Time Management, Travel, and Taking Part: MBA Graduate Uyi Uwadiae’s Multi-Step Guide to Managing Everyday Stress
“I always set big goals…but in the midst of working towards them, I try my best to just go with the flow.”
Uyi Uwadiae loves sweets. You wouldn’t know it from looking at him though.
He’s 6’3” and has the type of physicality that could easily be leveraged to achieve moderate success in any number of professional sports. “Candy, desserts, I love it all. Those are definitely stress relievers for me,” he says. “But so is working out.” I tell him that my own eating-to-exercise ratio has never felt so seen. We laugh; the similarity revealing itself as yet another reason for our friendship.
Uyi and I went to the same high school, but we didn’t really get close until many years and miles later when a summer internship brought me to Seattle. I knew from social media that he had recently moved there after graduating from Ohio State and landing a job with Procter & Gamble. So, not having another connection within a five-state radius, a DM slide was made. I asked for recommendations and if he would spare a day or two to show lonely little me around the city. Being Uyi, he graciously entertained these requests — and we became fast friends.
Looking back now, that summer seems almost euphoric. It was 2019, the last good year, and the weather was mostly gorgeous (rare for the Pacific Northwest). I traveled all around the region, learned a lot at work, had little to no anxiety (rare for Ellyn), and best of all, I turned 21. Uyi even let me host a big birthday bash at his apartment — a heroic act considering the partygoers were mostly poor-mannered engineering bros from the Seattle Big Four (aka Amazon, Starbucks, Microsoft, and Boeing).
If the above should tell you anything, it's that Uyi is a good person. But he’s also an extremely interesting and intelligent person (aka the perfect Stress Code subject).
Uyi was born in Lagos and lived there until age eight when his family moved to London, a transition he remembers as “extremely isolating and anxiety-inducing.” He worried about how his Nigerian accent would be perceived by English students at his new school, and worried even more about how he might master the elusive task of making new friends.
Then again at fifteen years old, the Uwadiae’s made their second cross-continental move to another iconic city: Columbus, Ohio. But this time around, Uyi was determined to be less scared and more sure: “I decided to come to the US with total confidence. I didn’t want to go through that feeling of otherness again.”
The decision required his default behavior to change from passive to active. In London, he shrunk himself and hung back to minimize interaction; in Columbus, he quickly made his presence known. He signed up to run track, joined organizations like student council, and attended nearly every school-sponsored event he could.
It was scary at first, but after a while, this level of engagement became second nature. And it’s an approach he’s carried with him ever since. While at Ohio State, he worked part-time in catering services, was involved in the Marketing Club, was a member of Greek Life, and still managed to complete three (!) business majors. Now firmly into his career, he leads national campus recruitment efforts for his company in addition to his everyday work.
Being excited by involvement — instead of shying away from it — is an automatic tool for schedule-filling, people-meeting, and worry-erasing, he says. The nagging ‘what if they don’t like me’ voice that clouded Uyi’s mind in England didn’t follow him to the States because it simply couldn’t. There wasn’t enough time; he was too busy actively engaging with the world around him to question his place in it.
This “joiner mindset” is why he finds it so much easier to build relationships these days, wherever he goes. And I’ve seldom met anyone who finds themselves in more places than Uyi.
After graduating from college here in Columbus, he shipped off to Seattle to work for P&G. Two years later, he was promoted to another role within their Growth team and moved back across the country to Boston. In 2021, he earned his MBA from Northwestern in Chicago, specializing in Marketing and Strategy.
Many members of his family hold a graduate degree, so the prospect was always on his radar — though the original plan was to work for a few years and then go to B-school full-time. But once he started making money, Uyi candidly admits he “didn’t want to stop.” Instead, he opted for a part-time program and found Northwestern’s to be a perfect fit. “I loved being able to get an M7 education without putting my career on a total pause.”
Now if you’re like me, the thought of going to school and working full-time makes you want to run and hide. But Uyi embraced it. In fact, it actually helped him stay organized. (The woman was too stunned to speak!) He liked knowing what hours of the week would be blocked off for particular activities. “It let me to be more intentional and efficient with the rest of my time that I wasn’t working or in class,” he explains. For most, ‘I’m busy’ is a burden. For Uyi, it’s an opportunity. This reframing kept him energized and able to perform at a high level in each of his positions.
But enrolling in such a prestigious program did give Uyi some initial pause.
Most of his cohort consisted of significantly older people with a lot more work experience, only 2% of whom were black. “I don’t think I have anxiety or negative feelings about being in predominantly white spaces,” he tells me. “Though I do find myself questioning why I’m one of only a few black people there.” Uyi hopes his presence will play a small part in improving representation at elite institutions in the future. As for right now, he’s encouraged by the fact that his white peers, both at school and work, have begun to think critically about the experiences of people of color.
Any lingering feelings of imposter syndrome were eventually wiped out when Uyi realized that, despite their differences, every student was “on the exact same MBA journey.”
I remark that his impressive qualifications should’ve also helped to calm those first semester nerves, to which he nods in agreement. This is actually something Uyi admits he got “a lot better about” in the latter year of his program. He now sets aside specific time to reflect on his accomplishments every few months — viewing the practice as an act of self-care and as career fuel.
By regularly thinking about all he’s done and all he still wants to do, Uyi is able to be his own best advocate. He explains, “You hear it all the time that your career is in your own hands, and that is so true. Working hard and well isn’t always enough. You have to put yourself out there and be a champion for yourself.” Every opportunity he’s received thus far has been a result of the same formula: reflect on past and current successes, map those to a new area of interest, reach out to people currently working or studying in that area, and then “just going for it.”
Following this formula without feeling super overwhelmed, however, requires an equal mix of Type A goal-setting and Type B easygoingness. “I always set big goals — like getting into college with scholarships, landing my first job, earning my MBA. But in the midst of working towards them, I just go with the flow.” Whether it’s an unexpected assignment or a project that doesn't seem super relevant, Uyi tries to keep flexibility as a core tenet of his day-to-day life. “It helps minimize those spikes of stress that no one wants to experience,” he says.
Another such pillar of stress relief is traveling. And at this, perhaps more than anything else, Uyi is a total expert.
He’s traveled all around the country and globe, and is usually able to fit most trips into the coveted Saturday/Sunday window. “Having plans on my calendar gives me something to look forward to, which helps take the edge off of any worry I experience during the week.”
His best advice for those who might not have the same inclination is simple (and extremely similar to a popular marketing catchphrase) — just do it. Uyi is an adamant believer that being in a different environment and experiencing new things is just as good for the mind as it is for the Insta feed. To ease into the weekend warrior lifestyle, he recommends starting with travel to destinations where you already have a friend or family connection.
“Probably half the reason I travel is to see people. I love reconnecting with folks and seeing what they’re up to in their new city.” Plus, Uyi notes, you can usually stay with them, which significantly lowers the cost of a trip. And they’ll most likely introduce you to some of their own friends — another great opportunity to expand your network and continue to sharpen that meeting-new-people confidence.
A final thing that helps keep Uyi level-headed is often talked about in the world of mental health and wellness, but rarely by men: maintaining a positive relationship with his body.
Growing up, he felt awkward for being known as the tall, lanky kid. This began to change when he went to college and started eating and working out consistently. The practice made him feel healthier, both physically and mentally, and so it's become a big part of his life ever since.
But that’s not where it ends. For Uyi, a strong self-image is also about sharing his confidence, and supporting others when they do the same. “I’m a very big advocate for posting photos when you feel good,” he says with a big smile on his face. “And I always make a point to react positively to peoples’ posts. Small things like that could mean a lot, you never really know.”
As a benefactor of countless fire emoji comments from Uyi, he’s totally right.
So throw up that thirst trap. Reframe how you think about your busy schedule. Join that group you’ve been eyeing (even if it’s an adult softball league, I won’t judge). Make time to travel to a fun new place. Set that career goal but don’t be too hard on yourself while you’re achieving it.
Bottom line: for stress-free days, try Uyi’s ways.