Meet The Texas McCombs MBA Class of 2021

Gonzalo Herreros Aguirre 

University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business

“Avid traveler. 6+ years international experience on strategy roles. Family and friends are my core.”

Hometown: Santiago, Chile

Fun Fact About Yourself: I went all the way to China, literally the opposite side of the world from Chile, to find a Texan who would become my future wife.

Undergraduate School and Major: Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Bachelor of Business Administration, Commercial Engineering in Business Administration.

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: I worked for the second largest exporter of Chilean wine, VSPT Wine Group, as their China Core Brands Director.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Successfully building up a brand in the Chinese market, by understanding its multiple provinces, culture, people and consumer needs.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Everyone seems really intelligent, friendly, and motivated. The admissions team clearly made a big effort in building an extremely collaborative class.

What makes Austin such a great place to earn an MBA? Austin has not only been voted the best city to live in the US many consecutive years, but it has also become a major hub of successful entrepreneurs that now rivals Silicon Valley.

Aside from your classmates and location, 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? When I began pursuing the idea of an MBA and researching the alternatives available, I kept hearing that the most important factor was to feel that the school and the program itself “is the right fit for you”. I felt that perfect fit from the first moment I got in touch with McCombs. The admissions team was extremely attentive, the curriculum matched my objectives, the class size would ensure I could interact with all my classmates, and the alumni I met throughout the process were quite impressive. Even though I applied to other schools, McCombs was the only one during the whole process that seemed to be the right fit for me. Embarking on an MBA is a life-changing project, so making sure that the program was right for me and that I was right for the program, was the key factor that led me to pick Texas McCombs.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I really hope to participate in the decision-making process of a local business through the Board Fellows program, which I believe is a unique opportunity to learn by doing and contribute at the same time.

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? “Where do you see yourself in ten years.” This is not because I can’t build a long-term plan, but because I see so many interesting possibilities that it was hard to pick just one.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? After 6+ years of challenging FMCG work starting from junior-level domestic to senior-level international roles within the same company, I am eager to seek a career refresh. I want to further sharpen my knowledge regarding business strategy and apply it in a successful career switch into consulting.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? I considered many, but I finally only applied to Texas McCombs, Duke Fuqua and Rice Jones.

How did you determine your fit at various schools? To pick the right program I tried to build up a 360° overview of the various schools I was considering. I studied their webpages to learn about their curriculums and class sizes. I compared rankings and ROI at P&Q. I attended MBA fairs and school events to see how they presented themselves and their culture and contacted alumni of different classes from Chile, China, and the US to learn first-hand the student experience at the schools.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? A defining moment of my life was during my undergraduate studies, when I decided to go on an exchange program to Nanjing University in China. The year I spent there not only changed my professional path –taking me 5 years later back to the country for work – but also changed me as a person. Finding my way in China of 10 years ago, where English was not widely spoken and the culture was totally different from my own, molded me into an open-minded and sociable global person.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? My international life and career experiences would not have been possible without the constant support of my amazing family. In 10 years, I see myself helping them to manage our businesses with an up-to-date senior-level approach. Contributing at the same time to Chile and its connection with China, the US and the world.

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