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<p><div class="image-container float_right" style="width:400px"><div class="image"></div><p class="source">Kevin Smith/Business Insider</p></div>The inexorable rise of mobile devices isn't just a chance for brand-new startups to offer new services—shifting consumer behavior gives established brands a chance to reinvent themselves, too.</p>
<p>Here's a case study—Citysearch, once synonymous with local reviews in the '90s, is battling back against the upstarts with<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"> its refreshed <keyword id="6354606" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="iPhone">iPhone</keyword> app. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">The app is chock full of quality recommendations for restaurants, shopping, spas, and what's hot in big cities. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"><keyword id="1161565" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Citysearch">Citysearch</keyword>, now part of <keyword id="1772834" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="CityGrid-Media">CityGrid Media</keyword>, started out as an online city guide written by professional editorial staff. Its modern, mobile incarnation still emphasizes tips from its expert "scouts" rather than crowdsourced recommendations from customers, like you'd find on Yelp or Foursquare, though those are also present.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">And a key differentiator on the app is the visual guides the scouts have put together—since photos are often a more compelling and immediate way to see what a place is like.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">If other local apps' tips and reviews leave you cold, Citysearch's offering is worth a try.</span></p>
<p>The new app is <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/citysearch/id298458698?mt=8">available for iPhone and it's free</a>.</p>

We Got An Exclusive Look At '90s Icon Citysearch's Mobile Comeback Strategy

<p>The following quote is stenciled on the wall of idealab, a <a href="http://www.idealab.com/about_idealab/">business incubator in Pasadena, California</a>.</p>
<p>Idealab is run by the extraordinary entrepreneur Bill Gross and COO Marcia Goodstein.</p>
<p>Gross has started dozens of companies in his career, including Citysearch, eToys, and GoTo.com. He<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> is therefore no stranger to the reaction with which new ideas (potential future truths) are often greeted when they are first introduced to the world.</span></p>
<p>To succeed as Gross has, you have to believe in your ideas when other people are laughing at them--or, worse, attacking them.</p>
<p>So it was no surprise to see this quote from the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer on idealab's wall:</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="image-container" style="width:800px"><div class="image"><p class="source">idealab</p></div></div></span></p>

QUOTE OF THE DAY: 'All Truth Passes Through Three Stages...'

<div style="padding: .125em 1em 1em; background-color: #eee;">
<p><table class="image-container float_right" width="200"><tr><td><div class="image"></div><p class="source"><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hurricane_Sandy_Effects_-_Emmons_Avenue_Brooklyn1.JPG">Vicpeters/Wikimedia Commons</a></p></td></tr></table></p>
<p><span style="color: #dd4725;">[Sponsor Post]</span></p>
<p>For business owners, every local listings site like Yelp, Foursquare, and Citysearch represents an opportunity to market to potential new customers.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">But updating each of those those listings with relevant contact information can be daunting—particularly during a natural disaster.</span></p>
<p>When Hurricane Sandy struck in October 2012, many local businesses were destroyed or critically damaged. Some were forced to close temporarily, while others modified their operating hours or relocated to temporary offices.</p>
<p>Affected busineses needed quick, efficent ways to inform customers—many of whom were experiencing limited battery power and Internet access—of their operating status. Some companies also wanted to promote relevant offerings or send messages of comfort to those who suffered in the storm.</p>
<p>One large retail bank with more than 300 national locations <a href="using%20location-information%20software%20company%20Yext" target="_blank">got help from location-information software company Yext</a> in communicating critical information to its customers. Taking advantage of <keyword id="1746782" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="YEXT">Yext</keyword>'s platform capabilities, the bank's team was able to:</p>
<ul>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">identify all bank branches that lay in the storm's path</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">update 50 web sites with closure information</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">inform customers that ATM fees would be waived</span></li>
<li><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">direct people toward customer-service staff available to assist by phone</span></li>
</ul>
<p>By getting useful, instant updates to its customers in a time of need, the bank was able to turn its business listings into valuable communications tools.</p>
<p>In the aftermath of Sandy, updating location information proved vital to keeping businesses running and involved with their communities. It's a capability that remains an important part of every business' daily operations, whether there's a natural disaster brewing or not.<br /><br /><strong><a href="http://www.yext.com/company-overview.html" target="_blank">Visit Yext</a> for more on managing your company's location information.</strong></p>
</div>
<p>Find out <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sponsor-posts">more about Sponsor Posts.</a></p>

How One Business Kept Customers Updated During Hurricane Sandy

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image on-image"><p class="source">Associated Press</p><p class="caption">New York State Attorney Eric Schneiderman</p></div><p></p></div>By 2014, one out of every ten online product reviews will be "fake," posted by people who have been secretly paid to write them, <a href="http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2161315">says market research firm Gartner</a>.</p>
<p>It's called "astroturfing" and New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has just busted 19 companies for doing it. Such fake reviews show up on sites like <keyword id="86061" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Yelp">Yelp</keyword>, Google Local and CitySearch.com.</p>
<p>These 19 companies will pay combined fines of more than $350,000 ($2500 to $100,000 apiece) and all have signed agreements to stop.</p>
<p>To smoke these companies out, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) set up a sting operation called "Operation Clean Turf."</p>
<p>An OAG staffer posed as the owner of a yogurt shop and then answered ads posted on Craigslist.com, Freelancer.com, oDesk.com from Search Engine Optimization (SEO) companies offering to write reviews.</p>
<p>These SEO companies hired freelancers in places like the Philippines, Bangladesh and Eastern Europe, paying them $1 to $10 per review, the OAG said. </p>
<p>And the setup at some of these companies was more sophisticated than you might think.</p>
<p>For instance, one company only hired reviewers that had an established Yelp account that was more than three months old and had a least 15 legit reviews on it. This helped it fly under the radar of Yelp's fake review detection filters.</p>
<p>Another required the freelancer to be able to post from multiple IP addresses, which would require posting from different locations and/or with multiple Internet service providers. They also wanted their freelancers to have "some understanding on how Yelp filters works" so they could game the system.</p>
<p>You probably shouldn't need to be told this, but Operation Clean Turf is a reminder to take all online reviews with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Schneiderman has this warning for those still out there gaming the system:</p>
<p>"Astroturfing" is the 21st century's version of false <keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="advertising">advertising</keyword>, and prosecutors have many tools at their disposal to put an end to it," <a href="http://www.ag.ny.gov/press-release/ag-schneiderman-announces-agreement-19-companies-stop-writing-fake-online-reviews-and">he said in a press release.</a></p>
<p><em>If you have ever been paid to write Internet product reviews, we'd like to hear your story. We are discreet. <a href="mailto:jbort@businessinsider.com">jbort@businessinsider.com</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/julie188">Julie188</a> on Twitter.</em></p>

New York Attorney General Busts 19 Companies For Writing Fake Yelp Reviews

<p><div class="image-container float_right"><div class="image"><p class="source on-image">Associated Press</p><p class="caption">New York State Attorney Eric Schneiderman</p></div></div>By 2014, one out of every ten online product reviews will be "fake," posted by people who have been secretly paid to write them, <a href="http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2161315">says market research firm Gartner</a>.</p>
<p>It's called "astroturfing" and New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has just busted 19 companies for doing it. Such fake reviews show up on sites like <keyword id="86061" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Yelp">Yelp</keyword>, Google Local and CitySearch.com.</p>
<p>These 19 companies will pay combined fines of more than $350,000 ($2500 to $100,000 apiece) and all have signed agreements to stop.</p>
<p>To smoke these companies out, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) set up a sting operation called "Operation Clean Turf."</p>
<p>An OAG staffer posed as the owner of a yogurt shop and then answered ads posted on Craigslist.com, Freelancer.com, oDesk.com from Search Engine Optimization (SEO) companies offering to write reviews.</p>
<p>These SEO companies hired freelancers in places like the Philippines, Bangladesh and Eastern Europe, paying them $1 to $10 per review, the OAG said. </p>
<p>And the setup at some of these companies was more sophisticated than you might think.</p>
<p>For instance, one company only hired reviewers that had an established Yelp account that was more than three months old and had a least 15 legit reviews on it. This helped it fly under the radar of Yelp's fake review detection filters.</p>
<p>Another required the freelancer to be able to post from multiple IP addresses, which would require posting from different locations and/or with multiple Internet service providers. They also wanted their freelancers to have "some understanding on how Yelp filters works" so they could game the system.</p>
<p>You probably shouldn't need to be told this, but Operation Clean Turf is a reminder to take all online reviews with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Schneiderman has this warning for those still out there gaming the system:</p>
<p>"Astroturfing" is the 21st century's version of false <keyword id="35666" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="advertising">advertising</keyword>, and prosecutors have many tools at their disposal to put an end to it," <a href="http://www.ag.ny.gov/press-release/ag-schneiderman-announces-agreement-19-companies-stop-writing-fake-online-reviews-and">he said in a press release.</a></p>
<p><em>If you have ever been paid to write Internet product reviews, we'd like to hear your story. We are discreet. <a href="mailto:jbort@businessinsider.com">jbort@businessinsider.com</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/julie188">Julie188</a> on Twitter.</em></p>

<div style="padding: .125em 1em 1em; background-color: #eee;">
<p><table class="image-container float_right" width="200"><tr><td><div class="image"></div><p class="source">Perot Museum of Nature and Science</p></td></tr></table><em>This article is sponsored by <a href="http://www.yext.com/pl/yext-powerlistings-official-site/index.html" target="_blank">Yext</a>.</em></p>
<p>The opening of the <a href="http://www.perotmuseum.org/" target="_blank">Perot Museum of Nature and Science</a> in Dallas on December 1, 2012, went off without a hitch. Dallas businessman (and two-time presidential candidate) Ross Perot was in attendance. So was the mayor. </p>
<p>But a lot of work had gone into making sure the opening went smoothly. Sure, there were acrobats and a confetti cannon; but the most important piece of the puzzle? Getting the right location out to thousands of visitors. </p>
<p>Previously, the Perot Museum had been in a different place and was known simply as the Museum of Nature &amp; Science. Plans were well under way for a $180 million facility in Victory Park when the five Perot siblings announced a $50 million gift in honor of their parents, Margot and Ross Perot.</p>
<p>The only potential problem with the impending move: The museum was already on several local search sites, but under the old address and name. The Perot Museum needed a way to update all those listings seamlessly.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">With the help of location-services company </span><a href="http://www.yext.com/pl/yext-powerlistings-official-site/index.html" target="_blank">Yext</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">, the museum updated all new and existing listings with its changed name, address, and description, guaranteeing that its information was accurate everywhere. People searching for the museum had no trouble finding out when, where, and how to get to its gleaming new flagship campus. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">In all, 41 sites such as Yelp, Yahoo!, Citysearch, and Foursquare were affected by the updates, and the Perot Museum continues to rely on <keyword id="1746782" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="YEXT">Yext</keyword>'s Content Lists and other tools. When making changes or announcements, the museum submits the </span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">information once, and all of its listings update simultaneously.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Of course, visitors to the Perot Museum's dinosaur hall and nature exhibits have no idea they could have been misdirected without Yext's help. And it's a good thing, too, because they'll want to keep coming back. "It's off the charts," Sophia Johnson <a href="http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/visitors-guide/perot-museum/headlines/20121201-dallas-perot-museum-of-nature-and-science-officially-opens-to-enthusiastic-crowd.ece" target="_blank">told the Dallas News</a> at the museum's opening. "You could come here 20 times and not see everything."</span></p>
<p><strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Visit <a href="http://www.yext.com/pl/yext-powerlistings-official-site/index.html" target="_blank">Yext</a> for more on managing your company's location information.</span></strong></p>
</div>
<p>Find out <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sponsor-posts">more about Sponsor Posts.</a></p>

How The Perot Museum Solved Its Location Issues In Time For Its Opening

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Brian Snyder/Reuters</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul class="summary-list"><li>According to statistics from Harvard Business School, financial services and consulting are the most popular paths for its graduates.</li><li>That said, there are plenty of other career paths you can take after getting an MBA.</li><li>Business Insider spoke with graduates of Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, and more to learn about the steps they took after getting a degree.</li><li>These graduates ended up in unique fields such as nonprofit, medicine, sports marketing, and retail.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summary" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click here for more BI Prime stories.</a></li></ul><p>People tend to get their MBA for the same reasons: career advancement, leadership training, and a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-build-a-network-clients-didnt-go-to-business-school">strong network</a>. But once MBA students graduate from school, there are many ways they can use their degrees.</p><p>According to <a href="https://www.hbs.edu/mba/career-path/Pages/default.aspx">statistics from Harvard Business School</a>, financial services and consulting are the most popular paths for its graduates. Liz Chilla, the senior director of Emory University's Goizueta Business School Career Management Center, told Business Insider that she's "seen an increase in [students interested in] consulting" over the seven and a half years she's worked in business education, in both admissions and counseling positions. </p><p>However, while consulting and finance jobs may be more popular than other options, they are by no means the only tracks business school students can take. </p><p>Business Insider spoke to five MBA graduates who used their degrees in unique ways, and have gone on to find great success in their respective sectors. </p><h1>I became the cofounder and director of a nonprofit</h1><p>While Chesca Colloredo-Mansfeld's first job out of business school was rather typical for an MBA, consulting was never her end goal. </p><p>Growing up the daughter of a diplomat, the inequality that existed between Colloredo-Mansfeld's family and those she drove past in Somalia and Malaysia was always apparent to her. Early on, she assumed one day she would work in international development. </p><p>After working in investment banking for two years after college, she got a job with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Pakistan.</p><p>"I had never planned on going to business school. I thought I'll do that year [with the IRC] and apply to public policy school," she said.</p><p>But as she spoke to leaders with successful international development <keyword id="6354910" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="careers">careers</keyword>, she was told to go to business school if she wanted to make a real impact, and ended up attending Stanford University's Graduate School of Business, which has a <a href="https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/experience/news-history/public-management-program">public management program</a>.</p><p><em><strong>Read more: </strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-it-takes-get-accepted-stanford-graduate-school-of-business-2019-8">Here's exactly what it takes to get accepted into Stanford Graduate School of Business, according to 6 grads and the assistant dean of admissions</a></em></p><p>After graduating, getting married, and realizing it would be too hard to move abroad, Colloredo-Mansfeld started working at the <a href="https://www.bcg.com/">Boston Consulting Group</a>, and then at tech companies like Citysearch and eToys at the dawn of the dotcom bubble. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Chesca Colloredo-Mansfeld</span></p><p class="caption">Chesca Colloredo-Mansfeld.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>"I got the entrepreneurial bug at that point," she recalled.  </p><p>When Colloredo-Mansfeld's husband got a professorship at the University of Iowa, she started working at Iowa's business school. It was there that she heard about <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/24/health/research/24ponseti.html">Dr. Ignacio Ponseti</a> and his nonsurgical treatment for clubfoot.</p><p>She watched a video of a boy in Uganda with untreated clubfoot, and it brought tears to her eyes. That night she told her husband, "I've figured out what I need to do with my life."</p><p>Unsatisfied with another business school job and hoping to fulfill Dr. Ponseti's wish to treat clubfoot in children worldwide, Colloredo-Mansfeld started <a href="https://www.miraclefeet.org/">MiracleFeet</a>. With the help of two cofounders, the nonprofit has been helping to bring the nonsurgical treatment for clubfoot to children globally for nine years now.</p><p>She approached it like any business problem, explained to investors the return on philanthropic investment, and spoke the language of business executives, said Colloredo-Mansfeld about starting the organization. </p><p>Uniquely positioned with a business background, "We've done things a typical NGO might shy away from," she added. For example, MiracleFeet has partnered with companies like <a href="https://miraclefeet.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/ClarksNewsletter.pdf">Clarks</a> and <a href="https://www.suncast.com/miracle-feet">Suncast</a> to innovate its technology.</p><p>Colloredo-Mansfeld is thankful for her degree and the network she built along the way. "For people leaning toward nonprofit and entrepreneurship," she said, "I think an MBA gives you a really good foundation."</p><h1>I propelled myself into a director role in the medical profession </h1><p>After 10 years of practicing as an ER doctor, Benjamin Lee started to notice a disconnect between the decisions hospital leaders were making and what was happening at the patient bedside. Lee questioned why clinicians weren't more involved in decision-making, and then looked at what degrees hospital leaders had. He decided that holding an MBA or MPH seemed like "an unspoken rule."</p><p>"You had to have some kind of management skills," Lee said.</p><p>Ultimately, Lee enrolled at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business in their <a href="https://www.fuqua.duke.edu/programs/weekend-executive-mba">executive MBA program</a>. He was initially attracted to Fuqua's <a href="https://centers.fuqua.duke.edu/hsm/">health sector management program</a>, but never ended up taking classes in it. Nonetheless, he feels that his degree and the network he made have been invaluable.</p><p>"Business school opens up doors that otherwise might be difficult to open," Lee said.</p><p>At Fuqua, Lee met classmates who helped him start a company to facilitate patient transfer via cloud-based software. During his customer discovery phase, Lee spoke with a healthcare services company called <a href="https://adpt.com/">Adeptus Health</a>, to see if it might be interested in his product.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Benjamin Lee</span></p><p class="caption">Benjamin Lee.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Adeptus was in charge of staffing for a management role at a hospital operations organization called <a href="https://www.dignityhealth.org/">Dignity Health</a>. According to Lee, "the guy [on the phone] said jokingly … it seems like you're a fit." He invited Lee to take the position, and Lee accepted.</p><p>He shelved his startup, and is now overseeing emergency departments in the Phoenix market at Dignity Health as the facility medical director and and regional medical officer - the kind of position that originally motivated him to seek out an MBA.</p><p>Lee advised MBA students to figure out what their strengths are in business school, but in terms of a career, keep an open mind - because "one opportunity may lead to another."</p><h1>I bounced from public policy to working at Sweetgreen headquarters in search of a people-facing role </h1><p>When it comes to his career, Parker Sheedy's willingness to put himself out there has been the key to his success.</p><p>Throughout college, Sheedy cold-called his way into internships first in British Parliament, and then with the Premier of Bermuda. After working as a consultant one year out of college, he used this tactic once again - this time to get a job at the White House under Barack Obama.</p><p>"I managed to find somewhere online … the switchboard number [for the White House]," Sheedy said. He still has that number memorized.</p><p>He worked there for almost five years, managing business relationships as a confidential assistant for the Under Secretary of International Trade, and eventually as a special assistant and associate director for the Secretary of Commerce.</p><p>When the Obama administration finished in 2015, Sheedy had to decide what to do next. He contemplated public policy programs, but eventually enrolled at Harvard Business School.</p><p><em><strong>Read more: </strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-into-harvard-business-school-according-to-admissions-2019-7">Here's exactly what it takes to get accepted into Harvard Business School, according to 5 grads and the managing director of admissions</a></em></p><p>"DC has no shortage of policy people, so I thought business school could be a great asset for me" Sheedy noted. Additionally, he had gotten a taste of business school years prior when he attended Stanford's Summer Institute for General Management Program.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Parker Sheedy</span></p><p class="caption">Parker Sheedy.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>When Sheedy started at Harvard, he had no idea what he would do after graduation, but was moved by a class called Authentic Leadership Development (ALD). He remembers one of his classmates in ALD calling him "the LEGO builder," because he loved to connect people and build on those relationships.</p><p>After graduating in 2018, Sheedy found a job where he could do just that - as an associate in the office of the CEO at Sweetgreen in Los Angeles. He recently left this role to once again pursue a position where government and policy are involved, but is eager to stay in a people-facing role where he can use his social skills.</p><p>For other MBAs looking to find their paths, the best lesson Sheedy has learned is "to be patient, and not be afraid to try new things and not like them."</p><h1>I put myself on the track to the C-suite in the sports industry</h1><p>The sports fan that she is, Teresa Naff always knew she wanted to go to USC - where she was rejected for college. In fact, when Naff applied to executive MBA programs, <a href="https://www.marshall.usc.edu/">USC's Marshall School of Business</a> was the only one on her list. </p><p>Luckily, she got in, and it was the perfect program for her. She was able to learn from and work closely with David Carter, the executive director of <a href="https://news.usc.edu/tag/sports-business-institute/">the Sports Business Institute</a>. Carter offered Naff great opportunities, such as a meeting with Manchester United's staff and consulting on a project for the NFL Players Association.</p><p>While Naff had studied marketing in college and already worked for Fox Sports, NBC, and the Oakland Raiders, she's always had her eye on joining the C-suite and knew an MBA could help her get there.  </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Teresa Naff</span></p><p class="caption">Teresa Naff.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>One of the most valuable, yet unexpected things Naff got out of business school was learning about herself.</p><p>"When I played sports I would always be the captain on the team," she said. "Whenever we would do things internally [at work] I would always be the one leading it, but never knew why."</p><p>Through a class called Leadership and Executive Development, Naff uncovered her innate capabilities and motivators. She learned she was a natural leader. </p><p>Today, she is the associate director of sports brand marketing at Ticketmaster, and is just getting started. "My goal in the past was to be the CMO of the 49ers, and now I think that's too small," Naff said about her future plans.</p><p>"Take advantage of being a student" because people are more likely to respond to informational interview requests from that position, Naff advised to prospective MBA candidates.</p><h1>I opened my own clothing store after years of toying with my love for retail</h1><p>Brooke Richman's first experience with retail was at age five, when she came up with the idea for "Brooke's Looks Fine Department Stores."  </p><p>Once she graduated from college and took a job as a sales and trading Analyst at Citibank, it seemed natural for her to cover retail companies. But Richman soon decided the grueling hours of banking were not for her, and became a buyer for Theory and Helmut Lang. </p><p>At Theory, she had the opportunity to visit different retailers. It was on these site visits that Richman started to work directly with customers and realized she had a passion for selling. However, she also loved the idea of working with a variety of brands and saw a gap in the market.</p><p>"Besides Intermix … there were no longer any boutiques in the city [of New York] that sold a variety of different brands and also had very hands-on customer service," Richman said.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Courtesy of Brooke Richman</span></p><p class="caption">Brooke Richman.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>From then on, Richman knew she wanted to open her own store. It didn't hurt that both her father and brother were also entrepreneurs and had told her "you always want to be your own boss." But Richman was only 25 at that point and knew she had more to learn, so she decided to get an MBA.</p><p>Eager to stay in New York City, Richman attended Columbia Business School, where she could write her business plan for course credit. Keeping her eye on the goal of opening her own boutique, she graduated from Columbia in May of 2013, got an LLC in June, and hired her first employee in September of that same year - with the help of private investors.</p><p><em><strong>Read more: </strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-into-columbia-business-school-advice-from-admissions-alumni">Here's exactly what it takes to get accepted into Columbia Business School, according to 3 alumni and the director of admissions</a></em></p><p><a href="http://www.coopandspree.com/">Coop &amp; Spree</a>, named after Richman's two lively childhood golden retrievers, is a boutique in the Nolita neighborhood of New York City that sells a variety of emerging brands for women and kids. In addition to working on the floor and running the business side of her store, Richman interviews candidates for the Columbia Business School as an alumni ambassador.</p><p>For hopeful entrepreneurs, she advised that "if you have the drive … and are dedicated and hard-working … that's more important than having any kind of finance background."</p><p><em>Alana Pockros is a Brooklyn-based freelance journalist. Her local and national reporting has appeared in places like Greenpointers, Kaiser Health News, CNN, and NPR. She holds a bachelor's degree in political science and predictive health from Emory University. You can reach her by email at apockros@gmail.com and follow her on Twitter at <a href="https://twitter.com/APockros">@Apockros</a>.</em></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/sneaky-ways-credit-card-companies-make-you-spend-more-money-2019-9">Sneaky ways credit card companies get you to spend more money</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

MBA grads of Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, and more share the unique career paths they took after business school - that didn't end in finance or consulting

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