I took control, I worked with the relevant teams to cure all project breaches and bring the construction programme back on track. I saw tremendous personal growth in myself and demonstrated effective and dedicated leadership through this experience which I am very proud of.

Yet I’ve only ever felt truly proud when my impact has outlasted my stay. Encouraged by my Fellowship to the Young African Leadership Initiative, I started Project Warm in 2015 – a social initiative using the unproductive idle-time that shift workers (e.g. security guards and shopkeepers) have available to produce blankets that are donated to homeless children. The project enlisted and trained 43 workers putting the equivalent of an extra month’s wage in their pockets and keeping 130 vulnerable children warm through the winter. Faced with competing priorities in 2017, I chose to end the project which in hindsight was a premature surrender that disappoints me personally. Sadly, our workers went back to their usual wage in 2017 and the children received no further support.

I chose these two examples as the factors that led to the demise of Project Warm are the same deficiencies I saw at the hydro power project. While the period between joining the project and enlisting for the LBS MBA was brief, it was the ideal extension of my project development skillset and a valuable crash course in business administration, operations management, and encouraging people to do their best work. With this experience, I am confident that I would be able to make a success out of Project Warm in future. I will keep these lessons close to my heart as I embark on new endeavours in the coming five years.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? The classmates I have met thus far appear to be curious and confident without carrying much ego or sense of superiority or elitism. I get the feeling most of us are plugged into the experience we are about to encounter instead of dwelling on some sense of an aura that may accompany us in future.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? I was most attracted to LBS, as an MBA institution, for the impressive diversity of its student body and faculty – diversity in terms of upbringing, international exposure, and professional experience. In my view, the greatest benefit of an MBA is the personal, mental development that is gained in and around class practicing problem solving with people who are smart but, more importantly, have different approaches to you – all under the guidance of world-class educators. To maximise the breadth of perspectives to learn from, inherent diversity is key.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I have a deep passion for the African continent and all efforts to unite its people and improve their circumstance. For this reason, I look forward to engagements and initiatives within the Africa Club.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I believe an MBA, with the in-class experience described above, provides an ideal training exercise for improving the quality of mental muscle-fibre in the ways we think about overcoming challenges. I felt that my career experiences prior to the MBA, while varied and hugely educational, had left me with fundamental gaps in the mental models I employ and in the way I frame problems.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? Since my motivation for an MBA was predominantly based on development of self, I paid little mind to the economic comparisons of income and career growth with and without the experience. With the personal value I believe I will gain from this experience in mind, it was easy for me to conclude it to be a worthy investment.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? I blindly applied to the MIT Leaders for Global Operations programme, enamoured by the dual degree MSC and MBA despite having obtained an MSC in engineering. I also applied to Stanford GSB as a lover and follower of the technical advancements that are developed on its doorstep.

How did you determine your fit at various schools? It was only after applying to MIT and Stanford that I came to realise what matters most to me; in the end, I prioritized evaluations based on the following: 1) diversity of the student body; 2) quality of the faculty; and 3) quality of the in- and out-of-class experience that each school purported to offer. In carrying out my evaluations, I scrutinized as much of the programme information as was made publicly available, read various perspectives from alumni, admissions consultants, and other interested parties online, and engaged with alumni and current students through various platforms.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? Being trusted to project manage a large solar power plant at a very young age was a key moment or period in my early professional career. It was a challenge far bigger than I had imagined for myself. After the initial months of panic and self-doubt, the realization that I was treading water and beginning to swim brought me a confidence that has developed into a key characteristic I attribute to later successes.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? My African passions are most closely focused on access to seemingly basic services such as electricity, water, waste management, etc. Based on the experience and knowledge I gained by working in renewable energy, I aim to work in the sustainable energy sector servicing under-developed African regions.

Where do you see yourself in five years? Ideally, I will be back in Africa with a healthy and growing family. I see myself working insanely hard, having founded and then running a stable and promising infrastructure and services business.

David Tshulak

London Business School

“Terrified of sounding like a contestant on The Apprentice.”

Hometown: London, UK

Fun Fact About Yourself: I served as a Midshipman in the Royal Naval Reserve despite being constantly seasick

Undergraduate School and Major: BA Music, Durham University

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Big Content, Founder & Consultant

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: As a TV producer, convincing representatives in the DPRK (never call it North Korea), to let Michael Palin of Monty Python fame into the country for a travel documentary.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Modest. Like all top MBA programmes, LBS attracts super high achievers who’ve already done remarkable things early on in their careers – yet nobody boasts about it]

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? Ultimately it was about choosing the school with the strongest post-MBA employment prospects. With its outstanding reputation in the business world, proximity to top recruiters, and impressive alumni network, I feel confident that LBS will provide the best possible launchpad for the next stage in my career

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? Based on their mission statement, it has to be the Wine & Spirits Club: “Our goal is to help you appreciate wine as much as possible!”

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I’ve had a fun and rewarding eight years in various media-related roles. Some of the most memorable include: scouting beach locations in Jamaica, composing a theme tune for a property series that briefly aired in Norway, and leading a team responsible for inventing new TV show ideas that we pitched all over the world. I think there comes a point in the entertainment industry where, to progress beyond a certain level, one needs a sharper set of commercial skills that can’t be gained from within the creative environment. For me, the MBA will allow me to fill-in my knowledge gaps and enable me to continue on the next stage of my career.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? Is this a trick question? I used the NPV method, obviously.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Judge (Cambridge)

How did you determine your fit at various schools? Based on the typical MBA student profile, my background didn’t make me an obvious fit for any school! But that never bothered me. Asides from prioritising the employment prospects mentioned above, I took the time to visit my shortlisted options –attending open-days, sampling lectures, and talking to current students and professors. I also went for coffee with alumni to hear about their experiences, and talked to potential recruiters to make sure my career goals were realistic.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? My career-defining moment came when I finished my undergrad and was faced with a dilemma. Should I accept my offer on a grad scheme with a global consulting firm, or join the BBC as a runner on Strictly Come Dancing (a.k.a Dancing with the Stars)? In other words, should I take a safe and certain career with a respectable starting salary; or a menial role, barely above minimum wage, in an industry not known for job security? As you’ve guessed, I chose the latter. Despite a tough climb to the top, I don’t regret my decision for a minute. Along the way I gained invaluable skills that I may not have gained had I gone straight into a corporate environment – in particular, the entrepreneurial savvy that comes with regularly seeking the next freelance opportunity.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? Go for a really nice meal to celebrate.

Where do you see yourself in five years? If all goes to plan, I’ll be in a role that I love, still living in Walthamstow (East London), just swapping my casual media wardrobe for slightly smarter attire.

Stephanus Wicardo

London Business School

“An optimist with a passion for developing his country and making the world a better place to live.”

Hometown: Jakarta, Indonesia

Fun Fact About Yourself: Most people think that I am either Korean, Japanese, or Singaporean.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Indonesia, Accounting

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: President’s Advisory Board – Republic of Indonesia, Executive Staff to the Chairperson

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Working in the President’s Advisory Board in Indonesia. I interacted with top leaders both in the public and private sector and got directly involved in the policy-making process, especially regarding the digital economy and financial inclusion in Indonesia.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Very diverse and humble! I joined several student-organized pre-MBA events. In one event I got to know classmates from every continent in the world. They also come from a very different undergrad background, from traditional business and economics to theology. In no time, we just clicked, and the conversation flows.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you?  The curriculum for entrepreneurship. LBS offers a lot of resources for entrepreneurship. From entrepreneurship tailored core courses, entrepreneurship summer school, and the entrepreneurship focus electives. Raised in a non-entrepreneurial family, I feel that this is very important for me to develop my social business in the future.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? London CAP (Core Application Practicum) and Global Business Experience

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? My project in the government ends last July (2018), so it was a point where I can continue my work in the government in another project, go back to my previous industry – consulting, or doing something else. At that point, I feel that after working in three sectors (non-profit, private and public) in the past six years, I feel the need to learn about entrepreneurship and also technology before I develop my own business.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Oxford and INSEAD

How did you determine your fit at various schools?  I reached out to many people, especially alumni who are based in Jakarta. Through the discussions with them, I got to know about the culture and my fit in the school. I also reached out to the admission teams and had a few calls to ask about their program and also check whether my CV is something that they are looking for. Additionally, an external resource such as P&T helps me to get a better perspective on the school.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? It was the moment when I helped a farmers union in a small village in West Java. At the end of the project, one of the farmers hugged me and said: “Thank you for all you did for the village. It helped all of us and our families. I can’t thank you enough.” At that moment, I felt humbled. I shed tears as I never thought that I could help so many people in my life. From that moment, I know that I want to help more people in my life.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? I aspire to build a fintech company that helps alleviate the hardship of rural communities in accessing affordable financial services, starting with Indonesia.

Where do you see yourself in five years? In Indonesia, making affordable financial services available to everyone in the country.

 

 

 

 

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