The elite.

That’s how many describe Harvard Business School graduates. They are the Delta Force of MBAs, painstakingly selected and rigorously trained – a unit versatile in skill and fearless amid adversity. A HBS degree confers a prestige, a seal of excellence that certifies a graduate is ready to lead. However, “leader” may not be the best term for Harvard MBAs, whose ranks stretch from Stephen Covey to Sheryl Sandberg. In reality, they are “doers” whose courage, commitment, and compassion fulfill the school’s mandate to “make a difference in the world.”

No, HBS grads aren’t dreamers whose visions languish in uncertainty or dilettantes who leave the heavy lifting to others. They take ownership, shoulder responsibility, and make things happen. They are the volunteers who raise their hands to shepherd the titanic projects; the catalysts who go all in to launch companies; and the grinders who dive into the details and dirty their hands in the thankless tasks. They aren’t leaders because of title or resume. They are leaders because they are the doers who set the bar and slice a path for others to follow.

GROWING UBER IN THE HARSHEST CONDITIONS IMAGINABLE

That is certainly true of the Class of 2020. Take Daphne Pham. The Mount Holyhoke grad spent the first two years following the conventional path, working as an investment banker in New York City. From there, she moved to Thailand to work in marketing and analytics at Lazada, Southeast Asia’s premier e-commerce firm. However, neither of this experiences would prepare her for her next jump: being Uber’s first employee in Vietnam. In this developing market, she ran smack into the toughest barriers imaginable. Government regulators shielded entrenched incumbents; the press ratcheted up attacks; and drivers fretted over the company’s legality and longevity. That doesn’t even factor in operational issues such as the low car ownership and a reliable payment system.

Harvard Business School
Photo by John A. Byrne

In true ‘doer’ style, Pham rolled up her sleeves. She tossed the American-centric playbook she’d learned and adapted to the culture. She established partnerships with banks to make it easier for drivers to take out loans to buy vehicles. At the same time, drivers accepted cash payments – the currency of choice for customers. In the process, Southeast Asia emerged as Uber’s third-largest market, with Pham running the Vietnam operation and managing 150 employees and contractors.

So why leave all that to come to Harvard Business School? Pham had been wrestling with that question for years. As an aspiring entrepreneur, she wondered, why not jump right into the fray? However, Pham decided it was better to step back from the scraping and hustling to take the long view.

“After spending a few years at one of the most prominent startups, I became more aware of my shortcomings as a leader,” she says. “I am not interested in building a 10-employee company, but an organization with lasting impact. To achieve that goal, I need to understand what makes great leaders and great organizations. I hope that the HBS experience will be transformational, helping me gain a deeper understanding of what it takes to run a successful business, grow tremendously as a person, and build a strong lifelong network.”

FIRST YEAR BUILDS ANALYTICS DIVISION…THAT SHE IS NO LONGER QUALIFIED TO RUN

Pham isn’t the only ‘doer’ in the Class of 2020. Meet Bridgette Taylor. At Stuart Weitzman, a retailer of women’s footwear and bags, Taylor noticed that the firm was losing out on a potential gold mine – data analysis – since accurate customer data was only tied to purchasing a third of the time. To capitalize on this opportunity, Taylor pitched the CEO, who gave her the financial backing and a four-person team to launch the firm’s Consumer Insight Division. Sure enough, within six months, Taylor had built the customer database to 600,000 customers. Even more, her division became “business critical” and enveloped in the Stuart Weitzman’s larger strategy.

Alas, Taylor’s biggest contribution only became clear after she left the firm. “The Consumer Insights group has grown to become much larger than my initial contribution,” she explains. “The team has implemented sophisticated and powerful techniques to analyze and act on customer trends – far outside my knowledge base and basic data understandings. Ironically, I am likely now unqualified to work in the very division that I built.”

That’s just the start for these doers. At Bank of America, Amy Hernandez Turcios earned Bank of America’s Global Enterprise Diversity & Inclusion Award for enhancing the internal pipeline and networking opportunities for Latinx investment bankers. At Amazon, Valentina Toll Villagra handled everything from design to operations for 10 warehouse openings – involving over 1.5 million square feet of industrial space – in just 15 months. Her co-worker, Dominic Marrone, headed up a customer experience team that developed several features on the “Works with Alexa” platform. At the same time, Nicole Koski – who worked three jobs simultaneously to put herself through the University of Wisconsin – ran a limited edition cosmetics launch at 5,000 Walgreens stores. Here, she managed everything from product design and pricing to launch and exit strategy. In the process, she broke company sales records and generated positive press across leading beauty blogs. Still, that won’t be what she treasures most about her achievement.

FROM SOCCER FANATICS TO RENAISSANCE FESTIVAL AFICIONADOS

Harvard Business School 2018 graduation ceremony

“I was able to read customers’ comments and discover that the items were often being given as gifts to friends or family members who had wanted the items, but couldn’t justify spending money on themselves at the moment. The realization that my products were building relationships between people and making hardworking women feel special was immensely rewarding and continues to be a motivator for me.”

‘Doers’ all, but what the Class of 2020 does outside their work lives makes them even more memorable. Daphne Pham, a “self-proclaimed fashionista and skincare expert” holds a certificate in wine tasting – even though she is slightly allergic to alcohol. Yazeed Al-Rashed, a MIT grad and Shell process technologiest, writes screenplays during his free time. As a huge fan of the Argentinian national soccer team, Valentina Toll Villagra “never misses a chance to paint [her] face light blue and white.” Like most, the class has its vices. For Nicole Koski, it is Ken-Ken number puzzles. Bridgette Taylor, on the other hand, can’t pass up a Renaissance Festival!

Some have even been preparing for Harvard Business School since middle school. Well, sort of in the case of Amy Hernandez Turcios. “I used to be terrified of public speaking,” she admits. “Luckily, I got over the fear in middle school when I was cast in a Hip Hop musical as a 90s rapper. After countless practices that led to the final performance, I lost my fear of public speaking. Thanks to this unique middle school experience, I can now embrace the HBS case method, which involves public speaking, every day.”

AN “INSPIRATIONAL” CLASS

How does the Class of 2020 see each other? Forget the popular perception of HBS students as image-driven mercenaries. Hernandez Turcios, for one, kept hearing “diverse perspectives” pop up as one of the school’s strengths during the recruiting process. Two months into the program, she now understands exactly what that means. “Inside the classroom, these diverse perspectives are valuable because we can see one issue through multiple lenses,” she observes. “Outside the classroom, these diverse perspectives have allowed me to learn about various cultures, industries, and walks of life.”

That fits with Bridgette Taylor’s impression – “curious” – a group that is “genuinely eager to learn from each other.” In Valentina Toll Villagra’s experience, the class is truly “inspirational.”

“Each person at HBS has a unique story,” she notes. “Every day I’m amazed at the level of commitment people have to making a positive impact in the world. Our first-year sections represent a wide range of professional and personal experiences, and each conversation is a learning opportunity. From private equity to education, I feel like I now understand the perspectives of people coming from industries that seemed so distant to me working in tech.”

Iconic Baker Library on the Harvard Business School campus. Photo by John A. Byrne

A CLASS FROM 288 SCHOOLS AND 69 NATIONS

By the numbers, the Class of 2020 lived up to Harvard Business School’s usual high standards. However, the 2017-2018 cycle proved that HBS, like most luxury brands, aren’t necessarily immune to broader industry trends. In a year when applications fell across the board, HBS suffered a decline like other MBA programs. However, the pain was far less acute at the “West Point of Capitalism.” This year’s 9,886 applications represented the program’s second-highest total over this past decade. At the same time, the school maintained its highly-selective 11% acceptance rate.

This rate wasn’t the only area where HBS held the line with the Class of 2020. For the ninth consecutive year, the incoming class arrived in Boston with a 730 median GMAT – including a 42 median verbal and a 49 median quantitative – with the total range spanning from 610-800. 15% of the incoming class also entered HBS with GRE scores, with median verbal and median quantitative scores coming in at 165 and 163 respectively. The average undergraduate GPA remained an enviable 3.71.

As a whole, the class hails from 288 universities worldwide, including 134 American schools. By the same token, the class features members from 69 countries, with international students accounting for 37% of the class – the school’s highest total over the past decade. Overall, Americans make up 63% of the Class of 2020, with other large blocs belonging to students from Asia (14%), Europe (8%), Mexico, Central America and South America (6%), and Canada (5%). Segmenting the class further, women comprise another 41% of the class – the seventh consecutive year where their population topped 40%. U.S. ethnic minorities take up another 26% of the class – the school’s second highest total over the past 10 years.

Academically, the percentage of business and economics majors continues to swell. Over the past two years, their size has surged from 41% to 46%. In nearly equal measure, the percentage of humanities majors has fallen from 21% to 17%. Still, the percentage of undergraduate STEM majors has remained relatively steady at 37% in the Class of 2020. Professionally, the largest segment of the class is composed of students with consulting, high tech and venture capital backgrounds. They each represent 16% of the class pie, followed by financial services (11%), government and non-profits (8%), healthcare and biotechnology (7%), energy (6%), consumer products (6%), and the military (5%).

Go to next page to access in-depth profiles of incoming Harvard Business School students.

Harvard Business School

LARGE MULTI-PURPOSE VENUE OPENS IN OCTOBER

In recent months, Harvard Business School has made headlines – and for all the right reasons. That starts with November’s Class of 2018 employment report, where graduates hauled in a record $160,268 in total median first year compensation – nearly $5,500 more than the previous class. In fact, nearly two-thirds of spring grads pulled down median sign-on bonuses of $25,000 or more. What’s more, 95% of the class had received a job offer within three months of graduation.

That’s just the start. On October 1st, the school opened its 120,000 square foot Klarman Hall, the school’s new multipurpose venue for large lectures and events. Seating 1,000 people, Klarman Hall features a 1,250-square-foot video wall and over 100 speakers, with a flexible design that enables the school to easily scale in size. Along with classes and speakers, the hall can also accommodate music and artistic performances, all while including a recording studio for recording podcasts and filming HBX courses.

“Harvard Business School is truly unique in its ability to convene, to draw on the enthusiasm and creativity of a remarkable community of alumni, students, faculty, and staff, and to draw in leaders from many arenas,” noted Dean Nitin Nohria at the space’s dedication ceremony.

AVERAGE FINANCIAL AID NOW TOPS $37K PER STUDENT ANNUALLY

A week later, the school announced that it had raised nearly $1.4 billion dollars in its recently-concluded capital campaign. This eclipsed HBS’ original target by $400 million. It also represented an $800 million dollar improvement over the school’s previous campaign. Better yet, the campaign included a 59% participation rate from MBA alumni, a testament to the engagement, loyalty, and deep pockets of HBS graduates.

One of four temporary sculpture installations on loan at Harvard Business School. This cast iron piece is by Barcelona-born Jaume Plensa.

According to the school, $225 million dollars from the capital campaign will be budgeted to financial aid. That’s great news for incoming students, who already received generous aid package as a whole from the school. In HBS’ annual financial report, which was released in March, the school doled out $36 million dollars in fellowships to students during fiscal year 2017, a $2 million dollar bump. That amounted to a record $37,312 per student, up $1,800 over the previous year – and $6,500 per student since 2013. Better yet, HBS anticipates a 6% boost in fellowship aid during fiscal year 2018. That’s on top of a $3.2 billion dollar endowment war chest, which provides the resources and flexibility for the school to adjust as new curricular, operational, or spatial needs arise.

This support was particularly appealing to Nicole Koski. Growing up in a low income family and accruing sizable debt as an undergrad, Koski was terrified of the prospect of losing two years of income and piling on more debt.

“Business school is an incredible and exciting opportunity, but the reality is that MBA programs cost money,” she notes. “The high sticker price can be a major obstacle for many people, including me. HBS’s need-based aid approach combined with further efforts to increase socioeconomic diversity like the School’s Forward Fellowship—which helps students from lower-income families or with family financial obligations—made the idea of a Harvard MBA more accessible to me. HBS always made me feel comfortable discussing financial concerns with them, and this feeling of belonging and support was a key influence in my decision to enroll.”

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP, PAR EXCELLENCE

Generous financial aid isn’t the only reason why 9 of every 10 candidates who receive an HBS acceptance letter ultimately enroll. The program also boasts star power. Harvard faculty, for example, are responsible for writing 80% of the cases used worldwide in business school classrooms. The alumni roll also reads like a who’s-who of c-suite royalty. In other words, when it comes to business thought leadership and networking, HBS’ influence is less like a footprint and closer to a fingerprint. It certainly left an impression on Daphne Pham as she was weighing her options.

“Frances Frei, one of HBS’s faculty members, came to Uber in 2017 as SVP of Leadership and Strategy,” she reminisces. “She organized a corporate training program via HBX, an online learning platform that simulates the case method experience of an HBS classroom. I attended a few sessions and immediately fell in love with the discussions, the energy, the intellectual vitality coming from the best minds sitting in the same room. To me, it is an extraordinary learning experience compared to a traditional lecturing style. I also read quite a lot, and many of my favorite books were written by HBS professors (Nancy Koehn, Bill George, Clayton Christensen), so I’m really excited to learn from them as well.”

The program’s scope also stirred the imaginations of the incoming class. The MBA program alone features 46,000 alumni, who live in over 150 countries and engage in over 100 alumni clubs. In other words, graduates can find key leaders in every industry from consulting to computers and petroleum to politics. “The sheer number of industries and countries HBS is involved with is breathtaking,” says Yazeed Al-Rashed. “I can quite literally explore any geography or business I am interested in, no matter how different it is from my previous experience.”

PARTICIPATE IN CASE DISCUSSIONS…OR FLUNK

Retail is just one example of this dynamic, adds Bridgette Taylor. “Harvard has an incredible track record of producing utter game changers in the retail industry (Katrina Lake of Stitch Fix, Jennifer Hyman of Rent the Runway, Marla Beck of Blue Mercury, to name a few). As an aspiring retail leader myself, I can only hope to follow in their footsteps.”

A Harvard Business School classroom. Photo by Natalie Keyssar. Courtesy of HBS

Long known as a general management program, HBS focuses on a big picture, holistic look at business. While many courses include an experiential component, the majority of Harvard Business School courses are taught through its acclaimed case method. Over their two years, HBS graduates can expect to participate in over 500 case discussions, with participation – insightful participation – often accounting for 50% of a grade.

Basically, the case method teaches students how to think like an executive. Here, there is no right or wrong, just an ambiguous better or worse depending on factors whose validity and value often shift with context. In a 2018 interview with Poets&Quants, Jan Rivkin, HBS’ C. Roland Christensen Professor of Business Administration and Senior Associate Dean for Research, described a case classroom as a “lean forward experience.” Instead of jotting down lecture facts, students are actively engaged in the own learning – and that of their peers. At the same time, they master the same repetitive process that general managers follow to make decisions.

CASE DISCUSSIONS FILLED WITH UNPREDICTIBILITY

“Before class, you have to confront a messy set of facts; discern the facts, problems, and opportunities; consider alternatives in your own mind; and come to an initial point of view on what you can and should do. During class, you have to listen to what others think; try to draw others to your suggested course of action; consider alternatives again enriched by others’ perspectives; choose a course of action; and after class you have to ask yourself, what did I just learn?”

The wide-ranging experiences of the 90-member cohort also enrich the discussions, often taking them in unexpected directions that yield more creative, lasting, and inclusive solutions. Sometimes, case protagonists even drop in on class to share what they learned from their experiences.

“At any moment,” Rivkin asserts, “you can go from a classmate who founded a nonprofit to one who fought in Afghanistan to another who worked in the White House or did deals on Wall Street.” They might take the conversation in wholly unanticipated directions. That creates engagement. When students come to class, they don’t know what’s going to happen that day. That’s exciting. All they’re sure of is that they’re going to learn something important. That kind of lean forward versus lean back is really very different, along with the predictability versus the element of surprise.”

‘THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF WHAT I WAS USED TO’

During her campus visit, Amy Hernandez Tucios sat in on several cases discussions. Immediately, she recognized how valuable this training was in analyzing data and arguments so she could make tough decisions in uncertain terrain.

“I saw this learning approach as the best suited for my personal development because it would help strengthen my analytical capabilities, solidify my ability to synthesize information, and think on the fly (if cold called),” she says. “The case method simulates real world problems and I appreciate that we as students must put ourselves in the shoes of the protagonist to come up with solutions. This classroom experience will enable me to be a confident, thoughtful, and introspective leader.”

The case method was also a major departure for Valentina Toll Villagra, an engineer by trade who spent her undergrad years weighing variables in black-and-white terms, where “you either got the right answer or you didn’t.” As her exposure to business grew, she increasingly viewed it more as an art requiring personal judgment over an exact science that demands precision. That’s what made the case method really resonate with her.

Andrew Rothaus (left) and Abraar Karan won this year’s Harvard Business School New Venture Competition. Courtesy photo

“The case method is quite the opposite of what I was used to,” she admits. “A lot of the reading happens while you prepare for class. A lot of the learning happens in class listening to and interacting with other students. It’s a very active learning environment, where all students are engaged and helping advance the conversation with their expertise or personal experiences. Engineering experiments can be replicated and, under the same environment, would always produce the same result. Business decisions can’t necessarily be applied from one scenario to the next. In line with this, in cases there’s (usually) no right or wrong – just the guidance on what to consider when making the choice that’s right for your particular situation in your particular context.”

ENTREPRENEURSHIP THRIVING AT HBS

If cases are the means, then entrepreneurship is increasingly becoming the end for Harvard Business School grads. According to the school, 50% of HBS alumni label themselves as “entrepreneurs” within 10-15 years of graduation. Some don’t even wait that long. Among the Class of 2018, 70 students have already founded a venture – with 64 students each from the 2017 and 2016 classes doing the same. It’d be hard to argue with their success. In P&Q’s 2018 ranking of the best MBA programs for VC-backed startups, 26 HBS-founded ventures had raised roughly $543 million dollars over the past five years – including big names like Farmer’s Business Network, Catalant (Formerly HourlyNerd), and Elysium Health. The training ground for these successes has been the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship. A hub that brings together students, faculty, alumni, investors, and experts, the Center offers competitions, an accelerator, networking events, and fellowships…among other things.

Valentina Toll Villagra, who plans to launch a venture or join an early stage tech startup, is looking forward most to HBS’ Startup Bootcamp. “We’ll be taking an extended version of this program during winter break as part of one of the MS/MBA classes (Technology Venture Immersion). The program is like an accelerated incubator that walks you through the steps of starting your own company – from market definition through prototyping to capital funding.”

Chances are, you’ll find Toll Villagra raking in the VC dollars soon enough. Like her classmates, she is a ‘doer’ with a zest for life and a vision for her future. “I enjoy working in projects with a broad scope, where I can do very different things depending on the day. I like not having a set routine, and, interestingly enough, I love chaos. I find it exciting and motivational, giving me a reason to work hard.”

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.

Student	Hometown	Alma Mater	Previous Employer
Yazeed Al-Rashed	Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	MIT	Shell
Amy Hernandez Turcios	Los Angeles, CA	Wharton School	Bank of America
Nicole Koski	Pewaukee ,WI	University of Wisconsin-Madison	Walgreens Boots Alliance
Dominic Marrone	Charlotte, NC	University of South Carolina	Amazon
Daphne Pham	Hanoi, Vietnam	Mount Holyoke College	Uber
Bridgette Taylor	Darien, CT	Dartmouth College	Stuart Weitzman
Valentina Toll Villagra	Yerba Buena, Argentina	Boston University	Amazon

Meet the Class of 2020 Series

Harvard Business School

London Business School

IESE Business School

University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School

Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management

University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business

MIT Sloan School of Management

Columbia Business School

UC-Berkeley Haas School of Business

Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business

Yale School of Mnnagement

University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business

Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business

Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management

UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School

New York University’s Stern School of Business

University of Texas-Austin McCombs School of Business

Emory’s Goizueta School of Business

Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business

Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management

Washington University’s Olin Business School

Yazeed Al-Rashed

Harvard Business School

“Someone with many interests but too little time to pursue them.”

Hometown: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Fun Fact About Yourself: I (try to) work on my screenplay ideas in my spare time.

Undergraduate School and Major: MIT – chemical engineering

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Shell – Process Technologist

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Drive and humility. Everyone is driven to pursue their dreams and make the most out of the incredible resources at HBS. They’re also disarmingly humble, which makes it much easier for everyone to learn from each other.

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 school’s global footprint and diversity of industries represented – the sheer number of industries and countries HBS is involved with is breathtaking. I can quite literally explore any geography or business I am interested in, no matter how different it is from my previous experience.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I’m especially interested in the Investment Club, Entrepreneurship Club, Entertainment and Media Club, and the Energy and Environment Club.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I always knew that I wanted to pursue an MBA at some point, but I only went for it when I felt that I had enough years of work experience under my belt to make the most of the experience. After spending some time in energy policy and oil and gas operations, I felt it was the right time to augment my experience with a business education to put me in a position to help unlock untapped potential in various traditional industries.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? As I was thinking about whether to apply or not, I reached out to friends and mentors who had come from similar backgrounds and pursued MBAs. While many undertook it at great financial cost, all were unequivocal about how the experience positively transformed them in ways they didn’t even expect. They emphasized that the key is to be open to experience everything the school has to offer.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? It’s too early to tell. I’ll see where the opportunities in the coming two years will take me.

Where do you see yourself in five years? Playing a role in the evolution of long-established industries.

Amy Hernandez Turcios

Harvard Business School

“Wall Street alumna, first-generation Guatemalan-American trailblazer, and resilient community leader dedicated to advancing Latinx leadership.”

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

Fun Fact About Yourself: I used to be terrified of public speaking. Luckily, I got over the fear in middle school when I was cast in a Hip Hop musical as a 90s rapper. After countless practices that led to the final performance, I lost my fear of public speaking. Thanks to this unique middle school experience, I can now embrace the HBS case method, which involves public speaking, every day.

Undergraduate School and Major:

University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School

Major: Economics | Concentrations: Finance and Operations & Information Management

Most Recent Employer and Job Title:

Bank of America (Investment Banking Analyst – 3 years; Enterprise Strategic Initiatives Associate – 2 years)

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: During my career at Bank of America, I had the opportunity to travel with management teams through several IPOs and was part of transformational internal initiatives. My most notable career accomplishment, however, was not one of these experiences. Instead, my biggest career accomplishment is tied to the diversity and inclusion efforts I helped lead at the firm. I started an initiative aimed at Latinx investment bankers at the firm. The purpose of the initiative was to 1) increase the pipeline and 2) build a sense of community among the existing Latinx investment banker population. I was able to garner interest and accomplish what I set out to do. As a result, I won the Global Enterprise Diversity & Inclusion Award. This accomplishment culminated when I received the physical award from our Chief Diversity Officer during a celebration ceremony. This moment solidified my passion for helping the Latinx community and encouraged my commitment to advancing Latinx leadership.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Diverse. I remember being a prospective student and consistently hearing the term “diverse perspectives” from students and alumni. I didn’t fully understand what that meant and why it was important until I started classes. Inside the classroom, these diverse perspectives are valuable because we can see one issue through multiple lenses. Outside the classroom, these diverse perspectives have allowed me to learn about various cultures, industries, and walks of life.

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? Harvard Business School’s mission is to “educate leaders who make a difference in the world” and I came to HBS to grow as a Latina leader. The case method and the Latinx student/alumni community allowed me to see how I could have a transformational experience at HBS.

Case method: After sitting in on several classes as a prospective student, I knew that I wanted to be part of the vibrant discussions the case method encourages. I saw this learning approach as the best suited for my personal development because it would help strengthen my analytical capabilities, solidify my ability to synthesize information, and think on the fly (if cold called). The case method simulates real world problems and I appreciate that we as students must put ourselves in the shoes of the protagonist to come up with solutions. This classroom experience will enable me to be a confident, thoughtful, and introspective leader.

Latinx Student/Alumni Community: Every year, 100+ Latinx HBS alumni attend an annual banquet in New York City. As a prospective student, I had the opportunity to attend these banquets over the last few years where I was able to meet many inspiring leaders who described their HBS experience and encouraged me to apply. I would not be here without such a supportive community. Going forward, I hope to keep growing the number of Latinx applicants to HBS and I will continue to be a champion of community-building on-campus and beyond.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? Latino Student Organization (LASO)

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I’m about five years out of undergrad and I’ve had two distinct roles in my professional career. Through both roles, I was able to gain quantitative and qualitative perspectives. When it came time to apply, I believed I had enough substantive experience to be able to effectively contribute in the classroom. Additionally, at five years out, I felt I was mature enough to appreciate the opportunity to be in school again. Looking back, I’m certain this was the right time for me to get my MBA.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? Even when school officials would mention the price of an MBA, I never questioned if it was “worth the investment.” I had spoken to enough individuals to know that the tangible and intangible value of the MBA overrode the price tag. I see the MBA as an investment in not only myself, but also for my family, my community, and future Latinx generations who have a dream of attending a school like HBS.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? GSB, CBS, Kellogg, Fuqua

How did you determine your fit at various schools? Aside from assessing “fit”, I looked at three main factors when considering schools: teaching method, career placement strength, and physical attributes (i.e. size and location). Prior to applying, I was an MBA Prep Fellow for Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) and they facilitated forums where I could chat with admissions officers and students to learn more about the classroom environment, professional opportunities, and school culture. These first-hand accounts were my primary sources of research. For students who are not going through a structured program like MLT, I’d encourage them to speak to as many students as possible to determine whether a school is a right fit.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? In high school, my life was changed by a flyer – quite literally. I grew up in a low-income household. Given the cost of higher education, my family would not have been able to afford college. Thanks to a flyer I received in the mail, I learned about QuestBridge – a non-profit that helps low-income high-achieving students attend top universities. Through QuestBridge, I was admitted to the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and received a full-ride scholarship. They helped make my educational dream come true and this experience is the underlying reason why I am passionate about uplifting others. I have had many wonderful opportunities thus far, including being a student at HBS, and I’m dedicated to paying it forward.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? After graduation, I’m hoping to move back to my hometown of Los Angeles. I’m exploring opportunities in consulting because I want to learn how to break down abstract problems and turn those insights into meaningful change.

Where do you see yourself in five years? My long-term goal is to advance Latinx leadership by bridging the Latinx talent gap. This is an abstract problem I don’t know how to solve quite yet but over the next few years, I hope to build the skillset to be able to tackle this prominent issue.

Nicole Koski

Harvard Business School

“Wisconsin Badger. Animal lover. Curious traveler and language-learner. Hopelessly addicted to Ken-Ken number puzzles.”

Hometown: I grew up in Pewaukee, WI, a small suburb of Milwaukee.

Fun Fact About Yourself: I love everything about food; I love growing vegetables in my garden; I love planning meals and ingredients; I love eating, but when it comes to successfully cooking the food, I struggle mightily.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Wisconsin-Madison, BBA: Marketing & International Business

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Walgreens Boots Alliance; Associate Manager, Customer & Market Insights (Beauty).

Before joining Customer & Market Insights, I spent two years in a rotational leadership development program at Walgreens, comprising four roles across various merchandising divisions.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I oversaw the design and launch process for two limited-edition cosmetics collections priced between $4 and $10 that were distributed to 5,000 stores. I managed all parts of the process, which included partnering with suppliers to co-create licensed beauty products and negotiating terms, including product assortment, margin, pricing, and exit strategy. The program broke sales records, but my favorite part was that it got featured on a few popular beauty blogs, where I was able to read customers’ comments and discover that the items were often being given as gifts to friends or family members who had wanted the items, but couldn’t justify spending money on themselves at the moment. The realization that my products were building relationships between people and making hardworking women feel special was immensely rewarding and continues to be a motivator for me.

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? There are two factors that are equally important to me.

The first is the general management curriculum. While my background is in marketing, and I plan to continue to pursue marketing after graduation, I also recognize that I need to expand my general business knowledge in order to become a more effective leader. I wanted a curriculum that would push me out of my comfort zone and give me a holistic understanding of business management that will prove valuable in the long term.

The second, equally important factor is the vast amount of support and the number of financial resources that HBS has to offer. Business school is an incredible and exciting opportunity, but the reality is that MBA programs cost money. The high sticker price can be a major obstacle for many people, including me. HBS’s need-based aid approach combined with further efforts to increase socioeconomic diversity like the School’s Forward Fellowship—which helps students from lower-income families or with family financial obligations—made the idea of a Harvard MBA more accessible to me. HBS always made me feel comfortable discussing financial concerns with them, and this feeling of belonging and support was a key influence in my decision to enroll.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I have great retail experience from my time with Walgreens, but I became interested in switching over to the brand side in order to get closer to product development and brand strategy. An MBA was the clear transitional vehicle for entering brand and product management. When I researched jobs I was interested in, I found that the majority of people in those roles had an MBA. Additionally, as I advanced in my career, I found myself wanting to improve my general management acumen in order to better understand the “big picture” related to high-level decision-making at a large corporation.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? This was a huge consideration for me. I come from a lower-income family and still have a fair amount of undergraduate debt, so the thought of not having a salary for two years and taking on more debt was, frankly, terrifying. It was easy to get caught up in the short-term financial view of things as I tried to calculate the ROI of the degree, but I eventually came to realize that there is no precise answer because each person’s long-term path is so different. I knew that I would regret not pursuing my MBA, and that knowledge was enough to make me realize the experience would be worth it. There are a tremendous number of intangibles that you can’t put a dollar amount on, including personal development, network, global experiences, and friendships. I do believe that an MBA will end up being financially “worth it” for me, but I also believe that life experiences are equally (if not more) important to consider. My advice to anyone considering an MBA would be to think carefully about things that make you feel happy and fulfilled in your life and career – will an MBA program provide those things or at least help you get on that path? If the answer is yes, then I think it’s worth making an investment in your happiness.

How did you determine your fit at various schools? If you have the means to travel and do campus visits, I highly recommend it. I was not able to travel to most schools until interview days, but those visits painted a much clearer picture for me than any online research could have. Most schools also publish career reports that are useful in understanding which industries and companies hire students from each school.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? I like to think that I am not defined by one moment, but rather a lifelong collection of actions and impact. That being said, I have certainly faced obstacles that have shaped my values and motivations. During my undergraduate years, I worked three jobs while simultaneously maintaining a full-time course load in order to pay my way through school. This was a challenging time, full of financial uncertainty, but I discovered a lot about myself and my work ethic in the process. I learned how to be resourceful, and I learned that a disruptive environment can inspire growth. I became comfortable with the uncomfortable, and that is a mindset that I try to bring with me when approaching any new adventure.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? I have a passion for connecting with people through products, so I’d like to for a company that specializes in creating high-quality, aspirational products or services that make people happy.

Dominic Marrone

Harvard Business School

“Just trying to be better than yesterday’s version and have fun while doing it!”

Hometown: Charlotte, NC

Fun Fact About Yourself: I used the summer before business school as an opportunity to go out of my comfort zone. I traveled alone for a month. Just before my trip, I learned to ride a motorcycle and then rode one in Vietnam and Thailand. I also learned to scuba dive. The most fun is on the other side of your comfort zone!

Undergraduate School and Major: University of South Carolina, Finance

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Amazon, Senior Product Manager

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: As a product manager at Amazon, I led our customer experience (CX) team to add personalization to the smart home customer experience, called “Works with Alexa.” Based on what Alexa device you own, we can tell you whether a given smart home product is compatible or not.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Doers. In just a few months of being connected prior to matriculation, my classmates have organized countless activities and trips, launched podcasts, started businesses, to name a few. These people get things done.

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? Harvard’s emphasis on participation and learning through discussion. From my undergrad experience, the most memorable and useful courses into my career were those where participation and discussion were the focus (versus lectures).

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I’m looking forward to the Tech Club at HBS. I’m excited to hear about others’ experience at companies of all stages and sizes and learn about new opportunities.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? After working for almost six years, the career path at Amazon was clear and well defined to me. It was good, but I’m curious what else is out there. I want to give myself the best opportunity to take my career to the next level. I’m going to HBS because it provides that opportunity.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? It’s impossible to be sure, but I used a few questions to help. Do you value the two years at a given school over two years at your company (or any other immediately attainable job)? Do you think you can markedly improve your trajectory through the opportunities offered at a given school? If yes to both, then it is now up to you to take advantage of the opportunities and make the MBA experience worth it. Healthy pressure.

What other MBA programs did you apply to?

Stanford GSB

Chicago Booth

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I did most of my research online and through my network. I certainly leveraged Poets & Quants, among other websites. Many of my colleagues at Amazon were graduates of the schools I considered, so speaking to them was invaluable in helping me determine which was right for me.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? I don’t have a defining moment. I am who I am because of consistent hard work, thoughtful decision making, self-awareness, and a few strokes of good luck.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? I plan to join the product team of a mid-stage company. I want to be a part of a company’s formative years, where one’s work is central to the ultimate success (or failure) of the product and company.

Where do you see yourself in five years? I see myself dedicated to building a product I believe in.

Daphne Pham

Harvard Business School

“Curious about the world. A bit idealistic. Unapologetically ambitious. Also a self-proclaimed fashionista and skincare expert.”

Hometown: I’m from Hanoi, Vietnam, but I have spent the majority of my adulthood in different parts of the world: Western Massachusetts, New York City, London, Bangkok (Thailand), and Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam).

Fun Fact About Yourself: I have a certificate in wine tasting, even though I am slightly allergic to alcohol.

Undergraduate School and Major: Mount Holyoke College – Bachelor of Arts in economics and mathematics.

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: I started my career in investment banking in New York, advising media and telecom companies. After two years in finance, I went to Bangkok, Thailand, to work for Lazada, one of Southeast Asia’s leading e-commerce companies (ultimately acquired by Alibaba). Then I was recruited as Uber’s first employee in Vietnam. When I left Uber, I was a Senior Operations Manager, leading Uber Vietnam’s national operations team and managing over 150 employees and contractors.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I was at Uber from the first day we launched in Vietnam to the last day, when we sold to our regional competitor (Grab). Therefore, I was able to see both the joys and pains of starting up and scaling up a business, one that faced significant challenges of difficult regulatory battles, frequent press attacks, and hostile incumbents.

To be in the frontline of such a business is not for the faint of heart. I still remember some of our toughest days, when we had to calm our anxious/angry driver partners, who were worried about our legality; persuade our friends and families that the news they read was not entirely true; and, yes, convince ourselves that we were doing the right things. Disruptive innovation is never easy, after all. We also had many problems that were unique to a developing market: extremely low car ownership and a lack of solid payment infrastructure, for example.

To solve those problems, my team and I couldn’t stick to an US-centric playbook; we had to be agile in adapting to the local market’s needs. I led a few major launches that were tailored to our business in Vietnam: cash payment, which helped increase our user base massively, and partnerships with financial institutions to let drivers easily borrow money to buy vehicles (before us, no bank was willing to do so). Those initiatives paid off, helping our business grow to be Uber’s third largest market in Southeast Asia. But in all of this, the achievement I am really most proud of is my journey from being an individual contributor to being a leader, with the accompanying development of my “soft” skills and emotional intelligence as well.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? As I write this, I have not started school yet, so my sample size is rather small. I have met only around 10 of my future classmates, but they have all impressed me with their intellectual curiosity.

They are also very different from each other in terms of backgrounds, work experiences, and perspectives. I guess I have always heard about great diversity at HBS, and my experience so far clearly attests to that claim.

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? Frances Frei, one of HBS’s faculty members, came to Uber in 2017 as SVP of Leadership and Strategy. She organized a corporate training program via HBX, an online learning platform that simulates the case method experience of an HBS classroom. I attended a few sessions and immediately fell in love with the discussions, the energy, the intellectual vitality coming from the best minds sitting in the same room. To me, it is an extraordinary learning experience compared to a traditional lecturing style. I also read quite a lot, and many of my favorite books were written by HBS professors (Nancy Koehn, Bill George, Clayton Christensen), so I’m really excited to learn from them as well.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? It is so easy to have the infamous FOMO at business school. I have browsed through the list of student clubs, and there are so many things I want to do and participate in. However, I am most looking forward to activities at the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship because of my interest in startups and technology. I’m also very interested in the Retail and Luxury Goods Club.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? To be honest, for a long time, I had not seriously considered getting an MBA. In the world of entrepreneurship, the value of an MBA is often underrated. If I want to start something, isn’t it better to just start it rather than to go to school? But after spending a few years at one of the most prominent startups, I became more aware of my shortcomings as a leader. I am not interested in building a 10-employee company, but an organization with lasting impact. To achieve that goal, I need to understand what makes great leaders and great organizations. I hope that the HBS experience will be transformational, helping me gain a deeper understanding of what it takes to run a successful business, grow tremendously as a person, and build a strong lifelong network.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? / Where do you see yourself in five years? I try to keep a very open mind about my future plan after graduation. However, at the moment I can see myself doing my own startup or joining a very early stage one, ideally in Asia.

Bridgette Taylor

Harvard Business School

“Passionate about the retail industry (and shopaholic as well), Netflix junkie, terrible singer.”

Hometown: Darien, Connecticut

Fun Fact About Yourself: I diagnosed my own appendicitis in fourth grade. My doctors originally dismissed my condition as a stomach bug….but as a #Madeline expert, I knew better.

Undergraduate School and Major: Dartmouth College; History modified with Medieval Studies (love me a good Renaissance fair)

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Stuart Weitzman; Manager of Business Strategy and Consumer Insights

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I launched the Consumer Insights division at Stuart Weitzman. Because I view (and still view) customer data as the newfound engine of retail business strategy, I proposed to the CEO that Stuart Weitzman build out a dedicated department. At the time of my proposal, Stuart Weitzman store associates tied accurate customer information to only about 30% of transactions, and any reliable data analysis was virtually impossible. After I had peddled my pitch through an array of presentations and meetings, the CEO gave me the financial resources, the personnel , and a six-month timeline to get it done.

The six-month journey ended with a four-person team, a database of more than 600,000 verifiable customers, and regular weekly customer data reports. Within another six months, the Stuart Weitzman leadership team’s gusto for customer-driven strategy matched my own, and the division became business critical.

Yet perhaps the real accomplishment is that today (and since my departure from the brand), the Consumer Insights group has grown to become much larger than my initial contribution. The team has implemented sophisticated and powerful techniques to analyze and act on customer trends – far outside my knowledge base and basic data understandings. Ironically, I am likely now unqualified to work in the very division that I built.

What quality best describes your MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Curious! I have never met so many people genuinely eager to learn from each other.

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? Harvard has an incredible track record of producing utter game changers in the retail industry (Katrina Lake of Stitch Fix, Jennifer Hyman of Rent the Runway, Marla Beck of Blue Mercury, to name a few). As an aspiring retail leader myself, I can only hope to follow in their footsteps.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? Predictably, I am most excited to join the Luxury Retail Club.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I went all in on customer analytics early in my retail career, and as a result, I feared that I had pigeonholed myself. Because I ultimately aspire to lead a retail company, I need to grasp how a business truly works – across all functions. I want an MBA to help me learn, develop, and refine the many areas of retail I do not currently understand – such as operations, marketing, international business, and corporate finance.

What other MBA programs did you apply to?Enough to thoroughly ruin my Labor Day Weekend.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? As it pertains to my career, my defining moment was during my first year out of college. I was in equity research at a bank, covering the information services industry (i.e., Thomson Reuters, Moody’s, FactSet, etc…. a.k.a. an industry far removed from retail). Nevertheless, I initially felt confident that equity research was where I would start and end my career.

Yet my first four months in, I was miserable. I did not find my coverage space interesting enough to engage me for a 40 hour week, let alone the 90-100 hours I was working. This frustration and unhappiness came to a head one Sunday afternoon. I was in the office (of course), and as a result, my (now ex-) boyfriend had no choice but to visit my building in order to unceremoniously dump me.

That day I asked myself why I had sacrificed this relationship for a job I disliked, and I decided if I was going to work my butt off (which I planned to), I might as well do so for a dream that inspired and excited me. I wasted no time, and within a matter of months, I changed the course of my career. I switched banks, landed a job on the luxury retail equity research team, and ultimately joined the corporate world (first Valentino and then Stuart Weitzman). I have found an industry that fascinates and drives me – and I haven’t looked back since.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? My broken track record response: retail, retail, retail.

Valentina Toll Villagra

Harvard Business School and Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Describe yourself in 15 words or less: Strong-willed, serial planner, caring, soccer fan, devoted volunteer, tech lover, dreamer, dancing enthusiast, challenge seeker

Hometown: Yerba Buena, Tucuman, Argentina

Fun Fact About Yourself: I’m a huge fan of the Argentinean national soccer team and never miss a chance to paint my face light blue and white and go watch them play.

Undergraduate School and Major: Boston University, B.S. in Mechanical Engineering

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Amazon, Startup Project Manager (Operations Engineering, Customer Fulfillment)

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Completing 10 Amazon warehouse openings (from design to operations) totaling over 1.5 million square feet of industrial space in 15 months.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Inspirational. Each person at HBS has a unique story. Every day I’m amazed at the level of commitment people have to making a positive impact in the world. Our first-year sections represent a wide range of professional and personal experiences, and each conversation is a learning opportunity. From private equity to education, I feel like I now understand the perspectives of people coming from industries that seemed so distant to me working in tech. Seeing the world through so many different lenses helps me develop a more comprehensive action plan when it comes to business decisions.

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 would say the case method.

In engineering, I was used to passively sitting in a classroom to absorb the knowledge lectured by professors. I would start to understand in class, then attend discussion sections, and finally do the homework on the topic. It was black and white – you either got the right answer or you didn’t. This was very effective in helping us develop a problem-solving mind set, but in a very exact science. I see business, on the other hand, more like an art where personal judgment plays a huge role. The case method is quite the opposite of what I was used to. A lot of the reading happens while you prepare for class. A lot of the learning happens in class listening to and interacting with other students. It’s a very active learning environment, where all students are engaged and helping advance the conversation with their expertise or personal experiences.

Engineering experiments can be replicated and, under the same environment, would always produce the same result. Business decisions can’t necessarily be applied from one scenario to the next. In line with this, in cases there’s (usually) no right or wrong – just the guidance on what to consider when making the choice that’s right for your particular situation in your particular context.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? Startup Bootcamp! We’ll be taking an extended version of this program during winter break as part of one of the MS/MBA classes (Technology Venture Immersion). The program is like an accelerated incubator that walks you through the steps of starting your own company – from market definition through prototyping to capital funding.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? Having worked in big tech, I wanted to transition into entrepreneurship. I felt an MBA would complement my technical skills with knowledge in important business areas such as finance and marketing. I wanted to learn to have a strategic vision and understand the forces that model the business world. I want to avoid the common mistake among STEM majors of starting a company around a cool technology that nobody is willing to adopt or pay for. I picked the MS/MBA program to deepen my technical skills as well.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? I looked at what I would get out of it inside and outside of the classroom. I considered both the educational experience, through the case method in this case, and the access to other opportunities such as after-class programs, speaker series, and alumni connections among others.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Just HBS

How did you determine your fit at various schools? HBS was my only choice. I did my undergraduate degree in Boston and while here toured HBS and participated in a class visit. I connected with the Women’s Student Association (WSA) through the admissions office and came on campus for a small group lunch, where I had the chance to talk to current students and get their perspective on the experience.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? When I was 18, I made the final round of a Junior Achievement (nonprofit organization) competition in my home country, Argentina. It was an on-stage debate after a week of activities around entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and work readiness. I was standing with four other candidates in front of an audience of around 650 people. And I didn’t feel I was doing particularly well. Right before the end, the judges asked if anyone had anything else to say. Despite being nervous, tired, and honestly scared of what people would say, I decided to raise my hand and address a previous question I felt wasn’t answered in a way that represented my point of view. That answered helped me placefirst, leading me to a series of subsequent competitions, programs, and events that opened up an incredible number of opportunities. Fast forward seven years from that split second when I made the decision to take a chance and speak, and I enrolled at HBS.

I’m not sure how it shaped who I am, but it definitely shaped how my life turned out. Since then, when in doubt, I just take a deep breath and go for it.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? I’d like to transition into entrepreneurship or join a very early stage tech startup. I enjoy working in projects with a broad scope, where I can do very different things depending on the day. I like not having a set routine, and, interestingly enough, I love chaos. I find it exciting and motivational, giving me a reason to work hard.

Monday, November 12, 2018

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

Yazeed Al-Rashed

Amy Hernandez Turcios

Nicole Koski

Dominic Marrone

Daphne Pham

Bridgette Taylor

Valentina Toll Villagra

Harvard Business School and Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

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