Expat Interview: Candy Lee LaBalle

This month, the Cheap in Madrid Blog (CiM) is interviewing Candy Lee LaBalle for our Expat Interview series. This American expat is the founder and director of mbaSpain, where she is an MBA admissions coach and TOEFL instructor. She is also a travel writer who has written two books about her adopted country, Moon Spain and Moon Living Abroad in Spain.

CiM: Where are you from originally?
CL: New Orleans, Louisiana, but I lived many years in Detroit (south of 8 mile!)

CiM: Why did you move to Madrid?
CL: I originally came on an extended vacation from Detroit. The idea was to backpack six months around Europe. But, I fell in love with Madrid and stayed two months. (I always say that Tio Pepe in Sol hypnotized me! I do miss him.) I finally did do my trip around Europe—London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Prague—but I ended up back here. That was in 98. I stayed for two years, moved briefly to Boston, then came back for good in 2003. Now I’m married to a Spaniard, have a little sandwich mixto (my half Spanish, half American son), and a thriving business, mbaSpain.

CiM: What is mbaSpain?
CL: mbaSpain is an educational consultancy dedicated to helping Spaniards enter into the world’s top graduate programs. Mainly I work with MBA hopefuls (hence the clever company name!), but I also work with Masters programs and just this year we started working with undergrads. I help students in all aspects of accessing higher ed: choosing the right school, preparing exams such as GMAT, GRE, SAT and TOEFL, brainstorming essays, managing recommendation letters, understanding the process, translating school transcripts, and preparing school interviews. I also help with job applications, particularly preparing CVs and resumes and doing mock interview preparation. I have been doing this for about 6 years and have helped over 200 Spaniards join schools such as Harvard, Columbia, UC Berkeley, U Chicago and many more. I also help students access the three elite Spanish MBAs, IESE, IE Business and ESADE as well as the top EU schools including London Business School, INSEAD and IMD. I LOVE my job and take my role of helping Spaniards reach their academic dreams very seriously.

CiM: 3 things you miss about your hometown…
CL: Well, being from New Orleans, I have to say 1st, the food: gumbo, oyster po-boys, shrimp remoulaude, boiled crawfish…mmm! And 2nd, the music: brass bands, traditional NOLA jazz, Indian music, I even love bounce (google Big Freedia!). But being from the US, the main thing I miss in Spain is customer service. Good customer service is such a rarity here in Spain. It is a shame that so many employees—at restaurants, shops, phone companies, doctors’ offices, etc.—treat customers as an annoyance rather than the source of their income. The crisis is horrible here and caused by reasons that most Spaniards have had nothing to do with, but I wonder how much the dreadful customer service hurts the economy.

CiM: Favorite hangouts in Madrid?
CL: La Latina on Sunday afternoon, Cisne Azul mushroom bar, Adolfo Dominguez Cafe

CiM: What habits have you come to adopt?
CL: I eat lunch at 2pm (or later) and have dinner at 10. I eat toast with a fork and knife and throw my napkin on the floor. I actually prefer hanging my clothes up to dry now, even though I did buy a dryer after my son was born.

We hope you liked the Expat Interview of Candy Lee LaBalle!