Grant Soll

London Business School

“Proud South African and ex-consultant with a habit of saying yes to big challenges.”

Hometown: Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

Fun Fact About Yourself: I produced dubstep at the height of my high school awkward phase, and now it forever haunts me on Spotify, Apple Music or wherever you stream your music.

Undergraduate School and Major:

• Undergraduate: BSc Eng Chemical Engineering; University of Cape Town
• Graduate: Master of Management; University of British Columbia

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Kearney – Management Consultant (Associate)

What makes London such a great place to earn an MBA degree? London is fast-moving, culturally-rich and alive with energy – ambition certainly feels matched by opportunity here. Beyond the professional upside, it’s also incredibly social. You’re constantly meeting new people and doing interesting things, which is an important part of making one’s journey not only exciting, but inspiring. For me, wanting to focus my MBA on building a wellness-focused venture, the city’s active lifestyle, strong investment ecosystem and creative edge also makes it an ideal launchpad.

Aside from your classmates and location, what was the key part of London Business School’s MBA curriculum and programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? For me, the key element was the efficiency, focus, and effectiveness of LBS’s One-Year MBA program. Having already completed a Master of Management and with a clear vision for my career, it was important to build strategically on my existing knowledge in a way that was both time and cost effective. The One-Year MBA enables me to do exactly that by allowing me to shape much of my curriculum around electives that directly support my career goals (in my case entrepreneurship) rather than revisiting broad foundational subjects I have already covered.

London Business School is one of the most culturally and professionally diverse MBA programs in the world. What will make you unique in this class and how will it enrich the experience of your classmates? What makes me unique isn’t just the professional path I’ve followed, but the way I’ve thrown myself into challenges that stretch far beyond the workplace – like rowing across the Atlantic Ocean or attempting to bike-pack across the Andes. I believe above any lessons from consulting (or working globally across Africa, the Middle East and the Americas), it is my deep appreciation for discomfort as a driver of growth that I hope to bring to the classroom.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at London Business School? I am most excited about the Individual Agency and Entrepreneurship course as I believe it will challenge my thinking around leadership and value creation. The course focuses on understanding and leveraging personal strengths, delineating when to lead and when to elevate others – which certainly aligns with how I want to grow as a leader. At the same time, the emphasis on activating an entrepreneurial mindset and embracing counter-conventional approaches will help me think more creatively and intentionally as I build ventures. I believe it will be the kind of course that not only sharpens one’s self-awareness but also expands on what you believe is possible.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: One of my greatest career accomplishments was helping a South African energy organization craft a strategic response to navigating the country’s ongoing energy crisis. As a consultant at Kearney, I had worked closely with the client and was given the opportunity to co-develop and facilitate a series of high-stakes workshops with executive leadership across multiple subsidiaries. The net outcome of this work was a roadmap toward increased energy security for South Africa. I reflect fondly on the experience as it gave me a rare sense of contributing meaningfully to a problem that directly affects each and every South African.

Tell us your favorite memory: The first one that always jumps to mind was crossing the finish line of my trans-Atlantic row with three of my best friends. After finishing our undergraduate degrees, my friends and I (Team MAD4Waves) rowed unassisted 5,500km across the Atlantic Ocean, from La Gomera, one of the Canary Islands, to the Caribbean, in a 9m rowing vessel. We rowed two-hours on, two-hours off, non-stop, day and night, for 39 days, 8 hours and 43 minutes. After many hard weeks of rowing, high seas and lack of sleep, we arrived in Antigua to the sight of our families, the sound of super-yacht horns and the feeling of accomplishing something truly special together – that’s a feeling I’ll never loose and is something that perpetually drives me forward in all that I do.

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into London Business School’s MBA program? Focus on the unique lessons your own journey has taught you – and how they can be used to uplift those around you. The real value of an MBA lies in the people, so if you can clearly show how you, and only you, can contribute to that collective experience in a unique way, that’s powerful.

DON’T MISS: MEET LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL’S MBA CLASS OF 2027

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