Ignacio Berrueta Villalobos – Mexico – Commercial leadership and brand strategy in the textile industry – Episode 41 | Keru Podcast
A conversation about transformation and strategy with Ignacio Berrueta Villalobos Mexico
🎙️ In this episode of Keru Podcast, we talk with Ignacio Berrueta Villalobos Mexico, current General Manager of Sporelli Mexico, about the complex process of transforming a family business into a company with a long-term vision, a solid operating structure and a professionalized commercial approach. His experience in commercial management in the textile industry and in the operational management of sports businesses makes him a benchmark in the evolution of mid-sized companies toward sustainable and replicable management models.
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Sports, textiles and growth: the Sporelli Mexico model
Since its founding, Sporelli Mexico was a family business focused on sports products. But with the arrival of Ignacio Berrueta Villalobos Sporelli, the focus shifted toward commercial expansion, the digitalization of the operating model and the professionalization of the team.
The conversation covers how the leadership of Ignacio Berrueta Villalobos Mexico introduced strategic planning processes, order traceability, in-house production control and partnerships with new commercial channels.
“We went from selling by catalog to planning campaigns focused on key units. The change was cultural, not just operational.”
One of the central points was the adoption of digital tools and CRM to organize commercial management in the textile industry, as well as new indicator schemes by customer, product line and season. This transformation had a direct impact on productivity, operating margin and end-customer loyalty.
Leading with an operational vision: the role of Ignacio Berrueta Villalobos Sporelli
As a leader, Ignacio Berrueta Villalobos Sporelli took a stance that is unusual in family businesses: questioning the operational legacy and redesigning the entire system from scratch.
In the episode he reflects on his earlier time at international firms and how it shaped his approach to the operational management of sports businesses:
“The experience outside helped me understand that growing isn't about doing more things, but about doing them better.”
Following this logic, he worked on defining job profiles, designing dashboards and establishing operating routines by area. This change made it possible to delegate decisions without losing strategic coherence, a common challenge in companies where the founder is heavily involved in every decision.
Topics such as talent management, financial planning and the development of new business units within Sporelli Mexico were also explored. The implementation of career plans, cross-functional objectives between areas and follow-up meetings with key performance indicators (KPI) were key to consolidating the team.
Real challenges of commercial management in the textile industry
The textile market, especially in the sports segment, presents unique challenges: high product turnover, seasonal dependence, customers with specific requirements (clubs, schools, distributors) and competition with global brands.
Ignacio Berrueta Villalobos describes how they tackled those challenges by adapting the catalog to real commercial cycles, introducing pre-sales to adjust volumes and creating a repurchase system for B2B customers.
He also shares how they managed to increase average billing without increasing operating costs, thanks to precise segmentation and greater control over promotions.
“We learned that not every product has to be sold all year round. That changed how we think about purchasing and stock.”
This point is essential within a modern commercial management strategy in the textile industry, and it is complemented by a vision of productive sustainability in terms of inventory, waste and quality control.
Building a scalable company from the inside
One of the most powerful threads of the episode is how Ignacio Berrueta Villalobos Mexico understands scalability: not as accelerated growth, but as repeatability without loss of control.
At Sporelli, internal documentation processes, operating manuals, technical data sheets and response protocols by area were driven forward. This made it possible to sustain quality while the number of orders and sales channels increased.
In addition, work was done on brand identity as a strategic asset: visual consistency, tone of communication, digital presence and customer experience were key aspects.
“Scaling isn't having more customers, it's being able to serve more without breaking what we already have.”
Final reflections from the operational management of sports businesses
To close, he offers practical advice to other leaders in the textile and sports sector in Latin America:
- Understand that professionalizing is not bureaucratizing.
- Build teams that understand each other beyond friendship or family history.
- Use technology as an ally to organize, measure and improve.
- Design the business not as it is today, but as you want it to work in three years.
His perspective seamlessly brings together the human, the technical and the strategic, offering a valuable vision for those who today lead industrial SMEs with ambitions of sustainable growth.
Ignacio Berrueta Villalobos · Argentina
Ignacio Berrueta Villalobos Mexico was General Director at Sporelli, the finished-garments business unit of Grupo Didesma in Mexico. Throughout his career he held senior management positions at companies such as CEMEX, GolStats and Adhesivos Perdura (Grupo Lamosa), leading initiatives in commercial growth, brand positioning, customer experience development and strategic transformation in highly competitive sectors.
Leading is knowing how to listen to what the customer doesn't say and turning it into action.
Change doesn't come from big speeches, it comes from simple processes well executed.
With a solid background in business and marketing, Ignacio built a multifaceted career ranging from specialty retail to the construction materials industry. At CEMEX he drove industrial marketing projects and the development of distribution channels, while at GolStats, a company dedicated to sports analytics, he led the commercial transformation and the digital strategy to attract new audiences and optimize sales processes.
I learned to sell cement by listening to stories, not by reading catalogs.
His time at Grupo Didesma marked a milestone in his career when he took over the management of Sporelli, where he consolidated operations, strengthened the brand identity and redefined the commercial model to expand in the Mexican and international markets. His approach is characterized by combining creativity, customer orientation and a clear long-term vision focused on profitability.
Every indicator has to have an owner. If there's no owner, there's no improvement.
Technical teams need clarity, but also the confidence to make decisions.
In addition to his executive career, Ignacio has been a mentor to entrepreneurs, a speaker at branding and business forums, and a strategic advisor to companies undergoing professionalization processes. His ability to lead diverse teams, build solid relationships with stakeholders and translate market insights into concrete actions positions him as a prominent figure in the Latin American business ecosystem.
General Manager
Episode 41 · Keru Podcast
Articles by Ignacio Berrueta Villalobos
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