An Entrepreneurial Vision for Export Success

Recorded on March13, 2025 as part of the International Business Webinar Series Hosted by GSU CIBER and sponsored by the national CIBER MSI Consortium. An asylee from Colombia, Felipe Arroyave came to the U.S. as a teenager with a strong work ethic and a desire to better himself through education. Along the way, he caught a vision for helping those in the developing world, from Latin America to the Middle East and beyond, who lacked access to the specialty contact lenses patients in the West take for granted. Remedying the problem —and fixing vision for sufferers of kerotoconus, corneal abrasions and other rare ocular problems — required some gumption and finesse. He’d spied the problem while working for a $4 billion lens distributor who was blind to the potential in smaller economies. Arroyave first proved the concept, boosting sales for his employer in Latin American markets before branching out on his own and converting his former boss into one of his largest customers. Fast forward to today, and Spectrum was named the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Small Business Exporter of the Year in 2024 on top of previous honors, including winning both the Georgia GLOBE Award and the Atlanta Metro Export Challenge. HIs journey from the factory floor to the C-suite, and his recent expansion of logistics and support infrastructure in Latin America to support growing sales, offers an inspiring story of overcoming the odds by seeing and seizing opportunities in international business. Key Takeaways: 1. How to see opportunities at the so-called “bottom of the pyramid” that legacy players believe are too costly or not lucrative enough to serve. 2. The mechanics of exporting — how understanding payment, shipping, logistics and exchange rates can become a competitive advantage in the United States. 3. How give-back programs including free education to doctors and patients, along with an initiative provide contact lenses to underprivileged patients, has helped build goodwill and boost the bottom line. The International Business Webinar Series is a project of the national CIBER Minority Serving Institution (MSI) Consortium, led by Georgia State University CIBER and sponsored by CIBERs at Florida International University, George Washington University, Indiana University, Loyola Marymount University, Michigan State University, Temple University, Texas A&M University, University of Colorado-Denver, and the University of Maryland. This program is partially funded by the U.S. Department of Education.