From construction to entrepreneurship: Reflecting on my Kellogg real estate journey
Written by Mariel Cox ’23, a Full-Time MBA Program student
As competition day drew to a close, anticipation filled the air. We had pitched our Life Sciences conversion project to an investor panel at the Real Estate Venture Competition twice in the last five hours. The outcome of weeks of preparation hung over our heads. This competition reflected not only an MBA bucket-list item for me but the coming-together of a true Kellogg team.
I worked as a general contractor prior to Kellogg. While I loved the industry, I felt there was massive room for innovation within construction and real estate (RE) development. I knew that creating change in such a huge and traditional industry required deeper business, policy and leadership acumen, and decided to pursue an MBA to build this foundation. I also wanted to choose a school where I would be part of a community I could at once be inspired and challenged by.
The RE Pathway at Kellogg and its reputation for great student culture drew me in, and so I moved to Evanston in August 2021 (which seems like a lifetime ago now!). During my first year, I had the pleasure of meeting Michelle Kilgallon ’23 MBA, my now-co-president, through the Kellogg Real Estate Club. Michelle's expertise in private equity combined with my background in development laid the groundwork for an ambitious plan: participating in the 2022 Kellogg Real Estate Venture Competition. We entered that first year with high hopes, but we didn’t even make it to the first pitch. This setback cemented our resolve to pitch in front of investors in 2023.
Over the following year, I checked off many of the classes from the RE Pathway including one of my favorite classes at Kellogg: real estate entrepreneurship. Real estate is one of those industries where academic teaching can’t replace real-world experience, but this class stretched those boundaries. With insights and mentorship from Professor Bill Bennett and Stevan Galich, we envisioned, researched and built out real opportunity pitches over the 10-week course. Their guidance shaped our understanding of the attributes that make an investment compelling, and equally importantly, how to navigate the potholes and roadblocks that litter the road to profitability. Our project, Renew Bio Ventures (RBV), the conversion of a Boston-area vacant Sears into a life sciences facility, was born out of Michelle’s Chicago-based section of the class. She had partnered with Adam Vishny ’23 and Chris Bidochka ’23, two part-time Evening & Weekend MBA students, to bring the pitch to life. This initial endeavor laid the foundation for our subsequent entry into the competition.
Of the course work, my team agrees that the real-world learning during the course propelled our thinking to new heights. “We started off with a creative idea that we were excited about for a class project, but through market research and discussions with industry professionals, we quickly realized that this idea had momentum and could be a viable real-world business opportunity,” said Vishny. “This energized us, and we went all in. We leveraged our diverse professional backgrounds to each bring a unique element to the partnership, and through effective teamwork, shared enthusiasm, and active collaboration, we were able to bring our idea to life!”
Bidochka echoed Adam’s sentiment: "The class gave us a unique opportunity to create a real-world project and pitch it to qualified experts in the industry. Our team took our learnings from the class combined with macroeconomic trends to create a life-science project called Renew Bio Ventures. This project gave me a wealth of knowledge and connections that will be incredibly valuable going forward."
When the 2023 Real Estate Venture Competition’s request for proposals was announced, we knew it was our opportunity to showcase RBV. I officially joined the team, and we were fortunate to add Tom Riley, a fellow Full-Time MBA student, who brought a wealth of healthcare and life sciences knowledge to the team. The final RBV team represented different MBA journeys and a vast array of professional experience, which spanned finance, banking, marketing, development and strategy.
April 26, 2023, marked the climax of our team’s journey, where we met competing teams from Duke, UCLA and UT Austin. Each pitch creatively addressed pressing issues in today's market, highlighting the depth of talent and innovation that each of the teams brought to the competition. After our final pitch, we anxiously awaited the judges' decision. It truly felt like time slowed down as the voice from the stage echoed “… and the winner of the 2023 Real Estate Venture Competition is…Renew Bio Ventures.”
The 2023 Kellogg Real Estate Venture Competition was a surreal and exhilarating experience. It validated our hard work and dedication and also highlighted the strength of the diversity in our team. Our pitch benefitted from the expertise of our different backgrounds and the support from the real estate academic program. Without these, I'm not sure we would have made it to the final round of the competition.
As graduation approaches, I find myself overwhelmed with gratitude for the once-in-a-lifetime experiences Kellogg has offered me. Alongside my remarkable teammates and newfound friends, I have grown both personally and professionally over these last two years. I can’t wait to return to Vancouver and shake up my industry with the same creativity and determination we brought to the competition.
In the end, the Real Estate Venture Competition was not just about a victory or a title — it was a celebration of perseverance and collaboration representing the best that Kellogg has to offer.
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