Ep. 02 - Alumni Stories - Ama Biney

WBS Podcast #2 - Ama Biney

0:07
Welcome to the WPI Business School Podcast, where we catch up with incredible alumni from the Business School and hear how their experiences have shaped their careers and lives.

0:20
I am your host today.

0:23
My name is Adrian Hall Phillips.

0:24
I'm an associate professor of marketing and today I am excited to welcome AMA Baini.

0:31
Yes, thank you for having me.

0:33
It's always good to be on with you and talking with you.

0:35
And I think everyone knows, you know how much I love WPI.

0:38
So anytime I have the opportunity to talk about my experience or know how to improve the experience for the next person, I'm always willing.

0:46
So thanks for having me.

0:48
Great.

0:49
AMA is an alumni with ABS degree in Management engineering.

0:55
AMA, what was your concentration?

0:57
I did operations management.

0:59
That's what I thought with an operations concentration.

1:02
And AMA is class of 2018, doesn't seem like it was that long ago.

1:07
But yes, currently AMA works at National Grid as a senior project control specialist.

1:14
AMA, it's so great to have you here.

1:17
Thank you.

1:18
Thank you.

1:19
OK, let's get started.

1:21
I want to talk to you about your journey to WPI.

1:26
How did you end up here?

1:28
How did you end up in management engineering with the operations concentration?

1:34
Yeah, So it's funny actually.

1:35
So I'm born and raised in Worcester.

1:38
You drive by WPI all the time, wherever you're going.

1:41
Depending.

1:42
Actually, my first experience at WPI, I believe it was the summer, either going into 5th or 6th grade.

1:48
My mom signed me up for a summer camp at WPI.

1:52
And at first I was like, bummed out.

1:54
I'm a big sports girl.

1:55
I always like to be like running around outside.

1:57
And I was like, you know, like, I don't want to spend all day inside.

2:00
What are we going to be doing all this stuff?

2:02
And it was actually a really cool camp.

2:04
I had my own mentor, she was a graduate student at the time.

2:08
She took me through a project for it was either a week or two weeks.

2:12
And I got to present it, have one of the poster boards that the students create.

2:16
And it was a cool experience.

2:17
And I think it was my first hands on STEM experience.

2:21
I grew up going to Girls Inc as well, but this was my first like full on STEM experience and I always thought that was pretty cool.

2:28
And that was the first time I realized, oh, there's this cool College in my town that you can go to.

2:34
And I think as I grew older, became a teenager, I thought I wanted to go super far away from home.

2:40
And I thought after choosing WPI, I realized how wrong I was in that regard.

2:45
I was recruited to WPI to play basketball and softball.

2:48
And then just like understanding the type of degree that I could graduate with, it really became a no brainer after that until I got to WPII, knew my brain was more management, project management type, speed.

3:03
So I knew I wanted something within the Business School.

3:05
And management engineering is perfect because you compare any type of engineering with that.

3:10
And I found that operations fit with me best at the time and that's how I got to that major.

3:16
But again, so it's just funny to see 1213 years old coming to actuality at age 18.

3:22
So that was really cool.

3:25
I think that's amazing.

3:27
I was also one of those kids in fifth grade who met a chemical engineer for one of the companies in my hometown.

3:35
And I was like, oh, I want to do that.

3:37
So I, too, was looking at how to do all the things starting at that age and realizing I really liked engineering.

3:45
So I'm engineering and business now.

3:47
OK, So did you have a fair professor?

3:52
I don't know if I had a specific favorite.

3:54
I obviously got to attend one of your classes that was really great, a marketing course, but I definitely had professors I think that stood out to me in their coursework, whether it was challenging me or making it feel fun and different.

4:08
One of the first professors I came across as Professor Goulet in my first Celt class.

4:13
He was always fun and exciting professor with economics.

4:16
That course challenged me and he was always really nice and office hours and offering support and things like that.

4:23
I always thought that I wasn't very creative.

4:27
So taking your marketing classes for me was really cool in the sense that business can be about to consumer in that consumer behavior course for me was really eye opening.

4:36
I know Professor Conrad Renata Conrad, one of her courses was super challenging for me and I was, I can't remember if I got AB or an A, but I was very proud of myself for taking me into the end of that class.

4:47
So there's that for, you know, so many great professors at WPI, and a lot of them stand out to me even seven years later.

4:55
Jeez.

4:55
As you say that from 2018.

4:57
But yeah, so many different courses that you're able to take to challenge you, what piques your interests.

5:02
So, yeah, I don't know if I had a specific favorite, but definitely a good array.

5:07
Oh, I love to hear that.

5:08
Not just because you liked my class, but in general, Yeah.

5:13
OK.

5:13
At WPI, we have a lot of tradition, right?

5:16
Particularly when you're talking about the institution itself and some of the things that undergrads have done over the decades.

5:24
Is there any tradition that has stuck with you?

5:29
It is funny, like I said, being from Worcester and still living in Worcester right now, I feel like I'm on campus a fair amount, whether it's different alumni events, games or what have you.

5:39
And anytime I'm on the quad, I still find myself walking around the seal and I tell my fiance all the time, I know if you step on that you have to go touch gothy and things like that.

5:48
So that that has still stuck with me.

5:52
Just like little shortcuts I would take, like hanging out in the campus Senator.

5:56
We were actually at the men's basketball NCAA game a few weeks ago, and I took him through the campus center, and I was showing him all my favorite little spots.

6:05
There's always things that are near and dear to my heart that I feel like definitely I still won't step on this seal for whatever reason.

6:12
I still feel like it's bad luck.

6:13
But yeah.

6:14
And those are still sort of things that stay with me from WBI.

6:18
It totally is.

6:19
I don't step on the seal.

6:20
And I didn't even go here.

6:21
And I'm like, no way.

6:22
Yeah.

6:24
If I heard you say fiance.

6:26
Yes.

6:27
Yeah.

6:27
I, we are getting married this September.

6:30
We're really excited.

6:31
Yeah.

6:32
We got engaged December 2023.

6:34
So it's been a little while.

6:36
So we're definitely getting down to it.

6:38
About 5 months ago now.

6:39
Yeah, we're really excited.

6:41
Congratulations.

6:43
Thank you.

6:44
Thank you.

6:46
OK.

6:46
All right.

6:47
So you've been at National Grid for a while and didn't you have an intern?

6:52
Did you work with Hanover or?

6:55
Yes, I was at Hanover Insurance, yes.

6:57
OK.

6:57
And then did you work at Raytheon also?

7:02
Yes, I was at United Technologies before it became, they merged with Raytheon.

7:08
Was that a Raytheon subsidiary for about two years and then moved on to National Grid?

7:14
OK, so how did the MGE program prepare you for your role at National Grid or at United Technologies slash Raytheon?

7:24
Yeah, so my first job outside of WPI was a rotational program.

7:30
So it was 3/8 month rotations and just WPI as a whole.

7:34
The seven week firms really helps with those eight-month rotations because it showed me how to make an impact in a short amount of time.

7:42
You have seven weeks to Start learning materials, 3 1/2 weeks in you have midterms, three more weeks later you have final.

7:49
So that's what's so great about WPI.

7:52
It teaches you how to excel in a fast-paced environment.

7:56
And that's something I took on to those roles because in those rotational programs, you're trying to prove to three different, different people, this is what I can do, this is who I am and this is what I've learned.

8:07
And coming from WPI and even in your classes, almost every single class I took, I had some sort of group project that you had to produce at the end of it.

8:15
So that structure, that project based environment that WPI prides itself on really helps me in the real world even today, but especially just graduating from college.

8:28
I like to hear that because sometimes when I'm explaining to 1st year students, you know, how the terms ebb and flow, like we know how a term works.

8:37
We know that C term is no matter what year it is, right?

8:40
It's just because it's C term that the way of the three weeks midterms, 3 weeks finals and just really getting that through.

8:47
So I appreciate that that is still something that you think about and that's still happening today with our first year students.

8:54
Good.

8:54
Absolutely.

8:55
OK.

8:56
You talked about how you enjoyed my class and there's some things in there about consumer behavior that you are using today and you can think about how those prepared you for your roles.

9:07
Is there any other like skill or lesson that you've learned at WPI that you still use today?

9:15
I think back when I was at WPI, Lori Leschin was the president.

9:20
I think it was her first year and one of the things that stuck out with me and her address to our classes, Never be afraid to ask for help.

9:27
Don't be afraid to ask questions.

9:29
You can fall so far behind just being stubborn, right?

9:32
And I'm naturally stubborn person.

9:34
That's something you really have to learn.

9:36
Whether it's your first job, starting a new role, a promotion, whatever it is, you can never be afraid to ask a question.

9:43
Someone's always going to know something that you might not know, and that's okay.

9:48
Like you're going to learn and I'm going to know something that the next person doesn't know about.

9:52
I think that at WPI, do the work, go to class, ask questions.

9:56
That's like a staple here.

9:58
I think that's important in life too.

10:00
Whatever it is in your personal life, your work life, ask the question.

10:04
Don't just do at it by yourself and fall behind and get frustrated.

10:08
Because I think work and life, there should be a balance and there's going to be times where you're frustrated or what have you, but it should be you should be happy and asking questions and getting help is one way to get to that happiness.

10:22
So I think that's something that I've taken and I try to take in every day.

10:28
We still talk about those 9 words.

10:31
Let's see, go to class, do the work, ask for help.

10:34
Yeah, we still talk about those.

10:36
And when first years come in, we give them that same like vibe, that same speech about these are things that you must actually do right in order to really thrive.

10:47
So that's good to know.

10:49
All right.

10:50
Has there ever been a moment where at work one day randomly, you thought, huh, what that professor told me was correct?

10:59
Or that piece of advice?

11:00
I didn't know what it meant then, but it is very applicable to right now.

11:08
I think, and I'm forgetting the professor's name, but it was a course centered around optimization on the shop floor.

11:17
I got a trap professor.

11:19
Trap Professor Towner.

11:22
It was Johnson telling her it was a woman.

11:25
And I'm forgetting your name.

11:27
That's what Johnson probably her.

11:28
Yeah.

11:29
And we're working around, like, lean manufacturing, like redoing a shop floor and things like that.

11:35
And one of my roles in that, one of my rotations was a cell leader on the shop floor.

11:40
I'm responsible for union employees.

11:43
And we're trying to optimize the shop floor.

11:45
And you try to do it the logical way, like with math and what should make sense.

11:50
One of the things she taught us is you have to talk to the people that are actually going to be using the layout and get their input.

11:57
And that's something that I tried to bring into that process.

12:00
And people came up to me and they were just like, thanks for getting my input because I work this job every day and this is a pain point.

12:07
And I got to get my voice heard.

12:09
So I think that was really important.

12:11
And I thought that was really cool that I got to use something in theory and practice in real life.

12:15
So that's definitely something I remember being like, oh, like, that's a moment right there.

12:20
Yeah, yeah.

12:22
Don't you love when that happens?

12:24
Yeah.

12:25
Yeah.

12:26
All right, Let's have a little fun.

12:29
If you could go back and give your college self one piece of advice, what would it be?

12:38
I feel like especially in college, I'm hopefully I've gotten better at it.

12:41
Now I'm stuck to what I knew.

12:43
I try to do things that I know I was already good at.

12:47
I would tell myself to just like branch out even more than you think you are because when you go to college, there are so many people from so many different places that have experiences, They're diverse, they've done really cool things.

13:01
So just really try to branch out and talk to new people, whether it's in class, it's easy to, you have friends and it's easy to work with them in those groups when you have the chance to try to branch out because so many impressive people go to WPI or wherever you're going to be going to college.

13:17
And it's just important to hear people because when you get to the work workforce, you know you're going to be working with people that are different from you have different experience this.

13:26
So I think it's really important just to like bridge out and understand, make different connections.

13:31
You never know that networking, what that networking opportunity will produce.

13:37
Yeah.

13:38
So what about a piece of advice on how to thrive at WPI?

13:45
Yeah, I think just like trying to stay ahead, right?

13:48
I think professors are very organized here.

13:52
You're going to get that Silva, that's going to lay out what's going to be done.

13:57
Take a look at that, try to get ahead, see what you can do so that you can have time to take breaks.

14:03
As challenging as it is at WPI, there are definitely different opportunities to have fun.

14:08
There's so many different clubs and what have you, and you want to make sure you have that right balance so that you can do your work when you need to and you can find things that make you happy when you need to.

14:17
So just try to stay ahead as much as possible to create as much balance as possible.

14:24
That's the advice I'm going to take for myself.

14:26
Try to stay ahead.

14:28
Yeah, as much as possible.

14:30
Let's see.

14:31
So if you can remember, what was one of your favorite spots on campus to chill or to study?

14:40
I would say definitely the campus center and like the student athlete lounge outside of the coach's office there, the rec center.

14:50
I thought that was that.

14:51
I think that was something either my junior senior year that they started and that was a cool area because you just saw different people going there to study and I just was a cool place to gather.

15:01
And so yeah, that or the campus center or sometimes the locker room, really wherever you can fit it in.

15:07
Sometimes I like to separate my room or my apartment or my dorm from work.

15:14
So I'd like to keep them separate.

15:16
If you can't tell, I'm all about having good boundaries When it's time to chill, I like to chill, and I don't like having my work in that same place.

15:25
So physically having those differentiating spas was important for me.

15:30
I really like that, especially on our campus now, I know we have this culture of seven week terms and go.

15:38
We're also trying to take a step back.

15:40
We're also thinking about mental health and Wellness and trying to impress upon students that yes, you are learning the weeks to go fast, but you need to take some time for yourself, right?

15:51
What is it that you do to take time for yourself?

15:54
You have certain hobbies or certain habits?

15:59
Yeah, I love the Peloton.

16:01
I'm a big Peloton girl, so I definitely do that till physically get something out.

16:05
I do love TVI love watching this show, whether it's something I've seen two or three times before, I do love that.

16:12
And I'm a big treat girl, so I love ice cream.

16:16
Anytime I can fit an ice cream in, that definitely brings a joy to me.

16:19
So those three things really help me get through a week or a month or whatever it is.

16:25
OK, So what are you watching right now?

16:27
What show?

16:29
I I feel like I'm like re watching a lot right now, but I just, I love Abbott Elementary.

16:35
It's in season right now, so that's definitely my go to.

16:38
It comes out on Wednesdays, I watch it the next day on Thursday.

16:41
So that's definitely a big one for me right now.

16:44
It's just, it just makes me like literally laugh out loud.

16:47
I love that show.

16:48
Yeah, yeah, that's one of my favorites too.

16:50
Sometimes my husband and I will wait a week, so we'll have two to watch back-to-back because you're like just a little bit more.

16:57
Yeah, exactly, exactly.

16:59
I hear that.

17:00
Yeah.

17:00
I'm a big TV person too.

17:02
And so like, I got to have a show that I'm into because it allows me to put my brain to rest and only be focusing on that.

17:10
And that I can do without so much stress.

17:13
I'm the same way.

17:14
OK.

17:14
So is there, I don't know.

17:17
Do you have a hack or anything that you developed while you were here WPI that you now use in your professional life?

17:28
See, in order to remember important things like obviously we have our laptops and things like that, but something about writing notes in a notebook was super helpful for me.

17:38
If I was studying PowerPoint or whatever, I would write it out on a notebook and I feel like I still find myself doing that when I'm in a meeting or trying to understand something.

17:47
I write it out on a post it or my notebook and then I'm putting it into my laptop after so it relays in my brain.

17:54
I think that that is something thing I feel has helped me still today.

17:59
OK, good.

18:00
So I have one other question and then I'm going to do some rapid fire questions that are like quick answers.

18:07
I would love to know what advice would you give students considering to study at the Business School?

18:15
Yes, I think something that's super for it and that Norm Wilkinson, who's no longer at WPI, but something he always said that really resonated to me.

18:24
Whether you are an electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, biomedical, like whatever it is, at some point you're going to need to understand whatever business you're working for, how it works, how they make money, how they make a profit, how you get a bonus at the end of the day, and whether you take one course or you do a minor, it's super important to understand the business side of anything.

18:48
So it's always going to be beneficial.

18:50
Whether you do management engineering, whether you take the minor or whether you just take a personal finance course, it's really important to at least consider it.

18:58
There's in your course load, there's definitely space for you to fit it in, and you never know how much you'll take to it.

19:04
So definitely take something.

19:06
And I think you should join the Business School.

19:10
Absolutely.

19:11
Thank you for that.

19:14
All right, so I've got a couple of like, rapid fire.

19:18
Don't think too hard.

19:19
Any questions?

19:20
OK.

19:21
Yeah.

19:22
All right.

19:22
Coffee or tea?

19:25
Tea.

19:26
Sunsets or thunderstorms?

19:30
Sunsets, dogs or cats?

19:33
Dogs.

19:35
OK, Crimson or grey?

19:38
Oh, probably grey because I wear that a little more.

19:42
Yep.

19:43
Are you an early bird or a night owl?

19:48
I would say neither.

19:49
I'm like 10:00 in the morning is my sweet spot.

19:54
Yes, I love that my I can't function before 10 being honest.

20:01
All right, do you have a favorite or author?

20:08
I'm not tied to one person.

20:09
I love the romance genre.

20:11
I like the feel good story.

20:13
I would say OK, good.

20:16
Favorite artists or one of your favorite artists really into Burn a Boy, Afrobeats, R&B, anything in that genre, I think.

20:30
OK, And I've got one more.

20:34
What is your dream vacation destination?

20:41
So anywhere tropical that has a beach with some frozen drinks is my destination, I would say.

20:48
Is that what you're going to do for your honeymoon?

20:51
Yeah, we're headed to Carousel, Jamaica last year.

20:55
So just trying to hit different places, but that's definitely my vibe.

21:00
That's amazing.

21:01
Again, congratulations.

21:02
I'm so happy for you and your partner.

21:05
It's going to be lovely.

21:06
Lovely time and Curacao and of course, you'll have great weather and all the things for your wedding day.

21:12
Yes, thank you so much.

21:14
Oh, you're welcome.

21:15
It was so fun catching up with you.

21:17
I know I haven't seen you in a bit of time, but I knew you were around.

21:21
So it's really good to see you and I want to thank our listeners who enjoyed this episode.

21:27
Don't forget to subscribe and share it with someone who might be be considering a WPI Business School program for the next step in their learning journey.

21:36
Until next time, Please remember STEM plus business equals impact.