This past month I had the unique opportunity to visit with Motiv, a design consulting firm based in the DC area. The Technology & Innovation Club is partnering with leadership at Motiv to run a case competition for METRO in April. As a board member, I am responsible for helping to develop and manage the event – something that includes corporate partnerships. Jeneanna Rae, Motiv founder and CEO, is a goliath in the design strategy and innovation space and will be advising and judging at the competition.
Imagine a small warehouse, white walls, a well-lit room, a few desks in the middle, and a variety of nooks and crannies along the edges where you can escape with a team to brainstorm. This is the office in which this cutting-edge firm resides. Walking past one of the conference breakout spaces Jeneanne pointed out the poster-board size notes along the walls and described the ideation process her team helped a client undergo here on a recent project. Enjoying lunch and chatting about App business strategies in the kitchenette in the back of the office, I realized that I was getting something special out of my business school experience – variety in business strategy perspectives.
Why am I sharing this story with you? Because this is something I personally didn’t think much about when looking into going to business school and I want to catch the ear of anyone out there that might be interested or like me. The basic message here is that at business school you will not only learn in the classroom or through career search, there are ample opportunities to interact with and discover companies operating in very interesting spaces.
In addition to my recent interaction with Motiv, I am currently in a business and public policy intersection residency here at Georgetown. The focal industry of this residency is whiskey. Today I chatted at length with Scott Harris, co-founder of Catoctin Creek, about the unique challenges his company faces in terms of state regulations in the spirits industry. On Thursday my team and I will be presenting to Scott to advise him on how we think he might best grow sustainably and safely within this highly regulated environment.
Lastly, I am also working on a consulting project for a major national nonprofit as well as another consulting project for a technology startup. Needless to say, I am finding myself in a space where I am not only learning in the classroom or through career research, but more and more so I am learning by actually engaging in business advisory services. So whether you knew it or not about business school already, this is one of the major perks that I am currently enjoying.
