Josefina Guillen is currently a health care and operations project manager who has worked at such companies as Abbott, Pfizer, Hospira, Siemens, and Procter & Gamble. She received her MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management (LFGSM) in 2015 with a focus in operations, lean management, and healthcare. Very well learned, Guillen also holds a Master’s degree in quality management and a BS in chemical engineering.
After graduating from the program, she sat down with LFGSM to share some advice for prospective students and discussed her time at LFGSM and how she’s applied the skills she learned there to her career. Several excerpts from the interview are included below:
Guillen first thought about returning to school after attending a LFGSM Leadership seminar that was organized in partnership with her then employer Hospira.
“During the seminar, LFGSM announced they were starting a certificate for Leadership,” Guillen said. “I already had a Master’s Degree, so I wasn’t thinking an MBA initially, but rather the certificate.”
While her undergrad degree and experience wasn’t in business, Guillen saw the value an MBA would have on her current skill set.
“I understood how to improve the process with operations (including healthcare) and other related areas. I wanted to take classes that would relate to my background and career, while also improving my thinking and application.”
Guillen said that she found newfound confidence at LFGSM by leading presentations and group projects as well as the knowledge acquired.
“My skills have been applied to my everyday experiences,” said Guillen. “I lead projects. I am constantly needing to work with a team to reach certain goals. And, when I am not directly managing, I still need to be able to influence people on why some decisions and strategies make sense.”
Want to know more about Guillen? You can read the complete LFGSM interview here.