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Continued from previous page
After graduation, Jimenez-Marcos moved to Miami Beach, started
her own real estate consulting firm, The Biscayne Bay Group,
and married a fellow Wharton alum, Xavier Gonzalez-Sanfleiu, who
she met on a blind date in an airport. Lieb got a job at the Estee
Lauder Company, which led her to a position at L'Oreal in Paris.
She is currently in the process of moving to London where she will
be marketing director for L'Occitane. Lieb is engaged to Fabien
Lered and plans to marry in 2005.
These days, Lieb regularly consults with Jimenez-Marcos by
phone about her nuptial plans. Lieb helped Jimenez-Marcos find
a headpiece for her wedding, which Lieb will wear at her own
upcoming ceremony.
Having graduated fairly recently, both Lieb and Jimenez-Marcos
find that they are still very much entrenched in their Wharton
social life. "I talk to other Wharton classmates every week, if not
every day," says Jimenez-Marcos, who has hired and worked with
Wharton acquaintances at her firm. "We end up having mini-reunions
all over the world on a fairly regular basis."
At reunion, Lieb was delighted with the turnout and the chance
to revisit the past with classmates. "You just remember how many
amazing people are at this place. On the other hand, I'd say it was
bittersweet, because you know you can't return to those two years. It
made me want to go back."
Whether in the States or in Europe, the international business
grads will continue to conduct an ongoing foreign exchange program of their own. "Marta has come to visit me in every place I've
lived, and several members of my family have even stayed at her
place in Paris. She is just like another sister now," says Jimenez-Marcos. The two friends plan to meet again at the end of the
year in Miami.
A Tight-knit Circle
Coleman O'Murchu, WG'99 (WEMBA XXIII), and Mark
Chandler, WG'94 (WEMBA XVIII)
Not many people get to go to their class reunion with their boss.
This year, though, Coleman O'Murchu's five-year reunion happened
to correspond with Mark Chandler's ten-year reunion. Both
colleagues completed the Wharton MBA for Executives (WEMBA)
program in the 1990s, and both came to the Friday night WEMBA
reception to gather with classmates and friends.
O'Murchu and Chandler ended up in the same office through
circumstances that were not so much coincidence as the general good fortune of people in
a tight-knit, supportive circle.
Graduating from WEMBA in 1999, the
Irish born O'Murchu traded in a career in
chemical engineering and joined BioSupplies,
a startup in Philadelphia that created software
for microbiologists. He eventually became
CFO and sold the company's assets in 2002.
When it came time to look for a new position, it was only
natural that he began to
search through Wharton channels. He first
called an associate, Jim Bodine, WEMBA
XVIII, who, after hearing about O'Murchu's
desire to get involved with a young company, suggested he call his
classmate, Mark Chandler. A couple weeks later, O'Murchu was
at a Wharton event in Old City and his wife pointed out a man
across the room. The man, who had once dated her sister, was
Chris Olivia. Olivia and O'Murchu got to talking, and Olivia also
recommended that O'Murchu contact Mark Chandler. "Within
days, I had two different recommendations for this guy, so I knew
I had to call," says O'Murchu.
Chandler was working at BTG, a technology and intellectual
property investment firm that helps burgeoning companies take
their ideas from their early, raw stages to the next level. O'Murchu
called him and they met a couple times at BTG's Conshohocken
office. "I wanted to do some projects for the company as there were
no full-time openings at that time, and it turned out Mark was
looking for help and strategic support to get some projects off the
ground. But the day I came to the office with a prepared draft of a
consulting agreement, he told me there was a permanent opening
and asked if I would be interested." O'Murchu joined BTG's venture
capital group, but currently works as associate vice president of
strategic business development.
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