Lourdes Lira Cuevas

Yale School of Management

“I am a former consultant who seeks to transform Latin America through business and technology.”

Hometown: Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico

Fun Fact About Yourself: I was homeschooled! I only started attending traditional school at 15 years old.

Undergraduate School and Major: B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Tecnologico de Monterrey

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Senior Strategy Consultant at IDOM (IDOM is a multinational company that offers integrated professional services in strategic consulting, advanced engineering, and architecture)

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far:  As a senior consultant, I led teams to solve complex problems that saved our clients millions of dollars. In one of my most recent projects, the client wanted to unify the operations of five countries into one single regional business entity. I was in charge, together with my team, of designing and implementing the new regional operating model and organizational structure for the marketing, sales and financial planning departments. By the end of the project, the company was functioning in a completely different way and saving a lot of money.  Seeing that your work transforms organizations is a real accomplishment.

 What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Socially committed. These are people that are striving in the business setting and are the stars at their workplaces, but at the same time they are down-to-earth and very aware of the problems that their communities are facing. And most important, they look forward to doing something about it. I absolutely see each of my classmates changing the world through business after their MBA.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? The integrated curriculum! I love how courses were not designed by function but by perspective, so you learn how the different functions in a business are interdependent to tackle business challenges. Since courses became multidisciplinary, they are also team-taught. This specific characteristic of Yale SOM makes me feel confident that I will be prepared to lead a business at C-level positions, as I will have “the whole picture” of how the organization works.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? Hockey! This is not a common sport in Latin America for weather reasons, and neither in many other countries. Hockey Club is a great place to make new friends while everybody learns how to ice skate and play hockey. Hockey tournaments with other business school are also a great way to meet new people and have fun.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? Realizing what I wanted to pursue professionally and the skills I needed to accomplish it. I needed academic knowledge about business, and I also wanted to increase my global leadership skills and build a network of like-minded professionals. Also, after five years working in different consulting projects, functions, and industries, I have something to “put on the table” to enrich class discussions. I am so excited to exchange perspectives about business problems and solutions with my fellow classmates.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? You can calculate the present value of the MBA investment and see that it is worth it! But what really drew me to the MBA journey was that none of the many MBA graduates I talked to while deciding between programs regretted their decision to study for an MBA, and they all felt that it pushed them closer to their professional goals.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Northwestern Kellogg, Michigan Ross, Columbia Business School

How did you determine your fit at various schools?  As I was living in Central America at the time, the best way for me to do it was by talking with students and alumni who were working or were planning to work in the industry I was interested in pursued. I reached at least four people from each school! I was mainly concerned about how that school facilitated the recruiting for them, what specific courses or clubs helped them land their jobs/internships, and how tight (and willing to help) the alumni network was. Just by talking with students and alumni about their best memories during business school, you can get a good idea about the culture and fit.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? My defining moment occurred after a period of deep introspection, when I decided to put a pause in my consulting career and take a sabbatical semester to volunteer full-time for a charity organization abroad. This decision took me completely out of my comfort zone and changed my life. I realized that social vulnerability is so real and disastrous for so many people. I could not contribute to a fairer society just as a “side activity”—I had to make it an ongoing goal and a commitment in all my personal and professional endeavors.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? I want to work in tech industry, in an operations position.

Where do you see yourself in five years? Launching my own venture!