MBA Alumni Profile: Hye-Min Seo, INSEAD

Hye-Min Seo’s Executive MBA has been a ticket for travel. Based in Thailand, the INSEAD alumna is responsible for all marketing aspects of the world’s largest skin care company, NIVEA, in South East Asian countries. "My role sees me involved in marketing strategy, communication development and execution, and my workplaces include Korea, Germany, Japan and Thailand," she says. "The EMBA degree has enabled me to move around the world."

An experienced brand manager, Hye-Min started her career at Amore Pacific Company in Korea. After three years she joined NIVEA Seoul Ltd., before moving to the company’s headquarters in Germany, where she became the first Asian senior international brand manager. Yet, Hye-Min still found value in the Executive MBA.

"I wanted to enhance my skills to better deal with complex business skills in a broader perspective," she explains. "I knew the EMBA would provide me with a lot of opportunities to experience many business cases in a short period; otherwise I would have had to go through many trials and errors in real life, which would have taken a long time."

That application occurred instantly. "The Executive MBA had an impact on my career from day one," Hye-Min says. "Just the fact that I was doing an EMBA in parallel with my job was proof of how dedicated I was to my job, and it was also helpful to move up the ladder within the organization."

Not only was Hye-Min juggling work and study, but home life as well. "Full support from family members is essential," she says. "I always tried to keep my husband updated on everything about the program, so he could have full insight and understanding, without feeling left alone. It was very good that my husband thought the EMBA degree would not only enrich my career, but eventually daily family life as well."

But it seems her EMBA experience had just as much impact on Hye-Min’s husband. "After receiving my degree, I encouraged my husband to pursue an Executive MBA and he has just graduated from INSEAD and Tsinghua University."