2017 Best & Brightest: Angela Jin, Boston College (Carroll)

Angela Jin

Boston College, Carroll School of Management

“Hoping to star in a Disney Channel Original Movie by the time I’m 24.”

Fun fact about yourself: Snuck backstage to meet One Direction once and got within 100 feet of the band. Made a pop culture apparel brand dedicated to their fan base, called 1950 Collective, a few months later.

Hometown: Austin, TX

High School: Westlake High School

Major: Marketing

Minor: Women’s and Gender Studies

Favorite Business Courses: Portico, Business Law

Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles During College:

1950 COLLECTIVE LLC | JAN 2015 – PRESENT

CEO, CO-FOUNDER, DESIGNER

  • Co-founded pop culture lifestyle brand; generated $265K in revenue on self-developed e-commerce platform
  • Featured in Seventeen Magazine, USA TODAY, BuzzFeed Style, & more
  • Developed iOS app with 7,700+ downloads to increase customer loyalty and improve customer shopping experience
  • Created original social media content & garnered 80,000+ followers
  • Built a global network of 11,000+ social media ambassadors
  • Established relations with various women empowerment organizations to contribute thousands of dollars per month

CARROLL SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT HONORS PROGRAM

PRESIDENT | JUNE 2016 – PRESENT

  • Serve as the formal spokesperson and representative of 155-member student organization
  • Collaborate with the program’s Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and 9 Executive Board committees, comprised of 45 members, to ensure strong community interactions, alumni relations, and program cohesion

PUBLIC RELATIONS CO-CHAIR | JUNE 2015 – MAY 2016

SOCIAL COMMITTEE VICE CHAIR | JUNE 2014 – MAY 2015

BOSTON COLLEGE VENTURE COMPETITION

THIRD PLACE WINNER | APRIL 2015

  • Awarded $5000 in business plan competition for 1950 Collective

Where have you interned during your college career? (List Companies, Locations and Roles)

  • Young Forever Limited | Dec 2016 – Present
    • College Tour Marketing Manager For LÉON (Columbia Records Artist)
  • Rightside & Forest Foundation | June 2016 – Aug 2016
    • Brand Consultant For 501(C)(3) Nonprofit
  • DreamWorks Animation | June 2015 – Aug 2015
    • Digital Marketing Intern

Describe your dream Job: It would be President of Capitol Records. I want to develop Asian American talent at a major record label and create a platform for Asian Americans to gain visibility in the entertainment industry. This representation is imperative to changing the narrative of stereotypes in the media of Asians as unsexy, boring, and the perfect sidekicks – but never the main character.

Who is your favorite professor? Dean Sullivan. He taught Portico, a freshman business ethics course, and introduced the concepts of social responsibility and ethical duty to ourselves to me at the beginning of my college career. Throughout the years, I’ve been able to grow closer to him by getting involved in the Honors Program, and eventually becoming a Portico teaching assistant and President of the Honors program during my senior year.

Where would you like to work after graduation? Epic Records in their Artists & Repertoire department.

What are your long-term professional goals?

  • Learn the ins-and-outs of a record label
  • Become the president of a major record label to create a pipeline for Asian American artists
  • Get into the production side of children’s programming – specifically Disney Channel. The stereotypes and images we’re exposed to by age 6, impact how we view those around us.

What advice would you give to a student looking to major in a business-related field?  If you don’t know what you want to do with your business major, you’ve got time. I walked into Boston College freshman year thinking I was going to be a finance major and work on Wall Street when I graduated. I couldn’t imagine pursuing that now.

“I knew I wanted to major in business when…I was 6 and wanted to put a microchip in my teddy bear so I could track it if I ever lost it.”

“If I didn’t major in business, I would be…a sociology major.”

“Before I entered business school, I wish I had known…there’s so much more to do with a business major than just finance, accounting, or consulting. Actually, I don’t think I even knew what consulting was until I got here.”

What was the happiest moment of your life? Two summers ago, when I arrived in Los Angeles after a two-day road trip with my dad to intern at DreamWorks Animation, I saw the palm trees and started crying – I knew LA was where I’m meant to be.

Which academic, extracurricular or personal achievement are you most proud of? My company, 1950 Collective. I’m currently a finalist for Glamour Magazine’s College Women of the Year award because of the social justice work and philanthropy I’ve done with the brand.

What animal would you choose to represent your professional brand? Elephant. It’s one of the few mammals in which the female is dominant. Elephants also have incredible memory and compassion beyond belief – have you seen that video of the elephant “saving” a man who was swimming because it thought he was drowning? That gets me every time.

Who would you most want to thank for your success?  My mom. It’s a cliché for a reason. No one has or ever will look out for me as much as my mom. She’s the reason I believe women can do anything – she moved to Japan for college without knowing an ounce of Japanese, worked while in college, immigrated to the US with my dad, and then got a Masters in Accounting…all before I turned six. I’ve never met someone more kick ass.

What would you like your business school peers to say about you after you graduate from this program? That I always made them feel good — whether that was because of a funny story, asking them how their day was, or just saying hi. The monuments we erect in our names are nothing if we don’t have people there to celebrate with and support us.

Favorite book: Series of Unfortunate Events series. I should probably read more.

Favorite movie: Parent Trap

Favorite musical performer: Chance the Rapper

Favorite vacation spot: Cancun

What are your hobbies? Memorizing the fastest rap verses (huge fan of Tung Twista), going on Boston adventures with friends, brainstorming Disney Channel Original Movies scripts in my free time

What made Angela such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2017?

“This year was an especially impressive array of Carroll School Honors Program Presidential candidates, but Angela rose to the top. If you were to poll her supporters, the findings would be consistent. Angela is a do-er. Angela is a go-getter. Angela will work tirelessly for us and the program.

These characteristics are her nature, but Angela has further unleashed them during her time at Boston College. Somehow – in between being an honors student, being the program’s president, and being active in other student groups – Angela has also founded two companies from her dorm room. Her second company – 1950 Collective – has been wildly successful in a relatively short amount of time. Some examples of its traction:

January 2015 – Launched website and social media

August 2015 – $50,000 in revenue; hired 3 interns

January 2016 – $200,000 in revenue

August 2016 –956,000 Vine loops, 625,000 website visitors, $225K in revenue, 51,000  Instagram followers, and 18,700 Twitter Followers.

September 2016 – Featured in Seventeen Magazine

December 2016 – Finalist for Glamour Magazine’s College Woman of the Year

These accomplishments are examples of Angela’s true entrepreneurial spirit. Like many great entrepreneurs, Angela is a leader and risk-taker who is creative, determined, resilient, and resourceful. In short, she has the five P’s of a true visionary – passion, persistence, patience, principles, and pride. Like the student said to me a few moments ago, “Angela Jin is a real go-getter.”

Ethan Sullivan
Associate Dean of Undergraduate Curriculum, Assessment, and Accreditation
Director of the Honors Program
Boston College, Carroll School of Management

DON’T MISS: THE FULL HONOR ROLL: THE BEST & BRIGHTEST UNDERGRADUATE BUSINESS MAJORS OF 2017

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