Emily Allen is a woman founded on pure perseverance. She graduated from Michigan State in 2018 with both an undergraduate and master’s degree in marketing. That same year she moved across the country three times before ultimately landing in London to work for Google — amid a pandemic.
Early on in her college career, she would attend career fairs. Feeling overwhelmed and out of place was consuming, but she told herself to be bold rather than surrendering to those feelings. That sentiment would go on to define her future.
At one career fair, Emily approached a General Motors recruiter. She knew her resume was light compared to those around her, but she was confident enough in herself and knew she was just as capable as everyone else.
“I have nothing on my resume, I have no work experience, but I’m going to work harder than everyone in line behind me and everyone you already talked to in front of me,” Allen told the recruiter. She scored the interview, though not the job. However, she did not let that stop her.
After working hard to build up her resume the following year, Emily sent it to the same recruiter. Again, she got an interview; but this time, she earned the internship.
Emily decided to leave her internship at GM after nearly a year. She did not have any other job offers lined up, but she felt it was time to take a chance to start something new.
During welcome week at school the following year, Emily ran into some other Spartans. They started talking and ended up spending the rest of that day together. One of the other students convinced her to join his team for a startup app called One Sound. She ended up doing marketing for them and worked in the MSU Hatch. Emily spent a lot of time there and got to know the Burgess team.
After the startup eventually fell through, she then started working with Lori Fischer as a marketing consultant.
Many of her peers and classmates grew up in more advantaged areas, such as Metro Detroit and New York, giving those students opportunities.
“I didn’t have that,” she reflects.
But the disadvantages fueled her ambition to work harder. Her job at the Hatch would eventually give her the connections she needed to be successful in the marketing world.
“I was never sad leaving work at the Hatch. Such a creative environment and being surrounded by like-minded people meant I’d found a home where I could explore my interests, hone my skills, and polish my abilities. I learned to think about problems in a different way.”
Emily adds that the Burgess Institute is full of authentic people who have become a family to her.
“Optimism was not a hard thing to come by at Burgess. You just needed someone to tell you, Yes, this is possible, and right there is an army of people standing behind you to help try to make your dreams possible. It was magical. They believed in me before I believed in myself. They believed I could be something and be someone and do great things before I believed it.”