Selling Drugs

Interns In Philly

Ah yes, The Internship. When classmates ask what I did over the summer I respond, "I sold drugs." Which is almost exactly what I did while I was a marketing intern for Johnson & Johnson's over the counter drug division. Along with 29 other interns in the Philadelphia office I was wooed with many diners, events, and VP chats. My project was to take a rough product concept and refined it based on consumer insights. Furthermore I worked on naming, forecasting, pricing, and regulatory (and boy do drug companies have to jump through a lot of hoops). It all culminated with a massive presentation to about 20 coworkers.

Kudos to J&J - drugs certainly are interesting. Too bad the wining and dining stops once you accept full time employment...

(Here is a video of a summer intern scavenger hunt in Philly - the music won our team some extra points. By the way, those are Rocky poses.)

1st Year in the Books

It's quite sad really. As an undergrad all I could think about was escaping from school after years of exams, $0.89 Taco Bell Burritos, and dorm furniture. But upon returning to business school I realized how great students have it - especially Cornell MBAs. The subject variety, intellectual challenge, and afternoon naps are well worth the $40,000 a year tuition.

Looking back I have been super content with my attending Cornell. My above expectation list includes:

Career Management Center - This group knows each of the students and how to get them a job. They are amazing!
The Collegial Atmosphere - You'll definitely feel back at school. The fall leaves, the beautiful campus, the marching band, and the eclectic events that accompany college campuses.
The Friendly Students - Single, married, International, and more. Everyone is in the same boat here and we enjoy each others company. Big plus to the student activities center - we have 3 fulltime employees who help run student events.

Below expectations:

Entrepreneurship - I was really hoping for an integrated entrepreneurship society at Cornell, help finding an idea, and advice on writing a business plan. when I didn't see that this was fully in place at school I became an officer in the Entrepreneurship Club and am trying to make some updates to the program.

BIO

Entrepreneurship and Marketing is my primary focus at Cornell's Graduate School of Management (MBA class of '09). On the side I explore Ithaca's famous gorges with the Outdoors Club, toss footballs as president of the Football Club, and spread the entrepreneurial spirit as an officer in the EVC Club . Furthermore, I'm a member of the most exclusive unofficial club on campus - the parent's club. I have a wonderful wife and two little blonde boys ages 2 and 4.



Before my coming to Cornell, I received a B.S. in business from BYU in Provo, UT. While at BYU I took a two year hiatus to be a full-time volunteer in Mexico. After graduating I moved to San Francisco to work at Gap Inc as a merchandise planner managing a $220M division. Later, I was selected to perform market analysis at the Gap's new fourth brand Piperlime.com. Finally, I decided to leave the big corporation and work at a profitable startup named Shade Clothing in Salt Lake City. All this time I ran the website www.gorillabags.com where I sell funky and fun college furniture.