Nuno Fernandes, CEO, Ilumno
Nuno Fernandes
Contact Information:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nuno-a-s-fernandes/
This is a transcript from The Floridaville podcast. This transcript was created using artificial intelligence so it may not be an accurate account of what was recorded.
Rosanna Catalano 00:08
This is
the Floridaville get to know the people behind the Florida names. You know, I'm
your host Rosanna Catalano. And on this episode we get to know Nuno Fernandez,
the President and CEO of Ilumno, a company dedicated to expanding access to top
quality, affordable higher education across Latin America. We're recording
today remotely. I'm in my home in Tallahassee, and Nuno, is speaking to us from
Miami. Welcome to the show.
Nuno Fernandes
00:34
Thank
you very much, Rosanna. It's a pleasure being here.
Rosanna Catalano 00:37
Well,
I'm very excited to know because I'm passionate about education and technology,
and by all accounts, Ilumno focuses on both of these things. Can you tell us
more about your company?
Nuno Fernandes
00:50
Absolutely.
Illumina was founded in the year 2005. And what we do is that we help higher
education institutions that want to go online, we help them with the technology,
with their marketing efforts, that enrollment efforts, their retention efforts,
and basically we help them being successful in the online, higher education
industry. In the in the US, typically a company like those would be called an
OPM online program manager, there are several OPMs in the US. They're not as
well known in Latin America, we're kind of the pioneers, Ilumno is actually the
biggest OPM in Latin America, we're actually among the top 10 worldwide.
Rosanna Catalano 01:27
Wow. So
what is your reach in Latin America in terms of students? Do you think,
Nuno Fernandes
01:33
ya know,
we have about 200,000 students, currently, you know, platform. Most of them are
in Colombia, in Argentina, in Brazil. And we also have some in Central America,
specifically, in Costa Rica and Panama, we are currently expanding to other
markets, to Mexico to Peru, we're looking into Ecuador. So you know, it's
exciting. We're into expansion mode. And, and hopefully, if we talk to anyone
here, these numbers will be a much larger.
Rosanna Catalano 02:03
So I did
a lot of research on you before this podcast, and it was apparent to me that
you really believe in the transformative power of education, why is that so
important to you?
Nuno Fernandes
02:18
Yeah, I
do actually. And, you know, I think that the stars were aligned, when I find
this job, that speaks a lot to me in terms of what we do. When I when I joined
the company in 2013, I really liked the mission of the company of expanding
access to, to education in Latin America or globally, whatever that is, because
I'm originally from Portugal, and my, my grandparents, you know, they were
farmers, they didn't know how to read or write. And, and my parents were
actually the first one from their small village that actually got to go to the
university and graduate from university and, and I could see how that changed
the life that my parents could have, you know, my father graduated as a lawyer.
And he's a lawyer until today, and my mother was actually a faculty member in
one of university in Portugal. So I could see how their life changed because of
education. And all their life was significantly different than the life that my
grandparents had, and, and the only reason why that happened was because they
had access, they had the opportunity to study. And then, for me, it was exactly
the same, you know, I'm the second generation of my family that got to go to,
to the university to get access to higher education. And, and I'm sure that if
that would not, would have been the case, I would not be here speaking to you
today. So, so I know that that it sounds like a cliche, and probably it is, but
I know that education transforms lives, I know that it helps people progress,
it helps families having a better quality of life. And overall, when you look
at all the metrics and studies and an analysis, it's proven that the education
is directly related to the progress of a country, dynamically and socially. So
So I think it's one of the the nice things in this industry is to be able to,
to be involved with something that really touches people in such a deep way.
And that helps people hopefully have a better life for them and for their
family. So So yeah, for me, it's something very dear and, and it's also
something very dear for everybody in our company, we really nurture that that
vision that we have of expanding access, and try to reach as many people as we
can and try to improve their life. So So yes, it's it's something very dear to
me.
Rosanna Catalano 04:44
You
know, I'm gonna back up here for just a second because you talked about being
from Portugal. So I was wondering if you could tell us a bit about what it was
like growing up there and what your family's like were they a close knit
family?
Nuno Fernandes
04:58
Yeah, absolutely.
For those who don't know, sometimes I get the question Where is that? Portugal
is a country in the south of Europe, its borders with Spain. And, and I was
born in a small town, located on the Atlantic coasts. And basically, I grew up
with my grandparents, in my early years living in this small fishing village.
And, and then later on, when my parents finally graduated, I moved to Puerto,
which is the second, the second biggest city in Portugal. And I moved in with
my parents and, and, and my youth and my, my younger years, my childhood, my
younger years, they were very happy. I mean, just, we were a, we weren't, we
are a very close family. You know, we didn't really have any luxuries or
anything like that. But we had everything we needed. My my generation was
actually the first one is interesting, because my generation was the first one
that was born in a democracy in Portugal, Portugal was a dictator regimen until
1974. I was born in 76. So my generation was the first one that was born under
a democracy. And, and, and back then everything was very hard because the
country was in transition from a very dark age, if I can call it like that, to,
let's say, modern times, right. So it was difficult, but exciting at the same
time, because after so many decades of, of this regimen, the country was ready
to progress and to evolve and to transform itself. So it was an interesting
time for me, because I could see how the country was changing and shifting and
evolving and becoming more modern. But at the same time, it was a country with
a lot of challenges, economically speaking, so. So I would say that, that my
childhood was very happy. I mean, I have the best memories. My family's very
close until today, two small families, just me and my parents. But you know,
we're very close, we talk every day, you know, now we have WhatsApp and all
these things. So it's much easier. And, you know, usually they come for a
period of time to spend one or two months in Miami this year, unfortunately,
because of COVID, they're not coming. But hopefully all of that is going to be
over soon. And because my parents, I guess they were the first ones that our
opportunity they really knew and they know the value of work and say integrity
and commitment. And, and that's that was something that was very present in my
life from a very early age, and that you have to work very hard, you have to
work very hard. And, and this was something that I listened, you know,
breakfast, lunch and dinner and and they were very strict in that sense that I
had to overperform and that nothing easy comes without hard work and
commitment. So and I guess that stayed with me until today. And and it's
something that I'm very thankful that that they teach me.
Rosanna Catalano 07:41
I'm
wondering if your parents know, my parents since I was a young age, are you
going to be a doctor or a lawyer?
Nuno Fernandes
07:49
Yes, Oh,
actually, you know, but, you know, back then you could only be a doctor, lawyer
engineer, those were like the, the jobs that were socially recognized, right.
And I actually I want it to be a doctor. Funny enough. I want it to be a
doctor, I wanted to go to med school because I wanted to be a psychiatrist.
Because I like to work with mental health. I was always fascinated fascination for
more those kinds of things. But then I realized that I can see blood and I can
deal with diseases and hospitals. And every time I go to a hospital, I don't
feel well, you know, I feel that I'm going to faint. So I thought, it's
probably not a good idea to spend six years of my life, you know, inside the
hospital seeing blood and disease every day. And then I realized I thought, you
know, what could I study? And I decided to study economics, because I think it
was broad enough to do anything, right? And what that's what an economist does,
he does, whatever he wants to do, right? So so that's why I study economics,
because I thought it was very broad. I didn't want to be labeled just you know,
like as a lawyer or as an engineer, so I decided to do something that was more
flexible. And, and it was not really a strategic decision just happened that
way. But But I'm very happy that I took that route.
Rosanna Catalano 09:06
Yeah, I
didn't like the sight of blood either. So I ended up on the law path.
Nuno Fernandes
09:13
Yeah, my
father was a lawyer, you know, and he's a lawyer and and you have clients
calling every day at dinnertime. And I always thought that was something I
didn't want for me. You know, and that's, that's one of the reasons that I didn't
study law as well.
Rosanna Catalano 09:29
So you
said you studied economics for your undergraduate degree? What University Did
you attend? in Porto,
Nuno Fernandes
09:36
the
University of Porto.
Rosanna Catalano 09:39
And
after you completed your degree, where did you work?
Nuno Fernandes
09:44
Well,
yeah, when I when I finished my degree, I went working for a German company
called Bosch. Maybe you heard the name, no home appliances, car parts, or
tools, a lot of things. It's a very large company, one of the biggest German
companies and I've started working for them in Madrid in Spain, actually. So I
spent about two years in Madrid, almost two years about 18 months in Madrid
with them. And and then after that, I went to Brazil. So and then I spent three
years, two or three years in Brazil. And then I came back, I spent some time in
Germany. And then I went to Mexico with them. And then finally I came to the US
with Bosch in the year 2008, as their VP of Marketing and product management.
And that's how I came to the US. And now it's a funny story, because we're
talking about Florida, Miami. And back then the idea was that I was going to
Detroit, because that's where the corporate headquarters isn't. And the plan
was that I was being transferred to Detroit. And Bosch just acquired the
company in Fort Lauderdale back then. And then they said, well, you're going to
go to foreclose authority, because you're going to be in charge of the
integration plan. And then one site started leaving you I never left. So. So I,
once I was in Fort Lauderdale and Miami, I didn't want to go to Detroit. And
that's why I stayed here.
Rosanna Catalano 11:04
It is we
do here in Florida.
Nuno Fernandes
11:07
Yeah,
the weather, it's likely better.
Rosanna Catalano 11:11
So what
do you think was one of the most important skills that you've learned at that
job with Bosch?
Nuno Fernandes
11:21
You
know, I, I think that when in your career, one of the most important things is
when you start is Who do you report to? Who is your boss, or, yes, it the
person that you are working directly with, and I was very lucky, that sense,
you know, I was very blessed that I had a great guy. His name was Friedman
______ , German guy, he was the Director of Product Management, and I was working
for him. And he had a lot of knowledge not only about the company, but about
the world in general. And he was a very affable and a very open person. And,
and somehow he took me under his wing, and he was kind of my mentor, in that
sense, and, and he taught me a lot of good things that are valid until today,
but but I would say that one of them was that you always have to be relevant,
you know, that you have to make yourself relevant. You have to be seen, and
just an if you're seeing that you're going to get opportunities, but in
whatever you do, you have to be relevant. And then one thing that I also
learned from me was, you know, all do you measure the value of an employee, you
know, and you measure it by thinking what would happen if this person will leave
the company tomorrow. And I thought, that's really interesting, because it's
really to write because if you have somebody that leaves the company, tomorrow,
nothing happens, then the value of that person is very low. Now, if you have
somebody that leaves a company tomorrow, and then there's a big problem, then
develop that person is very high. And, and you always have to position yourself
in that, in that situation, where if you would leave, it would not be good. And
that's, that's about being relevant. Right? So and then I was lucky as well,
that, that I was exposed to leadership roles at a very young age. When I when I
joined the company, immediately I started leading small teams, and then larger
teams and then fairly large teams, but but from a very early age, I had a
leadership roles. And I've learned that sometimes it's okay to make difficult
decisions. And you must do that, as a leader, you know, it just as a leader,
you have to take responsibility. And sometimes the things that are not very popular,
but you must do them. And I'm specifically remember that the first time that I
had to fire somebody, for me was really, really hard. You know, and I was about
24,25. And I had to fire this person. And for me, it was really, really hard to
do it because I thought you know about the family and about, you know,
everything that we think about when you have to fire somebody, right? But then,
yeah, but then I learned. You know, if you don't feel bad when you fire
somebody, you are most likely a bad person. But if you but, but if you don't
fire the person because you feel bad, and you are a bad employee and a bad
leader. So those are the things that I learned in the early stages of my career
outside of the most relevant ones.
Rosanna Catalano 14:11
I think
those are wonderful things to have taken away from that. And very good advice.
So let's take a quick commercial break. And when we come back, I'm going to ask
you about your graduate schooling and how Ilumno is growing so rapidly. Thank
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Rosanna Catalano 15:03
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Rosanna Catalano 15:27
Welcome
back. My guest today is Nuno Fernandez, the President and CEO of Ilumno, a
company that partners with educational institutions across Latin America. So I
know you have an MBA from the WP Carey School of Business at Arizona State
University. Why did you decide to pursue your graduate degree in the United
States,
Nuno Fernandes
15:50
I was
living in Mexico, the time working for Bosch, I've lived in Mexico, between
2004 2008. And I was I remember, I was about 27 years, 27 years old at the
time, and I wanted to do an MBA and, and the US for me, I was not involved in
education by any means I was working for, for a German company that produces consumer
goods. But I wanted to do an MBA and for me, the US was always a reference in
terms of education in so many other things, right, but also in education. And
Arizona State was just easy to fly to that's the honest answer there is I wish
I could tell you something, you know, more stuff more advanced and
sophisticated. But it was just a nice MBA from a nice school that would that
good rankings. I like the faculty have, I've investigated a lot of MBAs, and it
was an executive MBA that I could fly in and fly out. And it was just easy to
fly from Mexico City and, and come back to work again. So that was the main
reason but having said that, it was it was a great experience. And, and also a
great way of doing new contacts and networking. And, and I still have a lot of
dear colleagues that are you know, in my contact listen to today.
Rosanna Catalano 17:03
So you
spend some time in Portugal, Spain, Germany, Brazil, Mexico, and obviously the
United States for your work. What kind of perspective did you gain from living
all over the world?
Nuno Fernandes
17:17
Yeah, I
think a lot of flexibility. And, and a lot of questioning yourself about the
things that you believe are correct. You know, just because you see something,
you know why it doesn't really mean that it's the right way, we take, you know,
usually take what we know, as absolute truths, because that's what we know. But
it is often not like that, because there are many truths, right. And I think
that I think the food actually food is a very good example about it. Because,
you know, like Mexico, in some parts of the country, they eat snakes, right.
And most people say that that's terrible. But for them, it's normal, because
they were born with that. And they were raised with that. Now. If you tell a person
from India, that you are eating a cow, they will think it's a sin. But for us,
it's perfectly normal. But in certain countries, pork is not allowed. But we
all love bacon, right? And then and then in Portugal, you know, wheat rabbit,
and near the rabbits are pets. So which one is right? And the truth is that I
believe they all are correct. And because they're all part of a set of values
and culture that is that is usually very deep within the society. I think that
my takeaway is to be able to question everything and and i think that helped me
with my job, and that I always try to question everything to see see is really
the right way of doing things, or is there another way? Or just because we've
been doing this this way, I'm sure that there might be some other way of doing
it or, or being able to question everything. I think that's the most important
takeaway from from my international experience.
Rosanna Catalano 18:57
Now,
let's talk about the llumno. You began working there, I think it was around 2013.
What attracted you to the company? And what was your first position there?
Nuno Fernandes
19:07
Yeah, I
was really attracted to the company because of what I mentioned in the
beginning that you're we were able to work with, with schools to expand the
access to education. So we were able to touch people in a very significant way.
Right? I think there are three, three moments in life that are really
significant. And I'm going to tell you what those moments are. The first one is
what do you study? You know, because what do you studied kind of defines your
your life pattern, you know, if I would have studied to be a doctor, I will not
be talking to you today. You know, my life would be probably better worse. It
doesn't matter but it would certainly be different. Because I will be a doctor,
I will not be what I am today and that's because I decided to study the med
school so So what do you study has a very deep impact in your life? The second
one is would you get married to. And the third one is, if you have kids, those
are the three moments for me that are really significant in life. Now, in our
company, we don't impact the people you get married to, or if you have kids or
not, but we do in fact, one of them one of the three of them, which is, what do
you study and if you study and, and I thought that that's really relevant and
and I honestly feel very blessed that we have the opportunity of working with
our partners with the universities to expand and bring education to millions of
people in Latin America, if you think about Latin America, in most countries,
participation, right, the fire, the occasion is less than 50%. So that means
that one off every two persons, they can't access higher education for whatever
reason that might be. But that's not bad, because a few, you know, two decades
ago was 25%. So it's going in the right direction. And we're part of, you know,
within our within our possibilities, we're very happy to be helping the
countries and the societies to become more educated. So, so I guess that was
what attracted me. And my first role was, I was the Senior Vice President of
Marketing for the company.
Rosanna Catalano 21:20
Now, you
helped achieve extraordinary growth rates for your company, according to your
website. alumno, is now one of the fastest growing University networks in Latin
America, obtaining for its educational partners, the number one and number
three positions in Colombia, and number one in Argentina, in terms of market
share, what do you think was key for you all to have such growth in Latin
America?
Nuno Fernandes
21:46
Yeah, I
think one of the important factors that we were the first ones, you know, we
were the first ones to kind of bring this online program management model to
them. So that gave gave us a very strong position, we got the right partners,
so we partner with the right schools, that's very important. The market was
growing by itself, you know, organically, so we were we entered in a growing
market, which is always good, that you are part of a market that that is
growing, I would say the fourth factor is that, you know, we're part of a
global group that has the right resources to to invest. And, and now we keep
expanding to other countries, to Mexico, to Ecuador, to Peru, and to other
parts of the world, which I'll be happy to talk about that too. And then, but I
would say that the most important factor, the number five is that we have a
great team. You know, I think that in every company of an African company I've
seen in every company that I've worked for in every country that I've been, the
great companies are always the ones with great people. I mean, I've never seen
a great company that does not have great people. But coincidentally, all the
bad ones have not so great people. So so there is a pattern there that the team
is highly important. The ambition, the motivation, the aggressiveness. And and
I think we do have a great team. And I think that's part of our success.
Rosanna Catalano 23:11
You
quickly rose through the ranks at Illumina to become the CEO and president.
What do you attribute your success to?
Nuno Fernandes
23:23
You
know, I have a lot of weaknesses, but I do think I have one important
strengths. One of the strengths, one of the few ones is that is that I believe
I have a very good eye for people. And that has been key to the success of the
company. You know, as I was just telling you, every great companies might have
great people. That's it, there's a direct correlation there. And in the end, as
a CEO, you know, you are directing the show, you are giving the strategy, but
you're not really doing anything. Because most of the times people are doing
that for you. So, so you need great people to work with you. Otherwise you can
be successful. It's impossible. I don't believe in one man show. It never
happens. It's alive. And when people say it is true, it's a lie. Even when
there's only one public face, there's always a great team behind so my success,
the success of any CEO or anybody that is leading a company, big small medium,
is always the team that we have and and I believe that in that sense, is one of
my strengths is that I think I have a good eye for people, most of the people
that are working with me. They have been working with me since the beginning.
Since I've joined the company. They develop themselves such as I did, you know,
it's ever evolving process. I'm certainly not the same one I was seven years
ago, but but the people that work directly with me, they're not the same. They
were seven years ago. So. So you know, we're very proud that all of our
management team or Illumina is composed from people that came from Illumina.
They were formed and trained at loom No, we don't really have anybody from the
outside not that it could not happen certainly could. There's nothing wrong with
But, you know, our, our VP of finance our VP of HR, or CEO or CTO, everybody
comes from within. And they are part of a development process that has happened
in the last six or seven years. And that also developed them. So. So yeah, I
think that that the success of the company, I don't like to say my success,
because it is doesn't really matter what my success is, is not the success of
the companies is composed by by the fact that we do have a great set of people
working for us.
Rosanna Catalano 25:33
Your
company focuses on Latin America, yet you live in the United States. And you've
talked about expanding into other markets. So why are you in the United States
and your company focuses on Latin America.
Nuno Fernandes
25:47
So our
company, our company is part of a global group, we do have similar efforts than
the ones we have in Latin America, in Europe, and in South Africa. And we're
expanding to the Middle East. The reason why we our offices in Miami is just
because it's so easy to travel to Latin America, from Miami. So it's a great
hub. And that's the reason we do have a small office in Miami, most of our
operation is in Latin America, specifically, in Bogota, Colombia, and in Rio,
Brazil. So in Bogota, Colombia, we have a large office with about 600 employees.
And in Rio, and in Rio, Brazil, we have a large office with about 500
employees. So so the teams are in Latin America, just some of the leadership
roles. They are in Miami. And just because it's easy to travel, and it's a
great hub. And I'm also involved with other efforts, globally. So for me, it's
also easier Well, now, it doesn't really matter, because you can't really go
anywhere, right. But But before, before COVID, you know, if I had to go to
South Africa or to Europe, it's easier to move to fly from Miami than from
South America. So that's the reason.
Rosanna Catalano 27:02
So your
company in the know, brings best practices and processes and technology to
these academic institutions. I'm curious as to how you all assess and determine
which of these practices and processes and which technology your company is
going to bring under their umbrella and offer?
Nuno Fernandes
27:26
Yeah,
great question. You know, higher education is becoming increasingly competitive
in worldwide and like America, it's no different, right? There's a lot of
competition now more than ever, because of COVID. But let's take that, let's
forget that for one second. Because even without COVID, the market was
extremely competitive. So as a university, what you need to do is that you need
to provide a great enrollment experience, fast, efficient, useful, and then you
have to provide great services on the student journey. And the students today.
Either when they are enrolling, or when they are studying, and they need a service.
They like everything to me to be available right there, you know, on your
phone, with a few clicks, they don't want to be calling anybody, certainly they
want to be going to the university and beyond, you know, waiting for two hours
to sign a paper or something, you want everything to be readily available. So.
So what we're trying to do is to work with our partners to provide these
incredible experiences, either when you are enrolling in a program, or when you
are a student, and using technology to do that using technology to be able to
provide very pleasant experiences, but very efficient and very fast. So when
you think about that, we're doing a lot of experimentation with AI. And we're
doing a lot of experimentation with, you know, algorithms and business
intelligence and data to try to understand the behaviors of the students and
try to create patterns that that support that behavior, and that support them
until the graduation so so we have we have a specific team of bi team and we
have a team that have data scientists that is that is everyday studying what
happens with students and we and what their problems are and and that's what
we're trying to do. We're trying to provide better experiences, either when you
are enrolling or when you are already a student until graduation.
Rosanna Catalano 29:29
So I
noticed that your Instagram I'm going to take you away from Ilumno for a second
that your Instagram is filled with photographs of one person in particular can
you tell us about him?
Nuno Fernandes
29:41
Yeah, I
mean, I there's only one person there. So I assume I know. Yeah, that's my son.
His name is Luca. He's seven years old. He lives in Miami. And and yeah, it's
it's a it's a very important person for me as you can imagine. Right. It's a
it's a It sounds like a cliche and, and it probably is. But, you know, when I
became a father, it kind of changed my perspective on a lot of things,
especially on the focus and the drive. And, you know, I travel a lot for work.
Even now, I still travel more in the US, but I travel a lot, but, but I do have
this kind of off deal within that wherever I am in the world, I was coming back
on Friday night. So on Fridays, I'm always here, I spent the weekend we theme
and then usually I'll leave on Sunday night or Monday morning. And money is
just the person I've spent all my weekends with. And, you know, we like to do
voice thing, you know, cars and sports and all these things. And it's I don't
know, you know, it's very hard. But sometimes I think, like, Am I being a good
father? You know, it's very hard because there's, nobody teaches you that
right? It's one of the things even for a mother, there's no training for that
it just one day wake up and you're a father, right? And okay, just figure it
out. And I guess I'll never know, I left West cuca one day when he's older, you
know if I'm a good fight or not, but but I certainly tried to be and, and yeah,
I'm very blessed in my life.
Rosanna Catalano 31:06
I think it depends on what age you ask them if you're a good father, because I have a 13 year old, and I'm pretty sure an 11 year old and I'm pretty sure if you ask either one of them now, I probably wouldn't pass the test. But a few years ago, I was fantastic.
Nuno Fernandes
31:23
A few
years ago to be fantastic again.
Rosanna Catalano 31:28
That's
how that's how it works.
Nuno Fernandes
31:30
Yeah.
You know,
Rosanna Catalano 31:31
we often
talk to women about the balance of work and family. Is there a secret to how
you're trying to keep the balance with obviously, all of your travel
commitments? I know you talked about returning on Friday, is there anything
else or a tip that you can give to our listeners,
Nuno Fernandes
31:50
I'm not
I'm not a good person to talk about balancing work and family, quite frankly,
but but I'm my The only balance that I have is that I have that that that
agreement with myself and with with my son that every Friday Wherever I am,
unless it's something extraordinary. And I can tell you in the last four years,
I think I've missed four weekends. So unless something extraordinary happens
Wherever I am, I come back. And then I go, you know, I go away on Sunday or
Monday, or sometimes I don't I stay in Miami, just sometimes that I don't
travel as well. But I'm not a good person to talk about balancing personal life
with work life.
Rosanna Catalano 32:30
So what
is next for you and your company?
Nuno Fernandes
32:35
Yeah, so
we have a lot of exciting things going on in terms of expansion. As I said, I
think we're going to be growing significantly our group, the part of the group
that we are, I think the group is going to be growing significantly in Latin
America, specifically, in Mexico and Peru. And we're very hopeful, as well about
Ecuador. So we have a high expectations about Ecuador, but certainly Mexico and
Peru, a lot of efforts in Africa, we already have nine partners in South
Africa, some of the most important schools in the country are working with us.
And we're now going into more exotic places that we've never been like Kenya
and Ghana, we're signing partners in those countries. And we're very excited
about that. Because we're the first ones. And our partners will be the first
ones to provide online education in the country. You know, we're signing a few
deals in Spain, and in the UK. And we're looking at France and Germany. So
there's a lot of there's a lot of things going on. And I think that the future
of the company is going to be these global, the global expansion. And we are
like I told you know, we are already the biggest OPM elect America. Our target
is to become the largest OPM worldwide in time. It's not gonna it's not gonna
happen in in a few months. But that in time, that's our ambition. Yeah.
Rosanna Catalano 33:57
Well, it
sounds like you are right on your way. So we'd like to end our show with a
little bit of fun by asking all of our guests the same seven questions. So what
would people be surprised to know about you?
Nuno Fernandes
34:12
When I
was in university in 1998, I opened the first surf school in Portugal. Finally,
per se my city. I had a surf school. It was a way of making money to study and
myself and my friends. We bought a few surfboards, and in the summer we had the
surf school. It was the first one and after that a lot of a lot of follow. Back
then surf was not very popular. It's not like today that's like California.
Every kid is surfing but back then we opened the first surf school and it was
kind of successful.
Rosanna Catalano 34:42
So
you've always been a trailblazer. When you have guests in town, where is your
favorite place to take them?
Nuno Fernandes
34:51
It
depends because some guests you know some guests that come to Miami the first
time and they want to see the typical things. Lincoln Road Ocean Drive You know
Versace house all those things that honestly I don't go with if I don't have
guests like, but I think the last time I drive was maybe two years ago. And so
I don't really go to those, let's say typical touristical spots. But sometimes
I have friends from Europe especially that they've never been to Miami they
want to see those those places and I and I enjoy taking them but but if it's if
our guests that are repeated guests that have been to the city before you know
there's there are a lot of restaurants that I enjoy Miami i like i like I'm a
bit of a foodie so I like to try food and and I like restaurants and all kinds
of restaurants so so in Miami, I have a few few ones that I like and I'm not
paid by anybody to do any advertising. But there's a Greek one called mandoline
that I love with design district. There is another one that is fairly new about
two years old in downtown is called NaVi Cove which is more like upscale, but
it's really nice. The food is really nice. There's a Cuban one, which is the
opposite of Nautica. But there's a Cuban one and Thai ocho called El Cristo,
which I love. And it's like the typical Cuban place they know they're speaking
in Spanish and they see view electron and all these things. So it's delicious.
So yeah, there's a few restaurants that I can see that I like to take my
friends personally liked to go to the frost Museum, I think it was something
that is that it was very nicely done and a good decision for the city because
we didn't have anything like that. And I go with Luca. A lot by a lot. I mean,
like maybe three times per year but but you know, I like to go to see the
planetarium and all these things and I think it's nicely done. So So yeah,
there's there's a few spots that I I like to go in Miami.
Rosanna Catalano 36:47
What is
the name of a book you recently read that you could not put down or the name of
a show you enjoyed binge watching?
Nuno Fernandes
36:55
Oh, my
God. Just last week, I was watching this one. The Queen's Gambit. Have you seen
it on Netflix?
Rosanna Catalano 37:01
We have
we saw it actually just last week, it was so excellent one. learn much more
about chess than I know. I
Nuno Fernandes
37:08
don't
know. I thought it was so powerful and so nicely done. And, and I could not
stop. I watched it in one day. So fact, it's a true story. I thought it was
amazing. It was amazing. I didn't know the actress, but I thought she was
phenomenal. And I'd never heard about it. But I thought it was so bad,
especially the last episode. The last episode, I mean, just giving me the
chills just thinking about it. Just really, really powerful. I know the book
that I've read recently, I've read anything about that I've read the last CD of
the Monkey God, I don't know if you read that one. It's about a lost city,
Honduras, that they find the CD and the book is fascinating. I'm not going to
tell you what it is about, I recommend that you buy it called the lost city of
the monkey God's very, very nice book.
Rosanna Catalano 37:56
Thank
you. So among your close family and friends, what are you best known for?
Nuno Fernandes
38:04
I think
most of them would say that I'm a bit obsessed about work. Some of them would
say that I probably be OCD about it. And I think that would be the general
definition.
Rosanna Catalano 38:15
If you
have a nickname Who gave it to you?
Nuno Fernandes
38:18
I don't
know that I'm aware of at least maybe I do. But
Rosanna Catalano 38:21
maybe
you have one. It's just behind your back.
Nuno Fernandes
38:25
office.
I have like 10 of them. But I don't know I've never I don't know I'm not
familiar with washing.
Rosanna Catalano 38:31
If you
knew you could not fail what would you attempt?
Nuno Fernandes
38:36
You
know, I've always wanted to skydive. You know, I've never done it.
Nuno Fernandes
38:46
But I've
always wanted to do it. So maybe one day I'll you know, I'll find myself inside
the plane with a parachute on my bags.
Rosanna Catalano 38:55
What are
the top three things you love about living in Florida?
Nuno Fernandes
39:01
You
know, I can talk more about Miami because that's what I know better. Although,
you know, I've traveled to Florida, certainly Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, Palm
Beach and all these places but but in Miami specifically, I really I very much
enjoy the international flavor, you know, the left hand spice of the seat. I
think it's very interesting, quite unique. Most of the times I like the
weather, you know, except in the summer, but if you think the summer out, the
weather is fantastic. And I like that it was becoming and I hope that we don't
lose that because it's probably because becoming a real entrepreneurial see,
you know, a lot of startups a lot of venture capital coming into the city to
support new projects and and I hope that we don't lose that situation or that
it comes back rapidly. So it's a very interesting city for a while Miami was
more you know, services oriented, you know, tourism, of course, hotels, events,
and it still is, but in the last two years and I'm talking before I go I was
seeing a lot of entrepreneurial movements, you know, the city, a lot of
startups being created a lot of a lot of funds, investing in small projects and
new kids with great ideas. And I hope that we can keep that because I think
there's a lot of talent here in South Florida and, and sometimes you have to
leave the state to develop it. And I don't see why that would be.
Rosanna Catalano 40:24
Well,
thank you so much for joining us today. wonderful guests.
Nuno Fernandes
40:29
Thank you, Rosanna. It's been a pleasure.
Rosanna Catalano 40:32
So be
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rocketshipconsultants.com Thank you for tuning in.
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