Darla Bautista
5.0
(8)
Studied at London Business School
Works at Co:cubed
Successful clients at
Not currently taking new clients
About Darla
I come from a professional background in FMCG, entrepreneurship, and startup marketing, bringing both corporate rigor and startup creativity to my coaching. My passion for mentorship started in undergrad in the Philippines, where I led our career assistance program, and grew at London Business School as VP of Mentorship for the Tech Club (matching 100+ mentor–mentee pairs), a Women in Business mentor, and a Student Ambassador working closely with Admissions to guide applicants. Personally, I’m a first-generation Southeast Asian woman, the first in my family to graduate from an MBA, so I understand what it’s like to navigate business school from a non-traditional path. As a mentor, I’m practical yet empathetic; I’ll help you sharpen your story while giving candid, real-world insights. Fun fact: I also share honest MBA tips on TikTok, reaching thousands of prospective students looking for the unfiltered version of the application experience.
Why do I coach?
I coach because I know firsthand how transformative mentorship can be. My former marketing competitions coach eventually became my business partner, and my startup CEO not only guided me through key career choices but also became a trusted recommender during my MBA applications. At P&G, mentors shaped how I approached building my own startup, and in the UK I learned about leadership directly from the former CEO of Estée Lauder UK through the Walpole Leaders of Tomorrow program. These experiences taught me that the right mentor can change your trajectory. I coach to pay that forward, helping others unlock opportunities with the same kind of guidance I was fortunate to receive.
Work Experience
Innovation Manager
Co:cubed
April 2024 - Present
CO:CUBED is an innovation consultancy that advises Fortune 100 firms on building open innovation and CVC capabilities, delivering startup landscape intelligence, and facilitating strategic corporate–startup partnerships. - Led startup landscape analyses for global petcare leader, identifying emerging ventures that directly guided global innovation pipelines - Researched and benchmarked open innovation models across top pharmaceutical companies for animal pharmaceuticals leader, providing strategic insights to shape clients' external innovation operations
Marketing Lead
AI Confident
April 2024 - December 2024
AIConfident is a change management consultancy for schools and not-for-profit organisations. - Built LinkedIn brand presence (+146% followers YoY, +250% reach) - Redesigned website for higher conversion and piloted lead generation strategy (newsletter, quiz) - Authored brand book
Growth Marketing Manager
Swavy
July 2023 - August 2025
Swavy is the premier influencer discovery platform for the Middle East, specializing in micro/nano creators. - Led multi-channel affiliate plan for MENA e-retailer with focus on long-term engagement with top-converting creators - Led competitor and market intelligence to guide platform pivot from B2C Social Commerce to B2B Influencer Discovery Platform
Co-founder, Chief Marketing Officer
The OCBFF Corporation
January 2020 - January 2025
Hiring Manager
As employee #1, I built 3 brands from scratch amidst global pandemic, created full business models, led product design from Thailand, and grew the Thai-Philippine team from 1 to 25. - Launched Trizie fiber supplements to deliver $1.2M in first 12 months (120% vs. target) via designing portfolio mix with competitive pricing and promotions backed by customer and industry research - Led product development, commercial strategy, pricing, and marketing campaign execution for 7 wellness SKUs, gaining 40% portfolio share in 15 months - Led sell-in plan for Trizie fiber supplements to top 2 drugstores, successfully launching in 500+ branches - Managed Trizie’s department of 11 to acquire 60K buyers and top 5 rank in top E-tailers via experimentation and optimization of influencer marketing, content, IG/Tiktok ads - Spearheaded social commerce go-to-market plan for new category launch (stress relief liniments), achieving 150% of sales targets with 50% reduced marketing spend
Brand Manager
Procter & Gamble
August 2017 - January 2020
Admissions Committee
- Led end-to-end GTM for new Ariel variant, resulting in first-ever #1 market share ranking and delivering 5th year of 120% growth by applying consumer insights to product strategy - Revamped go-to-market plans to achieve Ariel's #1 market share in the liquids segment (200% growth), leveraging in-depth competitor and shopper insights to inform strategic decisions - Directed Safeguard’s turnaround to regain market share by redesigning pricing and distribution strategy - Directed entry into clean beauty space with premium SKUs, achieving 135% of sales target through tailored value propositions and national sales alignment - Organized P&G Marketing Masters program, which recruited highest Brand employment yield in past three years
Darla was also given offers to work at
Unilever
Grab
Education
London Business School
Master of Business Administration - MBA
2023 - 2025
Grade: Distinction (Top 10%) Scholarship: Forte Fellow (Merit Scholarship) Activities and societies: • Student Ambassador (2 years experience wtih recruitment & admissions team) • Student Association (Senior Marketing Officer 2024-25) • Tech and Media Club (Alumni and Mentorship Senior Officer 2024-25) • Southeast Asia Club (Co-founder 2023-24) • LBS Hackathon Champion 2025 and Runner-up 2024 • Walpole Luxury Leaders of Tomorrow Programme (Mentored by Estee Lauder UK GM) • Selected for Entrepreneurship Summer School (Top 30 Students in Entrepreneurship) • Facilitator for Executive Education Workshops (16 executives from EMEA and APAC)
University of the Philippines Diliman
Bachelor of Science (BS), Business Administration
2013 - 2017
Grade: Summa Cum Laude (1.1765 out of a 1.0 scale), Valedictorian of BS BA Scholarship: Yusung Charity Foundation Scholar, 2014-2017 Activities and societies: • UP Career Assistance Program (Vice President for External Affairs AY 2016-2017) • UP Junior Marketing Association (Chairperson for Team Embassy AY 2015-2016) • UP Business Administration Council (Freshman Batch Representative 2013) Other Awards and Competitions: • Global First Runner-up, Henkel Innovation Challenge 2015 (Austria) • National Champion, HSBC Case Competition 2017 (Hong Kong) • National Champion, Philippine Association of National Advertisers (PANA) 2017 • National Champion and Most Outstanding Individual, Mitchell Madison Group Case Competition 2017 • Back-to-Back National First Runner-up, Unilever Future Leaders League 2016 and 2017 • National First Runner-up, L'Oreal Brandstorm 2016 • National First Runner-up, Nestle MILE 2016
8 Reviews
Overall Rating
5.0
Darla has helped clients get into these schools:
Darla has helped clients get into these companies: