my reply to “how I became a 21-year-old exec.”
“How I Became a 21-year-old Executive.” – I found this guest post on Forbes.com, part of an ongoing blog series about youth in the office.
The post is from a young woman who went to undergrad and somehow graduated in 2 years with a 4.0 at 19, then immediately got her MBA in a year from the same university by insanely overloading on classes. She went on to become an executive in her family business at age 21.
Let me just say that doing this must have been extremely difficult and ambitious, and I applaud her for going after what she wants. Hell, she might be set for life and retire at 35. Cool. But in my opinion (hey, this is my site after all!), this article is a wonderful guide about what not to do as a 21 year old.
Everyone’s journey after high school is different. I went to a Big Ten school for undergrad with 50,000 students, so mine was full of tailgating, football games, school spirit, and oh yeah, classes. But if you choose ivy league, community college, or no college at all, experiences are really what matter in life. Imagine all the opportunities this woman passed by without even knowing it, all because she was in such a hurry to graduate, with tunnel vision towards the finish line.
Seriously, you have your whole life to be an adult. Know what I was worried about at 21? I was worried about leaving my little 20-something haven of East Lansing, Michigan and entering the Real World– in my case, the far-away land of Los Angeles. I was worried about balancing exams with parties, and making sure I had money to pay the rent for our lovely shack in Cedar Village. At that age, it is generally socially acceptable to experiment and go a little crazy. But when you’re suddenly 25, burned out at work and have never had any fun in your life, it’s going to catch up with you. You’ll either become “that girl” when it is no longer socially acceptable to be, or someone who simply accepts a life of tiresome work and no play. Your quarter life crisis is gonna hit hard.
Don’t get me wrong — work and school teach us amazing lessons of pride, success, and failure. But you have to fall down a few times, make mistakes, take risks and learn what you are truly made of. Cramming in 9 MBA classes with an internship on top of it doesn’t make you a go-getter — it makes you someone who cannot focus or prioritize, who doesn’t give their education (or work) the time and attention it deserves. There is no way one could possibly absorb and take advantage of the material in those classes by rushing through them.
I won’t pick apart this post paragraph by paragraph, even though it would be simple (i.e. she became a family business executive because no one would hire her post-MBA with no real-world work experience. What work experience did you have to contribute in your MBA classes? Your job at The Icing?). From now on, all this girl has to look forward to is work. She went from 14 years of school directly to the business world, without stopping to look around and take it all in. She was even too young to attend the graduation parties.
All I’m saying is, get it girl — but remember to live in the moment. Blasting through your undergrad and MBA as fast as you can completely diminishes the purpose of higher education. Being 20-something is incredible…don’t rush to grow up.
spring quarter adventures.
third place, not bad!
Summer is coming, and there’s only a little over a month left in our first year of business school. I can’t believe how fast time has gone by! This weekend is Admits Weekend, which I attended last year, and which ultimately made me decide to choose Merage for my MBA. I look forward to meeting the new class! In other news…our full time MBA team got third place in the Merage Softball Tournament! It was such a fun day, although exhausting– we played games from 9 to 5! Next year, we should probably practice once or twice…
The business plan competition is over, and unfortunately our team didn’t make it to the finals. But what we did get was a lot of encouragement. Our business plan may not have been perfect, but the presentation went wonderfully, even with major technical difficulties! I am so proud of our team, and hope that the feedback we got will continue to help us out.
and it was "epic."
We also got the opportunity to go on a site visit to Blizzard Entertainment, which was a blast. Although I’m not really a “gamer,” the campus was just so unique that I had to check it out. We learned a lot about the game industry from the panel of MBAs, and also got an idea of how crazily competitive their internship program is. My favorite part was how the casual culture is built around having happy, comfortable employees who want to be there and do great work. It was refreshing to see such a wildly successful company with a culture like that. If only all of corporate America let us bring our dogs to work and wear jeans and t-shirts every day…
really, management science?
Class-wise, it’s week six, one midterm down, two to go, and I still basically have no idea what’s going on in some of my classes. It’s the nature of this quarter, which has some core classes that I’m trying to be interested in, but I just can’t get into it. Admittedly, I’m distracted due to the continuous internship quest, which will hopefully be over soon! The challenge of balancing school with the search is one of the toughest parts of being a first year MBA. You have to prioritize between grades, group work, part-time work, company visits, networking, and interviews. Oh, and having fun too! This is southern California, after all…
lessons in entrepreneurship.
As we wrapped up our meeting in a small conference room, it was like every other Friday evening. Our startup team was gaining momentum into the final stages of our business plan competition. Then the phone rang…
It was our first “no” from a possible investor, and probably won’t be our last. We watched the smile on our founder’s face fade into disappointment, as the investor on the phone got to the unfortunate meat of her compliment sandwich. We all leaned in closer to hear her reasoning, and for the first time, I realized how much this project means to my team.
I started working for this startup a few months ago, as I was approached by two of my b-school alums to be the marketeer for the operation. I’d always admired entrepreneurs for their spirit and optimism, but had never been a part of a brand new company before.
With every meeting I had with the team, it became increasingly more ‘real’. Real time, real money, real strategy, real energy. 4am phone calls with developers in India. Changing a presentation 100 times, and then 50 more. Defining what the product truly is, and the need that people have for it. Exhausting our combined networks. Picking apart value propositions and 30 second pitches word by word.
Sure, it was only one investor and only one no, but it was still a tough moment. Our founder defended our revenue model throughout the entire call. The feedback we got was very helpful for the most part, and the mourning period lasted about three seconds. We immediately unpacked our things again and started hashing out newly focused ideas. We decided on the next steps to take and which investors to target next, planning trips to Silicon Valley; the works.
Excel makes up the numbers, but it is up to us to make them a reality. It’s one thing to have a business plan, but it’s entirely another to have a business. The beta site is coming, and a user base needs to go along with it. Once this version is live, it’s about to get – well – “realer.”
So whether this all lasts one more month or 15 more years, all I know is that I like being around this team, the energy, and the positivity that comes with doing something you believe in one-hundred percent.
the networking cliche!
Spring is in the air… that magical time where finals are over, and most importantly, so is Microeconomics class! No offense to econ majors in undergrad, but…how did you do it?
classes of 2012/2013
I have talked with TONS of alumni lately, and have found valuable mentors in almost all of them. One thing I can’t stress enough about business school is that you have to network. And I don’t mean be “that networking guy/girl” who shoves a business card in everybody’s face in the first minute of meeting them and peaces out. I mean truly have an interest, find people with those interests, and connect with them. You will learn more than you ever thought possible.
People love to talk about their career and life experiences. When having an info interview or a networking conversation, make sure you have something to say. If you’re totally ignorant about the topic, they will assume you are not interested enough. Always send a thank you email, since they are taking their own time to help you, whether it’s in person, phone, or email. Follow up with them once every month or couple of months. Make sure they know that they are a valuable person to have in your network.
Plus, utilizing the alumni database while you’re in school is somehow much more socially acceptable by creepily reaching out on LinkedIn to some random fourth connection. Whether full time, part time, executive or healthcare MBA, the alums remember what it was like to juggle school, working, and frantically searching for an internship or a new career. They know what’s up! It may not lead directly to a job opportunity, but who knows — these discussions could help you decide the career path you want to be on, or give you new insights to steer you off of the wrong one. And if you have a great conversation, believe me, you won’t need a business card to be remembered.
when it rains, it pours.
class of 2013.
Isn’t there a saying that good things always come in threes? I feel like lately, they’ve come in way more than that.
It’s becoming the official crunch time for internships. Companies are posting like crazy, and thanks to my indeed.com alerts, I’ve got quite a list of positions. Right now I’m narrowing down my company list by speaking with alumni and part-time MBA-ers to get an idea of what it is like to work at various places. I’ve got meetings and phone calls lined up, trying to get as much information on these positions as possible. It’s paying off — slowly but surely, interview requests are coming in, even from one of my top target companies. It’s all really exciting.
Meanwhile, I’m still at my part-time social media job, and luckily it is flexible so that sometimes I can work from home. We just moved to a new office location, double the size of our last one! I also am partnering with a part-time MBA student in his own social media consulting biz, and his client base continues to grow.
Randomly, I’m also now a part of the 2012 Business Plan Competition. Not just a part of it, but a part of the startup company, which already has some good funding and is going to be in beta in a month. This has led to tons of entrepreneurship workshops, whiteboard sessions, and late nights of tweaking our presentation so we can pitch to investors within the next few months.
I guess all this blog writing and twittering isn’t in vain — the UCI MBA alumni-based team found me through my presence online, and tapped me to become “CMO”. This is, of course, a huge responsibility and opportunity. I am basically in charge of building a user base and getting them to use our network, and making sure our blog and social media accounts are on point. My team is built of super-experienced managers and well-respected businesspeople, and I am truly honored to be a part of this adventure! Who knows what could happen…
All of this is on top of my schoolwork (oh yeah, we have that in business school), which thankfully is slowing down near the end of the quarter. All I know is, I’m not going back to a career that I only tolerate being in. No matter what. And I’m going to take full advantage of every opportunity I have in these two years, because I’ll never get them back again!
how it feels to love what you do.
Us full-time grad students have no money. So I found a part-time job to fill up my Mondays and Fridays.
the office.
But not just any job– I’m managing social media for a local bike company. That’s right, I am currently getting paid to do what I love to do…for the first time in my life! It’s a strange feeling that I hope I never lose. The hours fly by, goals are fun challenges, and I’m learning so much as I go along. For example, the world of SEO is huge in small business, so I’m reading up on how to dominate in the niche of our industry. Projects are encouraged, and the strategy is largely my own. I attended my first Social Media Mastermind OC meetup group event with my boss, and it definitely won’t be my last. The ideas that bounce around in those sessions are amazing to put to work for the company.
To work for a company that truly believes in the power of social media is so astoundingly refreshing, it’s hard to describe. There are numbers in fans, likes, and follows that translate directly into revenue and invaluable word-of-mouth marketing. Any company, big or small, that denies the quantitative benefits on a carefully implemented social media plan is living in the past. Sharing my enthusiasm for social business with my colleagues is so much fun. Our product is exciting and made to be shared, pinned, and tweeted with the world!
The summer internship hunt is still on, and networking events are in full swing. We were just at NBC Universal the other day, driving around the lot in carts with alums! Lucky for us, midterms are minimal this quarter, but instead we have tons of group projects and papers. Give me a paper to write over a test to take any day. Some of my classmates are finding out where they are studying abroad this fall, and I am happy for them slash jealous. I’ll stick around in Irvine, since I don’t think my dog would appreciate me leaving for 3 months! We do have the week-long residential in Shanghai in December though, and I think it is going to be an unforgettable experience…just like most of these two years in grad school.
Shoutout to a fellow MBA-er over in North Carolina @Finance Your Future University.
new developments!
Here I am on a plane back from a whirlwind 24-hour trip to Ohio for a family event. I just finished one case memo in the air, and am about to dive into the next. Luckily I have in-flight WiFi!
The winter quarter is flying by. I have so many different group projects that the overlap gets confusing after a while, and large individual assignments linger in the background, a procrastinator’s worst nightmare. With four-day weekends, it is tough to get motivated to do work on Mondays and Fridays, and suddenly it’s midterm time already. The exciting world of microeconomics is up first, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous for it.
On the other hand, brand management is such a fun elective. Everyone in that classroom is totally into marketing, and we’ve had some lively Type-A personality discussions over the past few weeks. Our professor is a 30-year vet in the CPG industry, and brings tons of personal experience into the class. My group is doing a quarter-long assignment about lululemon athletica, and had some trouble defining their true target market: health-conscious community activist, or high-income, snobby yoga fashionista? The debate continues…
In other news, I start my part-time job tomorrow, managing social media for a local bike company down the road. I seriously can’t wait. The place really fits my personality and seems like an incredible opportunity for me to create and implement a total social media strategy for a company. Since this is ideally what I want to do after graduation, this experience will be invaluable. The search for the coveted summer internship continues, and am hoping my networking and diligence in applying for places will pay off.
Second years are starting to land full-time jobs, and soon enough the Class of 2014 will be coming to Merage. I volunteered at a recent Open House, talking to prospective students, and it was quite a flashback for me. Thinking back to when I applied to business schools over a year ago, I never imagined that I would feel as hopeful as I do now.
Q2 – internship season.
We’ve all had an entire month off – now it’s about to get real!
Most of us didn’t know what to do with ourselves over break. I spent mine with family, friends, and many drafts of cover letters. The most exciting part for me was the Bay Area trek with my classmates. We took a journey to San Francisco and the Silicon Valley to have the privilege of visiting some top tech companies. I got to visit eBay and Yahoo! (see photo at HQ above).
We went on tours of the offices, and asked questions to diverse panels of employees and interns. Seeing the campuses of these tech giants was extremely inspiring and energized me for the upcoming quarter. It was an opportunity that I definitely would not have had without my MBA program at Merage. It was also a blast hanging out in the city with classmates from the other section who I hadn’t gotten to know well. The trip helped me expand my network and explore gorgeous San Francisco!
The schedule for my classes this quarter is drastically different than the last. All of my courses are three hours in length, once a week. Sitting through these sessions is a bit rough, even with the break. Some professors are also implementing a dreaded “no laptop” policy, which is putting me through minor MacBook withdrawals, and questioning my terrible handwriting.
My first elective in the program is Strategic Brand Management — it sounds nerdy, but it is going to be a blast. Organizational Behavior is also very interesting, diving into topics of psychology and management. I’m also taking IT and Microeconomics, flashing back a little bit to my undergrad studies.
With Mondays and Fridays off, I’m beginning to look for local part-time opportunities in the digital marketing field that I’m looking to enter post-MBA. I’m also competing for summer internships that many companies are beginning to post. All of us are in the same boat, and it’s time to focus on our future career path and really think about what we want. This can feel like a lot of pressure, but it’s also very exciting to think of what the future may bring. As for me, I’m ready for a career and life-changing 2012!
quarter one: done!
Finals are over, first-quarter grades are trickling in, and winter break is already going by too fast. There is no question that my first few months of my MBA program have transformed my life.
The MBA world is filled with high-pressure career fairs, resume scrambles for big-name companies, informational and mock interviews, company research, cover letter customizing, and trying to stand out in a crowd of your highly qualified peers.
As I construct cover letters to send out for internship opportunities, sometimes the words just come to me, as though the job description was written for me. Other times, I started to write why I would be a great fit for the position – and then realized I didn’t have much to say. I’ve learned that casting a wide net doesn’t necessarily mean more chances at interviews. If your enthusiasm and passion for the job doesn’t come across in the cover letter, recruiters will recognize it right away and put you in the discard pile. In my opinion, it’s only worth applying if you know it is the job for you.
I came into this knowing that I want to be a marketer — someone who can connect brands with customers, tuning into their needs and emotions to create innovative solutions through technology. Now that I’ve narrowed my career interests down to a single industry, I feel relieved because I know it is what I was meant to do. So whether it’s a big corporation or a tiny startup, I know where I will and won’t fit in — and that’s half the battle of being a career changer in business school.
Someone told me if you spend your time chasing money, it will come slowly or not at all. But if you chase what you love, you will want to grow with the company – and money will eventually find you. While the pressure of student loan debt is looming, there is nothing more important than doing what you love. Only you know what is best for you.
Here’s to 2012 and the many adventures ahead!
i got my midterm grades back – and i’m still here!
It’s hard to believe that the first quarter of b-school is coming to an end. All that looms in the horizon are late night study sessions for our four finals in four consecutive days. Well, that and a few more assignments.
The giant marketing project is over, and it was pretty amazing to see all my classmates’ hard work in the presentations. We all came dressed in business attire, and spent 20 minutes showcasing the results of our quarter-long projects. It’s funny how each group’s dynamic is very apparent when they present. It shows if they’ve taken on this challenge fairly easily, or if they’re one group meeting away from throwing down. But the ideas and marketing plans that my classmates have created are incredibly detailed, creative, and hopefully implementable at their respective organizations.
Spending more time with my classmates has made me realize how valuable this network is, and will be for life. I have become fast friends with some people who are insanely talented and ambitious, with good hearts and quick minds. I didn’t expect this experience to open me up to so many more—whether it be trying new types of food, celebrating Diwali, hearing others’ career paths and learning from their life stories. Even though most of us have found smaller groups of friends, it is important to remember to reach out and connect with everybody, or you might miss out on something truly life-changing.
Remembering to apply for internships has also been challenging (at least for me) amidst all the chaos. The entire point of b-school is starting a great career, but you’re so busy with schoolwork that actually taking the steps towards that can escape your mind. Of course, the career center is a godsend in this regard, but they can’t do the work for you. So I’m going to begin reserving an hour each day solely dedicated to my internship and career search. I’m hoping this will steer me back on track.
The anticipation of winter break is fueling us through a few more weeks here in the “cold” (60-degree) California winter. Excitement has been building as we’ve started choosing our electives for next quarter. It is somewhat of a turning point, where we decide our concentration and run with it. Come January, we will be in a new classroom with new voices to be heard, but all I know is that there are many more adventures to be had. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!