Yukari Hayasaka and Costantino Carli are two of the IMD MBA Merit Scholarship winners who will be joining the 2021 program in January.

Yukari Hayasaka, Japan/Hong Kong

Hello from Kobe Japan, where the famous mouthwatering ‘Kobe Beef’ comes from 🙂

I was born in Hong Kong, grew up in Japan, and as I child, I used to spend a lot of time in Australia . My passion is cooking, food, tea, wine and chocolates … so Switzerland is a great place to be in !

Preparing dinner for my family is always the best moment

Currently, I have entered my 8th year working in the marketing field with Nestle. From the time I entered my company, my goal was always to make an impact in the QOL of people; being a marketer, introducing new products and services to consumers, being a manager, promoting diversity and new flexible working style in my team.

Last year I attended a training course in Switzerland with 30 people from all over the world. The results were very far from what I would have expected from a team consisting of the same nationalities. This triggered my inspiration towards a more international career, where I could achieve bigger and bolder impacts on people’s lives. Acquiring an MBA overseas was the first step to my newly established aspiration.

After some research, I quickly set my heart on IMD. IMD’s selective number of participants and interactive classes was one of a kind, and amid the outbreak of COVID-19, their swift actions in handling the situation was a strong display of leadership skills.

I enjoyed every step of the application process (except maybe taking the GMAT!), and the people I encountered. The assessment day made me think about my communication style and how I could improve. I am very excited to start my actual experience in January. This will be the first time in my life I move abroad alone. I have to admit I feel slightly nervous, but at the same time cannot wait to meet new people and encounter a new experience 🙂

Costantino Carli, Italy

Throughout my life, other than my family, change has been the only intelligible constant, and with it the necessity of learning the strength of adaptation.

First from Italy to Belgium, then to the exotic and diverse India, I’ve been on the move ever since; it started in the passenger seat because of my father’s career but then I perceived that nomadic life had become who I was.

Ten years, four continents and twenty or more moves later (haven’t noticed any improvement here as I still manage to lose tons of stuff when moving), the major lesson learned is that change, and it’s secondary consequence, adaptation, is what can be considered life’s main drive.

Change allows us to re-construct ourselves, identifying what our priorities, assets and shortcomings are, forcing us into self-reflection and innovation. This process mirrors every aspect of life, such as businesses and the economy.

Freediving ascent in Honduras

Working in the healthcare industry as a business and market analyst, I have learned that the current economy is as everchanging and unforeseeable as ever, rewarding those who can adapt the quickest to its transformations.

For this reason, I believe that an MBA at IMD, with its carefully tailored and future-oriented program, can offer the right set of skills and tools to navigate and transform the intrinsic hardships that accompany change into opportunities.

I am grateful to IMD for supporting my goals through a Merit Scholarship, and when meeting my fellow classmates, I couldn’t help but be impressed by everyone’s accomplishments and brightness. I’ve also been impressed about how available the IMD team has been throughout the relocating process and how supportive, with their dedicated program, they’ve been to my partner, Noemie, who will be accompanying me in Lausanne during this intense and enriching year.

Flying class with Noemie over the châteaux of the Loire Valley in France

Costantino

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