Category Archives: Alumni Perspectives

Olga Athanasiadou: Moving from private to public sector

When the European debt crisis hit Greece, our Global MBA Alumna Olga Athanasiadou decided to switch sectors and  made a decision to move into the “not so fancy” public sector in search of stability.  In an environment that is driven by the quality of service rather than profit, Olga found new opportunities to improve her personal and professional life-which resulted in her coming to IE to pursue a Global MBA degree.

Olga defines herself as a “hot and cold” mix-as she is half Russian and half Greek. She is a great example of a strong female, having fought and won against cancer while still in school.

Combining her private sector expertise with a public one, Olga is a great ambassador to both worlds and believes that the effort to make the working place a more gender-equal one should come from both sexes.

We hope that you enjoy reading our interview with Olga and get inspired to take the plunge when you need a change!

Daniela Seixas: How six months can change everything

It’s amazing how simple decisions can lead to great things.

When the European debt crisis hit Portugal, our Executive MBA Alumna Daniela Seixas started her program at IE with the intention of taking a healthcare module for 6 months that could not take place given a lack of students. What she ended up taking instead was the entrepreneurial track, where she met classmates that formed the brains behind a great idea.

Fast forward a few years and now she’s the CEO of Tonic App, a mobile app for professional communication and content in healthcare. “From the doctor’s mobile phone to the patient’s bedside“-this was how the app created “by doctors for doctors” was highlighted by the Portuguese press a few weeks ago.

A doctor of medicine by training, Daniela is the perfect combination of science and entrepreneurship-where she was recognized as a “natural entrepreneur” by her professors at IE.

Aside from being an active entrepreneur, Daniela is an affiliate professor, consultant in several medical associations and has been working with the European Commission as an independent expert.

Acknowledging the fact that the most common challenge for a woman in the workforce is to be often underestimated, she now uses this in her advantage-a recommendation that she shares with all of us.

We hope that you enjoy reading our interview with Daniela and get inspired to take more risks!

Reine Mbang Essobmadje: The Entrepreneur’s Alphabet

It’s not every day that you encounter an actual alphabet for entrepreneurs where each letter stands for one useful recommendation-unless you have the opportunity to interview our Global Executive MBA Alumna Reine Mbang Essobmadje. 

Aside from providing a unique view into the life of an entrepreneur, Reine is the founder of Evolving Consulting,a digital consultancy company based in Cameroon and in France that provides consultancy, coding, strategy and marketing services in many projects within the ICT value chain in Europe as well as in Africa.

Reine identifies herself as both European and African and has been also actively working with scientific and women-specific organizations throughout the globe. She is one of the ambassadors of Women in Africa Initiative, a global think-thank promoting the economic development and support of high potential African Women. While active in many transversal fields of action, she also maintains a special focus on youth and women entrepreneurship, workforce diversity, and women in STEM.

As you can already observe, her plate is pretty full. However, she did take some time to share her story with us, and we hope that you enjoy reading about Reine’s inspiring story and her useful insights for other women in the workforce.

María Escuer: Developing a new way of recruiting, retaining and assisting leaders

At IE, we pride ourselves on having an international and diverse Alumni Community, where there are many inspiring stories of professional and personal journeys to be told. Women, of course, is a big part of that community, providing a vivid image on how to thrive in professional and personal life.

This week we have interviewed our Executive MBA Alumna María Escuer, the Founder of Leadem, an innovative company created to develop a new way of recruiting and retaining talent. The Leadem Method uses a specific approach to retaining talent which consists on the 3 different values of the candidate: professional, personal and societal values; what is called a Leadem Triangle.

María’s story includes several countries stretching from Spain to Algeria, involves making decisions that your mother might not always approve (like resigning your job at the European Union), taking bold steps in your life (like moving to a foreign country with kids and starting a new professional community), not having fear for having variations in your bank account as an entrepreneur and how sometimes we need to take a step back to re-evaluate.

We hope that you enjoy reading about María’s inspiring story and her useful insights for other women in the workforce.