When Megan Wolf (MBA ’22) came to Darden, she knew she wanted to pursue a career in the health and wellness sector. Megan had already found her “why” — the professional pursuit that gave her sense of a purpose — or, the kinds of roles that “filled her up,” as Megan describes them.
With the help of Darden’s Batten Venture Internship Program, Megan found a summer experience that did exactly that. She pitched, designed, and ultimately excelled in a brand strategy internship with [solidcore], the boutique fitness company with over 70 studios and expanding across the United States.
“It ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me,” Megan remembers.
Through BVIPs, Darden encourages and enables students like Megan to pursue internships withs startups, venture capital firms, search funds or recently acquired closely held enterprises. Students receive a $5,000 grant from the Batten Institute in addition to a 10-week salary from the participating company, which may not otherwise have the resources to hire MBA student talent. First Years can apply to BVIPs advertised through Darden’s jobs portal, or create and source internships themselves by connecting with companies that interest them.
Megan sourced the internship herself through outreach to health and fitness companies specifically, which gave her the opportunity to create her own experience. The firm gave her a challenge, though, and asked her to design the internship in less than a week.
So Megan quickly connected with Darden classmates and faculty, friends and family, did thorough corporate research, and leveraged her experience as a [solidcore] client to pitch several summer project ideas to the company’s Head of Marketing and CEO. The firm’s leadership accepted Meagan’s internship proposal, the Batten Institute approved Megan and [solidcore]’s BVIP application, and Megan launched into a summer opportunity that she felt truly “filled her up”.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do half of the things that I wanted to do in a different internship,” Megan says. “I became so much better of a professional and someone that people wanted to hire and am thankful for the experience. I was able to stretch myself and learn.”
One aspect of her internship search that Megan did have to compromise on was location. Though she was initially recruiting for a consulting role in the Boston area, the [solidcore] headquarters is in Washington, DC. Because she prioritized working in an industry and in a function that she felt passionate about, it was a compromise Megan was more than willing to take.
“A good barometer in your internship search is whether or not you’re actually excited about a role,” says Megan. “Or are you just applying because you feel like you need to?”
After she graduates next May, Megan will join Bain and Company’s Boston office as a consultant. She feels confident that consulting will help her learn the skills and gain the insights necessary for success in the health and wellness space. When Megan called the CMO at [solidcore] to let him know that she had accepted a different offer, he said that Megan could come back at any time – and that he would be happy to report to her.
Interested in a BVIP role? Contact Michele Rankin in the Career Center or MJ Toms in the Batten Institute.
