Julio Arce Hamelink

Although I was born in Zeeland - the Netherlands, from the earliest childhood my family moved to Spain I grew up in Gijón – Asturias and attended college in “Colegio Inmaculada – PP Jesuitas” Years later, my family moved again to Santander - Cantabria where I studied, first my bachelor in Electronics Engineering, then followed by master’s degree in industrial engineering, specialized in Industrial Management. Back then, things were slightly different to what you may see today, and my goal was to enter the job market as soon as possible and get stability to found a family. I was privileged to have several options and decided for Schindler, that luckily allowed me to fulfil the mentioned goal and further gave me all what I would possibly imagine, and more. Today I am a proud husband of a lovely woman and have two kids, btw one of them currently studying a dual degree in the IE as well. After almost 15 years already in Schindler, I decided to reinforce my education enrolling in the ex-MBA of IE graduating in 2009. I had the privilege to serve the company in many functions and areas of the business, also in several countries, providing me with a vast visibility and experience. After almost 28 years of career in Schindler, my main motivation lays on raising the new talent that will take over from our generation, run the operations to new summits, promote special projects that will spice up the daily operations, and certainly find the quality time to be with my family, I certainly missed in earlier years.

How did IE help you get to where you are today?

I’ll never regret when I decided to enroll in the ex-MBA in IE. It was hard work, no doubt. But I really enjoyed every single minute I invested with my peers and the IE professors and staff. All great professionals and human beings to learn from. It’s liberal, non-biased, open-minded thinking and the positive spirit helped me a lot to also open my mind and make me a much more rounded professional, especially when managing people from other countries and cultures. And what’s definitely also important. I had a lot of fun :-) Can’t forget our after-hours in “Barril y Botella”, btw, the name of our WhatsApp group that keeps us all still connected, 15 years after. Definitely left a mark in us all. Other great contribution was the maturity and ability to objectively and calmly analyze complex cases coming up with the right approach. Makes the difference.

What are three achievements you are most proud of?

1) My family.

2) The boost of Schindler Spain share in the high-rise market.

3) My contribution as managing director in Schindler Netherlands in a difficult moment.

What does success look like for you?

When you every day go back home, convinced you delivered value and you left better things than you found, and you can proudly look in everyone’s eyes.