Jana Brzovski has been busy. Between juggling a full business course load, and serving as the dedicated president of Her Campus Marist, one would wonder how she has time to do anything else.
Well, she’s found the time–and she’s used it to make a major impact on the Marist campus.
Jana is the co-founder of a new and important club on campus, “Women in Business.” She also serves as the official CEO of this group, working alongside her fantastic “C-Suite” board to create a space where women in business can network, discover opportunities, and feel confident in their career ventures.
I spoke to Jana to learn more about her experience as a business student, and to discover how “Women in Business” came about.
HC: What’s your class year and major/minor?
JB: I’m in the class of 2021, and I’m majoring in Business Administration with concentrations in Finance and International Business, with a minor in Economics.
HC: Why did you choose to major in business?
JB: I feel very comfortable in this field and it comes naturally to me. Taking the Financial Literacy course in my high school sophomore year was my very first experience, it was a new and different area for me, and I enjoyed it a lot – that’s how I started getting interested in business. I also took a bunch of other business related electives and I felt more and more confident that I would choose business as my major.
HC: How would you describe your experience as a business major?
JB: It is definitely a very positive one; the School of Management offers many unique opportunities that I’ve used to develop myself as a professional in this field. When you add the great professors of the School of Management, the course selection, all of the clubs and extracurricular activities that are offered here at Marist, my summer internships… all of that sums up into a wonderful college experience.
The past spring semester I took Business Law I and everything I learned in that class gave me a leg up in my internship with the Internal Audit Department at Tiffany & Co over the summer. Internal audit, in general, deals with a lot of regulation and legal jargon that you have to understand in order to complete the work, and this course helped me excel there. Another highlight is that through an event organized by the School of Management I was able to meet and interact with Alan Murray, the CEO of Fortune at the Marist NYC Executive Center last semester. Additionally, I am involved in a wide variety of clubs and extracurricular activities: ambassador of the School of Management, Student Assistant to the Associate Dean of the School of Management, Dr. Joanne Gavin, President of Her Campus Marist, and the newest and probably the most exciting – Co-Founder and CEO of Women in Business. I truly have nothing but positive things to say about my experience as a business major and that is the sentiment I am confident will continue for the rest of my time here.
HC: Where do you see yourself in the next 10 years? What are your aspirations within this field?
JB: I definitely see myself starting out as an analyst for a company that has a large global presence. This summer, I will be a Global Finance and Business Management Summer Analyst at JPMorgan Chase and this experience should help me solidify my standpoint about the line of business I see myself working in.
HC: What is your class environment like?
JB: Now that I am taking more business classes that are focused on my concentrations, my classes are smaller in size which is something I absolutely love about Marist because it allows me to form strong relationships with my professors. Additionally, in almost all of my classes, there is a group project assigned so I am able to learn how to work collaboratively, just as I would in any post-grad position.
HC: Do you ever feel that you are experiencing sexism when trying to advance in this industry?
JB: I have to yet chart my path in the world of business and my experience so far is very little, but it seems the financial industry is still male-dominated and there is a multitude of stereotypes surrounding that fact. I, for one, have never experienced any sexism so far and I feel strong that gender is not a relevant factor to get hired or get an internship. I cheer the progress that more and more women are making in both getting employed in the financial field and getting the same pay as their male counterparts.
HC: What’s “Women in Business?”
JB: Women in Business is a brand new club under the School of Management that aims to be a resource for women who are studying business to expand their knowledge and network as well as encourage them to use their voices and take risks in both their professional and personal lives. We want to create a space where women in the School of Management can connect with others who are in the same shoes as them.
HC: How did it originate?
JB: Since I started at Marist, I had wondered about a club on campus aimed at women who are business majors. At the beginning of last semester, I had a thoughtful conversation with our faculty advisors Professor Jay Pantaleo and Dr. Joanne Gavin and we all agreed that having a club of this sort in the School of Management would be beneficial. I shared this idea with four of my fellow students Megan Konfino, Julia Mangan, Caitlin Little, and Francesca Pagano who got very excited about it and we all agreed to form a founding board to get this venture started. And voila! Marist Women in Business was born!
HC: What was your official role in creating this organization, and what is your official title now as a board member?
JB: All five of us agreed that the organization should emulate a hierarchy in line with the corporate structures in the real business world: the Women In Business Board is known as the “C-Suite” and my title as a member of the C-Suite is “CEO”. My responsibility within the organization is to ensure the C-Suite operates in an efficient, effective, and collaborative way in achieving its goals and agenda. Additionally, I serve as a point person between the C-Suite and our faculty advisors and any guests we may have on the other hand.
HC: When is the first meeting? How can people join?
JB: While we already had our first meeting this past Tuesday, February 4th, we have many more planned in the coming semester. On February 18th, we will be hosting an internship panel comprised of current students who have had prior internship experiences at a variety of companies across all areas of business.
Joining Women in Business is very simple: email me at jana.brzovski1@marist.edu, or DM us on Instagram @wibmarist.