Major Misconception

I had an interesting experience last night that I've been mulling over today and I thought I'd share it with all of you.

Short story: a few of my classmates and I were at a bar griping about one of our assignments when a guy playing pool near us interjected, "are you guys grad students too?" We assumed he'd overheard something he could relate to and wanted to contribute to our grousing. So we invited him into our conversation, asked what he was studying (political science) and told him we were MBA students. As soon as he heard this, he started ranting angrily about what douchebags we are and how pathetic our choice of study is. He even went so far as to ask what our program is ranked, scoffing at UC Davis' "low ranking". (Actually it's top 40, and why would you make fun of the university that you are also attending?!) Anyway, we were a bit shell-shocked and eventually just shut him out of our conversation.

Of course none of us really care what this psycho thinks about our life choices, but it got me thinking. What would cause someone that knows nothing about any of us jump to so many conclusions about our character? Obviously there is a misconception out there about what business school is and the type of people that choose to pursue an MBA. I will be the first to admit that I had my own set of misconceptions about MBA students, even after I'd decided to attend business school. For one, I thought everyone in my classes would be exactly the same: type A, aggressive, competitive. I imagined myself struggling to conform to some pervasive corporate culture that we would all be groomed for. I COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE WRONG.

Here is what I have learned: MBAs want to innovate and to effect positive social, environmental and economic change. We are ambitious and goal-oriented, but also humble and grounded. We want to make the world a better place. Of course, that means something different for everyone, but I have yet to meet anyone whose sole objective from the program is to get filthy rich. Maybe it's unique to the program I'm in, I can't speak to what it's like at Harvard or Stanford. What I do know is that my classmates come from such varied backgrounds that there is no such thing as a typical MBA student in our class. I've already learned so much through this diversity -- and we've only been in school for 2 weeks!

Classmates, what do you guys think? Did you have misperceptions that have been shattered? Let me know what you think! I'd also love to hear what any of you non-MBAs out there think of us :)

I have more to add on this topic in terms of my personal goals and how I feel about business as a mechanism for empowerment, but I'll save it for another time. I also promise to write more about b-school fashion soon, promise!!

xoChr

Class is in Session

 

Classes have begun and my first quarter as an MBA student is in full swing! In fact, I'm writing this from a Starbucks in Woodland where some of my lovely classmates and I have met up to study. (Yes, I'm already slacking, but only for a few minutes!)

 

So now that I know the lay of the land, there are a few things I wish I had done differently with my summer. One in particular is that I wish I hadn't been so worried about preparing for school! I spent a lot of time fretting over my lack of quantitative skills and experience with Excel. I signed up for additional pre-MBA prep classes online to help compensate for these shortcomings, and frankly I didn't need to. This quarter is all about fundamentals: accounting, microeconomics, statistics, and so on. But everyone is from such different backgrounds that our professors don't assume any prior knowledge of the material. Not that I have delusions that any of my classes will be easy, but the extra prep classes didn't really give me much of an edge.

 

So, my advice to you if you are reading this as a recently admitted MBA student some time in the future: forget studying in the summer! Spend extra time with your friends and family, take that trip to Hawaii, be lazy and watch all of RHOBH. Do whatever you want, just don't study! You'll be hitting the books for the next two years, take a deep breath and enjoy summer while you still can.

 

All that said, it feels really great to be a student again and couldn't be happier about my decision to go back to school. I consider myself a lifelong learner so it's nice to be in an official learning environment. For the next two years, it's my job just to learn things.

 

More updates to come, stay tuned!

 

xochr

 

 Image via Zara

Entrepreneurial Real Talk: Closing Time

My business, Fancy French Cologne, officially closed its virtual doors yesterday. Carly and I started the business a few years ago as a way to stay creative after the band we played in for six years broke up, and running our own business seemed like the obvious next step. It’s funny to think back at who we were then – even though it was only a few years ago, I feel so much older and more experienced having gone through the process. The two of us were just a couple of super motivated girls that wanted to DO something, and so we did! In fact, we did everything from scratch, with help from our friends and family, learning so much from so many mistakes, and cherishing every hard-won accomplishment along the way. The experience has shaped me profoundly, and I’m so proud of us for what we achieved.

Back when we began the project, e-commerce was still a pretty uncharted territory. Of course online stores existed back in 2009, but it was a different time and things were far less sophisticated than they are now. One aspect I truly enjoyed throughout this process was following the progress of shops like Modcloth and Nasty Gal over the years – watching as smaller, entrepreneurial businesses were able to thrive in the face of mega-stores (with mega-bucks!) like GAP or Nordstrom. These new businesses truly innovated where the more established brands seemed hesitant to stray too far from the status quo. I always say that we’re living in the “turn of the century” and there are things happening now that might seem unthinkable in twenty years. The world of e-commerce has opened up opportunities to empower women in ways that did not exist before—to me it’s just amazing. Not only for the entrepreneurs at the top, but for the women that are able to work for companies that share their values, and for the customers that finally see an authentic reflection of themselves in the businesses where they shop (as opposed to purely being “marketed to”). To me, this is powerful.

Now, after almost four years of working together on our business, Carly and I are both ready for yet another phase in life. Most people have had a sad reaction to this news – as though it somehow wasn’t our decision. But of course it was! And it was a business decision first and foremost, not an emotional one. We considered keeping the store alive while I go back to school and Carly pursues an exciting new project, but for what? Running a business is A LOT of work! If we can’t give Fancy French Cologne the time and attention that our customers deserve, then what is the point?

I look forward to working with Carly again someday, with all the amazing people who helped out during photo shoots, and with the wonderful designers that we had the honor of collaborating with. Whatever I do next, I know that this experience has molded me and taught me what I’m capable of and what my core values are. I will carry Fancy French Cologne with me far into the future.

xoChr 

PS I love you Carly!

Bussiness School Attire: Thoughts on the Modern Woman and Business Attire

So here’s the thing. I come from a punk/indie background; I’ve lived most of my life allergic to suits. My dad is a self-made entrepreneur. I’ve never seen my parents answer to a boss. My brother owns his own business, so do my uncles, my cousin, quite a few of my friends. And so do I for a little while longer. 

Until now, I’ve lived most of my life as an employee in corporate settings, working my way up the corporate ladder. Even still, I have a septum piercing, spent years playing in punk bands and had ombre hair before your hairstylist had ever heard of it. I don’t relate to a lot of my coworkers’ personal sense of style. I have always been the “quirky” girl in the office.

But I’m starting business school in a couple months and, as you might imagine, the question of “what to wear” has been filling me with anxiety! To me, business attire seems stifling, formal, un-fun. Ill-fitting slacks, skirt suits, nude stockings, sad, un-sexy pumps.  

Yet for the *modern woman, there’s this sense that you can be a creative, interesting dresser and still be a strong, respectable business person (just leaf through Elle or visit R29). Somehow I rarely see this in the “real world.” I have a lot of successful friends that are stylish, but they aren’t exactly executives or upper management types.

So my question is this: is it possible for me to retain my personal sense of style without standing out for the wrong reasons? I need to get to the bottom of this! How much can I get away with and not alienate myself or not be taken seriously? Is this even really an issue or am I just making a mountain out of a molehill?

I have a bschool event coming up in a few weeks… let’s see what happens.

xoChr

*Everyone just loves to talk about the modern business woman! Have you ever watched an episode of Project Runway? They are constantly dressing this mysterious modern woman. Maybe I just don’t know any? Maybe I’m actually secretly more of a traditional woman? But the nose ring... you see? It’s confusing!

images: pants © jcrew.com // alexa chung’s legs via stockholm streetstyle