Jonathon Guastella
Michigan State University, Eli Broad College of Business
Age: 34
“Father and husband, business nerd, “car guy” and Detroit sports fanatic.”
Hometown: Plymouth, Michigan
Family Members: My loving and supportive wife Renee, daughters Olivia (6) Mila (3), baby number 3 coming in October, and of course our dog Gary.
Fun fact about yourself: I’m a dance dad. My wife danced on Western Michigan University’s dance team, where we both attended for undergrad, and now my oldest daughter has fallen in love with the sport (with her younger sister not far behind). On Tuesday nights, other dance dads and I rehearse for our annual “Dad’s dance” performance. While we simply provide comedic relief to the recital, my daughter Olivia loves that I participate in this and asks for weekly updates on how my steps are coming along.
Undergraduate School and Degree: BBA Western Michigan 2012, Master of Science in Accountancy Walsh College 2017
Where are you currently working? Select 1 Transport, Chief Financial Officer
Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles:
- Broad Enterprise Leadership Academy Scholar
- Treasurer of the DCG Scholarship – a scholarship established in honor of my late brother, providing post-secondary scholarships to economically disadvantaged youth in Detroit and Chicago
- Associate Director, Board of Directors – Zeal Credit Union
Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? Specific to the duration of the program, I am most proud of becoming a Broad Enterprise Leadership Academy Scholar. I am proud of this because it required a significant time investment, on top of the existing 20 academic hours per week and 60 working hours per week. The results were unbelievable. Learning the art of critical conversation, managing talent, and leading through turbulence all paid real-time dividends and changed me as an executive. Perhaps the most valuable lesson in business school is learning how to drive results from teams and become a leader of people. This extracurricular achievement focuses directly on that result.
What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? Having a role in turning around a struggling business into a profitable, well-built entity. Upon being hired to the executive team at my current company, we were tasked with a holistic rebuild after a struggle with returning to the post-COVID competitive realm. A recent merger integration presented significant hurdles, and profits were suffering. Things in the automotive logistics industry changed dramatically and our firm was not built to weather these challenges at that time.
Using the teachings of Dr. Hodges strategy class, our team was able to assess the type of business to pursue that gave us the best opportunity to leverage our differentiation strategy. Because of these teachings we were able to diagnose a significant strategic flaw, being caught between trying to be a cost competitor and a differentiator. With a targeted sales approach for a specific client type, we have since been able to show our ability to create customer surplus and have secured several contracts because of our differentiators. The results have been unlike anything I have experienced in my career. EBITDA doubled, losses turned into profits, and significant market share was captured. I only played a part in this, as it truly was a whole team effort, but surely the proudest moment of my career. I am very excited about the future at Select 1.
Who was your favorite MBA professor? This is very difficult to answer as there are so many highly talented professors at the Broad College of Business. Dr. Pierce is a phenomenal M&A professor. He flew through complex material at break-neck speed. However once you learned to keep up, concepts began to click and the way I started to view corporate finance (even as a 12-year finance professional) changed and became more intuitive. He brought a high level of excitement to class each day and was able to translate complex models into practical, real-world settings that were engaging.
Why did you choose this school’s executive MBA program? Selecting a program was a very difficult choice, as there are several prestigious programs in the Midwest. Ultimately, I selected Michigan State University for a few key reasons. Perhaps the most significant was the number of high caliber Broad College of Business alumni right here in metro Detroit, and specifically in my industry. At the time. auto suppliers such as American Axle, Lear, Aptiv and Tenneco all were led by Broad alumni – with the former two specifically lead by MSU executive MBA alumni. Even when zooming out on the map, I found Broad alumni in CEO spots at companies like Wendy’s, Disney, and Home Depot. It became evident to me that alumni of the Broad College of Business are leaders.
What is the biggest lesson you gained during your MBA and how did you apply it at work? People are truly the most significant difference between successful companies and mediocre companies. Learning how to lead takes a significant investment. Feedback needs to be given back early and often for this to be successful. As managers and leaders, we need to listen and ensure expectations are discussed and agreed to at the outset with any deviations from the expectations being promptly addressed.
This was something that we took several courses on. However, where this hit home was during my executive coaching sessions as part of the Enterprise Leadership Academy. My coach worked with me, in real time, on my management of our accounts receivable department. Through this coaching, I watched our team become significantly better and tangible results quickly occurred. A long-tenured employee started functioning at a height neither one of us knew was possible, and this employee was able to coach her direct report more effectively as well. Ultimately, this freed up everyone’s time as well as cash flow. As the coaching sessions evolved, we explored different teams under my direction and I started to truly comprehend the arts of management and leadership.
Give us a story during your time as an executive MBA on how you were able to juggle work, family and education? In August of 2023 I had, in my opinion, the most difficult school semester. All classes were incredibly valuable, but they were all time-intensive. Additionally, we were encountering some pervasive struggles at work and people in the organization were looking at me for answers.
Of course, during this time my daughter’s social obligations were ramping up and thus the perfect storm ensued. This was far and away the most difficult strain on my time, and – really in my whole life. My wife was key in this, as she knows me better than I know myself, and encouraged me to keep doing my favorite hobby: weightlifting. She has long noticed that my stress is kept well under control when I am able to exercise. She was pivotal to time management throughout this whole program, but especially during this particular semester. Also, I approached my home obligations as a businessperson and outsourced all unnecessary and inexpensive tasks that took away from my “core competency” of fatherhood. Luckily for me, a 17-year-old lives next door and I was able to pay him to cut the grass, watch the dog, and take out the trash, which freed up my non-school weekends. Additionally, I created time by working from home more and cutting out my commute, while still waking up early. I have always been an early riser, and this was critical during the MBA program. It is much easier to get work done when the rest of the world is not yet awake.
Finally, Sundays are preserved as family days. This has been our family’s policy since day one of the program, and even in this hectic semester, it did not waver. Keeping Sundays free of schoolwork and career work permitted a full day, morning to night, with nothing but family time. I knew I could not be there as much as I needed to that upcoming week, but after a full day of reset, it kept the family sane.
What advice would you give to a student looking to enter an executive MBA program? Do it. One of my favorite professors told us in orientation, “This degree will change your life if you let it,” and I could not agree more with that sentiment as I have experienced this already.
What was your biggest regret in business school? My biggest regret was not being more socially involved in the program. Our cohort scheduled many social functions. While I attended some, several conflicted with family time or I was too burnt out to attend. There are so many genuinely great people in the program, I wish time permitted us to get to know each other better.
Which MBA classmate do you most admire? It is very difficult to select just one I admire most. From the outset of the program, I noticed the strong makeup of our 2024 class. I am very blessed to be surrounded by the future, and current, senior leaders of the automotive industry as well as many other industries. We have doctors, lawyers, engineers, and C-suite executives. Based on who I have had the pleasure of knowing the best, I can only narrow it down to two: Peter Capoccia and Jonathan High.
Peter is a manager within Supply Chain at Stellantis, as well as a husband and father. I have studied alongside Peter for two years and learned a lot about how he has managed production capacity worldwide at a Fortune 500 company during an incredibly challenging economic time. During this time, his obligations as a husband, father, and student did not suffer. It seemed no matter how demanding or challenging things were for him, he always found an extra gear. It was truly inspiring to have studied alongside Peter these past two years and realize improvement in myself because of his relentless nature.
Jonathan is a sales manager at Aptiv, but during the program he started as a project manager and a father of 3. Halfway through the MBA, Jonathan’s 4th and 5th sons – twins – were born. Not only did he become a father of 5, but he was also promoted twice by the time we graduated. Like Peter, Jonathan has a relentless work ethic and pressure and stress do not faze him. On top of all this, Jonathan also underwent the Broad Enterprise Leadership Academy, investing tons of extra hours for his own betterment. He is actually the one who convinced me to do the academy.
I think these two specifically resonate with me because I see that it is possible to hold a highly-demanding position while responsibilities as a father and husband take center stage above all else. They have shown me that it is possible to be excellent in everything. It is definitely not easy, but it is possible. I will never forget the inspiration these two, as well as all my classmates, have provided me over these past 2 years. There is a unique connection forged when going into the trenches with people that share your exact struggles.
What was the main reason you chose an executive MBA program over part-time or online alternatives? As a husband, father, and executive, my time is at a premium. The executive program is composed of several other professionals in the exact same situation. Additionally, I found the professional prestige of my classmates is much greater than if I had done a part-time or online program. I continue to be impressed by the accolades of my classmates and their successes and accomplishments are contagious to the entire cohort. This forces us all to level-up: iron sharpens iron. I think a lot of this gets missed in part-time or online programs.
What is your ultimate long-term professional goal? To be a Chief Executive Officer at a company I am morally and strategically aligned with. I’d love to lead a company with a strong mission and commitment that goes beyond bottom line performance. It has been an absolute pleasure working long hours with such highly talented students by my side, I would love to duplicate this exact environment in the C-Suite if I am ever fortunate enough to attain the top job.
DON’T MISS: BEST & BRIGHTEST EXECUTIVE MBAS OF 2024
