Three MBA classmates took different paths after graduation. Now, the relationships they built at Goizueta are bringing them together in business.
In 2001, Ari Rollnick 97C 01MBA, Carlos Lugo 01MBA, and Oscar Machado 01MBA graduated from Goizueta Business School’s two-year MBA program. Though they set off on separate career paths after graduation, they stayed in touch over the years. Now, 25 years later, they’re working together once again.
Machado, co-founder, and Lugo, managing director, spearhead Remotal, a company that connects talent in Mexico with architecture, design, marketing, and advertising firms in the United States. Rollnick’s company, oneteam, is now one of those firms.
“You’re talking about friends getting back together and now doing business,” says Rollnick, founder and CEO of oneteam. “There’s a level of trust. There’s a level of familiarity.”
A Digital Marketer Ahead of His Time
Rollnick is a self-described born-and-raised Miami boy who came to Emory University as an undergraduate. After a stint in New York City and the passing of his brother, he returned to Emory for his MBA. Rollnick admits that he had a lot less experience than his classmates, but he knew how to create a website at a time when the World Wide Web was just becoming “a thing.” Ultimately, Rollnick graduated and started his own marketing company that offered creative solutions based on strategic business decisions.
He jokes that his level of naivety and confidence about the endeavor were just the right combination for a startup: “It takes a lot, and it’s scary. You need to be in the right mindset, the right place. There was no risk [for me] because I just needed to pay my rent.”
You’re talking about friends getting back together and now doing business. There’s a level of trust. There’s a level of familiarity.
Ari Rollnick 97C 01MBA
His original company, kabookaboo, eventually found its home in the wine and spirits industry, and built a strong presence in south Florida. Just last year, Rollnick oversaw the merger of his company with another to create oneteam, a marketing agency that specializes in consumer packaged goods and wines and spirits.
For Rollnick, the new company’s name reflects what he believes the best business relationships should become: If clients think of you as a vendor, there’s no real relationship. If you’re partners, that’s a step up, but working together as one team is the ultimate goal.
That perspective has also shaped Rollnick’s new business relationship with former classmates Lugo and Machado.
Turning a Solution into a Business
Machado has always had an international outlook—with an eye for the cultures, customs, and ways of thinking of different countries. As a Venezuelan native, Machado says he’s always “tried to keep my eyes open to what’s happening beyond my own borders,” a mindset that served him in business school and now as an entrepreneur and business owner.
In 2019, Machado’s brother, who owns a design firm in Texas, asked for help finding talent. Since Machado lives in Mexico City, he was able to tap into the deep talent pool coming out of the city’s universities and find his brother a new staff member. That one successful hire soon revealed a much bigger opportunity.
“That experience opened my eyes to what was possible,” said Machado. “What started as a simple solution, eventually sparked a much bigger idea.”
In 2022, that bigger idea officially became Remotal, which now helps 20 U.S.-based small- and medium-sized creative firms find remote talent.
“We wanted to make it easier for firms to look beyond their borders and bring talented people onto their teams, allowing owners and leaders to focus on what they do best: growing their businesses and delivering great work.”
Our goal is to help bridge the gap and show [companies] what’s possible when great U.S. firms and great talent in Mexico work together.
Oscar Machado 01MBA
In 2024, Machado got Lugo on board, and the two have been running Remotal together ever since. While Machado focuses on sourcing talent in Mexico City, Lugo handles client operations in the U.S.
“What started seven years ago as a simple request has evolved into a business with a much bigger mission,” says Machado. “Our goal is to help bridge the gap and show [companies] what’s possible when great U.S. firms and great talent in Mexico work together.”
Bringing Business—and Friendship—Full Circle
Around the time that Lugo and Machado joined forces, Rollnick was looking for ways to grow his business without dramatically increasing costs. Mexico City offered access to a strong talent pool at a cost that made continued growth more feasible for a small company like Rollnick’s. A conversation among the three former classmates soon led to a business relationship, with Remotal helping Rollnick find a new member of his team.
“Not only is [Remotal] helping me scale and grow smarter, but I’m doing the same for [them] because we’re in such a great position, and we know so many different people now,” says Rollnick. “We’re leveraging each other’s knowledge and relationships in a way that we never would have thought of 25 years ago.”
For Rollnick, reconnecting with his former classmates in business also arrived at an opportune moment personally. As a member of the Goizueta Alumni Board, he had been trying to show his children that being a good person and helping others can take many forms—from donating your time to an organization that matters to you to building business relationships that allow everyone involved to succeed. His experience with Lugo and Machado gave him another example close to home.
Business school is about much more than what you learn in the classroom. It’s about the strong connections you build, the friendships you make, and that sense of belonging that stays with you long after you graduate.
Carlos Lugo 01MBA
For Machado and Lugo, the relationship represents another stage of growth for their company—and an opportunity to see Goizueta alumni help one another succeed.
“Working with Ari and seeing how naturally we could collaborate and work together made me realize how much our time at Goizueta impacted both of us,” says Lugo, who spent the majority of his career working at Accenture and IBM. “Business school is about much more than what you learn in the classroom. It’s about the strong connections you build, the friendships you make, and that sense of belonging that stays with you long after you graduate.”
Because Rollnick was a fellow classmate, Lugo explains, the relationship was already stronger than with anyone else. There was already connection, there’s was already trust, and candid conversations and collaboration could come easily.
“I have been friends with both Oscar and Ari since day one of business school,” says Lugo. “Working together again, after 25 years, feels very natural.”
The relationships built during an MBA can last long after graduation—and sometimes lead in unexpected directions. Learn how Goizueta’s Two-Year MBA combines a close-knit community with a rigorous, experiential business education.
