Foster Freshman Consulting: Grace Harbor Farms

The First Step: Exploring Consulting

As a freshman, I’m still figuring out what I want to do with the rest of my life, so I made the effort to try as many things as possible. I decided to look into consulting, because I wanted to find something in business that would allow me to interact with people on a daily basis. To familiarize myself with the subject I looked into different opportunities, when I came across an Instagram post advertising a quarter-long, real-life experience as a student consultant for a local business.

Knowing nothing about consulting, I went ahead and decided to throw myself in the deep end and apply anyway. This is where I was met with my first challenge. I received an email about an interview, but not just a conversation about who I am, my passions and goals; but rather a case interview where they’ll look into my thought process and my consulting knowledge. At this point I was fully prepared for rejection as I had no idea what I was doing. However, I was graced with guidance from the people of BIG as they offered assistance and resources in preparing the interview. I studied up, and went for it!

Spring Quarter 2021, I worked with an amazing group of students of all ranges of experience to help Grace Harbor Farms, a local dairy company, create a growth strategy to further expand their business. Throughout this process I had help from my teammates, who helped me form questions to ask, helped with what to research, and even helped me organize my thoughts prior to presentations. I am especially grateful for my advisors and project manager who offered guidance in my times of utter confusion and gave feedback allowing me to grow as a presenter, student, and consultant.

As stated prior, I went in having no idea what I was doing, but after this experience I have grown more confident in my abilities and look forward to doing another project with the Foster Consulting Program.

– Mikela Rivera, Class of 2024

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