Julio Germán Arias

Wharton/SAS ‘14

INTERVIEW — JANUARY 27TH 2023

What did you study at Penn and when did you graduate?

I was part of the Huntsman program, Class of 2014. I studied in Wharton. My concentration was then called OPIM, Operations and Informations Management, known as OIDD now. In the College I studied the Huntsman major; International Studies. My language track was Portuguese, I studied Portuguese and lived in Brazil for a semester.

How was your semester abroad?

Amazing. One of the highlights of my college experience.

What about your postgraduate studies? Did you enjoy them? Did you think they were a big change from undergrad?

I really liked them, and I think they were complementary to what I did in undergrad. Back when I was at Penn, at Huntsman, I thought, yeah, I'm studying business at Wharton, why should I go back to an MBA? That was a very pervasive narrative that I had back then. But I knew I wanted to continue my studies before returning home to Panama. I was deciding between doing an MBA or something more letters-oriented, like a Masters in Public Policy. I even considered a JD. And the same thing happened that did when I was applying to college; I couldn't choose between business and International Studies, so I did both. I couldn't choose between the MBA and the MPP, so I did both. I did the MPP first at Oxford, it was one year long, and I got a Chevening scholarship, which is similar to a Rhodes scholarship. I really liked it in the sense that it was very different from Penn, it wasn't very pre-professional. I myself am a more pre-professional kind of student, but in Oxford at least, my experience consisted of a lot of knowledge for knowledge's sake. The conversations I had were not a means to an end. I had very intellectually driven classmates from very diverse backgrounds. It was normal for me to be sitting at a dinner table with a nuclear physics student from China. It was very impressive. My hall-mates were from Finland and New Zealand. It was a very good experience. 

For my MBA, I went to Stanford for two years to the GSB. It was both different and complementary to Wharton. The way I always describe it is, I felt in Wharton you are taught how to solve and crack problems; you're a very good soldier at war. But a place like Stanford focuses more on, hey, is this a battle we should be playing? You detach yourself more from problem solving, and instead think about what brings you meaning and, what's the most efficient and effective way to do something?

And when you're an undergrad, it's different because you're still learning how to live. When you're an MBA, people have more experience, not only professionally, but in life. So your conversations are deeper and different.

Where are you working now?

After those two masters, I worked at McKinsey and Company for a couple of years. I was based in Panama, covering clients across the region. Now I'm an independent consultant for ventures in Panama and the region. I also worked in a startup in Colombia called Superfüds. I was their head of strategy for this very interesting project they had in Colombia, working all the way from Panama.

Then I co-founded a company with some partners here in Panama. It's a car retail company. So, very different.

Do you think that your Huntsman experience has helped you throughout your career, for example at McKinsey or when you are dealing with clients in other countries?

Yes, and I'll tell you specifically why. My family is all Panamanian. I only spoke Spanish and English from school. My world was very Panama-centric; the biggest fish out there was the biggest fish in Panama, not in the world. The biggest problems were the biggest problems in Panama, not in the world. When you go to a place like the Huntsman program and Penn, I think it expands your scope not only of what is meaningful on a global level, but also, in my case, it made me realize there is no problem too difficult to solve. If you have the right chisel and the right mentality and the right team, you can solve it. There is that technical part of academics, for example, thankfully, I learned how to do a DCF when I was 19 or 20, which is helpful when you're doing a project in consulting. But this ‘you can do it’ mentality and having spoken with people from different countries; that really helps for you to succeed in a career like consulting.

I see that you were heavily involved in student life and extracurricular activities in your undergrad and your postgrad studies. Do you feel like the experiences you gained have been beneficial to your career and later on in life?

Yes. So if you ask me if I believe that academics have helped me, I would say yes. If you ask me that question about extracurriculars, my answer is yes; underlined, bolded, italics. And if you have a highlighter, I would also use that. Yes, 120%. 

I was very involved in extracurriculars at all the schools I attended, at Penn, at Oxford, and at Stanford, and even then after school. Right now, I'm the president of the Penn and Wharton Club of Panama. I'm part of the Huntsman Alumni Council, globally; I meet in Philadelphia once a year. That’s school-wise. I'm also part of an NGO board. I'm the secretary of the board of a think tank here in Panama, of a government school.

For me, extracurriculars at school were the breeding grounds to understand that what makes me tick, is having an impact in the world beyond work and beyond the classroom. At first you might learn that by being vice president of Wharton Latino or being on the undergraduate assembly at Penn, but then the skills that you learn there are transferable to other, bigger roles.

Things I learned from Wharton Latino, such as time-management skills and sending WhentoMeets or google calendar invites, help me be an independent board member of an NGO with international scope.

What has been the biggest accomplishment in your career?

There are still more things I want to do in my career, I hope that you can ask me that question again in some years. There is a political aspect of my life that I haven't explored fully. That's why I did the masters in public policy. I really like politics, and in the future I want to give back to the world through that avenue. 

Right now, I’ll focus on the professional and private sector side. My first job was very challenging, but in the good sense of the word. At Morgan Stanley I was in this group that did international strategy, and we had this huge project that impacted $120 billion in assets. I worked directly with this managing director that was COO of all the international accounts of Morgan Stanley. That was a very challenging project. I also think there is something to be said about when you transition from school to your first job. It is a challenge to learn how to navigate the professional world, how to position yourself in a way that you can add value, how to gain the trust and the confidence of people that are more senior than you and more powerful and more influential. I was very proud of that.

Within McKinsey, to give you an example from after my MBA, I was very proud of a project I was doing when the pandemic hit. I was working with the sales team for a very big insurance company, with offices across the Americas. I was in Trinidad and Tobago when Panama was going to close borders, I flew back to Panama and I needed to influence people in Curacao. It was a challenging project to take on while we transitioned to the new normality. We did a very good job, so it's something that I am proud of.

On that note, do you have any advice for our members as they begin exploring careers and internships?

If I put myself in your shoes, first up, there is a mentality that the only way you can be successful after Penn is if you work in big finance, big consulting or big tech. Those were the three things you would hear the most about on Locust. They are very good industries and you learn a lot from your peers, clients and the institutions themselves. But it is more important that you do something you are passionate about. I know that is a tall ask, I don’t know exactly what I want to do in life and I am 31. When you are 21 you are not sure, and have pressure from those around you to join specific industries. If you feel it is going to add value to your life, then by all means follow that track. I did it twice; finance and consulting at big firms. But if you are someone who has an idea for a company or is interested in the public sector, don’t feel that you need to tick any boxes before doing what you are passionate about. If you have a passion, jump in directly. I didn’t do that when I was in your shoes, and I wish someone would have told me. 

Secondly, something that I did do, and I think correctly, is remember that, it is the people that you meet that will push you forward in different stages of your life and career. Make sure that you create, hone and maintain relationships on a deep and meaningful level, with people that will support you, and help you the most when you need it. In a place like Penn, there can be a very superficial attitude towards meeting people, which focuses only on Linkedin connections. I’ve been there. When I was working at MS, and almost didn’t get a visa to stay in the US, I was able to pick up the phone and call one of my Penn roommates, and move to his house in Mexico until I was able to get a visa. Things like this happen when you are meaningful and purposeful in creating real relationships, and not only adding people on social media. 

I would love to hear about your Wharton Latino experiences.

Of course! The Wharton Latino GBM was the first meeting that I remember going to beyond NSO. I still remember the name of the president, Christian Grados in 2010 or 2011. I went to this GMB, and I was a very Panamanian Panamanian, my most international experience had been meeting a Costa Rican and a Colombian. I walked into this room in Huntsman with people from across Latin America and the Caribbean. I felt it was like a movie, with people from everywhere. This was so impactful because when I first came to Penn, I felt like a foreigner, with a strong accent. I immediately felt like I belonged in Wharton Latino, which meant a lot to me. I quickly became friends with people my age and from the classes above me. In a sense, my frat was Wharton Latino. Even now I still go to the weddings of people who were in WL at the same time as me. People ask me what, out of all the schools you attended, which meant the most? And I say, Penn changed my life, and WL enabled me to feel like I was in my own skin when that happened. 

My first role was Community Service Chair, I got elected my freshman year, very early on. It was the first, very engaged leadership position I held. We did the rose sale back in the day, I still speak about it in job interviews and I am 31! From having change ready, to managing the relationship with the flower provider, that is an important job to have at 18. I was also vice-president and head of marketing. 

Moreover, Wharton Latino was where I learned how to navigate politics. The elections in WL are like presidential elections in Latin American countries. I was grateful to have that experience at that stage of my life, to learn from it, and to have friends that helped me through it. 

Finally, I feel like I have been talking a lot about feelings and not about business, Wharton Latino helped me get my first job! I was able to catch the attention of Morgan Stanley at the Career conference, which led to my internship and first job. I believe I was one of the first people in Wharton Latino to join WHALASA MBAs in organizing a Wharton Latin America Conference.

When you do that, you make connections with peers who are significantly older than you, who are CEOs when you are in your 20s, and that was a very good exposure to senior people that I had, enabled by Wharton Latino.