2022 Best & Brightest Business Major: Josh Lee, University of Washington (Foster)

Josh Lee

University of Washington, Foster School of Business

“Middle-born child blazing his path like the oldest while enjoying the ride like the youngest.”

Fun fact about yourself: I’m 85% sure I saw and spoke to Joe Burrow’s dad at a Los Angeles Clippers game.

Hometown: Ewa Beach, Hawaii

High School: Annapolis High School

Major: Finance and Information Systems

Favorite Business Course: Entrepreneurial Finance

Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles During College:  Husky Sales Club; UW Finance Association; Business Impact Group

Where have you interned during your college career? Consulting Intern with the UW Consulting and Business Development Center

Where will you be working after graduation? Consultant, West Monroe Partners

What is the biggest lesson you gained from studying business? There’s no substitute for a strong willingness to learn.

What advice would you give to a student looking to major in a business-related field? Be willing to try new things.

What has surprised you most about majoring in business? It was how much some of the class content would carry over into everyday life. I’ve always thought of business and everyday life as separate.

Looking back over your experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently in business school and why? I wish I took more classes related to programming and data analytics. Those skills are invaluable.

What business executive do you admire most? Satya Nadella. He’s incredibly humble, yet very competent. He has a great mindset and he’s an inspirational leader.

Which academic, extracurricular or personal achievement are you most proud of? The Accenture Student Consultant of the Year award. I put a lot of effort into my consulting internship and it was cool to see it recognized.

Which classmate do you most admire? Edward Vraney. He’s the hardest-working and most dedicated student I know. I’m inspired by the example he sets.

Who would you most want to thank for your success? Rebecca Thornton. She was an incredible manager during my internship. Her constant support and encouragement always made the difference.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? Be a product manager at a top tech firm and start my own business.

What are your hobbies? Surfing, running, spikeball, ping pong, basketball, and traveling.

What made Josh such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2022?

“Josh excels at situations where he is put under pressure. This past summer, Josh was selected to participate in our Summer Consulting Program, a program that provides various internship consulting opportunities. He was selected as one of the Hewlett Packard Enterprise interns and managed six technical consulting projects. Each of these projects focused on helping a minority- or women- owned small businesses identify and integrate new technologies into their firm to help the business grow. Not only did Josh succeed in all aspects of the program, but when a fellow consultant unexpectedly withdrew, Josh stepped-up and completed another consulting project. Josh’s energy, commitment to helping small businesses grow, and team player mentality propelled his success in his student consultant role. Josh holds the record for most clients per project at our Center with a total of seven projects – a true juggernaut.”

Rebecca Thornton
Assistant Director
Consulting and Business Development Center