From Science to Strategy: A Working Mother's Journey to Executive MBA at Columbia

I am thrilled to announce that I have completed my Executive MBA program at Columbia Business School. Seeing all the photos, reading reflections from my friends in the program, and having my weekends back for the last couple of weeks finally made the graduation feel real. Inspired by my fellow EMBAs, I wanted to document this experience and reflect on this exhilarating learning journey. I also wanted to share my thoughts here with people who asked me why I wanted to do it and how I managed it, especially those prospective students and scientists or working parents like me considering whether to pursue an MBA.

Why MBA? It’s Personal.

The graduation ceremony took place on Mother's Day weekend, making it a special celebration for my entire family. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to show them the place where I had such a transformative journey.

My 7-year-old son, Ray, was very excited to come with us. He was curious to see where I spent every Saturday for the last two years. He kept asking, "Mommy, I want to see your classroom; where do you sit? Where do you have recess, and where do you have snacks? Who's your teacher, and who are your friends?" As a mom, I want to show him the importance of continued learning, self-improvement, and the fun of doing it.

The celebration was also very special for my parents, especially my dad. Going to college was an unattainable dream for him, let alone coming to the US and receiving graduate degrees from top programs, including an MBA from an Ivy League school. They have worked hard and made a success of themselves. Yet, they also learned firsthand the limitations of not having a proper higher education. With all they could, they devoted themselves to giving me a better life and a platform to pursue my dreams. This was the third time they had the chance to wear a regalia. It can’t get any better than seeing their proud faces as if they had earned their degrees.

Pursuing this MBA degree was more than just an academic endeavor. It was a transformative journey of self-discovery, a catalyst for personal reinvention and growth, and a pathway to build my unique competitive edge as a connector across different disciplines to drive business successes.

The Humbling and Fulfilling Journey

As glamorous as it sounds to receive an MBA from the top business program at an Ivy League school with Dean’s Honors, it was quite a humbling experience. On the first day of orientation, I found myself surrounded by elite professionals and executives from prestigious banks, investment and consulting firms, and tech/healthcare giants who exuded confidence and spoke fluently about VC, PE, multiples, and hurdle rates; I felt like the dumbest person in the room.

Growth Mindset

That moment of vulnerability sparked my determination to embrace the new knowledge. I thought to myself that I would get the biggest bang for the buck because I knew nothing about it. I found inspiration in the first Leadership and Organizational Change lecture, in which Professor Paul Ingram taught us about the growth mindset. I quickly adopted this mindset, put my ego aside, and pushed myself hard to choose classes that would challenge me and bring me skills and knowledge I did not already have.

With each passing class, I gradually gained fluency in the language of business: Accounting principles that once seemed like a foreign tongue became intuitive, and financial modeling transformed from a daunting task into an insightful tool to assess business opportunities and performance. I jotted down the following notes in my journal after class. Looking back, I can attest that it depicts the experience accurately.

Prioritization

It was a humbling experience also because, unlike my previous academic pursuits as a student, I had to balance multiple roles this time. The challenges women face in advancing their professional growth resonated with me more strongly than ever before. I began the program when my younger son, Jayden, was only 6 months old and still breastfeeding. For the first two terms, I had to sneak out in the middle of class to pump while watching the live recordings to ensure I didn't miss essential concepts of the core courses. It was not easy to commute to school every Saturday from 6 am and return home around 11 pm after classes and activities. Sundays and weeknights were practically a continuation of school, filled with homework, readings, and group projects. Any additional free time would be spent trying to be a decent mother to my kids.

There were moments when I asked myself why I was doing this to myself, but this is also the year I grew the most in honing my prioritization and time management skills. The concept of opportunity cost helped me get through, forcing me to focus on what matters most in my work, academic, and personal life. The idea of opportunity cost is simple but profound: the time (or money) you invest in one thing can be invested in another. The value of the things you did not focus on is the opportunity cost you have to pay. So, I’d better focus on activities that generate more value, whether monetary, impact, or fulfillment.

As a result, I became super conscientious about time (mine and others). In projects I lead, I have a heightened urgency to identify solutions so the team does not waste unnecessary resources running in circles. By prioritizing the most impactful actions in every role I was involved in, I could maximize my MBA learning while being a mother, managing a big team, and even taking on a super enriching short-term stretch role in the marketing team.

Lean on Others

Of course, a growth mindset and prioritization skills alone would not be enough. I have been incredibly blessed to have a strong support system at home—my parents, mother-in-law, husband, and kids. Their understanding and unwavering support over these past two years made it possible for me to pursue this endeavor.

It’s a challenging program, but I'm not alone in this pursuit. I draw inspiration from my classmates, including those who have enormous work demands, those who traveled from Florida, Texas, Virginia, or Philadelphia for the last two years, those who had newborn babies in the middle of the program, those who don’t have nearby parents to help, and those who are battling health challenges. They have all given me so much strength. If these brilliant and established individuals keep pushing themselves, what’s my excuse not to?

I also have a terrific learning team to lean on (shoutout to Ananya Agrawal , Nick Canan, MBA , Robert Dunphy , William Catucci , Elijah Heyward III, PhD ). The support of my learning team was invaluable, providing a safe place where I could ask questions, challenge assumptions, and refine my understanding. Through many high-quality group projects, I see the value everyone’s unique background brings in solving business problems; I also realized that I don’t have to be a know-it-all. Instead, knowing how to collaborate with others and leverage each other’s expertise is paramount, and speaking cross-disciplinary “languages” is a superpower.

Applying this at work, I saw how properly delegating and leveraging individual talents and expertise could enhance business impact, efficiency, and team morale. This helped break down bureaucracy and made the team members feel empowered and valued.

I also learned to be vulnerable and lean on my new and old friends and mentors. They generously shared their insights and wisdom or connected me to the right people, whether I wanted to discuss challenges in work and life or have questions on a subject I didn’t know. I feel I’m unstoppable because of these incredible people—I know I’m surrounded by wiser people who will be there for me in whatever future endeavors I embark on.

MBA: To Be or Not to Be?

Many years ago, one of my mentors told me that an MBA wouldn’t guarantee promotion or a higher-paying job, so I should not do it for the sake of doing it. This enlightening conversation made my MBA pursuit more purposeful. I went into the program to upskill, push myself, and reinvent myself – and I achieved all that I wanted and more.

Do you need an MBA to be successful? No. However, the knowledge, network, self-discovery (of knowing my values and how I want to define my success), skills, and confidence (that I can learn anything I set my mind to) will take me far and where I want to go.

Do you need an MBA to be successful? No. But to my fellow scientists and engineers, I urge you to find resources to learn about the various concepts and tools of business. I see the power of diverse thinking and our unique perspectives in numerous project discussions and personal interactions. We don’t have to be the fastest in using Excel to build financial models. However, combining our unique perspectives with business savviness will help translate innovation to business value, break down silos, and help the organization make sound business decisions.

To my fellow scientists and engineers who are ahead of the game and have already mastered the business concepts, I challenge you to show the ropes to others, champion innovation in the language of business value creation, and teach future generations of innovators to be armed with business knowledge. With or without an MBA, we all know too well that a business's growth lies in innovation.

What’s Next?

I’m eager to practice and hone these newly gained skills in the next challenges I embark on. If anyone is equally passionate about value creation (through innovation, operation efficiency, strategy formulation, or building high-performance teams), I’d love to connect and bounce ideas off!

With the weekends back, I want to let loose the serious me and let out the fun me. You will find me playing with my two boys on the beach and in the park or reading them stories (before Jayden also gains literacy—they are growing up too fast!). I also want to learn to play tennis and finish reading the long lists of books recommended by my professors and friends.

Finally, with all the time I have on my hands, I also want to find ways to give back, perhaps through teaching, mentoring, or volunteering. If you have any suggestions or think I can be of any help in any way, please don't hesitate to reach out!

What’s next? Onwards and upwards!