This archive report was first published on 22 May 2020.
From History of Art to Glovo's General Manager ¶
May 22, 2020
William Bentall, the general manager of Glovo, has had an eclectic career journey. He studied History of Art in undergraduate and an MBA from Esade Business School in Barcelona. He later did a postgraduate exchange programme at Indian Business School.
With most people now working from home, it might have been a great time to be a general manager of Glovo, an on-demand courier service app with 5.5 million users, 16,000 partners, and operating in 125 cities, across 22 countries.
William's career is a testament to his passion for diverse experiences. He has worked as a director at the Clinton Health Access Initiative in Nigeria, Sony Music as a director, and Adam Smith International, a strategic development consultancy.
During a Zoom call with Jackson Biko, William shared his philosophy on career progression. 'Do things that you are passionate about. If you are pretending or following your parent's dreams, you will not find true satisfaction in a career, or even be good at it.'
William also spoke about the importance of failure in his career. 'If you are not failing you are not pushing enough,' he said, recalling his experience at the Clinton Foundation.
As a father of two daughters, William has learned the value of patience. 'Fatherhood teaches you immense patience,' he said. 'I was not known to be patient and having children has helped me with that.'
William's wife, a Colombian, is passionate about salsa. She comes from a city called Cali, southwest of Colombia, which is the Salsa capital of the world.
When asked how he convinced his wife to leave her career and follow him to Africa, William reflected on the challenges that career women face when moving countries. 'It's very hard for career women in general and moving countries makes it even harder,' he said.
William's time at Sony Music has left a lasting impression on him. He mentioned that the song 'You're All I Need To Get By' by Aretha Franklin feels relevant in his home during this season of his life.
