The industrial engineer, José Luis Alvarado, told the magazine Ventas de Seguridad how his professional and personal career has been.
by Andrea Ochoa
The life story of José Luis Alvarado dates back to the 60s, when on September 16 he was born in the Federal District of Mexico City.
As for his childhood and his family, Alvarado describes that, although his parents did not have many studies, "it was a very nice family." His mother was a housewife and his father was a baker, and he was an only child with an absolute desire to get ahead.
His family environment and limited resources led him to be a 7-year-old, "strong" boy. Living in "el barrio" (community of lower class extraction) for him was a relevant aspect, it taught him to discover another facet of his life, the facet of dancer. At that time he practiced cumbia and salsa (an activity that he currently enjoys doing with his wife).
By the time of his childhood, he remembers that he was part of Polimarch, which at that time was disco music and also practiced ballet.
From school, he remembers being given money for belonging to the basketball team. In addition, they gave him scholarships for food and uniforms, and at the dance, they gave him clothes.
Then, at the age of 10, José's life became a little complicated, the hard loss of his mother and 11 years later, with the death of his father, he understood that his only option for survival was education.
So, he bet on the studio as a refuge. When he entered high school, he began his career as a high-performance athlete in football, which he abandoned because for Alvarado "he was very violent", so he came to the basketball courts.
It was while I was in high school that the desire to be an engineer began to take on relevance. The vocation for study and engineering became a way to pay homage to his mother, and to channel those feelings.
In this way he became one of the best students, so he obtained an economic recognition that allowed him to sustain himself when he no longer had his father.
Engineering, the piece that fits into the puzzle
The taste for industrial engineering arose because for José Luis, "it fit perfectly in any industry". In his own words: "I could be in the pharmaceutical construction minute and make the career."
He also said that while he was studying, "he worked at Tribasa Construcciones as a supervisor." In relation to this, Luis was giving more prominence to his academic level, during the years 1984-1988 he dedicated himself to his specialty in Production Management in the Interdisciplinary Professional Unit of Engineering and Social and Administrative Sciences.
Then, between 1993-1997, he did his Master of Science with a specialty in Administration at the National Polytechnic Institute. Years later, Alvarado completed diplomas in management by services, in commercial strategy and in business leadership, among others.
In addition, it is important to note that, in the world of academia, Alvarado also dedicated time for the security industry, has three diplomas and certifications in Professional Protection (CPP) of ASIS that provides demonstrable evidence of the knowledge possessed in the eight strategic areas of Security.
It is worth noting that those who obtain the CPP degree are accredited by the ASIS Certification Board in Security Management. Likewise, José Luis has training in strategic direction of integral security of the Universidad del Valle de México.
The security industry, a dream come true
With the passage of time, José Luis realized that the construction industry no longer offered him what he was looking for, and his training was in another area.
He said: "My goal was met. My dream of working in the industry." His growth was from fashion companies in which he had the opportunity to work as well as companies that gave him product management.
However, the company that marked his professional career and that he considers as a school was Colgate Palmolive, there he served as a supervisor, then became a warehouse manager nationwide.
Over time, the experience led him to the deputy manager in the transport part of development and continuous improvement, "that was where the "Boom" began because they offered me to go to work at a company of a logistics operator, there I was until 2000".
This gave way to the security industry, as Alvarado argued: "As all the transport companies reported to me. Well, I also reported the security companies, so there was a good proposal. And it was in the 2000s that I entered the security world, I mean, I have 22 years in the industry."
The extensive career in the industry was strengthened with the participation of José in companies such as Global Security Services, in which he was for more than seven years, he was a partner of that company and in 2013 he became the general director of the PAPRISA Group, there he was until mid-2022.
Having made the decision to belong to the industry, became the best success for Alvarado, "because I became a better person and professional, because I connected all my knowledge and experiences of logistics, manufacturing, which are applied automatically to security, because security is in everything. So for me selling or developing security was easier coming from a logistics world."
In relation to professional successes, challenges are key to improving as an individual and strengthening the industry, so and taking into account the road traveled, José Luis states that "the planning scheme and the direction of route activities and specific disciplines is the key to everything.
Additionally, there is a need to adopt security intelligence, in which technology, protocols are used, where people are well trained and that will allow a very important decrease in the accident rate, in the end it is what hits insurance premiums to customers that is what tangibly and justify as a security expense and is the big difference. "
As for the advances in security, he emphasizes that "through patterns, artificial intelligence was going to automate and will be a complement to the operation. Robotization also has great relevance, however, robots need someone to feed them, someone to give them instructions, so it is important that there is a balance between people and machines."
The search for balance between academia and industry
Safety has been one of the passions of the engineer, who to date works to "be a great scientist and a great academic". Faced with this, he said: "I try to participate in forums as a panelist, as a lecturer, as a speaker. For me the fact of having knowledge and not sharing it is as if you did not have it, so I like it a lot."
Today, he is blissful in the company of his three children, and his wife. In addition, he alternates teaching with the time he spends on each of them, as he enjoys distributing the cakes that his wife prepares, to dinners and the quality time he dedicates to each of his children.
José Luis proudly noted that his eldest son, José Sebastián, who is 29 years old, is an aviator pilot at Aeromexico. His 24-year-old daughter is a model and fashion designer, a relevant woman in his life who said "she is beautiful" with a big smile on her face. His youngest son, Magno, is barely 10 years old and fills him with tenderness, he goes to elementary school.
Finally, and as a summary of his story, the engineer said: "I thank God and life for everything. Although I have had very problematic experiences and we have gone through many shortcomings as a family, we reached levels of emotional balance and, in all aspects, I am very happy."
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