Meet The MBA Class Of 2021: Santiago Restrepo, IMD Business School

Santiago Restrepo

IMD Business School

 “International individual: Lived in eight countries, studied in four and worked in four, in different languages.”

Hometown: Lisbon, Portugal

Fun Fact About Yourself: Almost went professional in football.

Undergraduate School and Major: Bentley University, Boston / Major in Economics and Finance and Minor in Marketing

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Roland Berger, Senior Consultant, Brazil.

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? It has been the ability to interact and get to know everyone in the class and create strong lasting relationships. Especially when you have a very diverse group with over 40 different nationalities, you get the opportunity to learn things every day.

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? It was the quality of the professors and the versatility of the courses with regards to real life application and not simply theory.

What has been favorite tradition or event at IMD? The IMD MBAT, as I personally enjoy and truly believe that team building is best done through sports activities and challenges.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: It was my last project at Roland Berger, as an acting manager, where I was able to go above-and-beyond my roles and successfully delivered above expectation results. We were in charge of designing and executing the integration of seven banking services companies of a cooperative system in Brazil; we were able to reduce our clients’ costs by $10m+.

Describe your biggest accomplishment at IMD so far: Thus far, my biggest accomplishment at IMD has been my personal growth, both as an individual and as a future leader. I believe something which I have improved a lot is the ability to work with individuals with completely different backgrounds to mine. Another achievement has been the relationships I have built with my peers, forming ties that will most definitely last forever.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I had always wanted to pursue an MBA, and last year, given the circumstances with the COVID pandemic, I felt that it was the right moment. I knew that an MBA would better prepare me for the career I wanted to pursue, and most importantly help me to become a better and stronger leader.

What has been your best memory at IMD thus far? It is very difficult to select one specific memory thus far. I feel this MBA class has given me many very good memories that I will treasurer for the rest of my life. From in-class exercises to social events, it has been a hell of ride and I can’t wait for what we still have ahead of us.

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

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