How Did You Get Your Start?

I came into UVA with plans to study computer science, yet after taking Data Structures and Algorithms 1, that plan quickly changed. My friends were applying to the Comm school (I had no idea what that was). It seemed like all the hype, so I applied.

In preparation, I joined the Sales and Trading club, Virginia Undergraduate Real Estate Club, TAMID, and DSP Business Fraternity. The people I met in those clubs became life long friends, but if you’re wondering how I fared in the McIntire application, not so well.

I landed on a Statistics major because it was a nice balance of coding, business, and math — all things I was interested in. I also pursued a double major in French — that’s a story for another time.

I learned all about the mystical world of investment banking, consulting, and networking through those clubs, and began thinking about how stressful the whole process is. It felt like something was broken.

I thought I could fix it with software. I built a networking tracker for UVA students over the next few months. My grandpa suggested I call it “Hoo You Know”.

The Foundry at UVA really helped me get it off the ground and ideate the concept. After some meetings with them, I pivoted to a newsletter, interviewing alumni on their careers and what networking meant to them.

A year later, the newsletters has 1,400+ weekly readers, and I’ve interviewed alumni from the CFO of CNN to the President of the USTA. I graduated from UVA three days ago, and now I’m back in NY counting down the days till YAR.

I have an interview today at a startup in NYC for a full time role, so wish me luck!

Regardless of what I’ll be doing now that I’m an alumni, I’ll be continuing to run and grow Hoo You Know!