Gamecock of the Week: Joe Federl

Joe Federl, a fourth-year entrepreneurship and global supplies chain operations management student, has taken his education into the real world, starting his own car detailing business.

Federl, from Boston, has participated in the Business Council, Finance Club and Entrepreneurship Club. But he’s spent a lot of time working and traveling the world.

His first business was up North, his friend Travis Killian, a third-year statistics student, said.

“He was successful with his business up north,” Killian said. “He was in that business for like a year. Since we’ve been roommates, we have been working really hard to establish in Columbia. He’s done quite well, as he’s on the first page of Google for car detailing in Columbia, South Carolina.”

With his work, he takes care to make sure everything is right for his customers, Killian said.

“He keeps a really accurate record off all of expenses and does his own accounting work,” he said. “He’s very ethical in all of the procedures that he takes for his business. He’s learned a lot of the ins and outs of what it takes to have a successful business.”

One of Federl’s main passions is traveling abroad, he said. He hopes to use his education and experiences overseas to succeed in the global economic marketplace.

“As a kid, I’ve traveled. I’ve been to Jamaica, Costa Rica, Mexico, Spain a couple of times, France, Switzerland, Morocco, Africa,” Federl said. “There is one program, for about a month you go to Nicaragua or Ecuador and you mentor and teach a group of kids. I want to be able to help the economy. I’ve been to a lot of poor countries. I remember when I was in Morocco there were kids fighting over one piece of gum. That is the kind of poverty they live in. I want to help them get out of that situation.”

Federl said he has been successful in his studies, as he has a 3.7 GPA.

“Eventually what I want to do is become a strategic consultant and work for a consultant company. It is really important to know how to run a business and see how capitalism works,” Federl said.  “Back at home in Boston I employed five people, and it really gave me a sense of leadership.  It gives you a good view at ethics. I’ve had ethical situations that I had to deal with.”

And he thinks he has the experience to do it.

“My major basically tracks progress all the way from the time (a product is) made to the time it meets the consumer,” Federl said. “What you’re doing is you’re analyzing complete flow of material, and you understand how business is run. It encompasses everything and definitely interests me because I ... believe that can be translated to any field.”