University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business kicked off a new season of RossTalks this month in New York that seeks to connect with Ross alumni, students, and prospective students. The series of talks will extend all the way to Tokyo and Mumbai this year.
Equinox Executive Chairman and Managing Partner Harvey Spevak (BBA ’87/MACC ’87), participating in a panel discussion on “Taking risks when opportunities present themselves”, said in this case, it was a decision to invest in new businesses like SoulCycle in 2009 and 2010 amid the financial crisis that hit the US and most of the other countries that paid rich dividends.
At that time, when most businesses would seek to cut down operations to stave off losses, Spevak, along with Equinox’s other investment leads Stephen M. Ross and Jeff Blau, went in for expansion.
However, it was not exactly a shot in the dark. Spevak, helming the American luxury fitness company that operates several separate fitness brands, realised that the fitness clubs experienced flat revenues and only a modest dip in profits during an economic meltdown. “It was an excellent time to take advantage of cheap capital and real-estate leases to expand the brand and our business model,” he said.
“I went to teach in a region well outside of Seoul where there were very few Americans. I had no background in Korea or the language, and was on a plane a couple of months after first being confronted with the opportunity…I was terrified, but I grew and learned and it was incredibly valuable in developing that muscle,”
The panel discussion about entrepreneurship and activating network was moderated by Ross school Dean Scott DeRue. More than 250 alumni and prospective students participated in the event. Apart from Spevak, the other business leaders at the event were BlueOrange Sustainable Capital founder Blair Miller (MBA ’07’) and By Jordana CEO, Jordana Schrager (BA ’16/MiB ’16)
For Miller, the risk and the opportunity came in the form of teaching English in Korea. “I think succeeding in starting your own business requires psychological courage that you have to work to develop like a muscle,” she said.
“I went to teach in a region well outside of Seoul where there were very few Americans. I had no background in Korea or the language, and was on a plane a couple of months after first being confronted with the opportunity…I was terrified, but I grew and learned and it was incredibly valuable in developing that muscle,” she added.
Before founding BlueOrange, Miller was vice president for the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy, philanthropist and founder of Wesray Capital Corporation, Ray Chambers. During her tenure, she led the office’s efforts to mobilize private sector capital and develop innovative financing models to address global health challenges.
Specifically, she supported the development of two multimillion-dollar health-focused funds with philanthropists in Nigeria and India.
According to Jordana Schrager, “when you combine your passion with work, it’s not really work at all.” She launched her business while still at the University of Michigan and at Ross, where she was a minor in business student and the beneficiary of a lot of mentoring and support from Ross faculty and alumni.
She began as a one-person supply chain, hand-designing sneakers for buyers who wanted one-of-a-kind designs. She was the first recipient of a new seed-money grant from the Zell Lurie Institute. Since leaving Ross, Schrager has expanded and gotten her footwear into Bloomingdale’s and other outlets.
She has also used the Michigan Ross network to connect with and talk to Spevak about distributing and marketing through Equinox’s channels.
DeRue cites the RossTalks series as “a wonderful way for alumni and prospective students to mingle and network.” There were more than 100 attendees who are considering coming to Ross as MBA students. “What better way for people going through the discernment process to see our amazing alumni network in action,” he added.
The report about RossTalks was published in the School blog.(Image Source:wikipedia.org)
