Shanta Yocum had just finished an academic assignment. The brief was to develop a new commercial concept for a Nestlé business unit. She could have filed it away and moved on.
Instead, she took it directly to a global executive. “What started as an exercise became a tangible way for me to contribute to the organization,” she said.
Before IMD, that would not have happened. The idea would have been the same. The difference was her.
The heartbeat of the company
For more than three decades, Yocum’s career had been shaped by a single instinct: understanding how complex systems hold together. In supply chain, where she has built most of her expertise as a senior business solutions manager at Nestlé, leadership meant keeping the “heartbeat of the company” steady – ensuring that goods moved, decisions landed, and everything ran smoothly.
It is an instinct grounded in environments where precision matters and failure is rarely visible but always costly. “Creativity generates possibility,” she said, “but precision is what turns that into action and results.”
The challenge was learning how to operate with both.
Turning instinct into ideas
In 2019, Nestlé launched an internal innovation program inviting employees across all functions to pitch product ideas to the C-suite. The program’s inclusivity was deliberate. Participants ranged from factory finance and HR to chefs and product developers.
“Innovation isn’t limited to a function,” said Yocum. “The program creates a pathway for individuals to act on those instincts – turning ‘they should create this’ into ‘I can help bring this to life.’”
For someone rooted in supply chain, it was an unusual space to occupy. Over time, she became the program’s most consistent presence: a four-time finalist and two-time winner who owned each project from idea to pitch, working across consumer research, financial modeling, and production planning. Her ideas spanned retail products, a food service concept, and a new go-to-market strategy. At one point, Nestlé’s CEO referred to her as a “serial entrepreneur.”
None of the concepts ultimately reached commercialization, a common outcome in innovation. But for Yocum, that was never the only measure of value. “The value is in rigorously testing ideas against real-world constraints,” she said. “Even without commercialization, the work created meaningful value.”
It also revealed something else: the questions she was beginning to ask were outpacing the tools she had to answer them.
The right moment
Yocum had been aware of IMD for years. A colleague she admired had once left her role to complete an MBA there, and the idea had stayed with her. “Being in California, a Swiss business school wasn’t really on my radar,” she said. “But, thanks to Shannon Hawbaker (IMD MBA 2001), I began paying attention.”
What she was waiting for was not the right program, but the right moment. With a son at home, she chose to wait until the timing felt manageable. “I really wanted to wait until I felt like he needed me less. When he hit high school, it felt right. Many women face this career-versus-motherhood dilemma. There’s not one right answer.”
When she did apply, perspective was the deciding factor. She wanted to learn alongside a truly international cohort, where different ways of thinking were not the exception but the norm. “I wanted my cohort to have perspectives and lenses I couldn’t get any other way,” she said.
More than closing gaps
Yocum initially saw the EMBA as a way to close specific gaps, particularly in finance and strategy. The learning quickly became more expansive. Organizational change management, in particular, reframed how she understood the business around her, revealing the deliberate design behind what can often appear organic. “I saw how much precision goes into making sure all the gears and wheels are moving the right way,” she said.
Her analytical instincts sharpened in unexpected ways, too. A small moment – an unexpected discount from a subscription service, prompted her to pause and question what lay behind it. The company was sold shortly after. “Just those little, tiny dot connections are stronger,” she said.
The program also changed how she saw herself. Feedback from her cohort revealed an insight she hadn’t anticipated: while she had carried real moments of self-doubt, others had seen composure, confidence, and control. “I had, more successfully than I even realized, pushed myself beyond those down moments. So well that I didn’t show any cracks.”
Taking the moonshot
In her final leadership paper, Yocum wrote: “I have never taken a moonshot. And that’s no longer okay with me.”
She is clear about what that means. “The most meaningful shift has been moving from a conservative, risk-managed approach to one that is more confident, visible, and willing to take calculated risks.”
In IT, where her role sits, that matters more than ever. The function is rapidly evolving from enablement to competitive advantage, particularly through AI. “I’m not just participating in innovation efforts,” she said. “I’m proactively identifying and advancing opportunities where technology can create meaningful business impact.”
What comes next
The food industry is entering a period of significant disruption, shaped by shifting consumer expectations, cost pressures, and the rapid acceleration of AI and digital capabilities. For Yocum, it reinforces the importance of staying adaptable, curious, and willing to evolve beyond the boundaries of a traditional role.
“No role is secure,” she said. “Optionality should be a mandate – your own future-proofing, for no one else.” She continues to draw on her cohort as a sounding board and plans to return to structured learning periodically. “A trip back to IMD’s beautiful campus in Lausanne,” she added, “is a bonus.”
A little EMBA family
In a program largely delivered online, Yocum had not expected the depth of connection that emerged. She describes it simply as “our little EMBA family” – a group that continues to stay closely connected long after the program ended. The WhatsApp group, she said, is active every day.
At their final session, EMBA Dean Vanina Farber put the lyrics of a song on the screen. The opening line read: I wish I took more pictures with you. “It signifies how much the people within an experience amplify the impact,” Yocum said.
If her pre-EMBA self could meet her now, what would surprise her most? She does not hesitate. “My confidence. I went in thinking it was just education. But it was so much more than that.”
