A Glimpse into “The Business Experience”

On Saturday, August 29, Girls For Business launched its very first virtual event, “The Business Experience.” With over seventy participants and four experienced business women panelists, Girls For Business hosted a four-part event that included an introduction to the organization, panelist sharing, a general Q&A, and breakout rooms for students to dive into an area of business they were interested in. Through this event, Girls For Business successfully took the first step towards their mission of educating and inspiring students to pursue business through the unique experiences shared by business professionals.

During the panelist introductions, students heard from accomplished professionals Divya Ramamurthy, Valerie Zhao, Fernanda Lopez, and Hallie Markert as they described their journey in business. They explained their high school experiences, current organizations they are working with, summer experiences, and their future goals in business. 

For Divya Ramamurthy, a junior at Wharton School of Business studying finance, her high school experience included student government, DECA (which she highly recommends!), being an intern at a marketing startup, and participating in a NASA engineering and analytics summer program. Ramamurthy emphasized the importance of taking opportunities in high school and finding clubs like DECA or FBLA that represent the real business world or participating in college business programs at UPenn, Yale, etc. She also points out that while business classes are very important to the foundation of business, actual business experience (like internships) is the only way to actually improve in the business world. Ms. Valerie Zhao reiterates this point - “the best way to get better at business and actually get more experience can be from doing the job, hustling for internships, offering to do jobs, paid or not paid.”

Valerie Zhao was the esteemed panelist for the Entrepreneurship topic during The Business Experience. She has an MBA from the selective MIT Sloan School of Management and an AB from Dartmouth College. When Zhao was growing up, she thought she was going to become a doctor. However, she was encouraged to take a gap year before applying for med school after college and needed to find a job. Zhao landed a job at “the intersection of investment banking and consulting”, as she explored the business field, she became interested in business as a career. She started cold emailing to apply to start-ups (which she doesn't recommend!) and found a job, formally starting her on the business path. Zhao continued creating new opportunities for herself along the way, rising to her current position as an Associate at McKinsey & Company. Unfortunately, she had her fair share of challenges during her career. She experienced uncertainty and self-doubt, and she didn’t enjoy the unstructured work of working at a start-up. She also coped with the stresses of being a stereotype threat as a minority woman. A stereotype threat is a psychological stress that occurs when a person is concerned about presenting the stereotypes associated with their social groups. Zhao’s lack of prior business and finance knowledge and personal finance issues were also obstacles for her, but nonetheless, she persevered through and learned many life lessons that she shared during her presentation. 

Ms. Zhao encouraged participants to acknowledge their privileges in the business field, while using their advantages to their benefit. For example, if an entrepreneur’s parents are willing to let her live at home until she is financially stable, then she should fully take advantage. Zhao also explains that every budding entrepreneur should stay aware of her boundaries(if someone needs a steady source of income to pay for their grandmother’s hospital bills, then they should definitely keep their part-time job!). Lastly, Zhao advises participants to look forward, figure out where we want to be in 5 years and find ways to close the gap in professional and personal growth through leveling up and stepping back for reflection. 

The panelist who spoke about marketing, Fernanda Lopez, gave advice from what she learned in her classes. She spoke about her learning experience in college, and explained how entrepreneurs shouldn’t only be considering directly competing products, they should also be contemplating other products that can solve the same problem. For example, a brand that sells tape has to compete with other brands that also sell tape, but the brand will also have to compete with brands that may sell glue, or staples. These products all solve the same problem, and consumers will always think about what will solve the problem quickest and easiest. Effective marketing is not about the product, it is about the problem and how it can be fixed.

Hallie Markert, the management panelist at the Business Experience, has always had an interest in the human behavioral aspect of fashion. Throughout college, Markert found a way to interweave both her passion for the clothing industry and her love for business into her education. She now holds a BBA in marketing with a minor in fashion merchandising from the University of Georgia. Markert was also an analyst in merchandising at Belk for over 3 years, a graduate research assistant, and an MBA candidate at Georgia Tech’s Scheiler College of Business. Some of her intensive MBA work includes Pro Bono consulting, small business valuations, and CHARGE leadership influencing.  

After Markert moved to North Carolina and began to work in merchandising, she made one of the biggest decisions of her life: challenging herself by going back to school. As a first generation student, Markert never imagined that she would be striving for more than an undergraduate degree, but in the end, her formal education in finance proved beneficial. Her studies opened doorways to numerous hands on opportunities, such as real life casework with small businesses or boutiques, as well as local nonprofits.

Through the Q&A portion of the event, students were able to get an inside look at the panelists’ take on the business world and receive real-time advice from the professionals. Questions ranged from guidance in getting internships to pointers in becoming an entrepreneur. Here are some of the questions that were answered by the panelists during this session:

Question: How can students begin networking?

Ms. Hallie Markert mentioned meeting people at school through clubs and other activities can help students get to know people who share commonalities with them and can help individuals start networking. Markert adds that diverse thinkers are all around you, and therefore meeting new people can not only expand networks but also open a new perspective of thought. Ms. Fernanda Lopez explained that she often thinks of networking as community building or relationship building, which can be done through something as simple as creating a LinkedIn account or attending a networking event. Everyday networking such as talking to classmates, conversing with coworkers, and keeping in touch with those at previous internships also contributes to such relationship building. Lopez reminds students to not “fabricate [networking], but keep your relationships… and you’ll go a long way.”

Question: What is an aspect of business that you didn’t realize was a significant part of the business world until you gained experience?

Building knowledge in the works of the business field, Lopez concludes that social skills, or “soft skills,” are largely underestimated by many students in terms of its significance. She elaborates that such interpersonal skills are useful in working with teams, effectively communicating ideas, and overall becoming a great collaborator. Lopez mentions that in the end, soft skills can be just as important as book knowledge, as a large portion of business deals, projects, and initiatives involve clear communication and productive collaboration. Markert added that styled thinking is another crucial skill that is often overlooked by many new to the business field; being able to see the big picture while also being detail-oriented is a major factor in carrying out a successful project or initiative. While considering the company’s mission creates an idea of the message that should be portrayed, being detail-oriented prevents small errors that can have large impacts like profit loss or misinformation. However, Markert explains that while such a skill can be learned, it will come more naturally with time and experience in the business field.         

Question: What classes and opportunities could help if someone wants to become an entrepreneur?

Zhao explains that business involves lots of collaboration and teamwork, so she recommends signing up for classes/programs that involve group projects. She further explained that any opportunities to work with real companies (like co ops) are great ways to take steps towards becoming an entrepreneur. Lopez recommends “checking out your high school [and college] clubs… or outside extracurriculars” as they are “amazing ways to know how companies work.”

Question: General tips for getting internships in high school? What is the best way to find appropriate networking events for high school students?

Lopez suggests checking out virtual mixers and virtual networking events on EventBrite to find any events that appeal to you. She also recommends “reaching out to other people in similar organizations, like other girls at Girls For Business, and asking for virtual coffee chats.” In short, networking can happen all around you. Ramamurthy found her first internship at a marketing start-up through DECA, a club she participated in at high school. Markert adds an often overlooked way to network as a high schooler is by having conversations with your friend’s parents. When a student has a perspective on what they want to do, she urges them to look into opportunities and take action.

Breakout rooms, the final portion of the event, allowed students to move into a small group with a panelist that went into more detail about their area of business. In Ramamurthy’s finance breakout room, she introduced the definition of finance and the types of finance (personal, corporate, and public/government). In Ramamurthy’s words, finance can be described as “how people, governments, and companies operate and think.” She then described the many career choices in finance, which fall into three main groups: sell side, buy side, and corporate finance. Sell-side careers included capital markets, classic investment banking, leveraged finance, industry specific finance, as well as sales and trading. Buy-side careers included private equity, hedge funds and mutual funds, and wealth/portfolio management. Corporate finance included strategy and operations, mergers and acquisitions, real estate investments, treasury roles, investor relations, and profits and losses. To close off the breakout room, the students played an interactive game that allowed them to be put in the shoes of a company deciding whether or not they wanted to invest in another company. Students practiced their ability to make quick decisions and to be confident with their decision as they backed it up with evidence. 

During the Entrepreneurship zoom breakout room, Ms. Zhao defined the meaning of a business: having at least one paying customer. Most businesses will, of course, be more complex than this, but this is one paying customer is the baseline. She then led viewers through an exercise that details the several steps an entrepreneur may go through to perfect a business idea. She asks everyone to pick a product they use everyday and then answer the following questions. 

What do YOU love about it?

What do YOU wish was different?

What do you think OTHERS wish was different?

How hard would it be to change these things?

Pick the top five things you would change. 

Rank the top three things you would change. 

This series of questions reflects the following principles of what makes a product valuable and a business successful. 

Product features

User needs (what an individual wants from a product)

Market needs (what different customer demographics want from a product)

Planning and estimation

Prioritization 

Prioritization with limited resources 

Afterwards, Ms. Zhao shares her final words of wisdom for aspiring entrepreneurs: just get started. An idea is worthless if you don’t execute it. Even if you’re scared, the best way to overcome that courage is to get started. 

During the management breakout room, Markert stressed the importance of maintaining balance. She strongly advises others to pursue passions outside of their career, which for her means spending time with family and friends. Markert also recommends incorporating balance into time management by looking at one’s schedule days in advance to accommodate any changes that may occur. Since the business world is ever changing, anyone working in management must constantly stay on their toes and be able to adapt to different circumstances. As questions arose about networking, Markert stated that casual networking with classmates is key to discovering internship opportunities or deciding on a pathway to take in business. She suggests students seek as much experience as they can to develop effective leadership and communication skills. Since leadership can often be difficult for many high schoolers, Markert highlights the value of being straightforward with expectations by providing tasks and timelines, while also maintaining open communication with team members for feedback. Style of thinking is also crucial— while it is necessary to keep in mind the bigger picture and mission, being able to stay detail oriented is an important skill that helps to ensure success. 

Overall, “The Business Experience” was a huge hit. Thanks to our incredible panelists, students were able to converse with professionals seasoned in the business field while also being able to ask questions, receive advice, and grasp a better understanding of what it is like to work in the field. Along with being a unique experience not offered in a normal school setting, this event allowed girls to personally connect with accomplished business women!

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