Kellogg Full-Time MBA Program

Choosing an internship

I chose my internship because I wanted to work alongside early-stage entrepreneurs, immerse myself in consumer goods, and experience a small company. All three would be a radical departure from my previous career as an IT consultant, and all three would help me build the skills I’ll need to start my own business. Last spring a Kellogg classmate and I formed a partnership around a new product concept and began building our business plan. While my first priority would be to deliver value to my employer, I wanted to use what I was learning to further this venture. Happily, my schedule allowed me to apply plenty of energy to my internship while still cultivating my own ideas – one of the many perks of working for a small firm.

After nearly ten weeks, I’ve accomplished most of what I set out to do here. I recommended that my employer take a new online sales and pricing approach to increase trial, repurchase, and volume-per-order and I proposed a supply chain strategy that could cut their direct-to-consumer fulfillment costs by nearly half. Along the way I’ve learned that I love the consumer goods industry and I’ve discovered what I like and don’t like about working in a small company. I’ve also made tremendous strides on my business plan. Perhaps most importantly, I’ve come to believe that being an entrepreneur – while difficult and risky – would be a viable, deeply rewarding career path.