When Jeanne de Gayffier (CEIBS MBA 2025) first set foot in Shanghai six years ago, she would never have imagined that her path would one day lead her to a position in a family-owned construction equipment company in Quanzhou, a historic city in China's eastern Fujian province.

Vanessa Alcala Gros, CEIBS Global EMBA 2017 alumna and Regional Country Manager, Production – Europe, Americas & Africa at H&M, believes that the best way to understand a country’s business landscape is through cultural immersion. After living in China for the past 18 years, Vanessa recently began a new chapter as she and her family relocated to Istanbul, Turkey.