Kyle Frank

ONE THING THAT I REALIZED IS THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING A STRONG SUPPORT SYSTEM.

Story By: C. M. Schmidlkofer

When it comes to choosing a career, University of Florida junior Kyle Frank believes one should experience as many career options as possible before settling on one.

“Any experience you can get, whether positive or negative, can help inform your career decision by the time you recruit full-time,” he said. “By doing multiple internships early in your college career, you can also get more life experience which helps you mature faster.”

This process has led the Miramar native to focus on a degree in International Studies with a minor in Real Estate at the Heavener School of Business, where its collection of international programs provide students with the possibility to live and work overseas.

As a leadership platform, Heavener challenges its students to lead programs and peers throughout their university experience, resulting in community leaders.

When Warrington College of Business hosted a focus group for Black business students, Kyle took advantage of the opportunity to discuss how well it was providing enough support for its Black students with faculty and staff there. He shared his personal experience within the Business School and areas where he thought there could be improvement.

That got the attention of faculty and fellow students who were interested in starting a new organization. In July 2020, he became the founding Vice President of Black Students in Business at Warrington College of Business.

“Its function is to help Black students in the business school develop professionally while also being a space where members can be themselves and feel at home amongst other Black business students.”

His VP responsibilities are fluid, first and foremost assisting President Dorian Simpkins with projects planned for members and also helping her with strategizing ideas to improve the club.

He describes his role in three words: visionary, execution, timeliness. There is also a good deal of flexibility that comes with this new leadership position.

“In a way, it is like being an entrepreneur where you have to be a self-starter and execute on any ideas that you may have.”

His greatest accomplishment as vice president has been hosting Warrington’s Diversify Your Network event, a three-day profes-

sional- and career-centered series hosted by various organizations in the business school.

He helped organize a mixer the last day of that event with Seizing Every Opportunity and Management Leadership for Tomorrow ― nonprofit professional organizations that help underserved and underrepresented communities achieve their goals through coaching and training ― something he considers one of his greatest achievements to date.

Frank also serves as campus ambassador for the two groups and credits his involvement with them, along with another similar organization – JumpStart Advisory Group – as greatly impacting his journey to his success.

“These organizations not only helped open my eyes to what it means to be a Black professional in America, but also how to be a leader within my own community.”

Kyle has used his goalsetting abilities to crystalize the direction in which he wants to see BSiB go. He plans to have BSiB launch a mentorship program for its members to help them expand their network.

“In the coming months, I hope to see a platform where we can be able to provide this resource to our members and goal setting would have made it possible.”

His biggest challenge so far since assuming his leadership position is connecting with members face-to-face in a virtual world due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Connecting in person is really essential to building a strong connection with somebody... but we are still looking for one day where we can get back to normal.”

Being around like-minded individuals in a network he built both inside and outside of college over the past two years has given him the courage to be a leader, helping him to realize what he is capable of.

“Seeing my fellow peers’ success on LinkedIn helps inspire me to go out and be a leader at my University because if my friends can do it, why can’t I?”

He encourages others who would like to serve in a leadership role at BSiB to develop self-motivation to handle the challenges that come with the job.

“Members are now looking towards you for guidance and advice as a leader. So if, let’s say, a member has an idea that would help benefit the club, you got to be able to run with the idea and try and get it started and that is drawn from being self-motivated and really believing in the vision of BSiB.”

Frank believes 2020 had an impact on everyone, including himself.

“One thing that I realized is the importance of having a strong support system. Having friends and family to lean on during these turbulent times has really helped me stay grounded and put my life into perspective in the overall bigger picture.”