17A – Elevator Pitch No. 2

I was surprised at how dynamic I could have been but was unable to be. I thought that the feedback I received were all helpful and none were outright wrong or silly.

I tried to be more dynamic in my presentation without being “too much.” I tried finding the right balance between making sure that the information got to the audience without being too boring.

https://youtu.be/tQfF9ne05PU

18A – Create a Customer Avatar

My customer is in their mid teens to their mid thirties with great interest in fashion.
They may be interested in Korean culture (K-pop, K-dramas, etc) and therefore are
becoming interested in Korean fashion. They like experimenting with clothes and are
interested in Korean streetwear, casual wear, and cute clothes.

Growing up Korean American, I was always interested in learning about not only my
American culture, but also about my Korean culture. And in doing so, I became interested
in the sense of fashion Korean people portrayed. I wanted to be able to provide that sense
of style to people overseas that cannot access the clothes that are sold in Korea exclusively.

16A –What’s Your Secret Sauce?

1) Describe five ways in which you think you have human capital that is truly unique. What is it about you, exactly, that makes you different? Write this up in a detailed list.

• My upbringing in America with Korean immigrant parents
• Growing up in an area where I was constantly around various different cultures and people of various racial backgrounds
• Having the freedom since a child to explore anything I had interest in; allowing me to grow artistically and think differently
• My approach to new things; allowing me to embrace and come forth with an open mind to whatever I am about to face
• Being adventurous; which helps me learn things without being scared and wanting to grow in what I am passionate about

2) Interview the five people who know you the best. Ask them what they think makes you different -- remember, focus on your knowledge, skills, abilities, emotions -- in other words, your human capital. Try to stay away from discussing your other types of capital (such as who you know). Record each interview. In your post, please post each interview, as well as a two-three sentence summary of each interview, explaining what your key takeaways are. There is no time limit on these recordings. As long as you cover the information asked for above, that's all you need to do.

Soundcloud interview link: https://soundcloud.com/search?q=challet%20jeong

Interview 1: She is my best friend and the one I’ve grown up with. She really knows me as much as I know her.

2 & 3: Regardless of the fact that both are my roommates and I’ve only known them for this semester, I’ve spent so much time with them; to the point where people think we are long term friends from home.

4: He is my brother and my one and only, favorite sibling. We are so different but we have also so many in common.

5: She was the only person I could call my best friend from high school that I could rely on for anything. If I needed someone, she was always there and is still there for me.

3) Reflect on the differences. How do you see yourself, and how do others see you? Are there differences in how you assess yourself compared to others? What do you think causes these differences? Do you think your interviewees are correct about you? Finally, going back to your list from part 1, would you make any corrections to the list? How?

I don’t think there are many differences in how I view myself and how others view me; I think this is because I don’t try to hide who I am with people and I am really open to being myself around anyone and everyone. Therefore, I think my interviewees are correct about me. I do not have any corrections to make on the list from question 1.

15A – Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

>Begin with alternative evaluation. In the last case exercise, you determined how customers sought information related to solving their need. The outcome of this step is to produce a set of alternatives. Customers pick from among this set of alternatives. In this step, your job is to figure out how they do their picking. Does price matter the most? Does quality? Does style? Is there more than one factor that is important to your customer segment?

From the interviews, more than price, quality and style matter the most to the customers. If they really like the clothing design and the quality of the clothing item is not cheap but is of higher grade, customers are willing to pay regardless of if there is a price increase. Also customers like when the style of clothing they want is exclusive in the sense of having a limited quantity or having the feeling of something that is their own. An additional factor is of the company’s background; what the company stands for and what the company’s morals are as well. Customers enjoy the sense of culture that the brand can create and provide.

>How/where do they buy? Elements of the actual transaction can help characterize your segment. Is your segment more likely to buy online or in a store? Are they more likely to use cash or will they finance the purchase? Etc. If this is a B2B purchase, who's involved in the purchase decision?

My segment is more likely to buy online because of the accessibility of not having to physically go to the actual store and because of the fact that they can buy clothes from the comforts of where ever they are. Two of the people I interviewed are so busy juggling work and school that they don’t have time to spare on leisure shopping at the mall. They are more likely to finance the purchase online because it is easy to save your card information and pay online; there is no long wait or line before making a purchase and the interviewees all did not carry cash at all or did carry but in small amounts for emergencies.

>Post-purchase evaluation. What matters most to your customers when they think back on the 'rightness' of the purchase? What helps them determine the purchase was a good idea? What sorts of things make them think a purchase was a bad idea?

If the clothing item arrives to their door and it makes them excited and when they put it on, it makes them feel good, then it helps determine that the purchase was a good idea. However, if the product arrives in poor condition or has many defects, then it can occur to the customer that the purchase was a bad idea.

>Draw conclusions. Based on what you know about this segment and what you learned in your interviews, how would you succinctly describe this segment in terms of alternative evaluation, purchase decision, and post-purchase evaluation?

A lot of factors go into customers’ evaluations of the products that the company is selling. Even though I am trying to sell clothes, for example, the design of the website can deter a customer. Or the lack of free shipping can stop a customer from buying what they have in their cart. This shows that companies cannot simply just focus on their product but have to focus on the entire experience that the customer goes through; from the initial entering of the website to receiving the item and trying it on.

14A – Halfway Reflection

1) Tenaciousness is a competency. What are the behaviors that you have used (or developed) to keep up with the requirements of this course?  

I tried doing my assignments ahead of time and set a specific date to do the work for this class.

2) Tenaciousness is also about attitude. Talk about a moment or two when you felt like "giving up." What pulled you through? Do you feel like you've developed a tenacious attitude during the past two months? What experience or experiences most contributed to this?

I felt like stopping when I felt overwhelmed with all of the work I had due along with my other classes and felt so drained from doing everything. I felt like despite falling a couple of times, I was able to bring myself up again and motivate myself to pull through this class.

3) Three tips. What are three tips you would offer next semester's student about (1) fostering the skills that support tenacity and (2) developing the 'tenacious mindset' ?

1. If you don’t know what study and working habits work for you, try a new tactic every week until you find the one that works for you
2. Talk to other people in the class or other people that are interested in listening to your idea and can discuss with you your plans
3. Ask questions if you need help; whether that be a mentor, a teacher, or a peer

13A – Reading Reflection No. 1

Shoe Dog by Phil Knight

1) You read about an entrepreneur:

• What surprised you the most? It surprised me how Knight hit the floor running and started his business right after a phone call.
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire? I admired how smart his actions were despite how reckless they might seem. He had an idea, and inspiration and just went for it because of his “what could I possibly lose” mentality.
• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire? There wasn’t anything that I didn’t admire. The story Knight had to share was so inspirational and a lot of the actions he took to start his business reminds me a lot of how I am acting to start the fashion brand of my dreams.
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it? Considering the fact that Knight was straight out of graduate school when he first started his company, he encountered setbacks and problems with his Japanese supplier and after they separated.

2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? Knight’s focus for the brand was so different than other people that started businesses. He didn’t start the business to make a lot of money or to become famous; he started it because he had an idea and wanted to see how it would play out.

3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you. I didn’t find anything that was really confusing.

4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why? How did you keep motivating yourself to continue the business despite setbacks? And what would you think have happened if Nike didn’t grow to be what it is today? I would ask these questions because they are questions I got curious about while reading this book. Also, they’re also questions I can learn from as well.

5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion? I think it did take a lot of hard work for the entrepreneur because it takes a lot to follow through when starting a company. Like Knight stated, “the cowards never started, the weak died along the way — that leaves us.”