Helping Local Businesses Through Consulting: Bale Breaker Brewing Company

At the start of January 2021, I received an email congratulating me on my acceptance to the Business Impact Group, also known as the Foster Consulting Program. I was incredibly excited and simultaneously nervous about beginning my role as a Freshman Consultant for a local business. I had recently taken an interest in consulting and learned about BIG through an upper classman who had nothing but great memories of the experience.

My project manager and team members were all a pleasure to work with, and despite having no previous consulting experience, I felt that my ideas, suggestions, and analysis regarding the project scope and implementation plan were all taken into consideration. Additionally, our two professional advisors were very helpful and gave insightful and constructive feedback. Being completely virtual did not keep my team from maintaining a strong sense of collaboration through our weekly meetings and team bonding events.

A learning curve occurred during this time. From thoroughly conducting research and analyzing client data, to creating a realistic implementation plan, and to effectively presenting to our clients, I felt challenged throughout.

Researching their target market and customer segments, analyzing current metrics in place and creating a more data-based marketing strategy for the Bale Breaker Brewing Company was a very enjoyable process, and it was motivating to have the goal of positively impacting this Yakima-based company.

While this school year is not yet over, this program is one of the highlights of my first year at the Foster School of Business. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to have served a local business as a Freshman Consultant and am excited for future consulting roles. A BIG thank you once again to my team and our professional advisors for the guidance, the exciting project, and the memories.

– Sophia Kissin, Freshman ‘24