Mi Destino

I’m a narcissist. Part of me actually believes the huge banking crisis is a sign by God pointing me to a new direction in my life. As if to say, “don’t go back into Investment Banking, do something that will truly make you happy. Besides, I’ve basically obliterated all of Wall Street anyway.”

So I’m on it. The second year of business school has begun, and I have another year to do something meaningful with my life. A few days ago, IESE sent us the rights to download the book “More Than Money – Questions Every MBA Must Answer” by Mark Albion about avoiding the traps of MBA culture to find your true calling. It was like God dropped that in my lap too.

“Being clear on what you really want is tough, particularly for high-powered MBAs. It’s important to remain connected to who you are and your inner needs that may have been drowned out by the noise of business school.”
-Mark Albion

One of the “Lifelines” explained in the book is “Don’t get really good at what you don’t want to do.” And so today, I dropped Managerial Decision Models (MADEM) in favor of Marketing of Experiences, Innovating Concepts & Media (MECMI). The truth was, I didn’t have any real interest in taking MADEM, other than getting a leg up on other modelers in the financial world. I have been doing models for 2 years as an IB analyst, and this summer in my PE job. But I didn’t really want to do it. I felt a sense of confidence wash over me because I made a decision based on what I wanted to do rather than something I should be doing to become a person I should become.

“More Than Money” also stipulates that a good way to find direction in your life is to analyse who you consider heroes and why you consider them so. I instantly went to my other webpage where I had posted a list of my heroes 2 years ago: Bill Clinton. Alvaro Uribe. Barack Obama. Al Gore. My Future Husband. Greg Behrendt. Sigmund Freud.

Considering the above, I realized that my heroes were all inspirational people. Most are politicians. But they all reached people with their beliefs, even when crowds were against them. They are strong personalities. They all wanted to make a difference, they did, and they still do. I guess that is what I want to do with my life.

Yesterday I stepped off the plane and into the Newark Airport before departing to Barcelona. And what I saw upon exiting the gate was a Juan Valdez Café. Immediately I could feel my heart leap inside my chest and a smile spread across my face. It was just like the ones I saw in Colombia… but in the States. It was beautiful. I couldn’t believe it. Colombian businesses in the States! I felt so inexplicably happy, and without realizing what I was doing, I found myself walking right up to it. The coffee names were in Spanish. They had traditional American sandwiches and yogurt, but they also had Colombian Arepas! And the most delicious coffee in the world. I ordered a Café Cardamomo, with crushed cardamom. It had a distinctive flavour I have never tasted in a coffee before.

As I was drinking it, I read the text on the cup:

“Each coffee bean in this cup has been proudly grown, harvested and handpicked by coffee farmers in the Colombian mountains. This cup represents their hard work, pride, and love for their land and their culture. Juan Valdez Café makes it possible for them to obtain a better living for their work.”

I don’t know about you, but this little statement is more meaningful to me than all the Oscar Wilde quotes on all the Starbucks cups.

I remember the first time I went to a Juan Valdez Café. I was visiting my friend German in Bogota. There were people in line inside, outside chatting, happy, just like the scene at a normal Starbucks. Then he said to me, “You know, this is not what Colombia is really like. In reality, only 10% of Colombians can afford to have coffee here everyday, to have this lifestyle we have. 90% have a very low income.”

And I remember thinking I want to change this… somehow… I just don’t know exactly how.

And so, to tie everything together. Most of my heroes are politicians. I’m most passionate about the US legislature passing the free trade agreement between the US and Colombia, and then to other South American nations. Something innate awakens internally when I come across something culturally Colombian. I don’t know why. I believe it has something about the way Colombians seem so “free”. Same with people from New Orleans. And San Francisco I hear. And I just want to be free. I think from here it seems that I should take a management position in Juan Valdez or some other Colombian company and help it’s expansion in the US (US, because I love the US, know it well, and want to introduce Colombian culture there) & abroad in order to better the lives of the less fortunate people in Colombia. I know this does not sound like a job that an MBA would go around bragging about. It’s not made of money. It’s not Banking or Consulting. It’s not high-powered, self-promoting or glamourous. I just hope I have the courage to trust myself enough with this dream and not be lured by money or status again.