November 6, 2024 • 50 mins
Gillian Venditelli, a recent Seidman Graduate, shares her experiences and wisdom about being a GV student, entrepreneurship, and the transition to professional life. Gillian answers student questions about what it is like to graduate and step into work life.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:06):
Welcome to the Seidman MentorshipPodcast. This is your captain speaking.
On this show, we navigate the voyageof life through the lens of Lakers,
some who have just come aboard,and others who are well underway.
We will speak with expertswho will show us the ropes,
help us plot a course and recountexhilarating tales of uncharted territory,
all while promoting lifelong learningagility and a culture of mentorship.
(00:36):
Welcome to the Seidman Mentorship Podcast.I'm Gerry Cooke. Today in the studio,
I get to welcome one of the legends.We have a lot of legends on the show,
but this is more recent legend,
a person who really helped the developmentof the Seidman Mentorship Program in
its state. I'm welcoming to the show,the fabulous Gillian Venditteli. Gillian,
(00:58):
welcome to the show.
Thank you, Gerry. Happy to be here.
Gillian, you were thereat the beginning. Um,
it was your junior yearwhere we recruited you?
So the Seidman ProfessionalMentorship Program,
which was only juniors and seniors pairedwith professionals at that time. We
(01:18):
added on a system wherewe brought in freshmen and
sophomores, who are going to bementored by juniors and seniors.
You were part of CEI, College
Entrepreneurship andInnovation. Right. So that's a,
that's a center within Seidman that helpsstudents and entrepreneurs who wanna
(01:40):
develop. You do pitchcompetitions, you develop things.
You had your own business. You'rea very advanced Seidman. You,
you were light years ahead of where I was.
I was busy playing Dungeons and Dragons.
You were busy running actual businessesin, in undergrad. So way ahead of me.
But you came on board and said, "hey, I'm,
I'm willing to help outwith the administration."
And some of the things that we do todayare because of Gillian Venditteli.
(02:03):
So our event scheduleis because of Gillian,
some of the ways that webook rooms, do things,
part of our marketing our SMPhandbook is Gillian Venditteli. Right.
So you, you're, what's it feellike to number one, lemme back up.
Why did you volunteer to doall these things in college?
I'm gonna read your accolades herein a minute, but you're so busy.
(02:23):
I remember the, the talk around Seidmanwas, hey, you know that Gillian person?
Yeah. When's she gonna burn out? We'reworried about Gillian doing too much.
Um, well, little did I know at that firstencounter with you, when I said, hey,
let me know if I can help withany of the Mentorship, you know,
Program as you're looking to expandwith students. It's, you know,
something I'm passionate about,
that I would be as involved and get tobe a part of so many incredible aspects
(02:46):
of the program and still continueto be involved as an alumni,
which is even moreincredible and meaningful and impactful in different ways.
Um, I,
I just always have enjoyed being apart of communities and being able
to support those around me. And so for me,
(03:07):
I was always busy in school, but it,
it never felt busy to me becauseit was all very purposeful.
It was filling my cup up,
being able to be a part of all thesedifferent organizations. And I still,
to this day, one of the first things Idid after graduating was look at what,
not, not the same as a university club,
(03:28):
but the equal of that inthe professional world.
What are those organizations that I canbe a part of that fill my cup through
purposeful work and getting to supportpeople and work with people and
collaborate? I've neverseen busy as burnout yet,
at least. And I always say busyis better than bored anyways.
So 24 hours in a day, whynot make the most of them?
(03:50):
You certainly did with yourtime at Seidman. So I'm gonna,
I'm gonna rattle up youraccolade list here, right.
Two years in the Seidman MentorshipProgram, including, its the foundation.
You couldn't do more than that.There, there was only two,
you were the first cohort leader that wehad that an experiment where we put you
with multiple mentees andyou did a project together with your mentees. So you,
(04:11):
you managed multiple mentees,
did a project with them and really brokethe groundwork for that to be a thing
that we still do today. Um, youwon multiple pitch comp, well,
you placed well in multiplepitch competitions with the CEI,
which is not easy to do.Summa Cum Laude, graduation.
So high honors there, the I Am GVaward, Peer Mentor of the Year,
(04:34):
both in '22 and '23. Highesthonors there in Seidman Mentorship,
um, would've won stoles andcords had we had them back then.
Dean's list every singleyear of your time.
In my time in undergrad, I didn't wantthe Dean to know who I was. Like I,
I had President Lubbers in thatchair, my president, and I said,
(04:55):
"President Lubbers, Ifigured you were a principal,
not a president." And if you listento that episode, he said, well,
that's your mistake, Gerry. And probablywas. Excellence in a Discipline.
This is the highest honor Seidmanhas academically for a student.
So they choose one studentper discipline and,
and highest in disciplinein Entrepreneurship. Um,
(05:16):
which I think would bedifficult because I don't see,
maybe I'm gonna get in troublefor this, but I'm gonna say it,
I'm looking down at the producerlike, should I say this or not?
I'm looking at Dylan. Um, I don't know.
In in my simple little mind. Accounting,they're like, okay, well, who's,
you know, the best accounting student?
Sounds like it's a pretty easy way tofigure out. The best entrepreneur student?
(05:37):
Sounds a little bit, those arethe people who wanna fight.
Those are the people who want to compete.
Like you're taking themost competitive people,
you're putting 'em in thethunderdome and, you know,
trying to decide which one'sbest. So in my mind, that's a,
that's a hard thing todo. And what an honor.
Yeah, that one especially surprised me.Not something that I thought I'd get.
And that's something that,
something that I still feel like Iwas truthfully the one to deserve it,
(05:59):
'cause I look at so many of the incredibleentrepreneurs and innovators that I
spent, I pretty much lived at the CEI,
so that I spent most of my time atGrand Valley with who have phenomenal
businesses that are doing much moreimpactful work than I believe mine to be.
And, um,
I'm still very honored that of all thestudents and the organizations that
existed and,
(06:20):
and came through CEI and even juststudents who didn't have a business,
but just embodied what it meant tohave that entrepreneurial spirit,
I think of all the things I'vedone in college and been a part of,
that has always been the mostimportant and meaningful to me.
And I carry that with me every day,even when things get a little tough,
I'm like, you know, they,
they believed in me and they sawsomething in me for this excellence in a
(06:44):
discipline. And, you know,that means something to me.
And I've never takenthat honor for granted.
Well, certainly well learned. I,
I will share with you that on theway over to the studio this morning,
I ran into Dr. Gianakura, some otherpeople, and I said, ah, they're sort like,
what are you doing here? And Isaid, well, I, hey, I work here, but
I'm on my way over to the studio to, tointerview Gillian. And they're like, oh,
(07:06):
tell Gillian I said, hi, what timeis it? Can I see Gillian? I'm like,
no I get Gillian first and then, thenother people can have some Gillian time.
I mentioned this earlier.
You were not only a student atSeidman College of Business,
but you were a business owner. You'redoing business with your business,
Grand and Wells. Tell us about that.
Yeah, I'll probably end up going downa rabbit hole and I'll try not to,
(07:28):
but my whole family has their ownbusiness, whether it's a small business,
it's a medium business,
or they're starting new business linesor departments in their corporate
organizations.
So that entrepreneurial-ness hasalways been in my family dating back to
my great-grandmother whoimmigrated here from Armenia,
and they started their family cleanersand she took that over and started her
(07:51):
own. So that -- try not togo down a rabbit hole --
that legacy of having your own
something is just kind ofan expectation. And for me,
I didn't really know what the77 Idea Lab Accelerator was,
but I saw an application. I'm notoriousfor saying yes to everything, um,
(08:11):
blessing and a curse, butI'd say yes to everything.
And the only idea I had was, that wastangible, was this event planning.
I'm like, you know, I worked with theplanner. I've been a part of weddings,
helped my family plan their weddings.
I've helped with corporate event planningfor all my family companies. I'm like,
this could be cool. And there'sa lot of stuff that's not being,
being done all that great that Ifrankly think my Type A OCD personality
(08:35):
could probably, um, doa little bit better. So,
I said yes to theentrepreneurship opportunity. Um,
and that was it. It for me, again,like everything I try to do,
I try to fill my time with meaningfulpurposeful cup-filling activities.
And wedding planning is a lifestylebusiness. But for me it was very,
(08:59):
very purposeful because you would havethe grandma that comes up to you and it's
like, I haven't seen my family in yearsand or the mother who's like, I haven't,
you know, gotten my family from all overthe country together for an event once,
and it was not stressful and everythingwent to plan. Like, thank you so much.
And, um, family to me is my numberone value through and through.
(09:20):
And I've also experienceda lot of lost in family.
So I've learned to realize the magnitudeof having those moments all together
and how much it means.
And if I can be a little part of thatday to make sure that they just get to be
present in the moment with eachother, then that is more than enough,
um, motivation for me tostart my own business.
(09:41):
It's not something bigat the moment, but it's,
it's purposeful work that fillsmy cup even when the usual life
tendencies happen and I, I get overwhelmedor stressed or there is bad news.
Like I have this purposeful
cup filling thing thatI can always turn to.
(10:02):
So I, I think of you asthe Laker on the horizon.
I'm using my nautical thing here, butyou're the person who is just ahead of us.
And I know that there's a ton ofstudents every year who are looking for
programming specifically in mentorshiparound, man, what, what's the transition?
Like? What, what's next? What dowhat I wish you, I would've known.
(10:24):
And you've come and spoke to classesthat I've was either an instructor for or
other folks doing this exact thing.
And I love your freshperspective. So we asked,
our producer a student to ask
some questions for what that's like. But
(10:45):
to set this up succinctly,
kind of take us through thatlast part from commencement.
You walk across the stage to thattransition. What was that like?
What were the fears you had?
Which ones were just unfounded fears andwhich ones what were really unexpected?
Kind of an overview. And thenI'll ask you very specifics,
(11:07):
about this in just a second.
Sounds good. Um,
it's very interesting transitionbecause you walk across the stage,
you're at a high, you've, you'veaccomplished something monumental.
And you know, the degree is theone big monumental accomplishment.
But there's also all the other littleones that are leading up to that.
And you're, you're excited,
you're optimistic about whatthe future has in store for you,
(11:30):
and then you kind of move backhome or you move back away from
your school apartment. Andthen it's kind of like, oh,
I'm not going back to school.This is a little bit strange.
And you start a job and the firstlike summer was fine because
usually you go to school,
you move home or you move to anotherplace and you start an internship and you
(11:51):
go back to school in thefall. And then fall came.
And I was still at that internship,which not not an internship,
but it was my new, um, career path.
But in that lapsebetween walking the stage
and starting that, um, position,there were so many fears.
And some of those were, didI major in the right thing?
(12:13):
Did I pick the right career path forme? Is it the right industry? Am I,
um, am I good enough forwhat I signed up for?
And I think those fearsare valid because in,
there's fear in what you don't know,
but there's also optimism andcuriosity for what you don't know.
(12:34):
And I think all of those fears are naturaland we all have them and go through
them.
And the important thing isto not get stuck in fears
being scary and focus onthe fear of unknown being
something exciting and to becurious for what's to come. Um,
I say that as also a reminder to myself,
(12:54):
'cause there's now times where I stillhave some of those fears rising up about
my career path.
And I go back to that momentof crossing the stage and
just so optimistic andexcited for what's to come.
And my role was exciting to me. I,
it's in innovation and entrepreneurshipand I get to work with cool people and
(13:15):
build really cool things andsolve meaningful problems. Like,
I was so excited and thatstill fuels me today,
but there's absolutelymoments where it's like,
oh my gosh, what am I doing?I, I, I think I'm good enough.
But that learning curve forme at least, was really hard.
And I think part of thatis you're in school for a
(13:39):
long time from preschool. If youdid daycare before that elementary,
middle school, high school, college, ifyou go into a master's or a doctorate,
like you get really good at school becauseyou've had all these years behind you
of learning what comes next.
And it's a very structured plan of yougo from this grade to this grade to this
(14:00):
grade, and college is the firstintroduction of a little bit of
ey-gooeyness. And you get topick now what classes are.
And when you take theclasses and what you do,
and then you move into the professionalworld and it's exponentially different,
structure wise. It's different routines,it's a different amount of structure,
(14:21):
there's more responsibilitiesand graduating.
I was aware that thattransition was going to exist,
but I think I was not fully anticipating
how big that transition would bebecause I loved school and I was a nerd.
So what some people saw as work andschool, I just enjoyed. And yes,
(14:44):
I still enjoy my work and what I do, butit's, it's very different from school.
And for me, that was themost awkward learning curve.
The most uncomfortable part of graduatingand transitioning is moving from that
structure of school intonow this professional role.
And I'm still learning howto navigate that today.
(15:05):
So let me ask you some morespecific questions now about the,
that you set that up.So the students and our,
our illustrious producer, has, you know,
submitted I think greatfollow up questions to this.
I'm nervous about the transition fromcollege to work life. What's the best?
So it sounds like we're picking one.What's the best piece of advice?
(15:30):
Yeah, speaking from experience,
build your personal boardof advisors and mentors?
I think in that transition,
it's phenomenal to have people outsideof your circle of friends and family,
and sometimes even coworkersto be able to lean on.
And there's so many different types ofmentors that you can have in your life.
There's mentors thatjust help you navigate
(15:53):
personal and professional balance.
There's mentors that help youwith very specific skills to
what's going to be yournew roles. There's,
I'm always honored when a student reachesout to me to be that mentor in the
transition of, hey, you just did thisand I know you're still going through it,
but I think it would be nice, you know,to be able to go to you and say, hey...
(16:14):
Because sometimes you justneed to feel validated in,
in your concerns and yourworries there. Um, Brooke,
I had another phenomenal mentor outof the Seidman Mentorship Program.
I reached out to her after myfirst couple months. I'm like, hey,
this transition is uncomfortable. Like,
can I just chat with you andsee how your experience was?
And so I think in makingthat transition, having a,
(16:37):
a very strong support systemaround you of different
areas of your life. I, there's mentorsthat I can go to when personally,
like I said, I'm just,
I'm struggling with the balance offamily and working and then there's
very specific skills to this newrole that are just new to me,
that I sought mentors in so that Icould get some additional education.
(16:59):
And then even internally, um,
it's phenomenal to have some ofthose internal mentors as well,
who I always say, look for people whoare doing what you want to be doing.
Like if you could aspire to a role ora position or an impact that they made,
like that makes a really good mentor.
And especially if you love theorganization that you're with,
(17:20):
like find somebody there whocan help keep you afloat.
'Cause sometimes it's you, like the duckanalogy, the duck swimming in water,
the swan swimming in water,like very calm up front,
but the little feet are moving really,
really fast and sometimes it feelslike only the feet are moving fast.
And it's nice to have some of thosepeople that can keep the waters calm for
you.
(17:41):
I know that obviously you're part ofthe Seidman Mentorship Program and we
strive to plug you into people. Sothat's, that's an easy one, right?
Getting those mentors from theSeidman Mentorship Program.
Outside of the Seidman Mentorship Program.
Give some succinct advice onhow does one find and approach a
mentor? I know that somepeople struggle with that.
(18:03):
This is very much an extrovertedway to go about it. But I,
I'm avid on LinkedIn, very active. Ienjoy, again, connecting, community,
talking with others.
I have just followed people on LinkedInor connected with people on LinkedIn
who I,
there was something about them that Iaspire to be or aspire to learn more
(18:23):
about. And I just sent them amessage and said, hey, so and so...
Oh, you do more than just pushthe connect button? Yeah. Hmm.
I'm saying that ex with extreme sarcasmbecause I get people all the time,
they just push the button andthen I have to figure out, well,
how we should connect or not. But if youjust type a message in there and say,
"Hey, I, I'm a fellow Laker or I'ma student looking for..." Never,
(18:46):
I've always had success with just sayingI need help. And then this is why.
Right? I connected with you'cause you're a fellow Laker.
So I keep telling students stop playingthe lottery with LinkedIn and just
pushing connect or pushing apply. Yeah.
And start actually sending a messagethat says, oh, I'm connecting with you,
Gillian,
'cause I'm a fellow Laker and I see thatyou're an innovation and something I'm
interested in. I I don'tknow much about it.
(19:07):
Could we please connect or eventell you why you're gonna connect?
'Cause I don't wanna sign up for, youknow, necessarily can we, can we chat for,
you know, half an hour or something?
Yeah. I, I always just reach out.
The worst that happens is they sayno or they don't answer. Right.
And somebody who says no is probably notsomebody that you would want to connect
with anyways.
Good point.
(19:27):
So that is the extroverted way of how Igo about it. And obviously, like I said,
I join, you know, your local chamberof commerce, the economic club,
there's tons of professionalgroups, um, that exist.
Industry-wide region-wide tojoin. So you can go to those, um,
and usually get assigned like anambassador when you're a new member in,
in some of these and they can kindof lead you around. So that's,
(19:51):
that's potentially a really phenomenalway for more of an introvert to join a
local community thing, get assignedlike a, a networking buddy.
And then you can slowly start tointegrate into that and find people that
match what you're looking for.
It's like you've, you haven'tread the questions, so,
but it's like you're teeing 'emup. So question from our audience.
(20:13):
What channels did youuse to find your job? And
when should I start looking for that job?
Um, so I just was in theright place at the right time.
I doubt that. I bet you set it up somehow.
You just didn't realize you set it up.
Well, I just lived at the CEI and I wanteda interesting job that allowed that.
(20:35):
So eventually somebody interestingwas bound to walk through there.
You know, if I sit in the boatand I fish, long enough...
You're bound to get a fish.
I'm gonna catch a fish. But if I sithome, I'm not gonna catch fish. So I,
this is no, this is an, Ithink in underutilized and where you spend your time.
I talk to students quite oftenabout your friend groups, right?
(20:56):
If I spend all my time atthe Alpha-Beta-Whoopty-House,
that's where my network is. And I'mnot saying you can't join a frat. I I,
I've done business, I've toldthe story on prior podcasts.
Like I met some of the hardestpartying people at Grand Valley.
It turned out to be VPs of companies.And when we met later professionally,
the look on their face said,
please don't bring up the party atthe Alpha-Beta-Whoopty-House . Um,
(21:18):
because we're now professionals and we'resupposed to act like it. And I didn't.
And it was all fine.
But then I also had a one up andthey were obligated to buy from me,
which was great.
But by spending your time at the CEI withother entrepreneurs and students where
you spend your time matters, right?And what your friend group is matters.
So yeah, please continue.
And I am very aware that most of my adviceas a more extroverted person tends to
(21:40):
come from that lens. But for me,
I had the most success in findingjobs and internships in person,
having conversations, being ata company and just asking if,
you know, they had something orlike put it into the universe.
How did you get to be at a company?
What was that?
How did you get to be at a company?
(22:00):
One internship was,
and it's kind of teed up to whatI was leading into, is like,
ask and the universe willsend it to you somehow,
some way it all put it outthere, manifested and it,
it just increases the likelihoodthat the right ears hear it. Um,
but one internship camethrough a warm introduction.
(22:22):
It was during the pandemic.
I was striking out at anycorporate position 'cause everybody was laying off or
just not hiring. Um, and I, Ineeded, I wanted an internship.
I still wanted to work and, anddo something over the summer. Um,
and that's when I took the opportunityto pursue my curiosity and event planning
a little bit more professionally thanjust doing it on the side or doing it at
(22:43):
my family's companies.
And my mom reached out to anetwork that she knew and that
network returned back. And herinternship had just quit on her,
like the week before wedding season.And I warm introduced to her, hey,
I'm Gillian, you know,
so and so sent me your posting thatyou're looking for a job. And I would,
you know, love to have the opportunityto apply for it. Another internship, came
(23:08):
kind of on the fly.
I was just shopping like a girldoes and I was looking for some
sort of sales and management internship,
but I wanted to be close by to my familyfor particular reasons that summer. Um,
and the store was hiring forsales and management internships.
And just in striking up thatconversation with the manager there,
(23:30):
they offered me the position and theinterview. And that's how that happened.
And then my current rolenow, um, again, I was,
I was sitting in the CEI, they wereworking with an entrepreneur, um,
at the CEI at the time, Thomas Koch. And
I was just again,
talking about how I can't find a jobthat aligns with my values that's
(23:53):
interesting to me, that Iwould be passionate about and
right place, right time. Spoke itinto the universe in a way. And,
and they were offered. They'relike, well, we have, you know,
some open positions sounds like itcould be a fit if you, I can send you,
you know,
the job descriptions and let me knowif it fits and we can set up a time to
(24:13):
interview. So I feel likeI'm a really bad example.
I did go through the LinkedIns andthe Indeeds and going to career fairs,
but I had the most success when personalrelationships were built to get the
job.
I, I call this, I call LinkedIn, Indeed.I, I call that playing the lottery.
Like I literally had a, awonderful student but an introvert,
(24:33):
call me and just graduated and saidI can't get a job. And I said, well,
what have you done? Well, I appliedto 90 jobs in LinkedIn. I said, oh,
you're playing the lottery.You're not connecting. Yeah.
And that connection makes a difference.
I love what you said about speakingto the universe because rather than
networking, which I hate, connecting,I tell people, when you want something,
tell everybody about it. I had adream that I wanted to fly a jet,
(24:56):
which I have no business doing, 'causeI'm a private prop pilot, right?
So I have a private pilot's licenseto fly little cessnas. Two years ago,
somebody showed me the, in my opinion,coolest, sexiest jet that ever was built.
The single engine Cirrus VisionSF50. Look it up, it's awesome.
I saw on an air show, static display, Iwent up and I said, what would it take?
(25:20):
What would I have to do to fly this?Well, it takes about $4.8 million.
And I said, Hmm, okay, great.How about a test drive?
And that's like going to Lamborghinidealership and asking for to drive the
Lamborghini. And they're like,haha, no. Fast forward two years,
I got invited by a, ainstructor pilot to go to a,
a grand opening for a new business.
I didn't want to go because it was afterwork and I was tired. And I'm like,
(25:42):
yeah, it's gonna be dumb. It's gonna bea bunch of rich, snobby airplane people.
I actually went and found itwas a family owned business.
Ended up talking to one of theowners in the back of the hangers,
this big black, sleek,sexy, single engine,
Cirrus vision jet. AndI said to the universe,
I've always wanted to fly oneof those. And they said, oh,
(26:03):
we can make that happen. They said, no,you can't. The next week I was in the,
in the front seat. They put aninstructor pilot in with me,
make sure I didn't do anything dumb.And I, I paid a rental fee. Yeah.
And I got to do that. But speakingto the universe, so I tell people,
tell everybody, what you're doing, makesure you share this with your family,
with with extended family,your aunts, your uncles.
(26:25):
You never know what thatconnection's gonna come up. You know,
strike up those conversations. AndI know you and I raging extroverts,
introverts, like there's no idea I'mtalking to somebody in the grocery store,
about what I want to do. Butyou'd be surprised. Yeah. Um,
I'm famous for going around campus andpoor students have their earbuds in and I
say hello to people because I, I,
I want this idea that Grand Valley'sthis campus where we're the,
(26:49):
we're home for a lotof people. Right. And,
and I like the idea that we'reopen and welcoming. Yeah. Um,
moving on.
Advice for students on getting noticedby employers prior to graduating
and getting job offers, pre-graduation.I think a lot of students feel like,
(27:10):
if I don't have this laidout by the time I graduate,
how can you walk across the stage atgraduation? I had this fear. Yeah.
I took a job that I probablyshouldn't have. Right. Right. Before,
because I wanted to check off, okay, thenext thing I need to do is get a job,
so that my parents can shut up aboutdid you get a job? Everybody in my life,
everybody's sitting around. Yourseniors are like, what job did you get?
What jobs did you get? What job didyou get? Yeah. Okay, good. You know,
(27:31):
and that ruins boot night, right. Forthose of you who are gonna boot night,
right. If we sit around,we're talking about this,
what's your advice on getting noticed?
Um, oh my gosh. Well, first andforemost, I was that student, too,
that just was absolutely defeatedand totally overtaken by the feeling
and the stress of needing that nextstep confirmed. 'Cause again, we're,
(27:53):
we're used to school. Weknow what happens next.
And it's always solidified before it ends.
That first the phase that you're in ends.
So it's a very natural tendencyto be coming up senior year
and feeling the weight of needingto have that next step confirmed.
So for students,
I think a huge regret of mine was thatI stayed way too bogged down and that
(28:17):
stress and too focused onwhat that next step was.
And same thing,
I was taking any and every interviewthat I could get because I needed that
to be confirmed before I walked the stage.
And I remember there was a career fairand I went home after it and I called
my mom and I was justabsolutely distressed. I'm like,
(28:39):
I've interviewed with these companies,nothing really seems like a good fit,
or the industry isn't interesting. I'mnever gonna find a job. What do I do?
And, and A sometimes you just need tocall your mom or call your friend or call,
call your somebody that you can go towhen that hits and get it out from your
head before it snowballs into more.
(28:59):
But know that you don't need to have that
confirmed the day you walk the stage.
I have so many friends who waited for theright opportunity and a lot of friends
who would do an internship thatsummer that then turned into a job.
And sometimes internships with the newerindustry or newer company is a nice
(29:21):
transition from school to professional.
And then you start to get to learn theorganization and kind of what those paths
are a little bit more organically thanapplying to these entry level roles that
toss you right into it. Um, so first andforemost, because I was that student,
please don't be that student. Ipromise it'll all work out. Um,
but as far as getting noticed,
(29:42):
I think a huge portion of that iskind of starting to develop what your
personal, professionalbrand is going to be.
What what do you wanna be noticed for?I think is the first question. Um,
and college is a greatopportunity to explore that.
And it's as simple as how do you wantto dress and speak and present yourself
when you walk into a room, what is theenergy that you want to evoke? How,
(30:06):
how do you wanna beremembered? And again, how,
how do you want to be noticed first?
Because if you don't know how you wantto be noticed or why you want to be
noticed besides just gettinga job with a paycheck,
then I think you're kind ofchasing something aimlessly,
a little bit. So figure out why you're,
you want to be noticed and whatyou wanna be noticed for. Um,
(30:26):
and then be present I think is huge.
I think the pandemic was ahindrance to many because
we got very used to andcomfortable to being on a
screen and being digital. And, that's,
you don't make relationshipsthat way. Management 101 classes,
you go over what's the mostefficient way to communicate.
(30:50):
And technology is last. It's faceto face, it's sound, it's visuals,
it's there's, I forget the number,
but there's like so many muscles justin your eyebrows that can portray an
emotion. And it's hard to connectwith people when you lose all of that.
So be present and show up whenGrand Valley has career fairs,
especially when they're tabling,tabling, at least for me,
(31:13):
I would get very overwhelmed by the careerfair and I am an extrovert because I,
I didn't have any direction.And when you have direction,
it's a little bit easier to navigate.
But the tabling in schoolsor in Kirkoff was much
easier for me to go up and approachsomebody and just be present and start to
show up and become a familiar faceto some of these folks. Um, again,
(31:37):
LinkedIn start to start to post aboutwhat you're doing in school and, um,
reach out to companies, peoplein those roles, HR recruiters,
like just start to reach out and,hey, I am Gillian, I'm, you know,
majoring in entrepreneurship.
I am really interested in yourorganization and graduating soon.
Just kinda wanted to reach outand say hi. And I know again,
(31:59):
Gerry's smiling 'causeit's so extroverted.
I'm smiling because, well, I Iteach name, story, tour, right?
You find a name of somebody, you say,Hey Gillian, I saw your, your post. I,
I'd love to hear your story about howyou ended up becoming a consultant for a
WynHouse. Um, you know,
would you be willing to spend some timethe tour part either letting me see what
you do, come to your office, shadowyou for half a day, whatever?
(32:23):
And again, if you askand they say nothing,
then it's probably not agreat connection anyway. And,
and sometimes we have to ask morethan once. It's, it's, you know, I,
you and I are raging extroverts.We could do that. But you know,
if you're an introvert, there's away to to to think through this too.
Yeah, absolutely.
So, you teed it up again, it's justlike you're reading the script,
(32:44):
even though you didn't, interview advice,advice about dressing professionally.
Um, get this a lot, and fittingin in a professional space. Is a,
is a question from the audience.
And I'm smiling 'cause I've heard youspeak about this very thing in classes.
So I am, I'm a complete weirdo andI found interviews to be really fun.
(33:04):
I, I don't know why that is.
And it always gets somestrange looks when I say that.
So I can only imagine whatpeople listening to this...
For me, it's a headspace, right? So ifI go in, hey, I'm interviewing you, you,
you happen to be talking to me, but II I'm the wolf in the room. Like, yeah,
you need me as the employeeas much as I need you.
So if I go in with that mentality, I'vejust changed the tables in my mind.
(33:25):
It's just my thinking. Yeah. Rather than,I think a lot of people go in and go,
they have all the power. They,
they get to make the decisionand I'm the victim here. No,
you're a coparticipantin this. Yeah. You know,
and that mindset always helped me.
Yeah, absolutely. That's something,
and I don't even remember where thatadvice came from when it came to intern
looking for internships and interviewingprobably was you, but like when
(33:50):
like, I had it into it, again,as I mentioned when we started,
like I always really look to fill my timewith meaningful purposeful cup-filling
things. Like what I'm,how I'm spending my time.
You have one life to live and you shouldspend that time doing something that
means something to you.
So before the advice and the head shifteven was brought to my attention to me
(34:10):
to actually like, actively thinkabout when I was in interviews,
I always saw it as an opportunity of,
is this somewhere that I wantto work at anyways? Like,
I'm gonna answer the questions.
And I was always nervous ofanswering them correctly and,
and showing off my skills. But at thesame time, like anytime that somebody,
every interview is gonnaask you of questions for me,
and everybody's answer should always beyes, it should always, always, always,
(34:33):
always be yes. Either a curiosityyou have about the company,
a question about one of your valuesor your goals. Or like for me,
a question I always asked,
and this to me showed the type ofcompany that I was interviewing with was,
you know, I wanna find acompany that will invest in me,
that I can grow with. Like,
I want to succeed in my roleand be with this company.
(34:55):
What does that look like?What does that support,
what does that mentorship look likefor somebody in my position with this
aspiration, and again, mentorship'shuge to me and, and how,
how interviewers wouldanswer that question was revealing for me of if this is
somewhere I want it to be or not.Because if I'm going to invest my time,
(35:15):
I want to be invested into.
Talk about professional dress in theprofessional work environment because I
know this is a struggle. Yeah. AndI have people ask me all the time,
or I have students, especiallyI think for women and for men,
get a suit game over, you'redone. And then get like, you know,
get a suit jacket, a pair of pants,and then you get six different shirts,
six different ties, you have a mix andmatch and you're done. It's very easy.
(35:38):
Yeah. But talk to the ladies outthere, for professional dress.
Yeah. I think professional weargoes with your, your brand.
Like, how do you want to be perceived?
Do you want to be the personthat's always in a full suit?
Are you always the person in abutton up? Like what is that?
What do you want that to be? Andit's different every industry, too.
Every industry has different, um,
(36:00):
expectations of how to present yourselfand even how to present yourself just in
the office versus a client. Um,
so some of that professionaldress is situational. But, um,
my first advice is always to becomfortable in what you're wearing. Um,
in terms of if confidence comesfrom like, look good, do good,
feel good is always my phrase.
(36:21):
And if I look good and I feelconfident in what I'm doing, I'm,
I'm setting myself up to do better thanif I was in a stuffy suit that I didn't
feel confident in and was walkinginto this meeting shaking in,
in my heels that I can't walk in. Like,that's not a, a great professional look.
Even though you're in the heels and youhave the suit on and the jacket and all
(36:42):
of that, it's not benefitingyou in your role. Um,
so I always dress for the occasionand dress for confidence, um,
in terms of like actually what to wear,
I am always just a proponentof dress pants and a nice top.
And you can't really go wrongwith that in any situation. Um,
(37:02):
the work from home has createdmuch more comfortable dress pants,
than I think there used to be.Um, so that's a plus in having,
having to wear that. But I, I am alwaysa pants and a top person. Personally,
I am uncomfortable in a dress anda skirt in professional settings.
So for me,
wearing that type of clothing doesn'tsupport my confidence. So I don't,
(37:24):
I don't wear it. I, I'malways in my pants. I'm short.
So I do wear heels when I,
when I need the extra confident boostbecause for some reason height makes me
feel more confident. Um, andif it's cold to have a jacket,
I'm always a pro forlike a buttonless jacket.
I think that looks professionalwithout looking stuffy,
(37:45):
'cause sometimes I put on a suit jacketand I just feel stuff in it. Or like,
I feel too masculine init. And I think for me,
something that I had to learn too wasyou can be professional and still be
feminine in how you dress andrespectable. Um, so some, like, I still,
I have a power suit. Everybody A. needsa power suit. Find that, invest in...
(38:06):
Where do you find it? The powersuit? Do you have a, a brand,
do you have a website?Where, where does one find,
can I put power suit into Amazonand get a power suit? I don't know.
You might end up with like a bananayellow suit if you put that in Amazon.
Yeah, I, I honestly don't know. So...
Um, I, speaking of Bananathough, I love Banana Republic.
They used to have a student discount.
(38:26):
So what my actual power suit was fromBanana Republic or still is from Banana
Republic. Um, otherphenomenal resources, Old
Navy. I have a lot from Old Navy. I havefriends that shop at Old Navy that's,
that's especially likeon a college budget.
And now the Banana Republic gotrid of the college discount.
(38:47):
Maybe this podcast can bring it back.
And my spouse said, it was over theholiday weekend, said, oh, I just gotta,
can we go out and grabsomething to eat? I just,
I need to stop by Old Navyto return something. It'll take, it'll take a minute,
it'll take a minute. And I joined therest of the, the spouses waiting, like,
like literally me and other guy,he was like totally on his phone.
(39:09):
He's just trying to find a space tohide. He's just, yeah, he's in purgatory.
And then my spouse start shopping, right?
And I'm like, okay, I, I knowwhere this is. I, I'll get mine.
And we did that and we took forever.
And then when I got outta spousaljail with the rest of the spouses,
we got lunch and I said, oh yeah, onthe way home, let's stop at Cabela's.
(39:29):
That's the, that's,
that's my equivalent of now you, you can,I I just need to look at a few things.
Sorry, it was my tangent.
You're fine.
We're bringing backBanana Republic, Old Navy.
Yes. And I for I think women, it'smore commonly found than men, but,
boutiques, I loveshopping at boutiques. A.
(39:51):
I'm always looking to supportsmaller businesses. Plug one,
coming from a small business family,
Hello Fancy in the metroDetroit area is my favorite. Um,
phenomenal ownership. And again,
like it's something comingfrom a small business family.
Like if I can support a small business,I am always going to choose that first.
Um, and sometimes it's just,
(40:12):
it can be uncomfortableshopping for professional clothes and you're nervous and
those boutiques can be alittle bit more comfortable.
And you get some one-on-one time with, one
of the workers who canhelp outfit you. And,
and they know the clothing that theyhave because they only have a select
amount.
So they can help pick ones that fityour body type or match your industry.
(40:32):
So I love boutiques too,
or or small businesses to shopat for professional clothes.
Another question, how do youcompare your workload as a student
to your workload as a full-timeemployee in the workplace?
And I feel like this is a loadedquestion to ask you, 'cause I swear
(40:55):
you and Alina Ladewig were the,
the two busiest students I haveever met. Like literally, I,
I think in any mentoring conversationI had with either of you,
I've sat you down. I said, okay,are you having any fun? Because you,
you guys are so busy. So I,
I almost feel like you're gonna sayit was easier doing a job than it was
(41:16):
than being a student.
There's differences betweenwhat's easy and what's hard.
Being a student and beingprofessional. Workload,
it's honestly probably thesame. Like I was at one point,
I think I had 21 credit hours. So...
I did that once, not,I don't recommend it.
Um, so like in terms of like what theactual workload and hours dedicated it,
(41:38):
for me is probablyequivalent. Um, speaking,
just from chatting with other friends ofmine who graduated and went through the
transition themselves,
there's usually always there's alwaysan onboarding and on ramping period,
you aren't hired into arole fresh out of college,
expected to be at the levelof a director or a VP.
(42:00):
There's a ramp-up period for you. Um,
and most companies or companies that you'dwant to be working at allow space for
that ramp-up period and graceto learn and offer support, um,
to get there. So if you're worried about,
if that question's coming froma place of worry of, oh my gosh,
it's gonna be more work. There's,there's time to get there.
(42:21):
And then again, it, it's adifferent type of work for me,
at least my experience fromschool to professional,
there's more responsibility, um,
in the work that I'm producing becausenow my output's going towards a client
and my advice and my researchis impacting their business.
So I feel a little bit moreweight in what I do professionally
(42:46):
because for school, you're doingit for yourself. You are achieving.
You are the client.
Yes. Like what your inputs andoutputs, you are the person on,
on the receiving end ofthat. Where now you are,
you are a part of another company, too,and portraying their level of work.
And so for me, the hardest part of thetransition wasn't the workload itself,
(43:10):
it was the where the workwas going that I was doing
and the importance of the outputbecause it's, if I mess up,
I just mess up for me. Now, if Imess up, it's impacting the company.
It's impacting my team,it's impacting the client.
So I'm, I'm hearing though about thesame amount of hours as it was in school.
(43:32):
Probably, in my case, yes.
Alright, time to get really serious. What,
what was the hardest part of transitioning
from being a full-time studentto a professional? Hardest.
Oh my gosh.
Picking the hard one.
Being comfortable with thelearning curve. And it's still,
(43:55):
I'm two years out of it and I'm still,
that's still the hardest partfor me is giving myself grace
to be good at something entirely new.
And I didn't,
I didn't think it would be as hard or itwould take as long to ramp up as it is
because in school, I was a nerd. Iloved school. And that caused me...
(44:19):
You were a rock star,you were, you were the,
you were the highestof the high performers.
I'm just gonna ahead andplug you again, like go back,
rewind to the beginning of the podcast.
You were absolutely thetop of the top of your,
of your game as far as what wemeasure, that's academics. Right?
You were the best of the best.
Yeah. And I, I attach myself to my output.
(44:39):
So my results is my self-worth and value,
which is a very toxicthing in all honesty and in
entering a role in newspace, new industries.
And my, my background in entrepreneurshipand innovation is very scrappy,
with the family I came from. Just,
everything was bootstrapped fromthe ground up, you blood, sweat,
(45:02):
and tears into it. I went tocollege to formalize the experience,
but for me too,
along with the ramp-up was the confidencein myself that I deserve to be here
and that I am good enoughto be in this role.
And the hardest part for me at a,
in my experience was maintainingmy confidence as I am
(45:24):
going through that learningcurve of everything that's new.
So let's, let's transition to,I want you to do some plugs.
Please. Um, what do you wanna plug?
What do I wanna plug? Um, if youneed, if you need wedding planning,
(45:44):
Grand & Wells events, if...
How, how do we, how dowe contact Grand & Wells?
Um, our website,
Grand and Wells.co or onInstagram at Grand and Wells.
Um, so full-time, I am insoftware innovation. I am the part of the growth team.
And then project wise,
I work a lot on more of theoperations and business aspects. Um,
(46:06):
so if somebody is looking fora new software innovation,
an app, if you're still usingpen and paper processes,
I would love to build acool project with you. Um,
and more exciting plugs. Go toyour professor's office hours.
I love that.
Utilize the resources at yourdisposal that you have at school. Um,
(46:30):
business wise, get involvedin clubs. Oh my goodness.
Because clubs are the perfectbridge from academic to the
professional world.
I was personally a part of theEconomic Club at Grand Valley.
I was part of the CEO club, which is not,
you do not have to be a CEO or anentrepreneur to be in the club.
It is just a businessprofessional club. Um, I,
(46:53):
I hung out again at the CEI,
so speaking just for businessthat that was where I was.
I've tons of friends that were part ofIPO and absolutely love that experience
and it's a regret, regret of mine thatI actually didn't end up joining that.
But, um,
I would definitely plugthose organizations that really get students connected
to professionals and,
(47:14):
and it allows you to take what you'relearning in the class and apply it in a
safe and learning environment.
And finally, why do theSeidman Mentorship program?
Nobody does the bestwork alone and in joining
the program, mentorshipis a two way street.
(47:34):
And the moment that you take that intoconsideration is when you can actually
unlock the power ofmentorship and all that it can
provide for you. I thinkfrom a student perspective,
you should join because it's hard,
it's tough to navigate alone all of this.
And it's nice to have a resourceand somebody to go to for help.
(47:58):
Um, it's, it's a, again, it's a safeenvironment to learn and make mistakes.
And as a upperclassmen student,
you really get the best of both worlds.
You get to experience beinga mentor to a student.
And I always walk away from thoserelationships feeling guilty,
like I didn't do enough mentoring becausethey mentored me so much back, um,
(48:22):
so many times they're going throughsomething or curious about something that
I kind of need the reminder myself about.And it's kind of a good checkpoint.
Um, and that transitions me intoprofessionals join the program because a,
it's a very fulfilling thing todo to know that you're helping
somebody's career getstarted and you can be a,
(48:46):
a source of support forsomebody who's really scared,
because it is scary tomake the transition.
And no matter how confident the front isthat you put on it, it's a big change.
It's a big shift. Um, sothe mentorship program,
I think from every angle that you look at,
it is valuable and meaningful and
just exciting to be a part of,
(49:07):
especially with it growing like you'rea part of something new and you get to
really see the impactthat you have every day.
We are seeing the impact you aredoing, every day. And, and Gillian,
it's been an honor to be partof your, voyage at Grand Valley.
We're extremely, I'm using the royal we.
(49:27):
I am extremely proud of the, thework you've done, the transition.
I'm always humbled by yoursharing your vulnerability
and your constant giving towhatever it is you're doing. And
the how much you've givento the program. I mean,
the Seidman Mentorship Program as itexists today does not exist without your
(49:48):
involvement. You guys, um, I gota chance to mentor a few of you,
not really specifically,
but I definitely got so much fromprobably more than you guys know that,
I was definitely giving to you. Soyou helped build the program. Um,
so you have a legacy here,
for that to add to all yourother accolades,I read off. Um,
(50:10):
and we're really proud of you, um,
and wish you all the best and thankyou so much for coming in today.
Yeah, thank you so muchfor having me. And I'm,
I'm here to be a part of the program aslong as you'll let me stick around for
it.
Well, we're, we're gonnakeep calling on you for as,
as long as you're willing toparticipate and we appreciate you.
Sounds good. Bye.
Thank you for sailing along on thisepisode of the Seidman Mentorship Podcast.
(50:34):
For more information on the SeidmanCollege of Business Mentorship Program at
Grand Valley State University, lookus up on your favorite search engine.
If you have a story to tell,know someone we should interview,
have questions or comments,
please email us at smp@gvsu.edu.
Until next time, keep a weathered eye onthe horizon and we wish you fair winds.
(50:57):
So long.
Welcome to the Seidman MentorshipPodcast. This is your captain speaking.
On this show, we navigate the voyageof life through the lens of Lakers,
some who have just come aboard,and others who are well underway.
We will speak with expertswho will show us the ropes,
help us plot a course and recountexhilarating tales of uncharted territory,
all while promoting lifelong learningagility and a culture of mentorship.
(00:36):
Welcome to the Seidman Mentorship Podcast.I'm Gerry Cooke. Today in the studio,
I get to welcome one of the legends.We have a lot of legends on the show,
but this is more recent legend,
a person who really helped the developmentof the Seidman Mentorship Program in
its state. I'm welcoming to the show,the fabulous Gillian Venditteli. Gillian,
(00:58):
welcome to the show.
Thank you, Gerry. Happy to be here.
Gillian, you were thereat the beginning. Um,
it was your junior yearwhere we recruited you?
So the Seidman ProfessionalMentorship Program,
which was only juniors and seniors pairedwith professionals at that time. We
(01:18):
added on a system wherewe brought in freshmen and
sophomores, who are going to bementored by juniors and seniors.
You were part of CEI, College
Entrepreneurship andInnovation. Right. So that's a,
that's a center within Seidman that helpsstudents and entrepreneurs who wanna
(01:40):
develop. You do pitchcompetitions, you develop things.
You had your own business. You'rea very advanced Seidman. You,
you were light years ahead of where I was.
I was busy playing Dungeons and Dragons.
You were busy running actual businessesin, in undergrad. So way ahead of me.
But you came on board and said, "hey, I'm,
I'm willing to help outwith the administration."
And some of the things that we do todayare because of Gillian Venditteli.
(02:03):
So our event scheduleis because of Gillian,
some of the ways that webook rooms, do things,
part of our marketing our SMPhandbook is Gillian Venditteli. Right.
So you, you're, what's it feellike to number one, lemme back up.
Why did you volunteer to doall these things in college?
I'm gonna read your accolades herein a minute, but you're so busy.
(02:23):
I remember the, the talk around Seidmanwas, hey, you know that Gillian person?
Yeah. When's she gonna burn out? We'reworried about Gillian doing too much.
Um, well, little did I know at that firstencounter with you, when I said, hey,
let me know if I can help withany of the Mentorship, you know,
Program as you're looking to expandwith students. It's, you know,
something I'm passionate about,
that I would be as involved and get tobe a part of so many incredible aspects
(02:46):
of the program and still continueto be involved as an alumni,
which is even moreincredible and meaningful and impactful in different ways.
Um, I,
I just always have enjoyed being apart of communities and being able
to support those around me. And so for me,
(03:07):
I was always busy in school, but it,
it never felt busy to me becauseit was all very purposeful.
It was filling my cup up,
being able to be a part of all thesedifferent organizations. And I still,
to this day, one of the first things Idid after graduating was look at what,
not, not the same as a university club,
(03:28):
but the equal of that inthe professional world.
What are those organizations that I canbe a part of that fill my cup through
purposeful work and getting to supportpeople and work with people and
collaborate? I've neverseen busy as burnout yet,
at least. And I always say busyis better than bored anyways.
So 24 hours in a day, whynot make the most of them?
(03:50):
You certainly did with yourtime at Seidman. So I'm gonna,
I'm gonna rattle up youraccolade list here, right.
Two years in the Seidman MentorshipProgram, including, its the foundation.
You couldn't do more than that.There, there was only two,
you were the first cohort leader that wehad that an experiment where we put you
with multiple mentees andyou did a project together with your mentees. So you,
(04:11):
you managed multiple mentees,
did a project with them and really brokethe groundwork for that to be a thing
that we still do today. Um, youwon multiple pitch comp, well,
you placed well in multiplepitch competitions with the CEI,
which is not easy to do.Summa Cum Laude, graduation.
So high honors there, the I Am GVaward, Peer Mentor of the Year,
(04:34):
both in '22 and '23. Highesthonors there in Seidman Mentorship,
um, would've won stoles andcords had we had them back then.
Dean's list every singleyear of your time.
In my time in undergrad, I didn't wantthe Dean to know who I was. Like I,
I had President Lubbers in thatchair, my president, and I said,
(04:55):
"President Lubbers, Ifigured you were a principal,
not a president." And if you listento that episode, he said, well,
that's your mistake, Gerry. And probablywas. Excellence in a Discipline.
This is the highest honor Seidmanhas academically for a student.
So they choose one studentper discipline and,
and highest in disciplinein Entrepreneurship. Um,
(05:16):
which I think would bedifficult because I don't see,
maybe I'm gonna get in troublefor this, but I'm gonna say it,
I'm looking down at the producerlike, should I say this or not?
I'm looking at Dylan. Um, I don't know.
In in my simple little mind. Accounting,they're like, okay, well, who's,
you know, the best accounting student?
Sounds like it's a pretty easy way tofigure out. The best entrepreneur student?
(05:37):
Sounds a little bit, those arethe people who wanna fight.
Those are the people who want to compete.
Like you're taking themost competitive people,
you're putting 'em in thethunderdome and, you know,
trying to decide which one'sbest. So in my mind, that's a,
that's a hard thing todo. And what an honor.
Yeah, that one especially surprised me.Not something that I thought I'd get.
And that's something that,
something that I still feel like Iwas truthfully the one to deserve it,
(05:59):
'cause I look at so many of the incredibleentrepreneurs and innovators that I
spent, I pretty much lived at the CEI,
so that I spent most of my time atGrand Valley with who have phenomenal
businesses that are doing much moreimpactful work than I believe mine to be.
And, um,
I'm still very honored that of all thestudents and the organizations that
existed and,
(06:20):
and came through CEI and even juststudents who didn't have a business,
but just embodied what it meant tohave that entrepreneurial spirit,
I think of all the things I'vedone in college and been a part of,
that has always been the mostimportant and meaningful to me.
And I carry that with me every day,even when things get a little tough,
I'm like, you know, they,
they believed in me and they sawsomething in me for this excellence in a
(06:44):
discipline. And, you know,that means something to me.
And I've never takenthat honor for granted.
Well, certainly well learned. I,
I will share with you that on theway over to the studio this morning,
I ran into Dr. Gianakura, some otherpeople, and I said, ah, they're sort like,
what are you doing here? And Isaid, well, I, hey, I work here, but
I'm on my way over to the studio to, tointerview Gillian. And they're like, oh,
(07:06):
tell Gillian I said, hi, what timeis it? Can I see Gillian? I'm like,
no I get Gillian first and then, thenother people can have some Gillian time.
I mentioned this earlier.
You were not only a student atSeidman College of Business,
but you were a business owner. You'redoing business with your business,
Grand and Wells. Tell us about that.
Yeah, I'll probably end up going downa rabbit hole and I'll try not to,
(07:28):
but my whole family has their ownbusiness, whether it's a small business,
it's a medium business,
or they're starting new business linesor departments in their corporate
organizations.
So that entrepreneurial-ness hasalways been in my family dating back to
my great-grandmother whoimmigrated here from Armenia,
and they started their family cleanersand she took that over and started her
(07:51):
own. So that -- try not togo down a rabbit hole --
that legacy of having your own
something is just kind ofan expectation. And for me,
I didn't really know what the77 Idea Lab Accelerator was,
but I saw an application. I'm notoriousfor saying yes to everything, um,
(08:11):
blessing and a curse, butI'd say yes to everything.
And the only idea I had was, that wastangible, was this event planning.
I'm like, you know, I worked with theplanner. I've been a part of weddings,
helped my family plan their weddings.
I've helped with corporate event planningfor all my family companies. I'm like,
this could be cool. And there'sa lot of stuff that's not being,
being done all that great that Ifrankly think my Type A OCD personality
(08:35):
could probably, um, doa little bit better. So,
I said yes to theentrepreneurship opportunity. Um,
and that was it. It for me, again,like everything I try to do,
I try to fill my time with meaningfulpurposeful cup-filling activities.
And wedding planning is a lifestylebusiness. But for me it was very,
(08:59):
very purposeful because you would havethe grandma that comes up to you and it's
like, I haven't seen my family in yearsand or the mother who's like, I haven't,
you know, gotten my family from all overthe country together for an event once,
and it was not stressful and everythingwent to plan. Like, thank you so much.
And, um, family to me is my numberone value through and through.
(09:20):
And I've also experienceda lot of lost in family.
So I've learned to realize the magnitudeof having those moments all together
and how much it means.
And if I can be a little part of thatday to make sure that they just get to be
present in the moment with eachother, then that is more than enough,
um, motivation for me tostart my own business.
(09:41):
It's not something bigat the moment, but it's,
it's purposeful work that fillsmy cup even when the usual life
tendencies happen and I, I get overwhelmedor stressed or there is bad news.
Like I have this purposeful
cup filling thing thatI can always turn to.
(10:02):
So I, I think of you asthe Laker on the horizon.
I'm using my nautical thing here, butyou're the person who is just ahead of us.
And I know that there's a ton ofstudents every year who are looking for
programming specifically in mentorshiparound, man, what, what's the transition?
Like? What, what's next? What dowhat I wish you, I would've known.
(10:24):
And you've come and spoke to classesthat I've was either an instructor for or
other folks doing this exact thing.
And I love your freshperspective. So we asked,
our producer a student to ask
some questions for what that's like. But
(10:45):
to set this up succinctly,
kind of take us through thatlast part from commencement.
You walk across the stage to thattransition. What was that like?
What were the fears you had?
Which ones were just unfounded fears andwhich ones what were really unexpected?
Kind of an overview. And thenI'll ask you very specifics,
(11:07):
about this in just a second.
Sounds good. Um,
it's very interesting transitionbecause you walk across the stage,
you're at a high, you've, you'veaccomplished something monumental.
And you know, the degree is theone big monumental accomplishment.
But there's also all the other littleones that are leading up to that.
And you're, you're excited,
you're optimistic about whatthe future has in store for you,
(11:30):
and then you kind of move backhome or you move back away from
your school apartment. Andthen it's kind of like, oh,
I'm not going back to school.This is a little bit strange.
And you start a job and the firstlike summer was fine because
usually you go to school,
you move home or you move to anotherplace and you start an internship and you
(11:51):
go back to school in thefall. And then fall came.
And I was still at that internship,which not not an internship,
but it was my new, um, career path.
But in that lapsebetween walking the stage
and starting that, um, position,there were so many fears.
And some of those were, didI major in the right thing?
(12:13):
Did I pick the right career path forme? Is it the right industry? Am I,
um, am I good enough forwhat I signed up for?
And I think those fearsare valid because in,
there's fear in what you don't know,
but there's also optimism andcuriosity for what you don't know.
(12:34):
And I think all of those fears are naturaland we all have them and go through
them.
And the important thing isto not get stuck in fears
being scary and focus onthe fear of unknown being
something exciting and to becurious for what's to come. Um,
I say that as also a reminder to myself,
(12:54):
'cause there's now times where I stillhave some of those fears rising up about
my career path.
And I go back to that momentof crossing the stage and
just so optimistic andexcited for what's to come.
And my role was exciting to me. I,
it's in innovation and entrepreneurshipand I get to work with cool people and
(13:15):
build really cool things andsolve meaningful problems. Like,
I was so excited and thatstill fuels me today,
but there's absolutelymoments where it's like,
oh my gosh, what am I doing?I, I, I think I'm good enough.
But that learning curve forme at least, was really hard.
And I think part of thatis you're in school for a
(13:39):
long time from preschool. If youdid daycare before that elementary,
middle school, high school, college, ifyou go into a master's or a doctorate,
like you get really good at school becauseyou've had all these years behind you
of learning what comes next.
And it's a very structured plan of yougo from this grade to this grade to this
(14:00):
grade, and college is the firstintroduction of a little bit of
ey-gooeyness. And you get topick now what classes are.
And when you take theclasses and what you do,
and then you move into the professionalworld and it's exponentially different,
structure wise. It's different routines,it's a different amount of structure,
(14:21):
there's more responsibilitiesand graduating.
I was aware that thattransition was going to exist,
but I think I was not fully anticipating
how big that transition would bebecause I loved school and I was a nerd.
So what some people saw as work andschool, I just enjoyed. And yes,
(14:44):
I still enjoy my work and what I do, butit's, it's very different from school.
And for me, that was themost awkward learning curve.
The most uncomfortable part of graduatingand transitioning is moving from that
structure of school intonow this professional role.
And I'm still learning howto navigate that today.
(15:05):
So let me ask you some morespecific questions now about the,
that you set that up.So the students and our,
our illustrious producer, has, you know,
submitted I think greatfollow up questions to this.
I'm nervous about the transition fromcollege to work life. What's the best?
So it sounds like we're picking one.What's the best piece of advice?
(15:30):
Yeah, speaking from experience,
build your personal boardof advisors and mentors?
I think in that transition,
it's phenomenal to have people outsideof your circle of friends and family,
and sometimes even coworkersto be able to lean on.
And there's so many different types ofmentors that you can have in your life.
There's mentors thatjust help you navigate
(15:53):
personal and professional balance.
There's mentors that help youwith very specific skills to
what's going to be yournew roles. There's,
I'm always honored when a student reachesout to me to be that mentor in the
transition of, hey, you just did thisand I know you're still going through it,
but I think it would be nice, you know,to be able to go to you and say, hey...
(16:14):
Because sometimes you justneed to feel validated in,
in your concerns and yourworries there. Um, Brooke,
I had another phenomenal mentor outof the Seidman Mentorship Program.
I reached out to her after myfirst couple months. I'm like, hey,
this transition is uncomfortable. Like,
can I just chat with you andsee how your experience was?
And so I think in makingthat transition, having a,
(16:37):
a very strong support systemaround you of different
areas of your life. I, there's mentorsthat I can go to when personally,
like I said, I'm just,
I'm struggling with the balance offamily and working and then there's
very specific skills to this newrole that are just new to me,
that I sought mentors in so that Icould get some additional education.
(16:59):
And then even internally, um,
it's phenomenal to have some ofthose internal mentors as well,
who I always say, look for people whoare doing what you want to be doing.
Like if you could aspire to a role ora position or an impact that they made,
like that makes a really good mentor.
And especially if you love theorganization that you're with,
(17:20):
like find somebody there whocan help keep you afloat.
'Cause sometimes it's you, like the duckanalogy, the duck swimming in water,
the swan swimming in water,like very calm up front,
but the little feet are moving really,
really fast and sometimes it feelslike only the feet are moving fast.
And it's nice to have some of thosepeople that can keep the waters calm for
you.
(17:41):
I know that obviously you're part ofthe Seidman Mentorship Program and we
strive to plug you into people. Sothat's, that's an easy one, right?
Getting those mentors from theSeidman Mentorship Program.
Outside of the Seidman Mentorship Program.
Give some succinct advice onhow does one find and approach a
mentor? I know that somepeople struggle with that.
(18:03):
This is very much an extrovertedway to go about it. But I,
I'm avid on LinkedIn, very active. Ienjoy, again, connecting, community,
talking with others.
I have just followed people on LinkedInor connected with people on LinkedIn
who I,
there was something about them that Iaspire to be or aspire to learn more
(18:23):
about. And I just sent them amessage and said, hey, so and so...
Oh, you do more than just pushthe connect button? Yeah. Hmm.
I'm saying that ex with extreme sarcasmbecause I get people all the time,
they just push the button andthen I have to figure out, well,
how we should connect or not. But if youjust type a message in there and say,
"Hey, I, I'm a fellow Laker or I'ma student looking for..." Never,
(18:46):
I've always had success with just sayingI need help. And then this is why.
Right? I connected with you'cause you're a fellow Laker.
So I keep telling students stop playingthe lottery with LinkedIn and just
pushing connect or pushing apply. Yeah.
And start actually sending a messagethat says, oh, I'm connecting with you,
Gillian,
'cause I'm a fellow Laker and I see thatyou're an innovation and something I'm
interested in. I I don'tknow much about it.
(19:07):
Could we please connect or eventell you why you're gonna connect?
'Cause I don't wanna sign up for, youknow, necessarily can we, can we chat for,
you know, half an hour or something?
Yeah. I, I always just reach out.
The worst that happens is they sayno or they don't answer. Right.
And somebody who says no is probably notsomebody that you would want to connect
with anyways.
Good point.
(19:27):
So that is the extroverted way of how Igo about it. And obviously, like I said,
I join, you know, your local chamberof commerce, the economic club,
there's tons of professionalgroups, um, that exist.
Industry-wide region-wide tojoin. So you can go to those, um,
and usually get assigned like anambassador when you're a new member in,
in some of these and they can kindof lead you around. So that's,
(19:51):
that's potentially a really phenomenalway for more of an introvert to join a
local community thing, get assignedlike a, a networking buddy.
And then you can slowly start tointegrate into that and find people that
match what you're looking for.
It's like you've, you haven'tread the questions, so,
but it's like you're teeing 'emup. So question from our audience.
(20:13):
What channels did youuse to find your job? And
when should I start looking for that job?
Um, so I just was in theright place at the right time.
I doubt that. I bet you set it up somehow.
You just didn't realize you set it up.
Well, I just lived at the CEI and I wanteda interesting job that allowed that.
(20:35):
So eventually somebody interestingwas bound to walk through there.
You know, if I sit in the boatand I fish, long enough...
You're bound to get a fish.
I'm gonna catch a fish. But if I sithome, I'm not gonna catch fish. So I,
this is no, this is an, Ithink in underutilized and where you spend your time.
I talk to students quite oftenabout your friend groups, right?
(20:56):
If I spend all my time atthe Alpha-Beta-Whoopty-House,
that's where my network is. And I'mnot saying you can't join a frat. I I,
I've done business, I've toldthe story on prior podcasts.
Like I met some of the hardestpartying people at Grand Valley.
It turned out to be VPs of companies.And when we met later professionally,
the look on their face said,
please don't bring up the party atthe Alpha-Beta-Whoopty-House . Um,
(21:18):
because we're now professionals and we'resupposed to act like it. And I didn't.
And it was all fine.
But then I also had a one up andthey were obligated to buy from me,
which was great.
But by spending your time at the CEI withother entrepreneurs and students where
you spend your time matters, right?And what your friend group is matters.
So yeah, please continue.
And I am very aware that most of my adviceas a more extroverted person tends to
(21:40):
come from that lens. But for me,
I had the most success in findingjobs and internships in person,
having conversations, being ata company and just asking if,
you know, they had something orlike put it into the universe.
How did you get to be at a company?
What was that?
How did you get to be at a company?
(22:00):
One internship was,
and it's kind of teed up to whatI was leading into, is like,
ask and the universe willsend it to you somehow,
some way it all put it outthere, manifested and it,
it just increases the likelihoodthat the right ears hear it. Um,
but one internship camethrough a warm introduction.
(22:22):
It was during the pandemic.
I was striking out at anycorporate position 'cause everybody was laying off or
just not hiring. Um, and I, Ineeded, I wanted an internship.
I still wanted to work and, anddo something over the summer. Um,
and that's when I took the opportunityto pursue my curiosity and event planning
a little bit more professionally thanjust doing it on the side or doing it at
(22:43):
my family's companies.
And my mom reached out to anetwork that she knew and that
network returned back. And herinternship had just quit on her,
like the week before wedding season.And I warm introduced to her, hey,
I'm Gillian, you know,
so and so sent me your posting thatyou're looking for a job. And I would,
you know, love to have the opportunityto apply for it. Another internship, came
(23:08):
kind of on the fly.
I was just shopping like a girldoes and I was looking for some
sort of sales and management internship,
but I wanted to be close by to my familyfor particular reasons that summer. Um,
and the store was hiring forsales and management internships.
And just in striking up thatconversation with the manager there,
(23:30):
they offered me the position and theinterview. And that's how that happened.
And then my current rolenow, um, again, I was,
I was sitting in the CEI, they wereworking with an entrepreneur, um,
at the CEI at the time, Thomas Koch. And
I was just again,
talking about how I can't find a jobthat aligns with my values that's
(23:53):
interesting to me, that Iwould be passionate about and
right place, right time. Spoke itinto the universe in a way. And,
and they were offered. They'relike, well, we have, you know,
some open positions sounds like itcould be a fit if you, I can send you,
you know,
the job descriptions and let me knowif it fits and we can set up a time to
(24:13):
interview. So I feel likeI'm a really bad example.
I did go through the LinkedIns andthe Indeeds and going to career fairs,
but I had the most success when personalrelationships were built to get the
job.
I, I call this, I call LinkedIn, Indeed.I, I call that playing the lottery.
Like I literally had a, awonderful student but an introvert,
(24:33):
call me and just graduated and saidI can't get a job. And I said, well,
what have you done? Well, I appliedto 90 jobs in LinkedIn. I said, oh,
you're playing the lottery.You're not connecting. Yeah.
And that connection makes a difference.
I love what you said about speakingto the universe because rather than
networking, which I hate, connecting,I tell people, when you want something,
tell everybody about it. I had adream that I wanted to fly a jet,
(24:56):
which I have no business doing, 'causeI'm a private prop pilot, right?
So I have a private pilot's licenseto fly little cessnas. Two years ago,
somebody showed me the, in my opinion,coolest, sexiest jet that ever was built.
The single engine Cirrus VisionSF50. Look it up, it's awesome.
I saw on an air show, static display, Iwent up and I said, what would it take?
(25:20):
What would I have to do to fly this?Well, it takes about $4.8 million.
And I said, Hmm, okay, great.How about a test drive?
And that's like going to Lamborghinidealership and asking for to drive the
Lamborghini. And they're like,haha, no. Fast forward two years,
I got invited by a, ainstructor pilot to go to a,
a grand opening for a new business.
I didn't want to go because it was afterwork and I was tired. And I'm like,
(25:42):
yeah, it's gonna be dumb. It's gonna bea bunch of rich, snobby airplane people.
I actually went and found itwas a family owned business.
Ended up talking to one of theowners in the back of the hangers,
this big black, sleek,sexy, single engine,
Cirrus vision jet. AndI said to the universe,
I've always wanted to fly oneof those. And they said, oh,
(26:03):
we can make that happen. They said, no,you can't. The next week I was in the,
in the front seat. They put aninstructor pilot in with me,
make sure I didn't do anything dumb.And I, I paid a rental fee. Yeah.
And I got to do that. But speakingto the universe, so I tell people,
tell everybody, what you're doing, makesure you share this with your family,
with with extended family,your aunts, your uncles.
(26:25):
You never know what thatconnection's gonna come up. You know,
strike up those conversations. AndI know you and I raging extroverts,
introverts, like there's no idea I'mtalking to somebody in the grocery store,
about what I want to do. Butyou'd be surprised. Yeah. Um,
I'm famous for going around campus andpoor students have their earbuds in and I
say hello to people because I, I,
I want this idea that Grand Valley'sthis campus where we're the,
(26:49):
we're home for a lotof people. Right. And,
and I like the idea that we'reopen and welcoming. Yeah. Um,
moving on.
Advice for students on getting noticedby employers prior to graduating
and getting job offers, pre-graduation.I think a lot of students feel like,
(27:10):
if I don't have this laidout by the time I graduate,
how can you walk across the stage atgraduation? I had this fear. Yeah.
I took a job that I probablyshouldn't have. Right. Right. Before,
because I wanted to check off, okay, thenext thing I need to do is get a job,
so that my parents can shut up aboutdid you get a job? Everybody in my life,
everybody's sitting around. Yourseniors are like, what job did you get?
What jobs did you get? What job didyou get? Yeah. Okay, good. You know,
(27:31):
and that ruins boot night, right. Forthose of you who are gonna boot night,
right. If we sit around,we're talking about this,
what's your advice on getting noticed?
Um, oh my gosh. Well, first andforemost, I was that student, too,
that just was absolutely defeatedand totally overtaken by the feeling
and the stress of needing that nextstep confirmed. 'Cause again, we're,
(27:53):
we're used to school. Weknow what happens next.
And it's always solidified before it ends.
That first the phase that you're in ends.
So it's a very natural tendencyto be coming up senior year
and feeling the weight of needingto have that next step confirmed.
So for students,
I think a huge regret of mine was thatI stayed way too bogged down and that
(28:17):
stress and too focused onwhat that next step was.
And same thing,
I was taking any and every interviewthat I could get because I needed that
to be confirmed before I walked the stage.
And I remember there was a career fairand I went home after it and I called
my mom and I was justabsolutely distressed. I'm like,
(28:39):
I've interviewed with these companies,nothing really seems like a good fit,
or the industry isn't interesting. I'mnever gonna find a job. What do I do?
And, and A sometimes you just need tocall your mom or call your friend or call,
call your somebody that you can go towhen that hits and get it out from your
head before it snowballs into more.
(28:59):
But know that you don't need to have that
confirmed the day you walk the stage.
I have so many friends who waited for theright opportunity and a lot of friends
who would do an internship thatsummer that then turned into a job.
And sometimes internships with the newerindustry or newer company is a nice
(29:21):
transition from school to professional.
And then you start to get to learn theorganization and kind of what those paths
are a little bit more organically thanapplying to these entry level roles that
toss you right into it. Um, so first andforemost, because I was that student,
please don't be that student. Ipromise it'll all work out. Um,
but as far as getting noticed,
(29:42):
I think a huge portion of that iskind of starting to develop what your
personal, professionalbrand is going to be.
What what do you wanna be noticed for?I think is the first question. Um,
and college is a greatopportunity to explore that.
And it's as simple as how do you wantto dress and speak and present yourself
when you walk into a room, what is theenergy that you want to evoke? How,
(30:06):
how do you wanna beremembered? And again, how,
how do you want to be noticed first?
Because if you don't know how you wantto be noticed or why you want to be
noticed besides just gettinga job with a paycheck,
then I think you're kind ofchasing something aimlessly,
a little bit. So figure out why you're,
you want to be noticed and whatyou wanna be noticed for. Um,
(30:26):
and then be present I think is huge.
I think the pandemic was ahindrance to many because
we got very used to andcomfortable to being on a
screen and being digital. And, that's,
you don't make relationshipsthat way. Management 101 classes,
you go over what's the mostefficient way to communicate.
(30:50):
And technology is last. It's faceto face, it's sound, it's visuals,
it's there's, I forget the number,
but there's like so many muscles justin your eyebrows that can portray an
emotion. And it's hard to connectwith people when you lose all of that.
So be present and show up whenGrand Valley has career fairs,
especially when they're tabling,tabling, at least for me,
(31:13):
I would get very overwhelmed by the careerfair and I am an extrovert because I,
I didn't have any direction.And when you have direction,
it's a little bit easier to navigate.
But the tabling in schoolsor in Kirkoff was much
easier for me to go up and approachsomebody and just be present and start to
show up and become a familiar faceto some of these folks. Um, again,
(31:37):
LinkedIn start to start to post aboutwhat you're doing in school and, um,
reach out to companies, peoplein those roles, HR recruiters,
like just start to reach out and,hey, I am Gillian, I'm, you know,
majoring in entrepreneurship.
I am really interested in yourorganization and graduating soon.
Just kinda wanted to reach outand say hi. And I know again,
(31:59):
Gerry's smiling 'causeit's so extroverted.
I'm smiling because, well, I Iteach name, story, tour, right?
You find a name of somebody, you say,Hey Gillian, I saw your, your post. I,
I'd love to hear your story about howyou ended up becoming a consultant for a
WynHouse. Um, you know,
would you be willing to spend some timethe tour part either letting me see what
you do, come to your office, shadowyou for half a day, whatever?
(32:23):
And again, if you askand they say nothing,
then it's probably not agreat connection anyway. And,
and sometimes we have to ask morethan once. It's, it's, you know, I,
you and I are raging extroverts.We could do that. But you know,
if you're an introvert, there's away to to to think through this too.
Yeah, absolutely.
So, you teed it up again, it's justlike you're reading the script
(32:44):
even though you didn't, interview advice,advice about dressing professionally.
Um, get this a lot, and fittingin in a professional space. Is a,
is a question from the audience.
And I'm smiling 'cause I've heard youspeak about this very thing in classes.
So I am, I'm a complete weirdo andI found interviews to be really fun.
(33:04):
I, I don't know why that is.
And it always gets somestrange looks when I say that.
So I can only imagine whatpeople listening to this...
For me, it's a headspace, right? So ifI go in, hey, I'm interviewing you, you,
you happen to be talking to me, but II I'm the wolf in the room. Like, yeah,
you need me as the employeeas much as I need you.
So if I go in with that mentality, I'vejust changed the tables in my mind.
(33:25):
It's just my thinking. Yeah. Rather than,I think a lot of people go in and go,
they have all the power. They,
they get to make the decisionand I'm the victim here. No,
you're a coparticipantin this. Yeah. You know,
and that mindset always helped me.
Yeah, absolutely. That's something,
and I don't even remember where thatadvice came from when it came to intern
looking for internships and interviewingprobably was you, but like when
(33:50):
like, I had it into it, again,as I mentioned when we started,
like I always really look to fill my timewith meaningful purposeful cup-filling
things. Like what I'm,how I'm spending my time.
You have one life to live and you shouldspend that time doing something that
means something to you.
So before the advice and the head shifteven was brought to my attention to me
(34:10):
to actually like, actively thinkabout when I was in interviews,
I always saw it as an opportunity of,
is this somewhere that I wantto work at anyways? Like,
I'm gonna answer the questions.
And I was always nervous ofanswering them correctly and,
and showing off my skills. But at thesame time, like anytime that somebody,
every interview is gonnaask you of questions for me,
and everybody's answer should always beyes, it should always, always, always,
(34:33):
always be yes. Either a curiosityyou have about the company,
a question about one of your valuesor your goals. Or like for me,
a question I always asked,
and this to me showed the type ofcompany that I was interviewing with was,
you know, I wanna find acompany that will invest in me,
that I can grow with. Like,
I want to succeed in my roleand be with this company.
(34:55):
What does that look like?What does that support,
what does that mentorship look likefor somebody in my position with this
aspiration, and again, mentorship'shuge to me and, and how,
how interviewers wouldanswer that question was revealing for me of if this is
somewhere I want it to be or not.Because if I'm going to invest my time,
(35:15):
I want to be invested into.
Talk about professional dress in theprofessional work environment because I
know this is a struggle. Yeah. AndI have people ask me all the time,
or I have students, especiallyI think for women and for men,
get a suit game over, you'redone. And then get like, you know,
get a suit jacket, a pair of pants,and then you get six different shirts,
six different ties, you have a mix andmatch and you're done. It's very easy.
(35:38):
Yeah. But talk to the ladies outthere, for professional dress.
Yeah. I think professional weargoes with your, your brand.
Like, how do you want to be perceived?
Do you want to be the personthat's always in a full suit?
Are you always the person in abutton up? Like what is that?
What do you want that to be? Andit's different every industry, too.
Every industry has different, um,
(36:00):
expectations of how to present yourselfand even how to present yourself just in
the office versus a client. Um,
so some of that professionaldress is situational. But, um,
my first advice is always to becomfortable in what you're wearing. Um,
in terms of if confidence comesfrom like, look good, do good,
feel good is always my phrase.
(36:21):
And if I look good and I feelconfident in what I'm doing, I'm,
I'm setting myself up to do better thanif I was in a stuffy suit that I didn't
feel confident in and was walkinginto this meeting shaking in,
in my heels that I can't walk in. Like,that's not a, a great professional look.
Even though you're in the heels and youhave the suit on and the jacket and all
(36:42):
of that, it's not benefitingyou in your role. Um,
so I always dress for the occasionand dress for confidence, um,
in terms of like actually what to wear,
I am always just a proponentof dress pants and a nice top.
And you can't really go wrongwith that in any situation. Um,
(37:02):
the work from home has createdmuch more comfortable dress pants,
than I think there used to be.Um, so that's a plus in having,
having to wear that. But I, I am alwaysa pants and a top person. Personally,
I am uncomfortable in a dress anda skirt in professional settings.
So for me,
wearing that type of clothing doesn'tsupport my confidence. So I don't,
(37:24):
I don't wear it. I, I'malways in my pants. I'm short.
So I do wear heels when I,
when I need the extra confident boostbecause for some reason height makes me
feel more confident. Um, andif it's cold to have a jacket,
I'm always a pro forlike a buttonless jacket.
I think that looks professionalwithout looking stuffy,
(37:45):
'cause sometimes I put on a suit jacketand I just feel stuff in it. Or like,
I feel too masculine init. And I think for me,
something that I had to learn too wasyou can be professional and still be
feminine in how you dress andrespectable. Um, so some, like, I still,
I have a power suit. Everybody A. needsa power suit. Find that, invest in...
(38:06):
Where do you find it? The powersuit? Do you have a, a brand,
do you have a website?Where, where does one find,
can I put power suit into Amazonand get a power suit? I don't know.
You might end up with like a bananayellow suit if you put that in Amazon.
Yeah, I, I honestly don't know. So...
Um, I, speaking of Bananathough, I love Banana Republic.
They used to have a student discount.
(38:26):
So what my actual power suit was fromBanana Republic or still is from Banana
Republic. Um, otherphenomenal resources, Old
Navy. I have a lot from Old Navy. I havefriends that shop at Old Navy that's,
that's especially likeon a college budget.
And now the Banana Republic gotrid of the college discount.
(38:47):
Maybe this podcast can bring it back.
And my spouse said, it was over theholiday weekend, said, oh, I just gotta,
can we go out and grabsomething to eat? I just,
I need to stop by Old Navyto return something. It'll take, it'll take a minute,
it'll take a minute. And I joined therest of the, the spouses waiting, like,
like literally me and other guy,he was like totally on his phone.
(39:09):
He's just trying to find a space tohide. He's just, yeah, he's in purgatory.
And then my spouse start shopping, right?
And I'm like, okay, I, I knowwhere this is. I, I'll get mine.
And we did that and we took forever.
And then when I got outta spousaljail with the rest of the spouses,
we got lunch and I said, oh yeah, onthe way home, let's stop at Cabela's.
(39:29):
That's the, that's,
that's my equivalent of now you, you can,I I just need to look at a few things.
Sorry, it was my tangent.
You're fine.
We're bringing backBanana Republic, Old Navy.
Yes. And I for I think women, it'smore commonly found than men, but,
boutiques, I loveshopping at boutiques. A.
(39:51):
I'm always looking to supportsmaller businesses. Plug one,
coming from a small business family,
Hello Fancy in the metroDetroit area is my favorite. Um,
phenomenal ownership. And again,
like it's something comingfrom a small business family.
Like if I can support a small business,I am always going to choose that first.
Um, and sometimes it's just,
(40:12):
it can be uncomfortableshopping for professional clothes and you're nervous and
those boutiques can be alittle bit more comfortable.
And you get some one-on-one time with, one
of the workers who canhelp outfit you. And,
and they know the clothing that theyhave because they only have a select
amount.
So they can help pick ones that fityour body type or match your industry.
(40:32):
So I love boutiques too,
or or small businesses to shopat for professional clothes.
Another question, how do youcompare your workload as a student
to your workload as a full-timeemployee in the workplace?
And I feel like this is a loadedquestion to ask you, 'cause I swear
(40:55):
you and Alina Ladewig were the,
the two busiest students I haveever met. Like literally, I,
I think in any mentoring conversationI had with either of you,
I've sat you down. I said, okay,are you having any fun? Because you,
you guys are so busy. So I,
I almost feel like you're gonna sayit was easier doing a job than it was
(41:16):
than being a student.
There's differences betweenwhat's easy and what's hard.
Being a student and beingprofessional. Workload,
it's honestly probably thesame. Like I was at one point,
I think I had 21 credit hours. So...
I did that once, not,I don't recommend it.
Um, so like in terms of like what theactual workload and hours dedicated it,
(41:38):
for me is probablyequivalent. Um, speaking,
just from chatting with other friends ofmine who graduated and went through the
transition themselves,
there's usually always there's alwaysan onboarding and on ramping period,
you aren't hired into arole fresh out of college,
expected to be at the levelof a director or a VP.
(42:00):
There's a ramp-up period for you. Um,
and most companies or companies that you'dwant to be working at allow space for
that ramp-up period and graceto learn and offer support, um,
to get there. So if you're worried about,
if that question's coming froma place of worry of, oh my gosh,
it's gonna be more work. There's,there's time to get there.
(42:21):
And then again, it, it's adifferent type of work for me,
at least my experience fromschool to professional,
there's more responsibility, um,
in the work that I'm producing becausenow my output's going towards a client
and my advice and my researchis impacting their business.
So I feel a little bit moreweight in what I do professionally
(42:46):
because for school, you're doingit for yourself. You are achieving.
You are the client.
Yes. Like what your inputs andoutputs, you are the person on,
on the receiving end ofthat. Where now you are,
you are a part of another company, too,and portraying their level of work.
And so for me, the hardest part of thetransition wasn't the workload itself,
(43:10):
it was the where the workwas going that I was doing
and the importance of the outputbecause it's, if I mess up,
I just mess up for me. Now, if Imess up, it's impacting the company.
It's impacting my team,it's impacting the client.
So I'm, I'm hearing though about thesame amount of hours as it was in school.
(43:32):
Probably, in my case, yes.
Alright, time to get really serious. What,
what was the hardest part of transitioning
from being a full-time studentto a professional? Hardest.
Oh my gosh.
Picking the hard one.
Being comfortable with thelearning curve. And it's still,
(43:55):
I'm two years out of it and I'm still,
that's still the hardest partfor me is giving myself grace
to be good at something entirely new.
And I didn't,
I didn't think it would be as hard or itwould take as long to ramp up as it is
because in school, I was a nerd. Iloved school. And that caused me...
(44:19):
You were a rock star,you were, you were the,
you were the highestof the high performers.
I'm just gonna ahead andplug you again, like go back,
rewind to the beginning of the podcast.
You were absolutely thetop of the top of your,
of your game as far as what wemeasure, that's academics. Right?
You were the best of the best.
Yeah. And I, I attach myself to my output.
(44:39):
So my results is my self-worth and value,
which is a very toxicthing in all honesty and in
entering a role in newspace, new industries.
And my, my background in entrepreneurshipand innovation is very scrappy,
with the family I came from. Just,
everything was bootstrapped fromthe ground up, you blood, sweat,
(45:02):
and tears into it. I went tocollege to formalize the experience,
but for me too,
along with the ramp-up was the confidencein myself that I deserve to be here
and that I am good enoughto be in this role.
And the hardest part for me at a,
in my experience was maintainingmy confidence as I am
(45:24):
going through that learningcurve of everything that's new.
So let's, let's transition to,I want you to do some plugs.
Please. Um, what do you wanna plug?
What do I wanna plug? Um, if youneed, if you need wedding planning,
(45:44):
Grand & Wells events, if...
How, how do we, how dowe contact Grand & Wells?
Um, our website,
Grand and Wells.co or onInstagram at Grand and Wells.
Um, so full-time, I am insoftware innovation. I am the part of the growth team.
And then project wise,
I work a lot on more of theoperations and business aspects. Um,
(46:06):
so if somebody is looking fora new software innovation,
an app, if you're still usingpen and paper processes,
I would love to build acool project with you. Um,
and more exciting plugs. Go toyour professor's office hours.
I love that.
Utilize the resources at yourdisposal that you have at school. Um,
(46:30):
business wise, get involvedin clubs. Oh my goodness.
Because clubs are the perfectbridge from academic to the
professional world.
I was personally a part of theEconomic Club at Grand Valley.
I was part of the CEO club, which is not,
you do not have to be a CEO or anentrepreneur to be in the club.
It is just a businessprofessional club. Um, I,
(46:53):
I hung out again at the CEI,
so speaking just for businessthat that was where I was.
I've tons of friends that were part ofIPO and absolutely love that experience
and it's a regret, regret of mine thatI actually didn't end up joining that.
But, um,
I would definitely plugthose organizations that really get students connected
to professionals and,
(47:14):
and it allows you to take what you'relearning in the class and apply it in a
safe and learning environment.
And finally, why do theSeidman Mentorship program?
Nobody does the bestwork alone and in joining
the program, mentorshipis a two way street.
(47:34):
And the moment that you take that intoconsideration is when you can actually
unlock the power ofmentorship and all that it can
provide for you. I thinkfrom a student perspective,
you should join because it's hard,
it's tough to navigate alone all of this.
And it's nice to have a resourceand somebody to go to for help.
(47:58):
Um, it's, it's a, again, it's a safeenvironment to learn and make mistakes.
And as a upperclassmen student,
you really get the best of both worlds.
You get to experience beinga mentor to a student.
And I always walk away from thoserelationships feeling guilty,
like I didn't do enough mentoring becausethey mentored me so much back, um,
(48:22):
so many times they're going throughsomething or curious about something that
I kind of need the reminder myself about.And it's kind of a good checkpoint.
Um, and that transitions me intoprofessionals join the program because a,
it's a very fulfilling thing todo to know that you're helping
somebody's career getstarted and you can be a,
(48:46):
a source of support forsomebody who's really scared,
because it is scary tomake the transition.
And no matter how confident the front isthat you put on it, it's a big change.
It's a big shift. Um, sothe mentorship program,
I think from every angle that you look at,
it is valuable and meaningful and
just exciting to be a part of,
(49:07):
especially with it growing like you'rea part of something new and you get to
really see the impactthat you have every day.
We are seeing the impact you aredoing, every day. And, and Gillian,
it's been an honor to be partof your, voyage at Grand Valley.
We're extremely, I'm using the royal we.
(49:27):
I am extremely proud of the, thework you've done, the transition.
I'm always humbled by yoursharing your vulnerability
and your constant giving towhatever it is you're doing. And
the how much you've givento the program. I mean,
the Seidman Mentorship Program as itexists today does not exist without your
(49:48):
involvement. You guys, um, I gota chance to mentor a few of you,
not really specifically,
but I definitely got so much fromprobably more than you guys know that,
I was definitely giving to you. Soyou helped build the program. Um,
so you have a legacy here,
for that to add to all yourother accolades,I read off. Um,
(50:10):
and we're really proud of you, um,
and wish you all the best and thankyou so much for coming in today.
Yeah, thank you so muchfor having me. And I'm,
I'm here to be a part of the program aslong as you'll let me stick around for
it.
Well, we're, we're gonnakeep calling on you for as,
as long as you're willing toparticipate and we appreciate you.
Sounds good. Bye.
Thank you for sailing along on thisepisode of the Seidman Mentorship Podcast.
(50:34):
For more information on the SeidmanCollege of Business Mentorship Program at
Grand Valley State University, lookus up on your favorite search engine.
If you have a story to tell,know someone we should interview,
have questions or comments,
please email us at smp@gvsu.edu.
Until next time, keep a weathered eye onthe horizon and we wish you fair winds.
(50:57):
So long.
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