Hola a todos! My name is Francisco Badillo Colberg and this summer I am taking part in the International Internship experience in Madrid, Spain. I was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and I am a rising junior at the University of Pittsburgh. I’m currently studying in the Global Management field and the Supply Chain Management field. I have a strong passion for understanding international business dynamics, optimizing and connecting logistics and supply chain networks, and maintaining an efficient and sustainable practice on a global scale. I have 1 twin brother, Fernando, and 2 older brothers, Gabriel and Eduardo, a half-sister, Amanda, and two dogs, Bowie and Fred. My family is composed of diversity in professional fields such that I am the only one in my family studying or who studied business. My twin brother is currently studying Art in New York, my older brother just graduated this year from Pitt with a Computer Science degree, and my oldest brother is currently studying for his specialty in podiatry in a small town near Chicago, (he just got his doctor’s white coat!). My father, Eduardo, is a Mechanical Engineer who works with Pharmaceutical machine procedures. My mother, Natalia, is the most similar to me since she works in the Real Estate industry and with medical insurance plans for the elderly.
Now that you know more about me and my family you may be asking, why would Francisco want to go to Madrid, Spain as a native Spanish speaker and not go to Berlin or something different? This all started when I was a senior in high school when I knew that I wanted to be a businessman, especially an entrepreneur doing all these side hustles to make money. Through E-Commerce, I learned a lot related to being a business owner and I wanted to keep getting that drive that motivated me to go to college even more and expand my professional and corporate knowledge to become what I’ve dreamed of since the beginning. That’s when I decided to choose the field of Global Management which relates a lot to understanding the importance of global/international dynamics which can be a key element in scaling a business. More into college life, I had my first official corporate experience in the Summer of 2023 in the Restaurant Industry, Warehousing, and Logistics. I worked in the Purchasing department in the offices of restaurants like Chilli’s Grill and Bar, PF Changs, and Romano’s Macaroni Grill in Puerto Rico where we supplied each restaurant with what they needed, from liquours to space, utilities, etc. Here I became very interested in the whole supply chain process, from the crop to the customer. I was taken to restaurants and kitchens and understood the whole managerial process of operating a kitchen. I also learned about the whole logistics process that kitchen utensils like freezers or stoves go through in a cargo boat inside a container, its costs, and paperwork. I was introduced to Murphy’s Law which was in front of every worker’s desk and I asked “Why does everyone in this office have a sign that says Murphy’s Law?” they told me that in a supply chain process, anything that can go wrong will go wrong because there is a lot of things in this industry which the people can’t control. They even took me to a cargo boat to see how cargo was moved from the boat to the 10 ft-26 ft cargo trucks. In essence, I fell in love with this and I wanted to learn more about it, so I added the major to the records.
Going to Madrid, Spain will not only be a fabulous time enjoying the Spanish culture, language, food, and many other grandiose things, but it will teach me how the corporate world in an international aspect functions. Gaining unique knowledge from somewhere outside the USA or Puerto Rico will help me learn different methods of business operations and OSCM. Working in a service company called “Vinopremier”, which specializes in selling liquours especially wines to customers in their online shop and person, will enhance my customer relations skills, inventory skills, networking, warehousing knowledge, logistic knowledge, and social media knowledge.
Working in Spain as a native Spanish speaker will help me improve my networking and connect with people more easily to have more attached relationships for a further plan/business plan. It is really exciting what is to come and how much I will learn in Spain for my future entrepreneurial endeavors.
This will be a fun journey and I want YOU to be a part of it!
Nos vemos luego!