Yifei, Project Manager

CV

• Master from HEC Paris (Grande Ecole programme)
• Came to France after studying French for 4 years in China
• Joined the Roland Berger Paris office in 2017
• Various cross-border projects between Europe and China
• Specialized in healthcare and pharma
• Interests and hobbies: traveling, cooking, gastronomy

How many kids do you have and how old are they?
I have one little girl who is 20 months old.

How do you (and your family) organize childcare?
Our daughter goes to daycare during the week. My husband works full-time and is a great help – we share things to do. Depending on each other's meetings and constraints, we make a quick plan before a new week starts, such as who brings her when to the daycare (or collects her). We also have a babysitter who comes on average once a week, so we have some time for ourselves one evening (sports, friends...).

Do you have any advice for successfully combining parenthood and working at Roland Berger?

Enjoy it as much as you can! Babies grow up so quickly, and it is such a gift to accompany someone as they learn and discover the world.

Parenting is part of the life of many people and so you shouldn't need to be apologetic – most people such as clients or team members understand.

It is important that you feel good yourself before taking care of others (families, babies, teams or work)

To make it work, good organization and prioritization are critical as having a child is similar to managing a project at some point – we need to manage several projects with different planning, expectations, emotional needs, constraints and surprises.

Talking with other working parents helps as well – each may have their own "secret recipes". It is important to find out what works best for you. In the Paris office, we founded a Parents Club, which helps exchanges amongst parents.

How does our firm support you as a parent beyond the legal provisions in France?

In the Paris office, I appreciate that a number of initiatives have been put into place to support parents:

• I am very glad that I was the first mum to benefit from one extra month of maternity leave sponsored by Roland Berger, allowing me to better enjoy time with my daughter and be ready to come back afterwards.
• I secured a slot in a Roland Berger sponsored daycare establishment near my apartment in Paris when I was pregnant, which was quite a relief for me as it is very complicated to get a slot in Paris.
• As a little bonus, I was offered 16 hours babysitting as a new parent

What has been your most precious parent-child moment recently?
Even simple moments with my daughter are precious to me! Spending the holidays all together is allowing me to know her even better. I am thrilled to see her start speaking her first Chinese, French and English words in France!