Meet IMD Business School’s Distinguished Alumni: Stephanie Hurry

Stephanie Hurry

Class / Grad Year: IMD’s MBA Class of 2020

Current Employer / Role: Head of Institutional Sales at Crypto Finance AG (Deutsche Börse subsidiary). I joined the company in a Business Development role (around employee number 55), progressed to leading the sales team and participated in the company’s transformation – doubling employ numbers, obtaining a FINMA Securities Firm license and being acquired by Deutsche Börse.

Best memory at school: Definitely, working on group projects (our start-up project, innovation week, international consulting project etc.). It’s difficult to pick one specific memory but I built strong friendships, learnt to ‘put the fish on the table’ and shared tears of joy and frustration. These experiences helped me improve my communication skills and to bring an authentic version of myself into my current role as a team leader.

Biggest achievement at school: Winning the Welsh Award – because of what the award represents (kindness, moral force of character, leadership and academic strength) but more so because I was selected by my peers who I believe exhibit these characteristics in abundance. This gave me the confidence to pursue advancements in my career and make significant life changes post the MBA.

Your advice to incoming first-years: Use your MBA year as an opportunity to experiment and get feedback in order to improve yourself and discover what you want. Enjoy the escape from your careers – but don’t forget that is still part of your ‘real’ life. I managed to make the triple jump post MBA, changing my function, industry and geography. There were trade-offs of course, but taking the time to work out what I wanted helped me position myself well and was definitely worth the effort!

Where do you currently live? Zurich, Switzerland.

Fun fact about you: I am a marathon runner (again)! After a 4-year break from marathon and ultra-marathon running due to a stress fracture (I was a bit of an addict), I made my come back at the Zurich Marathon in 2023.

Why did you choose your school? I chose IMD for the leadership and personal growth focus, and the class demographics (small class size combined with mature students with diverse backgrounds). The time at IMD helped me develop areas that I needed for my post MBA journey.

What student organizations did you join? I was on the Sports Committee (of course).

Favorite trait in others: On the whole, IMD students and alumni have humility and a sense humor that I really appreciate. I realized that the people I work with and organizational culture are very important to me – these were key factors for me in selecting my current company.

One thing you would’ve changed in the MBA experience: COVID-19 lock-downs. Although IMD really did a fantastic job given the circumstances, and I believe Switzerland was a good place to be, I don’t think many people would have chosen to do an MBA during the COVID-19 pandemic. Being a ‘COVID MBA’ I had all of my interviews virtually and managed to find an opportunity in Zurich by networking extensively online.

Favorite class? Leadership with Prof. Jennifer Jordan. Many of the insights and experiences in the course really resonated with me. I try to keep these lessons in mind, as I believe they are directly applicable in the work place.

One secret to success: Living in the moment and trusting the process.

What is your biggest regret? Stressing too much about things that I couldn’t control. 2020 was a stressful time for many people, but in the end things did work out well for me personally and professionally (even if not in the way I expected).

What is the next thing you’re going to do on your bucket list? Learn to speak German (and maybe one day understand Swiss German too)! I have begun to think of my career on a broader scale and I believe speaking German will open up more opportunities for me.

For more information on IMD Business School, visit the website here.