I believe in investing in people. When I was in college actively searching for internships and a full-time job, I only wished for one thing: someone to invest in my potential and believe that if given the opportunity, I will succeed.
We are all startups. We have plans to succeed, we have visions and dreams, we face unexpected challenges that change our course, we sometimes fail and we will require the help of others to succeed.
In my junior year of college, I booked a trip to New York in hopes to meet someone that would be willing to mentor me and help me land a job in my dream city. I reached out to alumni through e-mails, letters and phone calls, asking them to meet with me. I was able to only land a handful of meetings, but I was determined to meet more when I arrived. From the day I arrived in NY, I was jumping in and out of cabs and subways, and running around in my heels to make it to my meetings. The experience was exhilarating but also terrifying. With each meeting, I learned more about myself and what I wanted because I gained industry knowledge through conversations, I learned how the companies were structured, and I was able to see the culture and jobs that were masked behind the prestigious logos and tall buildings. I found out what I didn’t know and what I needed to know to succeed in the industry. I realized that this was what I really came to New York for. I was referred to more individuals through my existing meetings and even ended up extending my flight last second to meet with a few more individuals. It was a life-changing experience and one that I will always thank myself for.
I was determined to share this experience with others and so I founded BrightEyes in my last year of college. I am very excited to share that last Sunday, we completed our second BrightEyes Study Tour. This year’s Study Tour was focused on the startup and venture capital industries. We selected 5 student entrepreneurs from UC San Diego to travel to San Francisco and Silicon Valley for 4 days to meet with industry professionals and tour startups and VC’s.
You can read about the trip on the BrightEyes Blog.
Tiffany Stone 