Seval Isik

IE Business School

“Curious, engineer who never been a real one, travel addict, blogger, coffee lover, dancer, kite-surfer, good listener, and charming.”

Hometown: Istanbul, Turkey

Fun Fact About Yourself:  I’m a careless risk taker, meaning that I don’t care about stuff, which I should care for most of the time. I was once interrogated by the police department of Georgia for the possibility of terrorist attack because I was tired of carrying my luggage and just wanted to get rid of it for couple of hours and came up with a brilliant idea to hide it in the most central hotel’s lobby although I wasn’t staying there and the luggage was thought as a bomb package because video recs showed that the suspicious girl (myself in that case) just left a pink luggage and went away without telling anybody from the staff. The fun (or sad) part is that, if it happens again, I’d do the same.

Undergraduate School and Major: Koc University – Industrial Engineer

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Döhler – Head of Sourcing for TIP Region (Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Levant Area)

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I have created a new business unit within the company and built my own team under sourcing roof, created turnover of additional 2 million € YTD.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? They are all highly motivated to get the most out of every minute spent through the program. Not only in class, but also in Madrid in general. They are very open to share and urge to learn from each other which also make it different than other top MBAs around 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? To be honest, it was a scholarship program between IE and a local institution in my country that triggered me towards IE at the beginning. But after seriously thinking about getting an MBA degree, I’ve decided to make it at IE simply because of:

DIVERSE POPULATION @ IE and TAPAS & SANGRIAs of Spain!

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I’m a Latin dancer, so probably any kind of dancing activities will be my first focus. I like learning and developing my professional skills while I’m having fun, so anything that will work in that purpose will be in my radar.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? Change, experience, development and fun are the key things in my life. I think having MBA at IE in Madrid will give me all I need!

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? In my recent role, I was managing a team and a function, so I was part of managerial discussions and decision-making process in the company. Therefore, I wanted to review the theoretical knowledge as well as hear out other practices from around the world. And I believe, investing in good food, good wine and lots of experience can never be a bad investment at all!

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Nothing! One is bigger than many, in most cases of our complex time.

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I knew from Day Zero that I would fit in Spanish culture and diverse environment of IE because I’m an extravert person, love music, dancing, and socializing with people, and am so curious and hungry to learn constantly. After a short research on the program itself, I knew that it was just right for me.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? Three years ago, I had a two-week visit to Brazil and the whole trip was itself the moment that I started to know about myself, my desires, my passions, and the road that I would follow to simply be happy. Since then, I’m following what my heart says and not paying too much attention on what I lack or what are the constraints and all the BUTs. Rather I lay it over time and see what life brings me as long as I follow a dream.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? I want to go back to the same company with an MBA package to accomplish more things and to contribute to the aggressive growth which has been in place and I’m proud of being part of it.

Where do you see yourself in five years? I don’t like answering that question because simply we never know what life brings us whatever plans we make. But one thing I’m very sure of it is that I’ll be going after my dreams as I always do!