A Big Risk, a Big Impact

As a product marketing manager intern, a part of what I do is consumer research, trying to understand what drives our users and how they behave when they use our app. I was immediately tasked with doing the research to anticipate how users would react to a new feature and recommending next steps to our product manager. I was thrown in headfirst and felt a little overwhelmed, so I called up some of my fellow Boothies to bounce ideas off of in a casual brainstorm. This helped me complete a project outline and eventually led me to successfully conduct my research.

The pay-it-forward culture was the main reason I decided to come to Booth and something I experienced firsthand throughout my time here. I believe that everything starts from within your own circle. If you’re able to help those close to you, and they pay that forward, the chain of positivity moves on. I think about social impact in the same way: if I volunteer—whether with prospective students or with United Way—hopefully I will inspire other people to do so, and eventually the world will become a better place.

I’m hoping to get involved in cleantech, acting as a bridge between consumer voices and the technology companies forming solutions. I’m confident Booth will help me get there. In my first year, I have already learned so much both from the classroom and from my peers. I was surprised by the overwhelming number of opportunities to try different things I’d never touched on before—from FEAD (the Food, Environment, Agribusiness, and Development group), to the Marketing Group, to a fellowship program with Good Food Accelerator where I learned how to do market research. These opportunities enriched my MBA experience. Booth was the biggest risk I’ve taken, but it has paid off.

—As told to Leah Rachel von Essen