Leti Valle

Harvard Business School

“I’m an HBS first-year student, originally from Madrid, Spain, but have spent most of my life living abroad in New York, Dubai, LA and most recently, Miami where I worked at McKinsey & Company.”

Hometown: Madrid, Spain

Fun Fact About Yourself: I’ve walked more than 100,000 steps in one day (voluntarily!).

Undergraduate School and Major: University of California, Los Angeles (Business Economics)

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: McKinsey & Company – Senior Business Analyst and Chief of Staff to North America Chairman

What makes the case method so attractive as a means to learn and become a better manager? You get to put yourself in the shoes of the case protagonists and strengthen the critical thinking in real time with your classmates and professors. There’s no better learning!

Aside from your classmates and cases, what was the key part of Harvard Business School’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? It was the opportunity to study at a world-renowned institution with over 100 years of developing our world’s leaders. The incredible exposure to resources such as our Career and Professional Development (CPD), alumni network, and even our FIELD capstone – there’s no better place than HBS for an MBA.

What course, club, or activity excites you the most at Harvard Business School? The FIELD capstone program, which takes place the last week of your RC year, is what excites me the most. With a group of 10-12 other MBA students, I will get to go to a foreign country and apply the principles and lessons learned in my first year to a real-world problem. Taking those learnings from the classroom to the real world, especially abroad, is truly invaluable and a unique offering HBS affords its students.

When you think of Harvard Business School, what is the first word that comes to mind? Why? Timeless – Harvard Business School stands as a timeless institution, shaping global leaders through its enduring commitment to excellence, innovation, and transformative education. I am fortunate to be at this incredible program.

Looking at your recruitment, what was the moment when you realized Harvard Business School was the right program for you? Why? From the beginning to end of the recruitment journey, HBS offered the most personal and authentic experience – connecting me with several alumni who had similar backgrounds to me and offering a genuine interview experience that went beyond what was written in my application.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: In 2024, I developed a new-joiner training program for new McKinsey Business Analysts and Associates called “how to be a Baller BA.” This training was piloted in North America across our 25 offices and has since been rolled out to other offices, such as London, Portugal, Spain. I also codified the learnings into a McKinsey Op-Ed which was published in early 2025 and distributed to our 40,000 colleagues.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far? Just like in business, life has its tradeoffs. With so many opportunities and events going on at once on our HBS campus, it’s hard to be in a million places at once. My biggest accomplishment so far is learning to prioritize those experiences that will fulfill me the most and contribute to my personal and professional development in Cambridge.

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into Harvard Business School’s MBA program?  Define the person and leader you want to become and uncover what aspects of the Harvard Business School program will be able to support your development. And, most importantly, be authentic throughout the entire application process – Harvard will want you for who you are as a person…a person who will become a future leader.

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

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