Background
Hector Aviles came to the Wisconsin School of Business with a military background which has undoubtedly contributed to his success during his MBA program experience. Hector grew up in Fond du Lac, WI and served in the Navy from 2013 – 2018 and served as Line Corpsman (Combat Medic) with the Marine Corp Infantry. He served in Operation Inherent Resolve in Kuwait and Jordan and later, due to injury, was assigned to a Navy Dental Clinic.
At 23 years old, he completed his military service and began pursuing his education online at the University of Wisconsin Colleges. He soon transferred to UW-Madison, where he majored in Communication Arts, with an emphasis on Rhetoric. He interned at Amazon as an Area Manager during the challenging Covid summer of 2020 and also gained experience as a credit analyst at a local bank, prior to joining the Full-Time MBA program.
MBA Program Experience
Hector has thrived in the MBA program and recently was awarded the Howard Thompson Award for demonstrating remarkable leadership skills and mentorship to others. He served as President of the Graduate Finance Organization and Co-President of the MBA Veterans Club and is currently an MBA Student Consultant for the Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship where he provides consulting and advising services to businesses who are looking to start and grow a new business. Hector has been involved in the Wisconsin Fellowship in Enterprise Development. During his first year, he was also part of the CS Nest (incubator program) & the Innovation to Market where he worked to come up with products and tried to get them to market.
What makes Hector stand out are the values he embodies on a daily basis. He regularly goes above and beyond in helping his fellow classmates. During the summer between his first and second year, Hector often reached out to our incoming students, providing advice and helping them prepare for their arrival on campus. When one of our first-year international students needed a place to stay, Hector quickly offered him the extra room in his house. When a fellow veteran first started the program and was contemplating switching to CFIB, he offered his time to counsel and help him connect with the right staff to explore his options. He is an advocate for veterans, is a proud Hispanic-American and has an exceptional entrepreneurial spirit.
Hector has enjoyed his MBA journey and shared that his favorite class was Financial Accounting with Professor Fabio Gaertner. He enjoyed Fabio’s amazing attitude and was impressed with how Fabio was able to get everyone excited about a dry subject such as accounting. As a “career switcher”, Hector emphasized that Wall Street Prep was a critical element of his preparation as he entered the MBA program.
Career Aspirations
Hector interned this past summer at Sam’s Club as an MBA Intern on their merchandising team and received an offer to return as Merchandising Analytics Manager. He has enjoyed building relationships with his team, learning about the corporate retail industry and is excited to build his career in this area, hoping one day to serve as a Vice President. Hector will relocate to Bentonville, Arkansas this June.
Advice for Students
Hectors advice for incoming students is to:
1) Learn how to be intentional with your networking
2) Do Wall Street Prep thoroughly in the summer leading up to your first semester
3) Read one article from the Wall Street Journal every day.
These activities combined will help fine tune your financial and business acumen and will allow you to build quality connections that will aid you in your career, in the form of mentorship or learning about new opportunities. Reach out to Hector on LinkedIn to stay connected and follow his journey!
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