How Do You Say Success in Spanglish?
The path to success isn’t paved for people of color. Join me as I sit down with individuals who share their stories as we learn how to say Success in Spanglish.
How Do You Say Success in Spanglish?
From Boston to Switzerland: A Expatriate's Journey of Perseverance and Embracing Change - José Vega
Jose Vega, Manufacturing Manager at Biogen currently working on the only FDA approved drug for Alzheimer’s. Boston born and raised, Jose now lives in Switzerland as an expat.
Episode Description:
Ever marvel at the power of perseverance and the impact of stepping out of your comfort zone? José Vega, a manufacturing manager at Biogen, is living proof of the magic that can happen when you do just that. We chart José's extraordinary journey from Boston to Switzerland, taking a deep dive into his childhood as a son of Panamanian immigrants. His story is a compelling testament to the transformational power of education, as reflected in his life-changing experience with the Stepping Stone program.
José’s university experience was fraught with obstacles. He candidly talks about his initial overconfidence, the subsequent academic struggles he faced, and finally his triumphant comeback. His mother's relentless pursuit of her GED was a beacon of inspiration for him throughout his journey. José also shares the invaluable lessons and insights he gained from his early days at Biogen, where he gradually navigated his way up the corporate ladder.
If you've ever wondered about working abroad, José shares his enriching experiences in Denmark and Switzerland, outlining the profound impact it had on his worldview. He ends our conversation with a reflection on his current position of stability, a result of his and his parents' hard work and sacrifices. José leaves us with a powerful message about the importance of taking risks and stepping outside your comfort zone. Join us for this inspiring conversation and come away encouraged to chase your dreams, no matter how daunting they may seem.
See more at www.successinspanglish.com
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Intro Song: Regaeton Pop - Denbow Ambiance
This is Raul Lopez, and you're listening to. How Do you Save Success in Spanglish? The path to success isn't easy For minorities and people of color. Many attempt to join you with little to no guidance. Join me as I sit down with individuals who share their stories of perseverance so that together we can learn how to save success in Spanglish. What's good me Hente? Welcome back. This is Raul, today's guest. I have a good friend of mine, jose Vega. How's it going, jose hey?
Jose Vega:Good ho w you doing, Raul Doing alright.
Raul Lopez:Yeah, yeah, man, I know we're quite a few hours away distance, so I really appreciate you taking the time to meet with me.
Raul Lopez:So Jose Vega is a manufacturing manager at Biogen, currently working on the only FDA approved drug for Alzheimer's. He's a Boston born and raised by. Jose now lives in Switzerland as an expat. That's quite a journey for people, especially for Panamanian, to have roots in Panama, growth in Boston and now living in Switzerland. So I guess with all journeys this kind of started at the beginning. Now tell me a little bit about growing up in Boston.
Jose Vega:Yeah, so I'm originally from like from Boston, specifically Jamaica Plain, which is, like I think at the time was like a half and half like minority, latino, black neighborhood, white neighborhood, right, you visit JP today you see there's a big change in gentrification. But yeah, so I came from two immigrant parents from Panama. So they made the journey. My dad first came over in like 1968, the first time, then went back to Panama and then he finally moved full time with my mother in like 1979. Then I had one older brother, so we lived and grew up in the same house in Jamaica Plain. So obviously, you know, coming back from Panama, where they're from was a very, very small village called Los Montes, literally like village right, and you know so my mom is one of 11. And my dad is one of 12, so I have a big, big family on both sides. So I think you know, I think you know they came. You know my dad had the opportunity to come back in a day with my aunt, was here, and before they were, you know, easier to get visas. So you know she went to my father and said, hey, do you want to come to the US? My dad was like, okay, sure, why not. So he's one of three from my dad's side that came to the US and my mom is the only one from her side that came to the US.
Jose Vega:So you know, I think one of the things that they stressed for me when I was a kid, with education right, because my I think my dad finished high school. He did high school in the US at the old, like Boston, jamaica Plain High School, which doesn't exist anymore. And my mother has an interesting story because, like I said, she was the eldest female of her family, so she had three younger sisters and two younger brothers. So when she was 11, my grandmother forced her out of middle school but literally took her to school. He didn't have the opportunity to study and when teachers would come by looking for my mom, my grandmother would tell her to go hide underneath the bed, that she wasn't home.
Jose Vega:So that for me, I think, was one of the things that kind of made me focus on education, like saying, okay, studying, you know my parents came here not speaking English, to the US, I mean and to just focus on school, so to.
Jose Vega:So I was really focused on school, right, so, like as a an elementary school, I was like a Shreddy student and I'll believe it or not, got placed into like the advanced working class program in the fourth and fifth grade and then the advanced working class program in the sixth grade and then I really had the chance in the fourth grade. I think one of the things that kind of changed my life was this program called stepping stone. So basically what it is. It's a 14 month program for fifth and sixth graders, so they basically after the school season's over in the summertime they go to school for six weeks and then during the school year of the fifth grade, sixth grade, you are six, really mean you're going to school or you're going to the program one day a week and on Saturdays, and then after the summer, the sixth grade, you know, you go back for six more weeks and then you pull on quote graduate.
Raul Lopez:Yeah, right, and then this was fourth and fifth grade fourth, fifth, fifth grade and sixth grade. Okay, it's like middle school. So I finished summer fifth grade and I finished the summer sixth grade, nice, and it sounds similar to the program I was in upper bomb, but we did that from ninth, tenth and eleventh grade, where you go to school. Here you were Saturdays and in the summer you were doing summer classes on campus. I mean, how did you guys find out about this? So you know what got you in there.
Jose Vega:Yeah, that's the thing. So elementary school, so again. So I got into the advanced work class at the Hennigan school. My teacher, miss Matthews right, they wanted to nominate students for the program, right, so so with. So basically the program is catered to like kids in the city of Boston you know, normally like from inner city youth, and the teacher just nominated, like myself and some other classmates of mine. So it was kind of cool because, okay, it was like it's summer school but it's with friends. Right.
Jose Vega:And the funny story is that you have to do like an interview, like an application and, like my parents didn't know, boston, downtown Boston. So, bro, I missed the interview.
Raul Lopez:And this was before GPS. So you, you, you couldn't figure it out. You have to know where you're going yeah.
Jose Vega:So you know, I come back and my teacher said how'd everything go? And I'm like I didn't make it and she's like what? So she got on the phone right away, called the people at Stepping Stone and said no, you really got to take this kid. You know, I think this kid is the perfect, you know, student that you want, and if it wasn't for her, like you know, I wouldn't have gone to that program. And maybe I'm not wearing him today because of her.
Raul Lopez:Yeah, and is that program yeah. Oh no, go ahead, I'll let you finish.
Jose Vega:Yeah, I was going to say because that program really opened the doors right, and I think one of the things that's unique about this program is that you know it prepares you for, like middle school, high school. But it also has a strong connection with the private schools in the greater Boston area. So I remember in the fourth grade you know a school had come by to talk about. It was like called the Roxbury Lions School and I remember being there and the school looked so cool. I was like you know, you're a young kid going to city schools in Boston. You have no backyard, no playground, right.
Raul Lopez:You probably have a basketball court. That's about it, yeah.
Jose Vega:And then I remember I remember being so cool to go to that school, but it's a private school that costs money, no chance right. And then here comes Stepping Stone. I get in the program and you know they help you with applications to take out. I just the standard, okay, let's go to the next public school. So with them I was able to apply to Roxbury Latin and get it on the full scholarship.
Raul Lopez:Nice, that's awesome. And what was the difference? You know, for a lot of us we keep talking about going to college and there's a big difference in lifestyle or whatever, and just I can imagine from being in public school to a private school, starting at high school. You're starting it off there. You know what was that transition like for you?
Jose Vega:Yeah, it's a little different, right? The first time was all boys school, right. So that's one big change. But I think what was unique about it was the fact that, like okay, so I came from the city of Boston, I was like a straight A student, a top student, and then I come and all of a sudden, there's like all these kids that are smarter than or at least I think you know they come, they're great, show that they were smarter than me. So going from like being on the top of the class to now, all of a sudden, like being towards like the middle, bottom third, was a big but something different for me. I wasn't used to that, right. I haven't gotten straight A's my whole entire life. And then here I am, I'm like okay, and I'm struggling a bit right.
Jose Vega:So that was one of the big challenges there. The school was very small too right, so I think it was in our grade was like 40 kids we started with.
Raul Lopez:Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.
Jose Vega:So very small. But I think it's good because you have, like, the student to teacher ratio. You know a lot you read about this city, the public school system nowadays right, when you throw like 35 kids in the classroom with one teacher and it's like, hey, good luck, survival of the fittest, maybe one might get out of it, right, Yep.
Raul Lopez:Yep, I was going to say it's a school that small, the personal connection, the personal focus on each individual student is a little bit better. When I got to my school we were getting close to the end of my senior year, when they're starting to get to what they called accreditation. They were checking the schools to make sure that they're up to keep par. I remember school was like, oh, we're going to put new blinds. I'm like how's that going to help with the education? That's not doing anything. Then they started mixing in some of the classes. I was in my senior class and we had maybe like 25, 30 kids. We were sharing 10 books. It's just as binder, this book with a bunch of short inversions of famous stories.
Raul Lopez:It's like 30 pages of Moby Dick condensed. You know what I mean. It's whatever. Half the pages are ripped out, they're all scribbled up. But they started removing the college classes, the college training, and put everybody mixed together in a way to balance out everything. I don't know what the idea was behind it, but they had to lower everything to the lowest common denominator. For me I was barely doing any work and doing really good in the class, just because they needed to keep those grades up a lot, because they were going to lose, which they did. They lost their accreditation. I can imagine being in a school where you're one of 40, you said 40 kids, right, 40 per class, so like 275 in the end, the whole school.
Raul Lopez:Yeah, but 40 for the class. I can imagine your class size of what? 13. 13 kids you know what I mean. They knew exactly where you were struggling and that can help out. It's amazing that you were able to get into the program. For a lot of us, I think, we start dealing with that when we get to college, where that transition between I was a smart kid in my school and now I'm not Did that help you at all? Did the school help you prepare?
Jose Vega:Yeah, so maybe for me. Once I got into the private school and I don't know if it was just arrogance, but I knew that college was the next step. Hey, it's a private school. The kids that go to the school go on to Harvard, they go on to Princeton, they go on to Yale, they go do big, famous things, famous kids of professionals and they come to school there. I knew that as long as I get through college, it's going to be an option.
Jose Vega:Maybe if I could go back and maybe spend a little bit more time in the education, I probably would have excelled at a higher student, maybe gone to an Ivy League school.
Jose Vega:But I think for me, knowing that I'm going to go to college, that was always going to be something I was going to do. When the applications came, I applied to like 10 schools 11 schools and I got into like eight of them. I was like, okay, I'm going to continue, I'm going to go somewhere. At the end it was the one that gave the most money and like you know, boston. University. It's very generous with their financial aid package. The first year, yeah.
Raul Lopez:And so I mean it's funny you say stuff like that because it's kind of a discussion of the father I have with people, where you're trying to balance off the. You know I want my kid to kind of grow up, to kind of have the same kind of somewhat inexperience that I had to understand the struggle a little bit, just because not to force them to struggle. But then you're also like I'd rather my kid go to the school and come in last place and still go to a good school than, you know, being top 10 in school and maybe they go to a good school. So you know, I can imagine that thing. So when you started and you got into the schools you got into, you ended up deciding on Boston University. How was that transition?
Jose Vega:Yeah, so that was kind of like okay. So my older brother, right, he was at BU at the time before me, so he had been there like two years ahead of me and so BU was also different because, again, I went from a small school of 275 students, right To like a giant university of like 20,000 people, right. So you know, you remember, like one of my things, like one of my first chemistry classes, was like maybe 400, 500 students, right.
Jose Vega:It was like my entire you know, my entire old, you know student population all in one class, right so, but the school had prepared me for that. So, to be honest, like I think my first freshman year, like it was I don't want to say it was easy, but I had been prepared enough to know what I had to study to get the good grades. So I remember, like taking my first chemistry class and the first chemistry test, right, and I think it was like the third guy to walk out the road and I'm like am I doing something wrong? Or maybe, maybe not, but I'm like I'm pretty sure, like this is correct. My hand in the paper. I leave people looking at me like wow, this dude.
Jose Vega:And yeah, sure, I get the exam back. And I think I got like a 96. Right, so I was like I felt good about myself. Like you know, it's like first test 96, like okay, things are going to be good. And then, and then, yeah, got into some you know some funny business. Let's say, right, that's the focus. So then I thought like I got overconfident thing like oh, university is going to be easy, going to be a breeze, right. And then it started to kick my ass. And then things changed and I had a decision to make to be like, okay, I need to continue and finish this and I had the same exact experience with my chemistry class, my first chemistry exam.
Raul Lopez:I came out of that exam with like a 95. And I was like and even all the people were like, holy shit, I was smart. I was like, oh shit, I got this, this is going to be easy, this is going to be just like high school. And then, like two, three weeks later, each exam just started going less and less and less and less. And then it was like, oh shit, I'm going to probably get a D in this class at the end of the semester. So what helped you kind of start transition working and improving on that as you started going long?
Jose Vega:Yeah. So I think one of the things going back to my mother, right, god bless her. So because she didn't have the opportunity to go to middle school, right? So 11th grade she was 11th, 5th grade probably she dropped out While I was in high school, you know she wanted to get her GED, general equivalency diploma, basically the equivalent of a high school degree right? So I remember seeing her always struggle right, she's learning English, struggling to like, learn the topics, to get that test. I don't know how many times she failed that exam. You know she would cry at night, like you know, but she would never quit. She would never quit. So I think having her there at going to school at the same time with me was always my motivation because I was like, man, what I can't quit? Right, she's working a full-time job raising two badass kids. Right, dealing with my father cooking, cleaning, taking care of the house, right, all the things that super moms do and still trying to get her, you know, her high school degree.
Jose Vega:And then when I got to university, you know, she finally got her GED and she didn't stop there. She went on to want to get her bachelor's from a Lezzi university. So we're basically in college at the same time. So for me, bro, there was no way I was going to quit, because I couldn't let my mom down. You know everything she had done to get me to where I was. There was no way that I was going to. I was going to fail. So I hit a rock bottom point, but I was able to pick myself up and finish.
Raul Lopez:And so we talk about rock bottom point in college. We all kind of get to the not all of us, but some of us get to the point where our grades go bad. We end up getting an academic probation. And I was on that probation I think twice and they told me if I get it one more time I'd be expelled from the school. So I was like this close to being kicked out of BU and had to come out. What helped change? What did you have to do to kind of pick yourself up from where you were?
Jose Vega:Yeah, exactly so when I started at BU I hated writing, I hated English. That was always my nemesis. So SAT score was like a 500, but my math was like 750. So that always bounced out the rest. So you know, and that's one of the things I mentioned, that like the for me, I think, like the American education system, are really a lot for big profit corporations, right when they really I remember stepping into the new one.
Raul Lopez:They're technically nonprofit, but there's a lot of money coming in here yeah.
Jose Vega:So I remember sitting on my orientation and you know, some guy walks into the room and he says, look to the left, look to the right, four years from now, one of you is not going to be here. And that's like the opening message. So you're like, okay, this is going to be crazy, right. But then you go through it and then you start to understand why. Because you know, to get into the, the engineering classes that were actual engineering classes, like I liked those and I did well in them, Right. But at the same time I had to take, like physics to physics, three calculus, three differential equations. I'm like I don't care what, how fast a neutron and a proton move, I'm not going to go to work for NASA, I'm not going to be a physics professor. So why are you making me endure this? So I just lost interest in that. And obviously, unfortunately for BU and many universities, you have to meet these quote unquote core classes to be able to find again to the program.
Raul Lopez:Yeah, and it's very interesting. I mean, that's a whole topic in of itself, but the it's the same thing. We I was the pre-med when I started and we had the- same we had the same day meeting, except instead of saying one person.
Raul Lopez:He said half of y'all will not be here by the end of the summer, by the end of the year, you know what I mean. Next thing, you won't see anybody. So remember my chemistry, chem 101 class. We had the same like five, 600 kids and it gets to about halfway through the semester they merged all the class back into one because so many kids have dropped out that you're back to about like 200 kids in their class and of those, half of those kids in the failing. So you're getting like 75% failure rates on these, what they called weed out class, pre-med med school weed out classes.
Raul Lopez:And I remember reading an article a while back where they're talking about how it's gotten so difficult to pass those early classes that there's a there's a high possibility that we're losing potentially good doctors from early stages. You know, instead of giving an opportunity to go up there. And I just remember, you know, when we're doing all that stuff, I'm like what's the point of this? And then I get to like my junior year and I'm getting A's and all my graduate level classes. You know, like like nothing. You know what I mean.
Raul Lopez:And so there's a big change or whatever to focus on. And so, once you started losing interest, what brought you back up?
Jose Vega:Yep, so basically. So I'd start off with like a you know 3.7 GPA, then, like my second year was like a 1.0. I think I dropped two classes. I failed one class.
Jose Vega:And I was at that moment where I said, okay, I know I need to stay in school, right, thinking about my mom. And I went to my advisor he's okay, we're going to put you in academic probation. Talk to my friend. Her name's Connie Phillips. She runs the biomedical lab and clinical science program at BU, which is like a fancy way of saying biotech. So I remember meeting with this woman, connie, and you know she explained the program to me.
Jose Vega:So this is what in 2002, 2003, maybe, and it seemed interesting, it was like science, math related right, Like you know, medical terminology, purification, cell culture, science based. So I was always, like you know, that was always like the way, the things I like to do.
Jose Vega:She said hey so try it a couple classes, because I had to do a couple of my courses to see and then apply, and so I was always like I took like two classes, I did well in them, got into the program, but the one thing that happened is because all my other classes didn't count towards the degree, I had lost pretty much like 28 credits, almost like a full year, but I didn't let that stop me, honestly, and you know. So here I am thinking like all right, I'm going to be a quote unquote super senior.
Jose Vega:But be honest, doing the X here is probably one of the best probably like the second best decision in my life, right, you know? Because I was really then focused in the classes. I enjoyed what I was doing. You know I like to go to class. You know I was doing well again.
Jose Vega:And one of the neat things about this program, which is, again, we can go off bar about this, but you know, I think in universities they really teach students like how to just take tests right, memorize, memorize, be a test taker, that's it right, not really teach you life skills. But this program, in order to graduate, you had to do an externship, meaning you had to go work somewhere at a company or you know, intern somewhere, as some, you know department of science, somewhere within the school, to get credit. And that's how you get the life experience right and that's how you get the real work experience and that was one of the things that really helped propel me, you know, to the next step of my career, in my life.
Raul Lopez:So nice, that's awesome, and so obviously you did well there and were able to graduate. Did you start working right away or did you?
Jose Vega:Yep, yeah, so my last year, basically I was doing an externship for the whole year, right, so? And then the cool thing was that they graded you on a 4.0 scale. So I was like 4.0 for 20 credits, nice Like that.
Raul Lopez:You know things list.
Jose Vega:Nice, nice. But the thing is like that program. You know, in that time in Boston, like 2004, five, six, it was really like biotech was just starting, it was in its infancy and I remember you know the woman having Pani having lots of connections with the different biotech companies, pharma companies in the area that you know part of it. Also, you have to like do a resume writing with her. So you went to do a resume. She's like, yeah, I'm going to screen some calls, I'm going to do this. So he calls me. She's like, hey, are they getting close to the graduation? I'm like, yeah. He's like, yeah, you need to come in. We got to look for work. I'm like, okay, okay, let's do this.
Jose Vega:But when I met her, gave her my resume, she piqued it around a bit, bro, literally like I leave her office and not even like five minutes by the time I get to my car I already got two phone calls about people like interested in my resume and I was like, okay, that's cool, right. So then I was like, okay, so work's going to happen. So then I started to, you know, apply the positions, go to job fairs, you know the old school job fairs where all the companies come and I really had, like you know, pharmacology, because my externship was working for grad students, helping grad students in the department of pharmacology at BU. So it was kind of cool. We were doing like they were doing like a testing some drug on the relapse of cocaine addiction. So we had to, like test rats and, you know, perform surgeries, juice them up with Coke to the reaction. Pretty messed up man.
Raul Lopez:But hey, you know we got to start something right, you walk in the lab and there's just like EDM music and all these rats there Actually there was like two instances where I think please shut up because, like some of my broken and cocaine- right.
Jose Vega:Because I had to talk about this stuff.
Raul Lopez:I wouldn't doubt that. Yeah, but yeah.
Jose Vega:But so yeah. So I got offered a job as like an unpaid job at Biogen. I think it was like their internship program like six months Like yeah, but I think in that extra year.
Jose Vega:I need to make some money, right, I was like I went to school, I spent this much, but so I went to this job fair and then I changed my mentality and it was like someone told me was like, hey, you know what you should do, you should just really try to get your foot in the door and then things open up. So instead of going specifically saying, hey, I wanted this type of job, I was just like, hey, I'm looking, I'm open to anything, I want to try something out. Here's my resume. But they called me up.
Jose Vega:So the manufacturing team at Biogen at the time, you know, they were doing like a big hiring, right. So I remember going in there one day, like on the Friday, and I was like, maybe I don't know like 40 people, right, and like so it was a full day of interviews. So, yeah, I sat down with the different managers you know, did a rotation, so that was on the Friday. Then I think the following Sunday was the graduation from BU and then the week after they called me to offer me a job.
Raul Lopez:Nice.
Jose Vega:Biogen. So at that point I was like, okay, they want to pay me this, okay, I'm going to take you. I mean I got my foot in the door, let's see where it takes me from there.
Raul Lopez:Yeah, and I think for a lot of students when they're graduating, the common trope is you know how can I get a job? Because they're asking for experience, but I can't get a job to gain that experience. And sometimes you just got to take what you can get just to get yourself in there. And so you started working. How long after you started working did you decide to go for your master's?
Jose Vega:Yeah. So that was so funny because, you know, after doing it, actually your school I was like, oh man, never going to go back to school, right. So 2006, I started at Biogen, 2007, 2008. But then around like 2009, I got into like a leadership position, but it wasn't like, it was like called a shift lead, right. So basically I was like managing the team, organizing, you know, organizing group, trying no-transcript, you know, give them the direction for the day, the planning, et cetera.
Jose Vega:But I really enjoyed that aspect of work, right, teaching people. Because, you know, going all the way back to my early life, right, with stepping, some people were always there sacrificing to teach me. So it was always my way to kind of give back, right. So then I said, okay, I don't want to do, maybe I'll do a master's, but more towards like business operation management. And I really like a sign because I was already in science, right. So I had a batch of the science. So they didn't really want a master's in science.
Jose Vega:So then Harvard Extension, you know, offered a program in management operations. So in the evening time for working professionals. So I said, hey, let me try it out, let me try a couple classes. So I remember one of my buddies of mine. We did it together. So we both said let's check it out. So we did a couple classes and it was really cool, right.
Jose Vega:It was really like a different way of you know how businesses work. Like you know, you study, like how Southwest is so successful, how Starvus was successful, you know the different tips and tricks and how to be a successful leader and that stuff really. So I was able to apply some of that from my day to day to my day to day job. You know, really like you know, focusing on the fact that you know I know it sounds crazy, but like the best employees are the happiest, right, simple concept, right, but for some reason, you know it's hard to get there. So, yeah, so I did the master's. It took like three years because obviously it was no rush to do it. Biogen also paid for like 80% of it, which is also a nice perk from the job. So I did that and got that in 2011. But at the same time, still, you know, working as a leader, working as a shift lead and then eventually getting into a full-time supervisor job.
Raul Lopez:And how difficult was it to balance working full-time and going back to get your master's?
Jose Vega:Yeah, it was difficult because you know. But then again I think about, like, what my mom did, what my dad did, right, like so for me it's like peanuts compared to what they had to do to struggle right. But my bosses were super flexible, right, so they understood. So some days I would have to leave early.
Jose Vega:And then I had to come in like on a different day to make up the hours. But that's, you know. That's one thing that I credit Biogen that they really focus not only on you know patience, but also like their employees, right. So it really comes to that whole thing about like, hey, happy employees are the best employees, because I'm like, hey, they're willing to be flexible with me, then I'm able to go above and beyond to help them out. So there was challenges, right, because some days you're working, you're tired. Then you got to go sit in two classes for four hours at night, you know you get out like a 1030, then you have to wake up the next day for work at 7am and I'm like, ah, and then you got to your papers and your homework and your work and all that stuff.
Raul Lopez:And so one of the big things I think for you know, especially for me, that kind of prevented me from jumping into grad school was always my GPA. I was really afraid my GPA was going to hinder me and I had no chance, no hope in getting anywhere. Did you find that the issues you had in undergrad kind of gave you an obstacle when getting into grad school? No, no, no, because they were pretty flexible.
Jose Vega:honestly, I gave them my transcripts and stuff. But I guess by the time I was done, when I graduated senior year, super senior year my GPA was above. I think I got back to like a 3.0. But again, these executive MBA programs, executive master's programs, executive master's programs really don't not that GPA doesn't matter, it's like it's like not the traditional masters that you go Like when you're in undergrad and like again, you need to high GPA. They really look for people that are like it's a choice, right, you choose to do a master's, right you choose, you don't have to do it right. So I think they see that and they understand that the majority of the people in this program are full-time working professionals.
Raul Lopez:Yeah, and that's you know. You see that a lot more now.
Jose Vega:I mean, mbas have become huge money makers, as we talked about earlier, for colleges.
Raul Lopez:You know I have people that go get their masters, and when I was looking at masters, you know there was programs that were like 40,000 for the two year programs and then, like 10 years later, they're almost 200,000 for that same program. It's just gotten ridiculous now. So, but so you're starting to work. You got your master's. How did that? How did your master's help you out in your career?
Jose Vega:Yeah, I think it really was like studying the operations of business, right, how businesses work right, thinking about like cost savings, change of improvement. You know handling people, difficult conversations, so I think those learning, you know. So some of the electors I took were like in the hospitality management, which is kind of cool, something different, right. But also then I did like a sports management class, which is also neat. So it's really just like taking the little things of each different class and like applying them to my day to day, right.
Jose Vega:I don't think that I don't. I'm not saying that I needed the master's to. You know, accelerate in my career by gen right. I think I was already, you know, proven leader. You know, people saw, you know that I was dedicated to the job, that I had a good understanding of how to do the operations. So, but I figured out like, hey, it wouldn't hurt, right, a master's never a bad thing to have, and if I can have the opportunity to get it and if my company's going to pay for it, then, why not?
Raul Lopez:So. So here you are at Biogen, moving up within the company, and then, obviously, you get to Switzerland at some point. What was that process? What made you decide to take an opportunity to go to Switzerland?
Jose Vega:Yeah, so, yeah. So back in 2014 or 15, right. So we were making you know our manufacturing our drugs in Cambridge, in Boston, right, and the forties drug had a not so good launch, so our production plan forecast really shifted right. So we went from like running a high throughput facility to all of a sudden like probably 25% capacity. So obviously for a big company in the city of Boston, cambridge area, where real estate is expensive, the company saw that they weren't going to have any profit.
Jose Vega:Knowing that we also had a similar site in North Carolina in our RTP research triangle part. So back in, so they did a big ways of layoffs and then, you know, they announced that they were going to shut down the manufacturing site in Cambridge but at the same time, by Jen also announced that they were going to invest on this 2.1 billion dollar project, so to help build this facility for Alzheimer's, because we had a drug at the time that you know the phase two data has shown really well. Everyone was really optimistic about it. So I remember, you know, the layoffs happened. It was tough, right, you know, seeing some colleagues that I had been working there for like seven or eight years. Some other guys are 15, 25 years being let go.
Jose Vega:So I went to my manager because he was impacted, but they made him like the director of the manufacturing site in Switzerland because he had already done something similar in our Denmark site. And I came to him and I'm like, hey, john, listen, how do I get involved with this? Right, like by Jen, right, I think it's something about my family that we're very loyal to companies. Right, like my, my mom was a city of Boston employee for 25 years. My dad worked for Beth Israel hospital for 30 something years. My uncle works for stopping shop for almost 30 years, right. My cousin, he works for children's hospital for like 17 years. I have a two non-profits like 15 and 10 years respectively, my aunt with Hilton.
Jose Vega:So yeah, I think it's something that runs in the family. Even a Panama same thing, right. So you know I like the job. You know I was like Okay, how can I? So going back to him I said hey, how do I get involved? So he gave me some tips. He said okay, because our site was like a smaller scale manufacturing site and the one they were going to build in Switzerland was a large scale but, like you know, six like 18,500 liter vessels and I think you guys don't know that's like 4000 gallons.
Raul Lopez:What's the conversion rate on that one?
Jose Vega:So um so then, he said okay. So at the time by Jen was also struggling at the other site so I had the opportunity to do to like short term assignments, the one in our Hillarod site in Denmark and another one in our North Carolina site. So for about seven months I was still working for by Jen while the transition of the, the shutting down of the site, was happening. But I was able to get that experience that I needed to get on to this project.
Jose Vega:And then I think also, maybe, you know, the manager at the time saw something in me, you know, that that I could deliver and I could be a big benefit to this company in Switzerland, to the, to the company with by Jen, but to the facility in Switzerland. So after seven months, like learning the large scale stuff, the you know, I remember he called me one day. He's like hey, jose, I posted the job, you know, so go apply for it. So I applied for the job. You know we had the interview and the interview was really like okay, before you leave that place, go find this and this and this. I kind of had a good feeling that I'm like Okay, I think this job is going to be mine, right.
Jose Vega:Yeah sure enough. You know, I was offered the job to work on this and I was able to get into this Jen manufacturing facility because it was going to be one of the first fully automated sites like in the world, not just for by Jen. So that was that was. That was exciting. So, basically, because we closed our Cambridge site, I had to move to North Carolina research triangle park. That was part of the gig, because I still although I was working on the project.
Jose Vega:And Switzerland. I would go to Switzerland, right, because you know this is how it is right.
Jose Vega:There's no guarantees in life, right. But you know, speaking to him and seeing other people who had gone through this process for, like the Denmark site, normally the people who are involved in the beginning, usually if they want they can kind of get their way over there because they have the knowledge, they had the experience right. So it makes sense for someone like me to go over there in the future. So going back, so I'm in North Carolina for like seven or eight months I think I moved right to Thanksgiving and literally I think I spent like 35 days there in the seven months because part of the project was to fly and check out all the equipment that was being built around the world, right, so we had like three locations in the US.
Jose Vega:They were manufacturing stuff. So even in Massachusetts I was able to do a home trip there, like in like Allentown, pennsylvania, springfield, missouri, you know, western mass. Then we had a company in Ireland building equipment. So I got to go to Ireland, I got to go to Germany, so it was pretty cool a lot of traveling, but it was just good to you know.
Jose Vega:But I had the whole vision right. I'd seen like, okay, I know where this is and this is and this is, and when it gets to site, we got to put it together and operate it. So after I don't forget, the first time I went to Switzerland it was after the Super Bowl the pages come back against the Falcons. Right, I was in Florida and my boss a week before is like what are?
Jose Vega:you doing next week? I'm like, oh, I was going to Florida watching football with friends. Hey, can you go to Switzerland? I was like, sure, right, I jump on the plane and get to Switzerland and then there I do the interviews.
Jose Vega:And again the interviews are more like people getting to know me, understand me who I am, and then so then they offered me the job. But because you know we're talking earlier about you know, I feel like I have reverse immigration here. Trying to move to Switzerland, it took almost like six months to get my visa approved, because Switzerland is one of those places where they have a lot of smart people, right. So they're like why do we need someone from the outside to come here when we have you know, they're a hub of pharma by the companies, right, and sure enough, they have the people that can do the job. But you know.
Jose Vega:so I had to go back and forth between the local authorities, my job letters going back and forth, to find, you know like, allow me to go there. So yeah, in 2017, I packed up my stuff from North Carolina and I found myself here in good old Switzerland middle Europe, nice, and it's funny you mentioned it's.
Raul Lopez:It's kind of like a reverse immigration story. You know your parents coming into this country, trying to come to America, and then how you're going not necessarily that you're giving up living in America, but you know you're going for work in Switzerland. You have to do all that stuff, but you deal with some of the same issue you know, it's a culture shock. It's a culture difference. There's a language barrier, you know what were some of those difficulties that you had going in there.
Jose Vega:Yeah, I think, like you said, I think the biggest one was like the language barrier, right. So work wise was fine because the site was all English, so we required everybody to speak English, right. So we, so everybody who came, had to have a minimal proficient English, so work was fine. That was not the issue.
Raul Lopez:Classic American issue.
Jose Vega:The issue was like, okay, trying to get around town to make appointments to you know, go to offices, or like every year I have to renew my permit. Then you get the letters in German and you're like I don't know what this is. Google translate asking my friends to spoke German. My Swiss friends, Nice, right, so anytime, I had a good question. Some of the local Swiss people was all you got to go do this, you got to go do that, you got to go here, and in the bigger cities people speak English right.
Jose Vega:So like Burns or those types of places, but like in the smaller towns, like the smaller villages, you know you ask someone like is that I can see English? And they're like no English. It's like, okay, here we go. And then you kind of, you know, you use hand gestures and you try to figure out the common thing. And it's worked so far.
Jose Vega:I've been able to achieve a lot here on my own At the same time, I'm also taking some German classes too because, I appreciate the country, giving me the opportunity to stay here, to work here, so I always find it that I don't want to be one of those people that go like you know, you hear the thing in the US is like you go to America, the live American dream, but then you don't want any. English. It's like what you know, it's like at least the basic stuff because, it might save your life one day, right, yeah? So I took some German classes, so I'm A1 certified officially right. So I have two of those certificate.
Raul Lopez:So you're a good steak sauce, though you're good yeah exactly.
Jose Vega:I didn't know what these levels were before, bro. Yeah, I was like the US, like English is English. Yeah, and here's A1, a2, b1, a2, b2, a2, and my quiet, now I understand it's at different levels.
Raul Lopez:Nice, nice, and so it's interesting. You're dealing with a language barrier and I can imagine stuff like going to the doctors, you feel so, you know, like trying to deal with explaining things and hoping that you're a doctor. And so another, probably big thing is travel. You know, your family is now not even driving distance, it's all oh good, yeah, yeah.
Jose Vega:So it's funny you mentioned that, because actually that's one of the reasons why I came out here, because so my parents, you know they so they retired and moved back to Panama 10 years ago. So they left out, they abandoned us that's how I look at it, right, so I always had to fly to go see them anyway right.
Jose Vega:The boss and I would go in the wintertime to Panama see some sons, see my family. So that made it a little bit easier, right, okay, I left my brother out, but you know we have our different lives. You know leaving the fraternity guys back their friends from high school, but you know, the most important thing was like my mom and dad, right, and I was like, okay, here's an opportunity. You know Switzerland, obviously, it's a great country, great economy, they make some decent amount of money.
Jose Vega:Okay, I still have to fly to see my parents. It's just gonna be a little bit lucky. So I think that was also one of the reasons that I didn't really hesitate not to come out here. I think had they still been in Boston, that might've changed. That would've been a little bit, maybe a bit more reluctant to move out here, yeah.
Jose Vega:Since they were already, they had pieced out. I was like, all right, let's check it out. And doing those summer stints in Denmark that I told you about at the beginning also exposed me to that lifestyle, like you know. So, based in Denmark, but I was able to go to France, go to Sweden, go to Germany, and that was something that I always, you know, people had told me, like a good family friend that said, hey, if you have the opportunity to like work abroad as an expat, your company will send you, do it. And I was like, okay, this is the time right. I think you know it's like 33, I was like, let's do it, let's go now.
Jose Vega:And it's been an awesome experience, honestly, it's been really cool to you know, to get to know the areas, and what's neat about it is that you know I don't get to just go to the big cities, right, because you know when people come to Europe they cram everything. In 10 days we're gonna do Rome, in Paris and London and, like you're just exhausted right, so I have the benefit to be like you know what I think. I'm gonna go check out this town for the weekend.
Jose Vega:And just go hang out and then come back home. It's pretty cool. That's one of the added benefits about being out here.
Raul Lopez:Yeah, and it's. You also put it at a good point where you, you know, someone gave you advice. You know, if you have an opportunity to go and live abroad, you know, take it. I mean, I was. I didn't go abroad, but I moved from Rhode Island to Texas and I lived in.
Raul Lopez:Texas for 12 years, which does feel like a different country, yeah, yeah, yeah, Compared to the Northeast, but you know it's the same thing. I was married and I'm a kid. I took an opportunity. My dad struggled with it more than my mom. My mom was like if you're gonna be happy, you go do it. My dad was like, are you sure he's just nervous being a dad? But after a while you get used to it and it's all for the better. But you know, what kind of advice would you give someone who you know this is something they're interested in?
Jose Vega:you know, being able to live abroad and work abroad, I think it's a great thing to do, whether you do it in university, where you do it in, you know for work, right. It really changes your aspect of life, right? So here I am, growing up in the US, thinking like you know, America number one.
Jose Vega:You know, the best country ever, right? I was a joke around coming here. You know, telling the people right. And then you know, now you look at the time, you see I think the timing couldn't have been any better. Right To leave America when I left, to be here. But really take the risk, right, I think one of the things that okay, one of the things that made it easier for me was that I had a job. I don't think I would have just grabbed my stuff and been like all right, let me go to I don't know Sweden, let me look for work. No, no, I think that for me was too risky. But there are people that do that and I credit them a lot for taking that risk. I think for me, like, having the job security was okay, I'm gonna have an income, I'll figure out the rest.
Jose Vega:And at the end of the day, if it doesn't work out, I always knew that I could always come back to Boston right. And you know cause Boston's a big biotech hub. I have a lot of co-workers and connections still with people so that and. I think that's also one of the things that puts me at ease, that like if I ever were to get laid off. You know, hopefully not, but find a job wouldn't be that difficult, right.
Jose Vega:Maybe not the same job I have now, but hey, at least I would have a job. And I have to struggle to be like, hey, am I gonna be unemployed for two years? Something like that. And I think that mentality also comes from, like my parents, right, the jobs they did when they first came to the US typical, like you know, cleaning toilets, cleaning floors, you know that type of stuff. So you know those are tough jobs, right, tough jobs that don't pay anything. Right, use blood, sweat and tears.
Jose Vega:And when I look at the work that I do, you know I'm very fortunate that you know there's some days that, okay, it's tough, you know you do some hand manual labor but in the reality it's like peanuts compared to what, like my dad did in the morning. You know what my dad would have to do before going to school go out into the woods and to the fields to get, you know, to get the crops, to bring them back to my grandmother so that she could prepare the food and then them hiking to. You know, walking 45 minutes in the mud, kind of like a burning man right now, right.
Jose Vega:You see, the people on the bottom stuck something like that, like when it rains, they had mud to their ankles and that was like my parents, you know, no shoes, right, have to keep their shoes clean, get to the school, wipe them off, put them on. So those things keep me grounded and really, you know, I'm just, I'm super, super, wasn't gonna say blessed to just be in this position that I am right now.
Jose Vega:You know, I don't have and I wouldn't change anything that in my life.
Jose Vega:Maybe I give myself some different advice growing up but honestly, you make mistakes. You learn from them. But I am where I am because of my parents. You know the discipline and the behaviors they taught me and my brother growing up. And. I'm just like super fortunate to be here, right. I really don't have much to complain about in this world, right? Even when the things seem so low. You know, I wake up every day with a smile, you know happy to see what the day has remains a challenge.
Raul Lopez:Yeah, and I've always felt that with like my parents.
Raul Lopez:You know, if you were to pay people based on how callous they are and hard their hands on, our parents will be millionaires, you know what I mean the amount of blood, sweat and tears for the work they did compared to, like you know, my ass sitting in a air conditioned room listening to YouTube while I work. You know it's like it's a completely different lifestyle. But, you know, I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to us. You know, I think it's definitely gonna probably bring you back in some more. I have some more of these little topical discussions that we talked about earlier, but thank you so much for being here, man.
Jose Vega:I appreciate it, man, Anytime bro.
Raul Lopez:Yeah, and to everyone else listening. Once again, thank you all for tuning in. I do appreciate all the support and hope you'll join me again next time as we continue to learn how to say success in Spanish.
