Kohle Feeley
Class of 2021
Specialization
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Internships
Mitre10 in Shanghai, China and Unify Ordering in Dublin, Ireland
Favorite Class
Financial & Economic Modeling
What projects have you worked on in classes that you’ve found particularly rewarding or useful?
Having the opportunity to start building my own business and using it as a project in my classes has been an amazing experience. As my Capstone, I decided to start a business called Dollars.fyi that focuses on personal finance education to help improve financial literacy in young adults.Through my different business classes, I’ve been able to use the material we are using in class and directly apply it to creating a business plan, defining my target market, and even start development. Events outside of the classroom like the Elevator Pitch Competition and Launch Champlain have even helped me receive funding to get things started. By the time I graduate, I’ll have experience pursuing an entrepreneurial venture and understand what goes into creating a new business.
How did your classroom work prepare you for your internship experience?
I felt really prepared going into my internships because the classes at Champlain are designed to give you practical experience in a classroom setting. Especially our focus on collaboration and group projects proved to be helpful when you’re on a team in the workplace.One experience that still resonates with me is from my first year Marketing and the Organizational Mindset course. We were able to work with Northern Stage, a non-profit professional theater company in White River Junction, to develop a marketing strategy. We analyzed their current situation, did market and demographic research, and presented a final plan and mockups to the company. Being able to apply your course content to a real client project in your first year of college was an amazing and impactful experience. My courses on entrepreneurship have also played a big role in my confidence entering my internships, especially my time working at Unify Ordering. In the classroom, I learned about startup business models and how to quickly analyze and adapt them, and then I was able to actually see that play out in a real business.
In what ways do you think your internship experience will give you a competitive advantage when it comes to getting a job in your field after graduation?
I’m really glad that I had the opportunity to work two internships abroad because business is becoming more global than ever before. Especially with work from home rising in popularity, international teams across different time zones will start to become the norm.Already having experience working with a diverse team and with coworkers from different cultures and even with language barriers will give me a huge advantage as workplaces become more globalized. These are the types of experiences that help to develop emotional intelligence and personal growth.
