Ana Leyva
MBA 2020
- Hometown: San Francisco Bay Area
- Pre-MBA: Tech Enterprise Sales
Ana Leyva
Post Graduation Goals:
Continue empowering people by connecting them with life-changing products and services through my family business, Lelu, and in tech sales
Favorite GSB Memory So Far:
HBSA Banquet honoring Jessica Rodriguez, GSB class of 2001 and now President and COO of Univision Networks and CMO for Univision Communications!
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GSB Transformation:
My experience here is definitely stretching me personally and professionally. Professionally, I have gained countless mentors and enthusiasts and feel endlessly supported in both my family business and in my sales career.
Personally, I’ve become a much more effective communicator and leader. Tools for negotiation, motivating others, articulating a strategy, and giving and receiving feedback have helped me be a better wife, mom, daughter and sister!
Tuesday
06:30am
My kids are early risers! After I feed and change them, I try to get a bit of work done before we all leave for school.
08:00am
Walking my son to school with my daughter is always a highlight of my day. On our walks, we usually practice their weekly Bible memorization verses.
09:00am
Since my husband works full-time, my parents help me with the kids most days. They are the real MVPs! I always tell them my life wouldn’t be possible without their support.
09:30am
I get allergy shots twice a week. It is a commitment, but one I’m hoping will pay off. I’m pictured here with wonderful Vaden nurse Tricia!
10:00am
After my appointment at Vaden, my dad drops me off at the d.school and I review my Finance homework before my meeting.
11:00am
Louie is a gifted designer at Stanford d.school who is providing me feedback on the products my husband and I are making for our business. He is awesome!
12:00pm
We’ve had some awesome HBSA leaders this year and they’ve left us big shoes to fill. Super grateful for their example and excited as we look ahead! I’m now officially Co-President of HBSA, since GSB club leadership transitions take place in Spring Quarter.
02:00pm
I’m so grateful to catch up with Elise and hear all about her progress on her new startup Praxis Labs. She is a huge inspiration to me!
03:00pm
My Finance 207 class is making me wish I’d gotten a finance certificate in undergrad :-) Today we talked about debt and how PE firms use debt to increase the value of their equity. We had Dominique Mielle, GSB alumna and former Partner at Canyon Capital Advisors, as a guest speaker. She shared why working with hedge funds was so much more fun and challenging for her than working with mutual funds.
04:30pm
I try to have dinner with my kids as much as possible. My MBA2 Personal Leadership coach recently gave a LOWkeynotes on the importance of this timeless ritual. My parents are still here, and we all have dinner together.
05:30pm
Before I leave for my evening class, I have a few minutes to run around with my kids outside. My husband gets home 5 minutes before I have to leave and will cover bedtime tonight :-)
06:00pm
In my Acting with Power class today we discussed status-- what it means to act with high status and low status and then we practiced acting both ways. In the exercise pictured, one classmate was asked to come to the front of the class and take on a posture of high status, then another classmate was asked to come and choose a posture that would reflect even higher status and so on and so forth. It was super interesting!
Wednesday
07:30am
Get up and get ready-- my husband, David, is already out of the house with the kids this morning. He’ll be taking them to my parent’s house today.
09:00am
“Building Momentum: Women Entrepreneurs Conference” is happening on campus today! The day kicks off with welcomes and then a discussion about happiness by Professor Jennifer Aaker. I’m happy to share the morning with my dear friend and classmate Pooja!
12:00pm
We had the choice of 20 tables to join, each with a distinct topic for discussion. I chose “Retail, E-Commerce and Branding” because that’s what’s top of mind for me and our family business, Lelu (lelu-usa.com). I was impressed by the richness of perspectives present!
01:30pm
I participated in the following breakout sessions: “The Founder Journey: Going from Zero to One” and “Launching without VC: Alternative Financing Options.” Both were amazing!
05:00pm
The Women’s Golf Clinic is a Spring program that includes an hour of golf instruction every week, introduction to golf etiquette, weekly “Complement” of wine, snacks and speakers before and after instruction. Our guest speakers lineup includes the likes of Condoleezza Rice and Linnea Roberts! Golf is harder than I expected (I’d never even swung a club before this clinic!), but I’m enjoying it and the golf course is really beautiful! Our instructor Carol (pictured here with me) is AMAZING!!!
07:00pm
On my way home from golf I stop by the Around LATAM Event (an event co-hosted by HBSA and LASA). The food was almost all gone by the time I got there. It was poppin!
07:45pm
I made it home in time for bedtime kisses and cuddles.
09:00pm
TALK is a beautiful tradition at the GSB where classmates share their life stories. They’re all amazing, powerful, and inspiring. Tonight’s were no exception.
10:45pm
Time to do my homework for tomorrow!
Thursday
06:30am
Time to wake up and give my kids their breakfast. I know, I have the cutest kids ever!
08:00am
Again, a definite highlight of my day!
08:30am
My dear friend, Jenny, gave up her free Thursday morning to babysit while I’m in class and my mom is at a doctors appointment--- talk about incredible classmates! Jenny and Laurel love spending time together!
08:30am
I love my Winning Writing class! Today our homework was to write a pitch for an idea we’re working on. I wrote about my business and got some amazing feedback. I’m hoping this class will help me get a feature in a major publication! Today we had Sally Shin, San Francisco Bureau chief at CNBC, come and tell us how to be effective in reaching out to the media.
11:30am
I was able to catch story time at my son’s school today. Then I drop kids off with my mom who has arrived from her appointment.
12:15pm
The Women in Management club hosted this talk with Aleen Keshishian who is Hollywood Talent Manager to Jennifer Aniston, Natalie Portman, Selena Gomez, Paul Rudd, Mark Ruffalo, etc. Professor Alison Kreuger moderated and asked great questions. Aleen’s top tips for us: don’t take things personally, be indispensable, and disarm people with kindness.
01:15pm
Time for homework. Gotta get it in!
03:00pm
Today we talked about financing startups through Venture Capital. We had Ann Miura-Ko, the founding partner of Floodgate, in class as a guest. She shared about how she evaluates funding opportunities and the way she manages relationships with her LPs.
04:30pm
Before my husband got home, I spent some special time with the kids reading to them and sharing about my day. Once my husband arrived, we all spent some time together outside. I love time when the four of us can be together, especially on a weekday!
07:00pm
GSB alumna Gwen van de Pas came back to campus to do a screening of the documentary she starred in and produced. The documentary is about Gwen’s decision to report the man who sexually abused her as a child. I’m so impressed with Gwen’s courage to share her story and her heart for helping others identify warning signs for grooming.
I missed a cross-school Latinx student mixer HBSA was hosting and our CIB regular weekly meeting to attend the screening-- there is always so much going on at the GSB that we’re constantly making trade-offs.