Women of Color: How to Build Presence and Voice in Leadership
Professional Services
Sep 20, 2022
For the first time in history, the global workforce is made up of five generations, from tenured executives with heaps of experience to budding enthusiasts with big dreams. At Qorus, we love diversity and believe that every person on our team, regardless of their age, adds value and makes us who we are.
We recently heard from one of our youngest team members – Biniyam Eshete, an ambitious Gen Zer – who took up an internship with us at the end of June, in the midst of the COVID storm.
We caught up with him about his studies, his experience and growth opportunities here, at Qorus, and beyond; about keeping a positive mindset, as well as his ambitions and inspiring others – and, believe us when we say ‘watch this space’ because Biniyam is right on track to one day take the business world by storm.
Tell us a bit about where you’re from and where you’re at now.
I was born and raised in Ethiopia. I’m part of a big family, and I had a lot of fun growing up. I can’t think of a time that I ever enjoyed sitting around, doing nothing. I’ve always been very active, playing soccer, running around. I guess it’s part of who I am.
At the age of 13, I moved to the US, straight to Seattle but moved around a lot, which meant I had to become accustomed to adjusting. I went to three different high schools and two colleges before ending up at the University of Washington (or 'UW' - we call it ‘UDub’), which is located just minutes away from downtown Seattle.
I don’t mind the fact that I had to adapt a lot as I was growing up. It gave me the chance to meet a lot of people and it taught me to approach change with a positive mindset – something that I’ve clung to ever since.
After graduating with an Associate of Arts degree in Business Administration from Edmonds College, I applied to UW and got in as a junior so immediately had to apply for my major. Fortunately, I already had a lot of friends at UW, who had gone straight from high school to the university, so it helped me get settled quickly and find my feet so I could focus on the decision ahead.
And it was a big one to make! How did you decide what to major in?
I really focused on ramping up my grades in the first two years of college and already knew the general direction I wanted to take – and that was to study business. I didn’t have much growing up in terms of financial support so my intention in choosing this path was to understand money. I don’t necessarily want to become rich, but I do want to know exactly how to invest, how to manage money; how to make it.
I knew that studying business would give me this opportunity so that’s why I went ahead and applied to get in at Foster School of Business, at UW. Little did I know at the time that it’s one of the most difficult schools to be accepted into…but I made it!
Choosing my major took some careful thought. As much as I knew I wanted to learn about finances, I have also always been interested in psychology and the mind; understanding what motivates people to make good decisions and why people make bad decisions. After taking my first marketing class, I knew that I’d found the perfect match. Marketing, I believe, gives me the opportunity to merge the best of both worlds – and so, that’s what I decided to go ahead with and major in.
And now, you’ve had the opportunity to get first-hand marketing experience in the ‘real world’. How did you hear about Qorus and get involved as an intern?
Funnily enough, I first heard about Qorus while taking my first marketing course – The Principles of Marketing. Every year, the professor – Francesca Valsesia – hosts speakers from different companies to share their insights with the students, and Jennifer – Qorus’ EVP of Marketing – is one of the guest speakers who is regularly invited.
To be honest, even though Jennifer was one of the last speakers to share her thoughts that day, I was most interested by what she had to say. During her presentation, she brought up Qorus and it really captured my attention. After the session, I decided to go ahead and talk to Jennifer to find out more about the company and whether there was any internship opportunity available – there wasn’t!
Nonetheless, I contacted Jennifer on LinkedIn a while later and would follow up every now and then. When COVID hit, the internships that I had been offered were cancelled so I thought I’d take another chance and reach out to Jennifer to let her know I’d still like to help out at Qorus, if there was the chance to do so. I guess my perseverance paid off because she replied and let me know that they were going to set up the internship!
What has the experience been like so far? Has it met your expectations?
It has been amazing. I envisage bringing a start-up to life one day – that’s the dream – so to be able to meet and learn from the people that did that with Qorus; who turned it into the company it is today has been a completely unexpected bonus. As an intern, I never expected to have the opportunity to meet the CEO and CTO, Ray and Stephanie. That in and of itself was a great moment.
Mostly, students at UW and Foster apply for internships at massive companies but just end up working on small projects that they have to present on at the end of the internship. That’s what I thought I’d be doing at Qorus.
My experience has been the polar opposite. I’m actually doing a real job that has a real impact on the company! On my first day, I was tasked with enriching data and, as soon as I sent it over, it was used – it wasn’t just a project. I get to talk to Jennifer about actual business situations every day, and I’ve been able to work on a number of marketing-related tasks which has been great.
One of the most meaningful jobs that I was involved with, was adding my voice to discussions on the Black Lives Matter movement, at company level. I am part of the movement at UW, so I really found it impactful to be able to contribute within the workspace too.
On a different note, how has COVID affected your school work and the internship?
Remote work as far as my school work is concerned isn’t all that that different to the norm, and I’m managing pretty well. It requires careful time management and responsibility, but the fact that I try look at things through a positive lens, as a general rule, definitely makes the circumstances a lot easier to deal with. Early on, I made the decision to carry on as usual, and commit to doing my work as though the pandemic never happened.
As for my internship, I’ve been working remotely too, which has also gone pretty well. Generally speaking, I think that this period has forced people to network more; to be more outgoing, and to step out of their comfort zones which, I’m sure – or at least I hope, has encouraged other students to look out for and embrace internship opportunities that they might not have before the pandemic.
That’s a great way of looking at it. Lastly, any tips for students looking for their first internship? How could they prepare?
Well, to expand on my previous point, I’d say three factors are key:
- Network.
This is my best piece of advice. Take advantage of the opportunities you have as a student – people seem to love hearing from students so be brave enough to get in touch with different companies. Reach out as much as possible, in a respectful way, of course, and get to know people, even if they’re not involved within your area of interest – they might know someone who knows someone. Also, very importantly, don’t get in touch with people to try get things out of them. Do so to provide some kind of value from your side. See if they need some help that you can offer.
- Get out of your comfort zone.
A simple example – if you don’t like running, just get out and try it. Do things that you don’t necessarily enjoy doing. When you overcome those obstacles and succeed in those areas, it builds a certain confidence within. And that can be transferred across to your school work or into business: in a way, it helps you to be yourself and to trust in your capabilities.
- Be positive, whatever your situation.
I’ve learnt that nothing is as bad as it might seem. Approach every day with the right mindset. I believe that you’re the only person who can impact your happiness – nothing that other people do can impact your happiness unless you let it. If you don’t get selected for any internships immediately, don’t take that in a personal way – get back up and keep applying.
Looking ahead, Biniyam is set to add even more to his plate, from working as the VP of Operations and Finance for the Association of Black Business Students at Foster and getting involved with a Young Executives of Color program through which he’ll mentor high school students, to adding a Sales program to his studies.
After chatting to Biniyam, we were left with this thought: if he’s an example to go by, the youngest generation to hit the work scene sure has plenty to offer! We're grateful to Biniyam for all of his hard work and are pleased that he'll continue to help out at Qorus while finishing his senior year at UW.
