Describe your personal brand.

Authenticity, curiosity, passion.

What were you doing before The NUS MBA?

After finishing my degree in Industrial Engineering in Colombia, I began my professional career in consulting at McKinsey, and then transitioned to entrepreneurship and startups for 7 years. I participated in early stage startups in real estate, education and technology. Before coming to NUS, I was general manager and partner at PRODEGI, a real estate startup that I had help grow to become a medium sized developer in Colombia. Currently, I am Chief Strategy Officer at Real Estate Analytics, a Singapore based startup that is developing a global real estate platform, 8PROP, that uses data and analytics to enable confident decision-making in the property markets.

Please share your key achievements and leadership roles on the programme.

One of the things I liked most about the MBA is that most deliverables are done in groups, and in that sense, it resembles real-life working scenarios. It is especially challenging because for most of us it was the first time working with people that come from such diverse backgrounds. Therefore, doing well in the MBA requires forming good teams, and working together in ways that enable each member to contribute and learn the best they can. I think I contributed by helping my groups to develop team dynamics in which we all pushed ourselves while enjoying it. In that way, I owe this award in great part to the performance of teams in which I participated.

What has been the single most stand-out experience of your MBA?

The most valuable experience has been building relationships with extraordinary people from all over the world, including friends, mentors and colleagues. The MBA has allowed me to build strong friendships with people I truly admire and look up to, I learn from them in and out of the classroom. I love spending time with them and I'm looking forward to fostering these friendships for years to come.

What advice would you give to other MBA aspirants?

I would encourage new and aspiring MBA students to enter the experience with an open mind, making a conscious effort to experience and learn new things that take you out of your comfort zones. After being exposed to new ways of thinking, areas of knowledge, skills and people, you may realize that your possibilities and options are far wider than initially thought, and you may discover hidden talents and interests.