Caroline Burrus

IMD Business School

“Woman with super-charged batteries, who aims to connect the dots between people, causes and projects.”

Hometown: Lausanne, Switzerland

Fun Fact About Yourself: As a life challenger who enjoys pushing the boundaries, I get excited by everything and am always juggling sports, adventures and multiple jobs at the same time. Rest days? Never heard about those.

Undergraduate School and Major: EHL, École Hôtelière de Lausanne, Bachelor in Hospitality Management

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Project Manager and Board Member at Groupe Burrus, Switzerland

IMD classes have been dubbed the “Mighty 90” for their talent and versatility. What has been the best part of being in a small class with this group of classmates? Not one person is similar; there are so many things to learn from everybody due to the variety of backgrounds, industries, jobs and life experiences. The best part is going beyond everyone’s pitch and discovering the key driver behind the different steps of their career.

Aside from classmates, what part of IMD’s MBA programming led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? I chose IMD for its Leadership stream. For me, it was the most important element as I am shaping myself to be the future leader of our family group. I can get hard skills from any school or program, but IMD’s strength lies in the fact that you are constantly working on self-exploration and awareness of who you are and how your life experiences have – and will – shape you and your career.

What has been favorite tradition or event at IMD? My favorite event has become the weekly Thursday Drinks discovering bars in Lausanne. It is the one time of the week where we know that we’ll meet everybody. At first, with the pandemic, we were forced to mingle in small groups, which hindered our ability to have deeper conversations with everyone. Now, on Thursdays, we get out of the serious IMD bubble and discover more about classmates we haven’t had the chance to talk to before. People feel confident in the class and are willing to share. I particularly love my A-Ha! moments, when I finally get to understand a person a little better and can connect the dots between who he/she is, what he/she’s been through, and where he/she wants to go.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: While I was working for the Virgin Group very early in my career, I had the chance to meet Board Members of various companies to advise them on Health and Wellbeing SaaS solutions to implement. I always wondered when I would be able to step into such big shoes. Hence, my biggest accomplishment is to realize that in just six years I’ve inversed the roles and am now the youngest woman contributing to our family business’ boards.

Describe your biggest accomplishment at IMD so far: Getting accepted in the program! No – jokes apart, I’ve always felt that I had too much of a generalist background and wanted to become an expert in something. One of my biggest accomplishments is to realize that I have a strong enough base to successfully tackle any subject that gets thrown at us.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? After three years in the corporate world at the Virgin Group and three years in the family business in insurance brokerage, I was considering how to further shape my career within the family business, with the aim to maybe take over some part of it. For me an MBA was crucial to widen my perspectives and better assess my skills and how they may contribute to the business’ growth in the near future.

What has been your best memory at IMD thus far? My best memory is from the Welcome dinner the very first week. I had put a lot of pressure on myself to come to such a prestigious school, but during this dinner I met incredible classmates who made me realize that we are all in this together with our weaknesses, our vulnerabilities and our willingness to improve and support each other. For me, this dinner and the people I met shaped my whole IMD experience as I accepted to let go of my armor and show my true self and my vulnerabilities so that I could best tackle them with the help of great people.

DON’T MISS: MEET IMD’S MBA CLASS OF 2021