How to stand out with BComm student Jaehyun Woo

Imagine this for a second: walking into a boardroom of a major company and presenting recommendations to no less than 20 of their top executives. 

Does it sound scary? Thrilling? Both?

Current BComm student Jaehyun Woo, majoring in supply chain management and marketing, doesn’t have to imagine it. She lived it…in the boardroom of Princess Auto. 

The meeting wasn’t a part of a school project. It was all her own…the result of savvy networking that led to her being invited to the boardroom. 

“It was definitely my first time doing a presentation in front of a corporation, let alone that many people,” says Woo. 

“I had initially expected when they asked me to come present that it would be like maybe five, seven people. But then I got this email and it was forwarded to like 25 people. And I was like, ‘I hope I'm not presenting to all of them.’”

But she did—and represented the Asper School of Business well, impressing a top executive who immediately cued up a celebratory email to Asper Dean Dr. Bruno Silvestre. 
 

Business: a hub for diverse interests

Jaehyun grew up in Korea until she was 6, when her family moved to Winkler, Manitoba. 
She would certainly admit that her interests are all over the map. In life, it’s beauty brands, video games, and the film industry. In school, initially, it was chemistry. 

She took a gap year after high school, which she spent at home in Korea trying to figure out her path. A few conversations convinced her that for all her different interests, business might be the best path to take in order to dip into all of them. 

Now in her third year at the Asper school, she has found her way in two related, but definitely different fields: supply chain and marketing. 
 

Exchange: a hub for diverse people

In her second year at the Asper School, Jaehyun was back in Seoul, Korea, for two semesters on exchange at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU). A key experiential learning opportunity offered by the Asper School, she discovered more about diversity. Not just about diversity of interest, but diversity of people. 

Surrounded by other exchange students from across the globe, she couldn’t help but notice how their varied interests, skills, and superpowers actually made everyone better. 

“I think it fully clicked when I got the chance to meet that many diverse people and see, oh, ‘there's so much value that a diverse perspective can have on your outlook,’” she said.

How to stand out

So how did we get to the boardroom? Well, it started with a class assignment, a group project where students interview high-ranking executives. Jaehyun’s group connected with Princess Auto.

And the initial interview with their executives was a connection in the truest sense of the word. Jaehyun quickly came to admire their company values, which had an emotional core demonstrating real care for people.

“I thought that working in an environment where other people know each other and talk to each other and care about each other would be an ideal environment to work in,” said Woo. 

With her growing interest in the company and a desire to stand out, she attended one of her first networking events, the Asper CSA’s Tour de Commerce event. At this event, students get to tour the offices of different companies. 

One stop on Jaehyun’s tour was Princess Auto, where she reconnected with the executives and told them about her side research. She already had a presentation prepared to back it up. 

Looking back on her whirlwind adventure to the Princess Auto boardroom, Woo felt she successfully stood out. Her strategic thinking hit the mark, and she wowed the room with her creatively designed presentation (Jaehyun counts graphic design as one of her many interests).  

But she doesn’t feel that she played a part or “hustled” her way into it. She stood out by being herself, and she encourages her fellow students to do so, too.

“If you're doing something just because you think it's the right way to do it, then you're never going to feel fully confident in that because it's not really representing how you think and how you feel,” she said.