What was your plan coming out of college? Did it pan out? If your path differed from your plan, how and why did it change?
I have worked in a family business setting and an industry I had been exposed to from a young age and that I was excited to join post-college. When I was growing up, my father had a company in diamond manufacturing, sales, and worldwide distribution. He sold to watch and jewelry companies and this excited me. I remember being exposed to the business when I was 14 or 15. Before I even started at Wharton, I already had the idea that I would work with my family. That being said, when I came to college I realized there was so much else out there and thought it was important to keep an open mind, which led me to explore finance through internships in investment banking. I enjoyed these experiences and am thankful for the exposure, but I ended up going back to my roots with the family business after graduating.
How did your first job influence your career path?
When I first graduated, I joined my father’s family business and did that from 2013 to 2015. After, I branched off and started my own company within the same field. Today, I use a lot of what I learned in my first position because of the industry knowledge, but I went from being a small part of a large organization to a large part of a smaller organization. When you work for a large company, even a family one, you can feel like you are not adding much value, so I wanted to set up something of my own and grow a new business. That’s what I’ve been working on for the past four years.
What kind of activities in college best prepared you for post-college life?
I have found my academic experiences in college to be particularly helpful. I can pinpoint some concepts I use like accounting and finance principles, but beyond that there is so much you take in during courses that you absorb subconsciously and use later. The industry I work in – B2B diamond space - is run by very traditional people and no one had previously come in and really revolutionized the space. It is still going to take a long time to do that, but my undergraduate business education gave me the exposure to think outside of the box. I can think of an example from a banking internship where they unplugged my mouse and I had to use excel. Those sorts of things will always give you an edge when your competition isn’t as tech-savvy and entrepreneurial in the sense of using online resources. In my industry, until relatively recently, it was a norm to have customers sit across a table from a seller and choose what they want to buy, but now I can list my diamonds on so many portals and give my customers access to the portals so they can buy at the click of a button. I do not think I could have done that without a young and outside perspective so my time at Penn definitely helped with that.
To what extent do you feel that your concentration influenced your career choice?
The traditional route in Wharton has always been to do finance and then work in a bank/hedge fund/PE firm. I, too, majored in finance and did a banking internship. While I definitely learned a lot by doing so, I ultimately realized that a career in the industry was just not for me. The knowledge I gained still stands me in good stead today, but it's important to note that there are so many options with a business degree; Wharton students should definitely reflect on all paths available to them.
I also concentrated in operations and that background helps me a lot in what I currently work on, which is manufacturing, supply chains, processing, and inventory. This concentration relates more directly to what I do today.
What kind of opportunities do you wish you had taken more advantage of in college?
I definitely wish I took more classes on entrepreneurship. I had taken more finance and marketing courses in college, but I would have benefited from taking a class that would have forced me to work in teams and launch an idea. Entrepreneurship can be scary in the real world so having that experience in the classroom would have been helpful. I also should have attended more of the speakers and one-off events Wharton puts on. There are so many opportunities at your disposal in college and at times you do not realize how valuable they are until they are no longer available. Now, I’d drive hours and pay to see some of the people Wharton had at speaking events.
How did your perspective on careers change from immediately out of college vs. 5 years out?
I have not gone through recruiting as extensively as other people who were looking for jobs in junior and senior year, but I think there is a lot of pressure as an undergraduate to achieve certain grades in certain classes in order to set you up for a successful career. When you are recruiting you think your academics are the most important and they certainly are, but it is more important to learn in a more well-rounded way. Investing time and studies in the subjects that interest you helps to clarify what you may want to do down the line and makes you a more holistic individual. At the end of the day, when companies recruit they are not just looking at whether you have a 4.0 in all finance classes, but instead how interesting you are as an individual and how many different experiences you have and how that carries through in your conversation making. I would say I have realized the importance of spending time on extracurricular activities and being an all-around, true-to-yourself candidate rather than just trying to tick the boxes.
What do you realize now was truly unique about Wharton’s experience from talking to others from various universities/walks of life?
Wharton is very international. This was something that was important to me going in as someone of Belgian-Indian origin and the school did not disappoint. It offers more exposure to people from all walks of life than a lot of other places. In terms of academics, undergraduate business education at Wharton is truly unparalleled. When you are 18 and coming out of high school, there is nothing like it. It is so well-rounded. You’re getting a business education but there is so much more you can do at Penn which is the really fascinating thing. I took theater and language classes alongside my business courses.
In what ways are you still connected to the Wharton community?
It’s a smaller candidate pool, but I chair the interview committee for Belgium. When there are events in Belgium held by Penn for meeting prospective students, I attend those fairs and encourage people to apply to Penn.
One of the classes I took, Management 238, actually has an active alumni community I have been involved in. We now have a specific 238 Europe group and we’ve just started having virtual meetings and dinners. There is a whole portal created to ask for help and offer help. People post on that all the time if they have a problem and they need help or suggestions or need to be linked to someone in a particular field and it's surprisingly resourceful. That’s been pretty fantastic also.
Loading...