Alumni Building a Career during Covid:
Recent Graduates Share their Stories By Jessica Berger, Director of Communications, Office of Alumni Engagement & Development
Entering the job market is never an easy task, but the corporate shut-downs and sudden stop to in-person interviews made that crucial transition even more difficult. We asked recent graduates how they got around the barriers. Here are their inventive journeys:
Taking a Chance, They Launched a Business Caitlin Sorensen ‘19 and Kylie Wetzel ‘19 First-generation college graduate Caitlin Sorensen has always known she wanted to start her own business. Working with a small business owner for her internship at Menlo, followed by full time employment with Trustee Andy Cunningham’s group the Cunningham Collective (whom she met through Cunningham’s course Marketing Menlo) after graduation only served to reinforce her goal. Where others might have found the prospect of starting a new business during a pandemic daunting, Caitlin recognized an opportunity to put her skills to work helping small businesses survive lockdown: “I noticed a lot of businesses were going online and they needed help with their digital marketing.” Caitlin had met Kylie Wetzel through the Student Government Association at Menlo, where they worked together on events, giving them valuable experience in project management. “I never wanted to start my own business,” Kylie relates, “But Menlo is so entrepreneurial that I knew I had the exposure and just needed to get over the imposter syndrome.” So when Caitlin reached out to her with a plan to start a marketing firm, she decided to take the leap. Together, they launched the Hustlin’ Honeys marketing and design agency. They have also created an online community called the Hive, understanding that some small business owners can’t afford to hire marketing consultants but still need marketing support. While Kylie recently returned to Menlo College as Digital Marketing Manager, Caitlin is now running the agency fulltime. Caitlin says, “I want to have an empire where we empower small business owners to thrive and inspire others to launch their own businesses, too.”
He Led a Team to Protect Patients Greig O’Connor ‘13 Greig O’Connor ‘13 began his tenure at Kensington Place Redwood City, an assisted living facility, as the Business Office Manager. He did not anticipate that he might become an Executive Director at an early age, but the opportunity arose for him to step into the role in March 2020. “My initial thoughts were two-fold: protect the patients and prepare the team - physically with PPE and protocols, and mentally that an outbreak might happen,” he shared. “Leading a team when you yourself don’t know is a challenge. I had to figure out how to motivate the team to take on the task and become their counselor in addition to running the business.” 49
SUMMER 2021
