Rocio Julissa Garcia Quinteros

University of Rochester, Simon Business School

“Entrepreneurial spirit and intentional in every step, with a passion for finance, strategy, and chocolate.”

Hometown: Santa Ana, El Salvador

Fun fact about yourself: I always watch the movie The Devil Wears Prada when I need a reset.

Undergraduate School and Degree: Escuela Superior de Economia y Negocios ESEN, El Salvador, Bachelor in Economics and Business (Academic Exchange in Furtwangen University, Germany)

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Banco Agricola, S.A. El Salvador (Subsidiary of Bancolombia CIB), as Senior Treasury Trader.

Where did you intern during the summer of 2024? ServiceNow, Inc. NOW, Santa Clara, California, Finance Intern

Where will you be working after graduation? ServiceNow, Inc. NOW, Santa Clara, California, Finance Leadership Rotation Program (FLRP)

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School: VP of Events – Simon Finance and Investment Club; VP of Finance – Simon Pricing Club; VP of Finance – Latin American Students of Simon (LASOS)

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? One of my proudest achievements in business school was helping a Mexican company assess the true profitability of one of its business lines and determine whether to continue financing it. Working with my consulting team, we conducted industry research, led Q&A sessions, and leveraged our corporate finance expertise to develop a reliable estimation model. Beyond applying technical skills, this experiential learning course immersed us in real-world challenges, strengthening our ability to adapt to different industries, collaborate across cultures, and tackle complex financial problems, skills that will be invaluable in our careers. Moreover, it had a significant impact on our client’s strategy, shaping their 2024 strategic plans.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? I’m particularly proud of my role in risk management during the COVID-19 pandemic, where I had the privilege of supporting various companies in making critical decisions related to their risk strategies while working at Banco Agrícola, a commercial bank. As part of the treasury department, I assisted clients with managing currency exchange rates and using derivatives to safeguard their operations against sudden market shifts. This challenging period reinforced the importance of listening and offering support, which not only helped clients navigate uncertainty but also strengthened our relationships. Working in hedging showed me that while risk is inevitable, it can be effectively managed, both in business and in life. This experience deepened my understanding of clients and their industries, ultimately sharpening my sales skills. The support I provided during this time helped establish lasting relationships. As a result in 2023, I was honored to receive the Excellence Award for second time for exceeding my individual contribution target by over 20 percent YOY to my business division.

Why did you choose this business school? I chose Simon Business School for its strong sense of community and commitment to diversity. Historically, Simon has been known as one of the top programs with significant international representation, fostering an environment where diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and ideas are valued and encouraged. This emphasis on diversity enriches discussions, strengthens cross-cultural understanding, and enhances the learning experience.

This sense of community is further reinforced by Simon’s small class size, which creates a close-knit environment where students truly connect, collaborate in teams, and see familiar faces across campus. This has allowed me to build meaningful relationships with my classmates and develop a lifelong network. Beyond just students, Simon’s supportive culture extends to professors and staff, who know us by name and enthusiastically participate in our activities, making the experience even more personalized and inclusive.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? Avery Haviv has been my favorite professor during my MBA. Taking Predictive and Causal Analytics with him was truly inspiring, as his passion for statistics and uncovering the stories data can tell was contagious. His well-structured classes and assignments made complex concepts intuitive, which helped us to optimize pricing, allocate marketing investments, and differentiate between predictive and causal analytics. His real-world insights brought the material to life, making it even more engaging. Beyond that, his ability to foster curiosity, critical thinking, and discussion—along with his supportive and dynamic teaching style—ultimately motivated me to complete a Data Analytics minor.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? Pricing Analytics is my favorite course. It blends my background in economics with game theory and strategic frameworks that companies use to differentiate themselves and maximize profits. This course opened my eyes to a whole new area, showing how data analytics shapes real-world business strategies in ways I hadn’t explored before, such as creating segmentation and positioning strategies.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? At Simon, one of my favorite traditions is celebrating our rich cultural diversity. Regardless of whether we belong to a specific culture, everyone is invited to participate and embrace each other’s unique traditions and heritage. Simon creates an inclusive environment where social clubs play a key role in encouraging members to learn from and connect with people from diverse backgrounds. Some of the celebrations that stand out to me are Diwali, Lunar New Year, and Hispanic Heritage Month, which I had the pleasure of celebrating alongside the LASOS club board. These events are held annually and feature delicious food, music, lively performances, and the chance to wear traditional clothing. They truly reflect Simon’s ethos of fostering community, as they bring together students, staff, friends, and families in a vibrant celebration of diversity.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why?
Looking back, one thing I would do differently is getting more involved in Simon’s Entrepreneurship Club. During my undergraduate years, I joined a similar club, where I gained firsthand experience with the challenges entrepreneurs face when shaping their business ideas. Through that experience, I helped organize events like pitch competitions and Shark Tank-style contests to provide seed funding for promising ventures. Later, as an entrepreneur myself, I realized the value of the administrative support and resources these clubs offer. During my MBA, I focused heavily on exploring different career paths, but in hindsight, I wish I had taken more time to engage with the entrepreneurial resources, partnerships, and guidance available at Simon.

What is the biggest myth about your school? Before coming to Simon, I was aware of its strong reputation for its Pricing Track, but I didn’t fully realize how integral it is to the program. Simon is the first institution to offer a comprehensive Pricing Track within the MBA program, along with a Pricing Club (which I’m a part of) and a Center for Pricing. The school offers a specialization in pricing and a minor in strategy and pricing, an area that, when integrated with AI and Data Analytics, has the potential to drive significant value for any company.

As someone passionate about finance, I initially planned to focus solely on that. After taking the Pricing Policies course, I developed a deep interest in the field. With core courses in economics, macroeconomics, and pricing, every student, regardless of their specialization, receives a strong foundation in pricing strategy. In today’s competitive business environment, pricing is one of the most critical decisions a company can make. A well-designed pricing strategy not only influences a company’s profitability but also impacts its market positioning, customer perception, and long-term success.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? Simon has integrated AI into nearly all of our courses. In some, AI is used for brainstorming or generating prompts; in others, it supports programming tasks such as coding in R or creating image prototypes for new products. In more advanced courses, we also use machine learning to train models and predict outputs. Through these experiences, I’ve realized how rapidly the skills required in the business world are evolving. In my final term, I’ll be taking the AI and Business course, which focuses on integrating an AI API into Python. While AI has made tasks like coding, model-building, and prompt creation more accessible, it also shifts the focus to how we interpret the information it provides. This presents the challenge of ensuring we retain the judgment needed to evaluate outputs and develop effective business strategies. AI, though powerful, still lacks business expertise, and that’s where our creativity and financial engineering come into play.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? One of the people I admire most is Citlaly Atlas. From the very start of my MBA, she has been an incredible friend, and I’ve always admired the way she goes the extra mile to help anyone who reaches out to her. She has guided me and my friends through the experience of living in the US with enthusiasm, introducing us to traditions like pumpkin carving and Thanksgiving. She has also motivated us to try activities I never would have imagined, like camping, rafting, and snow tubing! She is incredibly solution-oriented and always manages to find a way to solve any problem we face.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?

1. Starting my own business, where I can blend my love for entrepreneurship with making a meaningful impact.

2. Giving back to society by supporting educational programs, either in El Salvador or the US, to help create opportunities and empower the next generation.

What made Rocio Julissa such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2025?

“I am pleased to write this letter of recommendation for Rocio Julissa Garcia Quinteros, who will be graduating from Simon’s MBA program in May 2025 with concentrations in Data Analytics and Pricing.

She arrived in Rochester leaving the position of senior treasury trader at Banco Agricola, S.A. in El Salvador, having been awarded the Excellence Award in 2019 and again in 2023 for her individual contributions to an annual revenue increase of 20%. “Professionally I could have grown in place at the bank. Instead, I sought the MBA, while embracing the challenge of a different country, language, and culture to accelerate my career and build on my passion to contribute to a larger community.”

At Simon, Julissa is seen by all as a leader. In the role of VP of events of Latin American Students of Simon, she reflects that “the organization has given me the platform to share my culture and Hispanic heritage.” With her help the group doubled membership, with a third of the membership identifying as non-Latino. “One of my more memorable experiences was organizing a Hispanic Heritage month celebration, an event filled with Latin music, traditional food, and zapateo dancers.” In addition, Julissa was elected as a VP in both the Finance & Investment and Pricing clubs. Her contributions to our community are a direct reflection of her passion to create and teach inclusion and belonging. Her continuous drive for personal and professional growth sets a high standard for us all.

Time spent at Simon marked a pivotal shift in her career. “Simon provided me a transformative experience that enabled my leap into the Tech industry,” she said. “One of my boldest moves was applying for a finance internship at ServiceNow in the Bay area. I am excited to be returning there this summer. The company’s core value to “stay hungry and humble” truly resonates with me.”

Julissa is a well-rounded contributor to our campus community. I look forward to witnessing her career trajectory as her actions, attitude, and exhibited values will benefit her workplace and community exponentially. It is with great confidence I recommend Julissa for Poets & Quants’ Class of 2025: Best and Brightest MBAs.”

Dennis Proulx
Assistant Dean of Students
Simon Business School | University of Rochester

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