Bingjie Li
University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
Age: 35
“Energetic world citizen.”
Hometown: Durham, NC
Family Members: Husband, a 4-year-old daughter, and a new baby with due date of end of October (Halloween baby)
Fun fact about yourself: Since COVID, my family has moved a lot. As a result of moving and capturing market timing, I have purchased 2 houses, sold 3 houses, and upgraded 1.
Undergraduate School and Degree: New York University, Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and Economics, Cum Laude
Where are you currently working? Ares Management, Principal in Insurance Solutions group, lead M&A pricing
Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles: I’m on the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors and the Treasurer of a nonprofit organization in Raleigh NC called Arts Together. Arts Together provides year-round arts education programs that encompass visual art, dance, music, and drama in an integrated format for toddlers through adults. I’m also in Ares Network of Empowered Women and Ares in Motion committees to organize company-wide events and lead volunteering opportunities.
Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? At Booth, the final quarter consists of two potential classes – Global New Venture Capital (GNVC) or Integrated Simulation Management (ISM). GNVC is focused on building a startup from scratch and pitching to investors and ISM is focused on running and growing an early-stage company. I did GNVC last year with the previous cohort and won the competition. I took ISM this year and also won the competition. I’m very proud to have achieved success in both settings two years in a row that tested and improved my skills in building, growing, and managing companies.
What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? Ares set up the Insurance Solutions Group in 2020 and I joined the group as the 4th employee with a $0 balance sheet. Now we have roughly 25 employees and have $14B assets to manage. I’m very proud of my contribution to help grow and expand the business from a new entrant to a mid-sized insurance company over 3.5 years.
Why did you choose this school’s executive MBA program? Booth brings rigor and logic to everything. The program emphasizes on a framework of how to think, regardless of how exotic or stressful the situation might be. In a fast-changing world, having such framework engraved in my mind helps me remain confident and calm to come up with ideas and solutions in all possible situations.
What is the biggest lesson you gained during your MBA and how did you apply it at work? By interacting and developing friendship with 200+ people in my global cohorts that span US, Europe, and Asia, I realized that people are super diverse in their way of thinking and approaching problems. There is no one solution that fits all. Understanding people’s perspectives are important instead of instilling my own rationale into them and convincing them it’s the best way. Winning hearts can lead to winning minds. In my deal-making role, I used to be running the front-line trying to make things happen and then trying to persuade all stakeholders into buying into and implementing the projects. Since the MBA, I’ve been engaging stakeholders since Day 1 to hear more perspectives to see how collectively we can make the deal better and kill other ones earlier. Ever since then, my deal team has been getting less-and-less pushback from other teams and have been gaining tremendous support across different middle to back office functions.
Give us a story during your time as an executive MBA on how you were able to juggle work, family and education? I talk to my husband about everything, including what I’ve learned at Booth. After taking a microeconomics class from Prof. Lars Stole, my husband grasped the concept of utility. He was very sweet and supportive by quitting his industrial design job at GE Appliance to be a full-time stay-at -home dad and in his words he is “maximizing utility for the household.” I greatly appreciate the support from him taking care of our daughter while I travel for school and work. The various concepts learned at school also make the communication at dinner table fun at the household and at client dinner events.
What advice would you give to a student looking to enter an executive MBA program? Getting a support system before you start is key. Not only does EMBA impacts your own schedule and life, it will also impact your whole family and teammates at work.
What was your biggest regret in business school? Our classes typically end on Saturday at 5pm and I wish I could have stayed more overnights and spent Saturday evening time with my cohort. Time flew by before I hit the 22-month mark to graduate. The friendship in my cohort is what I’ll be missing the most.
Which MBA classmate do you most admire? Too many to name them all, as my classmates are all very achieved and distinct individuals. Dr. Siva Krothapalli is one of these impressive individuals who is a reputable cardiologist who has saved many lives and he had the courage to quit his lucrative surgical job to focus on his healthcare startup business idea with the goal to help even more people
What was the main reason you chose an executive MBA program over part-time or online alternatives? The experience and diversity level at EMBA is impeccable to match. In case discussions, my cohort brings in several decades of real-life experience in the same industry or even the same company that make the classes super interesting and practical. Having the in-person interaction is key as the cohort bonds better and builds significant trust with each other that can last well beyond graduation.
What is your ultimate long-term professional goal? Become a CEO of an insurance company.
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