I knew that I was going into my family’s business when I started at Wharton. My goal was to learn as much as possible so that I could bring new ideas and methods to my family’s 50 year old gourmet grocery business. I was able to immerse myself in school and extracurriculars since I didn’t have to deal with those pesky interviews. I loved volunteering with the tax assistance program and the business plan competition and Rebuilding Together. I took all types of classes – finance, entrepreneurship, human capital, operations, marketing, even real estate. Going to business school opened my eyes to all of the possible career paths ahead of me that I was “giving up” to go into the family business. When I graduated, I thought I would professionalize the business, make it saleable, and move on.
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