Costa Rica Final Thoughts – Om Shah

Howdy, my name is Om Shah and I am a junior Finance major who is currently sitting in the airport in Mexico City, about to board the flight back to Houston after spending two life-changing weeks in Costa Rica. These two weeks were filled with tons of cultural exposure and greatly broadened the scope of the lens through which I look at both the world and business. Something I learned about Costa Rica is that when you are conducting business and engaging with individuals there, you need to focus on both the relationships between individuals and the long-term impact on the future of the country. Because of this, Costa Rican citizens and businesses prioritize sustainability and will go out of their way to support brands and companies that are positively affecting the world by existing. I also learned that the individuals in Costa Rica have a very “work to live” instead of a “live to work” culture. By this, I mean that in Costa Rica, people value just living and having a positive impact instead of chasing individual gains in the business world. This taught me that when dealing with Costa Rican businesspeople, you cannot be too pushy or intense because in Costa Rica, business is a long-term game where even after one deal is done, the relationship lasts. To be a successful businessman in Costa Rica you need to be able to foster relationships and work in a way that benefits everyone. When I first came to Costa Rica, my initial impressions were that it would be a poor country where there wouldn’t be developed businesses like other Latin American countries. My initial assumption was greatly wrong. After coming here, I have seen that Costa Rica is a country that is a key player in the world because of its relationships with other countries. Although they don’t have many raw materials and exports, the country still finds a way to fit into the global business sphere and succeed within it. This trip taught me so much about business and other cultures, and it is an experience I will never forget.