REP Program: Week 1

Week 1

Having completed my first year at CWRU, I had high, admittedly romanticized, expectations of the college experience. I envisioned maximizing value from every semester of classes and building my resume during every break; specifically, I saw myself working and performing in downtown Chicago this summer. As students received the unfortunate series of emails in March that sent our plans home in suitcases, I realized I needed to edit my vision.

Amongst these emails, the REP Program caught my eye. I applied out of curiosity, not expecting a response as quickly as it came. I was connected with Nikki DiFilippo of Via Vera Group, a marketing and strategy consulting company for tech startups. After a brief email exchange and a Zoom call, we were matched. I came away from that first conversation with a renewed excitement for the summer. I would be maximizing value, even if it wasn’t the way I anticipated.

Via Vera Group works with a diverse selection of companies, each one its own unique puzzle. Established companies with existing resources and connections have different needs and a different budget than one-person startups, but they are united by a need to strategize and adjust during the global pandemic and its economic aftermath. I am fortunate to be able to observe firsthand how these companies collect their bearings and set new goals, including Via Vera Group itself. Nikki offers a look into other companies’ strategies and a more meta look into her own. 

This is undoubtedly not the last shift in paradigm of my lifetime. We can’t predict our pandemics or our recessions the way we would like to, but we can learn to seek opportunities for growth during periods of seemingly endless compromise. I’m glad I clicked on that first REP email and I look forward to what I’ll learn over the next few weeks.