Georgia Kossoff
Emory University (Goizueta)
“Loves mice, hates driving, wears pointe shoes, trains miniature horses, lives for consulting, appreciates grammar.”
Fun fact about yourself: I can say any word sdrawkcab.
Hometown: Sarasota, FL
High School: Laurel Springs School
Major: Double Major in Business Administration (concentrating in Information Systems and Operations Management) and Chemistry
Favorite Business Course: Competitive Advantage, Business Law, Operations Strategy
Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles During College: (Include school awards and honors)
Goizueta Scholar
Translational Research and Innovation Network (TRAIN) Fellowship: Founder & President
Social Enterprise @ Goizueta: Research Assistant
Rollins School of Public Health Biostatistics & Bioinformatics Department: Research Assistant
Where have you interned during your college career? (List Companies, Locations and Roles)
Bain & Company: Associate Consultant Intern (Atlanta, GA)
The HuB Startup Incubator: Market Research Intern (Sarasota, FL)
Where will you be working after graduation? I will be working for Bain & Company as an Associate Consultant.
What did you enjoy most about your business school? Andrea Hershatter and Libby Egnor, Goizueta’s BBA Program leaders, have created an atmosphere within Goizueta that is genuine, supportive, innovative, and inspiring. Andrea Hershatter helps us set high standards for ourselves and reach them. She is constantly connecting students with opportunities that will further their goals and interests. Libby Egnor has fostered a strong sense of collaboration and support within Goizueta. This has created a network of students who are both supportive of each other and inspiring in their own endeavors. Becoming a member of this incredible community has been my favorite part of being in business school.
What is the biggest lesson you gained from studying business? Structured, targeted frameworks are incredibly effective tools to approach complex problems. Drilling down to the critical information and key questions allows even broad-scale problems to be solved efficiently.
What advice would you give to a student looking to major in a business-related field? Do it! Leaving your undergraduate career with a business degree gives you a powerful perspective with which to approach future jobs, industries, and projects. Push yourself to apply the frameworks, tools, and strategies you learn in class to the problems and situations you hope to tackle in your career.
“If I didn’t major in business, I would be majoring in or studying…Chemistry, with the goal of transitioning to a career in consulting and eventually pursuing an MBA.”
What has surprised you most about majoring in business? The variety of career paths to which it can ultimately lead – business majors go on to work in healthcare, education, academia, engineering, law, and countless other industries.
Who most influenced your decision to pursue business in college? I was initially influenced to study business by my dad, who works in the financial advising sector. His company has created an incredible team dynamic, and my dad shared with me that working alongside these inspiring, supportive individuals is the best part of his job. This sentiment is mirrored in his relationships with his clients, which extend beyond the work environment because of their mutual respect and trust. This sparked my interest in business and my goal of finding a similarly positive team dynamic in my future job.
Which academic, extracurricular or personal achievement are you most proud of? Founding TRAIN, a student-run interdisciplinary research fellowship. I co-founded the TRAIN Fellowship with a classmate in Emory’s College of Arts and Sciences to connect student research across Emory’s academic departments. TRAIN is essentially an incubator that supports multidisciplinary, student-directed research projects. Since launching last semester, several successful projects have been started through TRAIN, including a system to harvest electricity from compost and an initiative to build customizable, 3D printed drones. It’s beyond exciting to see brilliant students from all disciplines come together to work on these projects, and truly amazing to see what they have already accomplished.
If you were a dean for a day, what one thing would you change about the business school? I think that the research opportunities at Goizueta are amazing, and I would love to see more students get involved. I’d host an event so that professors could share their research and interested students could find projects to join.
Which classmate do you most admire? Sanjay Velappan: I’m lucky to have worked with Sanjay on multiple projects. He gives every task 100% while simultaneously managing to create a positive, enthusiastic team dynamic that makes every project both productive and fun.
Who would you most want to thank for your success? I’m infinitely grateful to my mom for every opportunity I’ve received. She has supported me at each decision point, providing both resources and the honest, direct feedback I’ve needed to approach each new life stage. She has always been, and always will be, my role model for her intelligence, drive, and the incredible impact she’s had on so many people.
What would your theme song be? “Waltz of the Snowflakes” from The Nutcracker – dancing in the Nutcracker is one of my favorite memories, and I listen to this music regularly while studying.
What are the top two items on your bucket list? 1) Successfully complete the obstacle course at Nationals without my mare stealing hay at the judges booth! 2) Purchase a self-driving car.
Favorite book: The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor
Favorite movie: Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Favorite vacation spot: Kona, Hawaii
What are your hobbies? Ballet
What made Georgia such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2018?
Georgia is driven by intellectual curiosity. She has an uncanny ability to get to the heart of a complex problem, to gather the relevant data and, like the scientist she is, to test different hypotheses until she arrives at a viable solution. She is equally at home examining tropical diseases or social enterprises, and in both cases is focused on improving the lives of at-risk populations.
She is similarly passionate about positively impacting the Emory community. In conjunction with her dual interests in business and chemistry, she identified the need for a pathway that would enable students to transform research into actionable industry applications. She envisioned an ambitious organization that would cross institutional boundaries and link professionals, faculty and students, but because of its interdisciplinary nature, there was no obvious infrastructure to support her template. For more than two years, she patiently pushed the project forward until the Translational Research and Innovation Network (TRAIN) found a home in the Office of the Provost. Earlier this year, she identified another (currently stealth) project for the City of Atlanta and has been working with her usual tenacity to drive that forward as well. The larger the challenge, the more passionate she is about taking it on!”
Andrea Hershatter
Sr. Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education
Goizueta Business School, Emory University
DON’T MISS: THE BEST & BRIGHTEST BUSINESS MAJORS OF 2018 — THE COMPLETE LIST
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