2020 MBAs To Watch: Joseph Friedrich de Miquel, IESE Business School

Joseph Friedrich de Miquel

IESE Business School

“Reliable and genuine. Father, partner and friend with an acute curiosity and desire to lead.”

Hometown: It’s complicated…I grew up all over the place but went to Middle School in Mexico City and High School in the Washington DC area. For me, my hometown is some combination of those two locations.

Fun fact about yourself: I’m a podcast junkie! I usually listen to 4 or 5 podcasts a day. In the morning, I listen to “BBC Global News” followed by the “FT News Briefing”. In the afternoon it’s “The Daily” from The New York Times, “Pod Save America”, and at night, “Stuff You Should Know” to fall asleep. For sports news and to stay connected to what’s happening in the DC area, I listen to “The Tony Kornheiser Show”.

Undergraduate School and Degree: Bachelor’s Degree in Art History from Providence College, Providence RI, and a Master’s Degree in Art Business from Sotheby’s Institute of Art, London UK.

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? The Church of England, Cathedrals and Church Buildings Division, Fundraising and Business Development Officer.

Where did you intern during the summer of 2019?  Value Retail – La Roca Village, Barcelona as a Retail Project Assistant (MBA Internship)

Where will you be working after graduation? Undecided

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

  • President of the Retail and Luxury Club
  • Founding Member of the MBA Retail and Luxury Club European Network
  • First-year Director of the Retail and Luxury Club
  • Member of the Women in Business Club
  • Barcelona Tech Transfer Group
  • Member of the IESE Ambassadors Club

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? The achievement I am most proud of is being the President of the Retail and Luxury Club. Coming into the MBA, I knew this was an industry I wanted to target, even though it doesn’t have well-defined recruitment processes with business schools. I reached out to the former president of the Retail & Luxury Club at IESE before even moving to Barcelona and have taken every leadership opportunity possible during my time here. I am proud of the team that is helping me run the club and of the various events we have organized for my fellow MBAs. This year, we have the privilege to be hosting the 5th Annual Retail & Luxury MBA Career Forum, where seven of Europe’s top MBA programs come together to meet with some of the biggest companies in the sector. During my time as club President, I have worked closely with similar clubs at other top business schools to raise the profile of MBAs in this industry.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? At The Church of England, I worked for a department that looked after all the built heritage of the Anglican Church. This meant 16,000 parish churches and 42 cathedrals across England, most of which are Medieval or Victorian. While it is one of the world’s finest collections of historic buildings, many of the more rural parish churches have tremendous maintenance problems and few, if any, volunteers who are willing to look after them. During my time as the Fundraising and Business Development Officer of the Cathedrals and Church Building Division, I secured funding and led an initiative to commission and exhibit Contemporary Art in some of these at-risk parish churches to raise awareness of their maintenance needs and give the building added value to the local community. I am very proud of the work that we archived with this initiative and the communities it impacted.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? There are far too many excellent professors at IESE to choose just one. However, someone who has made a significant impression on me has been Gaizka Ormazábal who taught me Managerial Accounting in my 1st year. Having come from the humanities, I had never taken an accounting course in my life! Gaizka made the technical theory accessible and engaging. He was able to bring accounting to life and help us see the threads connecting a firm’s internal accounting and managerial decisions, both of which must work together to deliver a company’s strategy.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? My favorite event at IESE is the Women and Business Conference that is 100% organized and run by student members of the IESE Women in Business Club. The conference runs in February and brings together fantastic speakers to discuss gender diversity and equality in today’s global business landscape. It is a wonderful event and made even more impressive by the fact that all the funding to run the conference and bring in speakers is raised by the club members. The conference is open to the public so next time you are in Barcelona in February be sure to check it out!

Why did you choose this business school? There are three main drivers as to why I chose IESE. The first is its sterling reputation as a general management MBA. I was looking for a true education in general management, not just a degree, so IESE was naturally at the top of my list. Second, I knew that I wanted a diverse cohort with a global perspective. I haven’t lived in the US since 2010 and have no plans to move back in the foreseeable future. Although business education in the US is unparalleled, there was the fear that my learnings and experiences at a US business school would be too focused on national needs and opportunities. Finally, and maybe most obviously, the location cannot be beaten! Who wouldn’t want to study in one of the most beautiful and exciting cities in the world on the edge of the Mediterranean and a couple of hours from the Pyrenees Mountains? My mother is from Barcelona, so I have the added benefit of having an existing family network here which has been an added bonus.

What is your best advice to an applicant hoping to get into your school’s MBA program? When I speak with prospective students, the two main pieces of advice I give them is to meet with the admissions team early and often and network with alumni in your home city. At IESE the admissions team is extremely approachable and will make every effort to meet with any candidate (even peculiar cases like mine!) and guide them through the process. All of the admissions team at IESE consists of former MBA grads so they have all been through the admissions process and can advise you with first-hand testimony. The reality is that the GMAT is not the only criterion when deciding whether or not to accept a candidate, so creating a positive impression on the admissions team can go a long way when it comes to deciding on an application. I also believe that meeting with alumni is tremulously powerful, particularly when preparing for your admissions interviews. The benefit of IESE is that it has a truly global alumni network who meet regularly with prospective MBAs and are always happy to share their experience. The reality is that this is a huge investment in yourself so you must be certain in your decision, talking to alumni is the best way to get a realistic glimpse into the IESE MBA experience.

What is the biggest myth about your school? It’s not a myth, it’s just a reality: IESE has one of the most demanding academic workloads of any business school in the world. For me, it was something I was looking for. I knew that I had a lot of catching up to do compared with most of my peers, so I needed a program that would challenge and educate me. The case-based method allows for a lot of learning generated by dynamic discussion. However, for it to work, there is a lot of preparation that has to be done by both students and professors. I think IESE does a fairly good job of communicating the workload to prospective students, but it is something that you must be conscious of when considering the school.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? I honestly don’t have many regrets when it comes to my MBA so far, but I would have liked to commit more time to the Women in Business Club. I think it is one of the key areas that IESE needs to improve. We have a low percentage of female MBAs compared to our peers and there is still a mentality for some classmates that gender equality is a “woman’s issue”. At IESE, the Women in Business Club is doing a lot to educate classmates and others on why it is important for society and a company’s bottom line to foster gender equality in the workplace, particularly in senior management.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? The classmate I most admire is Kristen Rocca. She is a fundamentally positive person who radiates good energy but also possesses a healthy dose of ambition. I met Kristen when I asked her for help on a project I was working on. As a chemical engineer, she was uniquely qualified to help me. Even though Kristen was in the midst of the chaos that is preparing for management consulting interviews, she took the time to reach out to former colleagues and contacts to help me, with my project. That genuine willingness to go the extra mile, in whatever she does, is what makes Kristen so admirable. It is no surprise to me that after IESE Kristen will be joining her top post-MBA career choice, New Crop Capital, a VC firm that is funding the future of food.

Who most influenced your decision to pursue business in college? I didn’t pursue business in college, but without a doubt, the person that influenced me the most when deciding to pursue my MBA was my wife, Sydne Martin. I started my application process shortly after my wife and I discovered she was pregnant with our daughter, Alma. We had many conversations about whether it was the right time for me to make such an intensive time commitment in a new country where she didn’t speak the language, and she was always encouraging and constructive in her advice. Also, I am humbled by the career sacrifices she made for me so that I could peruse this degree. We moved to Barcelona with a three-month-old baby who will be two years old by the time I graduate.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? The top item on my professional bucket list is to become the Director of a large museum or art institution. In many ways, this was one of my key motivations to study my MBA. In the cultural sector, there is a need for institutional leaders to possess tremendous business acumen as well as understanding the sensitivities of the sector, particularly in light of regular funding cuts to the arts. I plan to continue gaining valuable experience outside the cultural sector after my MBA with the intention of one day being able to add value and experience at a senior level for a major museum.

The second item on my professional bucket list is to start my own small business as a passion project, possibly as a retirement project. I have always wanted some form of a storefront that sells collectible objects. The idea of having a shop window where I can exhibit goods to the world fascinates me. I love collecting myself and I would like to translate that passion to others in the form of a local shop.

In one sentence, how would you like your peers to remember you? Joseph was a reliable and inclusive team player and a genuine person who added value to the conversation both in and out of the classroom.

Hobbies? As I mentioned before, collecting is a huge passion of mine. In particular, I enjoy collecting antique maps. I have several early 17th-century copperplate maps that I love. To be honest, the rest of my time is now taken by my daughter Alma who is a constant source of laughter and mischief. Now that we live in Barcelona, one activity that is not yet a hobby, but that I am looking to take up is sailing.

What made Joseph such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2020?

“I met Joseph almost two years ago when he started his MBA. During our first counseling meeting, I was fascinated by his clear determination on his career goals even though it was not going to be a “walk in the park”. Since then, all his actions have been focused on this purpose: making a change from Business Development in the Cultural sector to the Retail & Luxury sector. Last year, he became a first-year director of the Retail & Luxury Club where he was a tremendous asset. He then secured an internship at Value Retail, an important company in the luxury sector here in Europe, by using his natural ability to network. This academic year, he has been the President of the Retail & Luxury Club where he has made enormous contributions to its organization and development. As President, he organized a wonderful business trek to London as well as a series of industry events both on and off-campus. Joseph is hardworking, honest, analytical, and intelligent. He always has a warm smile on his face and embodies one of IESE’s core principles; a spirit of service. He is always willing to give IESE his valuable time whether it is sitting on a panel to speak to prospective students or sharing some of his experience and insights on networking to first years looking for internships. Joseph is also very passionate about our Women in Business Conference, one of the most impactful events during the IESE calendar. I wish Joseph all the best as he prepares to graduate, but I have all the confidence in the world that he will continue to champion IESE wherever he goes and always be willing to speak with or mentor future IESE MBAs.”

Sandra Vegas
Head of Corporate Sectors
IESE MBA Career Development Center

DON’T MISS: THE ENTIRE 2020 MBAS TO WATCH or THE BEST & BRIGHTEST MBAS OF 2020

Questions about this article? Email us or leave a comment below.