“How do you do it all?”
That’s a question Yalda Riahi (Executive MBA ‘22) hears often.
Yalda Riahi (Executive MBA ‘22)
Between her career in law, raising two young children, serving on company boards and making time for hobbies, it might seem like an impossible feat to add a master’s program to the mix.
“The answer is that my career and life are very much like a pizza — if I get busy, I take out one of those slices to make room for something else,” says Riahi. She adds that her only non-negotiables are her kids. Throughout her career, she has adjusted her hours to make time for them.
In 2020, when Riahi embraced an opportunity to be the interim vice-president of human resources at her workplace, Mircom, she knew it was time to rearrange the pizza slices again.
"I wanted to do it right and prepare myself if I was going to be a VP of human resources. I always found myself in business environments — even as a general counsel at Mircom — and I figured it's time to double down and invest in myself,” she says. Shortly after, Riahi enrolled in the One-Year Executive MBA program, continuing her full-time role and pausing some of her board work and hobbies to make space.
“The program is a long-term investment. Know that there's a life-long network that comes with it.”
—Yalda Riahi, Executive MBA ‘21
Gaining fresh business perspectives
From courses in people and strategy, negotiation and crisis leadership; to personalized leadership coaching and presenting a business case to a panel of investors, Riahi says the program was thoughtfully designed from start to finish.
“I learned so much during this program that I almost don’t remember what I didn’t know,” says Riahi, who graduated as valedictorian. “In a year that could have been extremely isolating, I had a group of like-minded people who were witty, hard-working and who challenged me.”
Riahi says it’s her approach to strategy and negotiation that transformed the most.
"Sitting at the executive table as part of a senior leadership team, it was invaluable learning to talk to people about strategy in an approachable way,” she says, recalling Prof. Jim Fisher’s course on putting strategy into perspective.
Outside of her legal career, Riahi channels her passion for healthcare through board work. She currently sits on the board for the Mackenzie Health Foundation, ventureLAB, Toronto Montessori Schools and Canadian Plasma Resources, a pharmaceutical company her family co-founded when they immigrated to Canada from Iran.
“I now have such a different perspective of how boards should be composed and how we should be doing our work,” she says, crediting Prof. Richard Powers’ course on corporate governance.
The true value of an executive MBA
While many students successfully make a career leap during the program or immediately after, that’s not the only benefit to pursuing an executive MBA, says Riahi.
"The program is a long-term investment. Know that there's a life-long network that comes with it. There is a breadth of experience that comes with it,” she adds.
“This program has good people. Not just the cohort, but your professors and program coordinators — they listen to the students. Rotman is a very supportive place filled with people who will elevate you.”
Written by Jessie Park | More Student Stories »