Ian Armstrong

Define your experience in the IMBA in one word.

Opportunity.

When and why did you decide to study at IE?

I decided to study at IE the same moment I proposed to my wife, Rominna. Throughout my childhood and my teen years, I was always exposed to the US model of education. And I wanted to venture out and branch out into the European model of education. IE was very attractive for me due to the global reach that it currently has.

In what ways do you think the IMBA program changed your life, both professionally and personally?

Professionally speaking, I took advantage of IE because I could plug in the gaps of my weaknesses. When I came to IE, I really focused on those areas so that, after graduating, I could have a holistic understanding of the things that I wanted to do. That was very important for me.

I also got married, I went to Madrid with my wife, and completed my master’s. And my first child was born in Madrid. It was a huge milestone for us.

Finally, one of the most important aspects of doing the IMBA is the friends and the long-lasting relationships that you make along the way, so that was very important for me, too.

What’s the one thing that you wished you knew when you were a student?

An effective way to read all the case studies. Because it doesn't matter what you do, you'll never finish (laughs.)

How was networking during the program?

I think networking during the program was very natural for me because you had a bunch of people that shared interests with you. It was natural. And once you were here in IE, they really facilitated all these networking experiences and empowered your ability to share your ideas with others. So, that was easy, too. It came naturally to me.

How about diversity? Was it helpful, in terms of the networking experience, to have people coming from different parts of the world?

Of course, and that's why I came to IE, I knew of its global reach. You could see it in each program, in each class. Every time we had to do teamwork it was pretty interesting, because you had that cultural clash. And you need to know how to navigate those waters. That really helped me in my professional life when I went back to Mexico.

What's the importance in maintaining close ties with the IE community?

It's very important, and that's one of the main reasons why people come to IE. But also, the relationships are very close, very profound, so it comes naturally. At a personal level, you want to stay in touch, you want to see how they're doing in their work, in their families. So that comes naturally. At a professional level, I think that your peers are a great source of information once you're navigating your professional life.

IE keeps you up to date, that's been a very important factor for me. Even if you hit a bump in your professional journey, you can always turn to the end, so you could do that refresher, that reboot.

Did you seek advice or guidance from successful entrepreneurs before becoming a business founder yourself?

Honestly, I did not. But I would spend a lot of time with an uncle of mine who is an entrepreneur. And we would always talk, not so much about business because he was always working and didn't want to talk about it. But there were some instances in which we did talk about business, and his answers to my questions were always very concrete, very blunt answers, one-timers. That guided me somewhat, but I knew that the professional landscape was going to be tough, considering his perspective. So, I was somehow prepared.

You founded RIC Energy a few years after completing the IMBA program. In what ways did IE provide you with the tools and the motivation to become an entrepreneur?

I can honestly say that, even before IE, I wanted to start my own company. That's one of the things that I had in mind before coming to the program. One of the things that really helped me out was that I knew my weaknesses, and I knew that IE could help me out addressing those weaknesses. So that balanced me out, overall. And what I really enjoyed about the program was the constant bombardment of public speaking in each class; that turned out to be helpful to my future endeavors because I love sales, and although I'm the president of the company I have my sales hat on all the time, because you need to be selling all the time. And public speaking really helped with that.

All the courses in the program were tools you were adding to your toolkit, but there was one course that I really enjoyed, Entrepreneurial Management, due to the span and the focus of the course. And we also had a great teacher, so shout out to Hannah! I remember she would say that when planning your budget, increase it 50%; when estimating your revenue, slash it 50%. It might sound trivial, but I think it's always true. I applied these principles when I started my own business, and it was the right approach, because you always have unforeseen events, and because businesses are not linear, they’re volatile, conditions are always changing, the line is always moving.

Are entrepreneurs born or made?

They're made. Everything that happens to us in life, for good or bad, shapes us somehow. It all starts in our households, the education that is given to us at home by our parents. And then our character starts to build up around that education. At the end of the day, we have to take a calculated risk with the things that we want to do in life, be it a personal or professional project. But it all starts at home.

How challenging has it been for you to work towards and advocate for sustainability in the energy sector?

It's a tough environment right now, I can't deny that. But I think there are always opportunities. We've started to look for the small gains within this difficult environment. And I think that when the energy sector opens up in Mexico in the future, we're going to be able to leverage what we've done for these past nine years in the field of power generation.

One thing is that when you think about sustainability, what comes to mind is climate change. For me, it’s irrelevant whether you believe in climate change or not, because who doesn't want clean air?  Who doesn't want clean water? It's a no-brainer. So, it's been challenging, but we've worked with the current political environment and the current regulations seeking ways to get those clean benefits to our clients, and to push for those small gains. So yes, it's been challenging, but I think we've done our part, and once the sector opens up a bit, we will be in a good position to plug in all those components that are going to have a major impact on the clean energy sector in Mexico.

When it comes to our clients, we’ve always had an affordable proposal, which obviously has to do with savings in terms of energy consumption. But, at the same time, what I like to do is research our clients and see what other benefits we can offer in terms of corporate responsibility, in terms of environmental responsibility, and in terms of community involvement.

How do you think the new generations of professionals can contribute to advancing the sustainability agenda in their future jobs or their future companies?

Well, they need to, that's the future. It doesn't matter in which company you are, or if you're in the private or the public sector. I think this is what we need everywhere.

First, you must think about who you can impact. Once you determine who your stakeholders are, you can create a roadmap and plan the things you can do. Contributions must be significant. The offsets have to be significant, because you have other offsets that really don’t do much and are only PR stunts. We have to get real, and see which ones really work, and strive for those ones. Once you realize which offsets are important within your industry, pick the low-hanging fruit. Have quick gains in the short term, so that the green agenda gains traction within the organization.

Keep track of your achievements. Like, “this is what and who we impacted. Did you see?” “Yes, tell me more, educate me.” This is very powerful if you're an entrepreneur or the owner of a company, and the information flows from you downwards. It gets much more trickier if you’re an employee, because you have to convince the higher-ups, because it has to come from the top and then go all the way to the bottom in order for it to be sustainable in time.

You were chairman of the State Development Plan of Nuevo León and a member of the State Council for the Reconstruction of Nuevo León. Could you discuss the leadership role of the private sector in driving economic and social development?

In 2006, the Felipe Calderón administration in Mexico declared war to the Mexican drug cartels. It was turbulent times, to say at least, and this was nationwide. In Nuevo Leon, our state, which is close to the Texan border and close to Tamaulipas, we lived our own security crisis. I remember the day in 2011 when a criminal organization burned down a casino and 52 people died. 52 souls perished. That was a very dramatic wake up call for all of us, because we have never experienced such violence in our state before. We have very badly confronted violence before, because you can't get used to violence, but this event was beyond any boundaries. So, we had to do something. The private sector and the governor worked together to create a new police force called Fuerza Civil. They integrated private hiring practices with a higher paying salary, and added benefits for all the new police members that would be part of this force. The result was that we started to claw black on the security issues. So, what's my point? If you don't have security, then you don't have economic development. You don't have production. You don’t have a society.

So, first you need to take care of that. I saw it. I experienced it. And that was very powerful, how different actors came together and did this. We needed to have security first, and then we saw existing companies ramp up capital expenditure for their existing infrastructure. And we also saw new companies coming to Nuevo Leon, because it’s close to the United States. And that was very important.

With that said, if you have a weak judicial system, and law enforcement is lackluster, then it's very difficult to have the economic development that society needs. Voters need to always have their local governments and federal governments in check, but, as I experienced, the private sector also needs to get involved with the public sector to lay down these foundations that are going to allow us to advance as a society.

As someone who has worked in various industries, both in the public and private sectors, can you provide some advice to young alumni who are looking to make a successful career change?

Ask yourself, “what are you passionate about?” It all boils down to what you really like, what you're passionate about, because both the public and private sectors are tough, but they don't have to feel like that.

I think that in order to know what you're passionate about, you have to have a deep conversation with yourself. And that's easier said than done. Can you tune out everything and really think about what you want?

So, you really need to do that, first of all, see what you're passionate about. And once you know where your passion lies, it doesn't matter if it's in the public or private sector. You're going to do well. But if you're not passionate about it, then it doesn't matter if you're in the private or the public sector. It's all so complex, but it’s all so simple.

How have you remained connected with the IE community? How have these connections benefited your career?

I've stayed in touch with my class through social media, emails, phone calls… we meet up in person every time we can. And I think that's very important simply because you never know. You never know where life takes you. You never know where your business is going to take you. And you have all these great friends that are prepared, that are successful, that are smart. No woman or man is an island. You need to keep in touch; the networking aspect is perhaps the most important part of the program. The educational part is the foundation, of course, and you need that, but the networking bit is the icing on the cake.

What can alumni do to create a positive impact and not only within the IE community, but also for the rest of the world?

Do what you really enjoy, and the rest will follow.

What's your measure of success?

You're on your deathbed, your final moments, and you look around, and your family is with you. That's my measure of success.

How is the Ian of today different from the Ian who graduated from IE?

More responsibilities. Family, company, extended family, friends. It's all good. It's chaos, but it's beautiful.

If you had a billboard that you could display to the world, what would you write on it?

I want to give a backstory on my response. I was doing a semester abroad, here in Madrid, in my college years. My roommate, he was a very colorful character, very interesting character. He would travel a lot, and I would learn a lot from him because of all his travels. When we said goodbye, he said something to me that really struck me, because he said it with great conviction, and it went to my core. What he said was “enjoy your life. I don’t know if I will ever see you again, I don't know what's going to happen with you… just enjoy your life.”