Your Biggest Competitive Advantage Is Your Authentic Self feat. Takeya Green ‘22

[00:00] Intro: Welcome to Owl Have You Know, a podcast from Rice Business. This episode is part of our Pivot Series, where guests share stories of transformation in their lives and careers.

[00:12] Takeya: And, I don’t know, man, it’s like as soon as I got off that plane it was like, “Man, I like it here!”

[00:19] Scott: On today's episode of Owl Have You Know, I'm joined by Takeya Green, recent graduate of the full-time MBA program at Rice. Takeya shares her incredible journey from the chemical engineering lecture halls of a top-ranked program to the control rooms of world-scale chemical manufacturing facilities, and from NRG Stadium, cheering for the Houston, Texans, to now an investment banking career focused on clean energy. Takeya brought her energy and passion to Rice business as a JSA rep, admissions ambassador, sponsors chair for the Women in Leadership Conference Committee, Finance Association Social Chair, and the CMO of the M.A. Wright Fund. Try and keep up, as we unpack the experiences and perspectives that drive one of Rice Business' newest graduates.

Takeya, welcome to the show.

[01:06] Takeya: Thank you. I'm happy to be here.

[01:10] Scott: I'm really excited about our conversation today. There's lots of different things that we're going to talk about. I kind of wanted to just start from the beginning. Born and raised in Chicago, you went and got a chemical engineering degree at University of Illinois. Why chemical engineering? What kind of led you towards that undergraduate?

[01:29] Takeya: Believe it or not, it was, it was literally my parents, without them knowing. I always wanted to be... like, going through school, I was like, oh, I came home one day and I was like, "I think I want to be like a high school math teacher." And my mom's like, "Absolutely not. You're not going to make any money." She was like, "Pick something else." Like, I kid you not, it was like junior year of high school. It's like that time to start like thinking about your apps. She was like, "Pick something else." So, I was like, “I'm good at math. I like chemistry. Chemical engineering.”

[02:00] Scott: Well, I love it. I feel like I had the exact same experience. I think that your mom and my dad would have a funny conversation about it, because I wanted to be a chef, and my dad said, "Go do something that doesn't result in you living in my basement." And chemical engineering, it was. That's fantastic.

You went and got a chemical engineering degree. You started your career post-graduation at Dow Chemical. You spent a number of years with Dow. Dow, obviously, headquartered there in Midland, Michigan within striking distance of Chicago. I started my career at Dow as well. What drew you to the chemicals manufacturing world?

[02:38] Takeya: Honestly, it was just the luck of the draw. I just think that was divine intervention. When I picked chemical engineering, like, I did not know what that was. There's so many realms of it that I probably, still to this day, just still do not know. And so, the great thing about going to University of Illinois in Champaign Urbana is like it's a top engineering institution, kind of like how Rice is a prestigious institution. University of Illinois engineering, it was like top five at that moment when I went. So, when it came time to look for jobs, it was literally, we probably had like four career fairs just dedicated to us where we had hundreds of companies just there. And honestly, I just went to everyone that said they hired chemical engineers. I just went to everyone because I just wanted a job.

And I just... I first started at LyondellBasell was the first one. And so, like the next... when it came time, with my experience, I really liked what I did. So, I just went to Dow, you know, amongst others. I had other offers, of course, but I ended up doing Dow because I wanted to live in Houston. Like, I just... Houston has always been a city that, out of all the cities I ever went to, I just felt like I was supposed to be here. It's weird.

[04:00] Scott: No, I love that. And I want to dig into that a little bit. But I do want to ask one of the challenges for women in STEM careers, did you feel like there were any barriers or challenges along the way as you were pursuing that degree and pursuing a career in that space?

[04:17] Takeya: Oh, yeah, absolutely. It's so hard being like in the top quartile of like your race or your sex, like where you see mostly black people are, you'll see ‘em a lot as, like, nurses or, like, working at the grocery store, your, kind of, like, blue-collar jobs. And then, like, for women, you know, you'll say, oh, teacher or secretary. And so, to be at the top for both, at the time as a kid, you don't really realize, like, why you feel like you're struggling a little more than you…than others. And it's even harder because I don't think people understand that it's easier for you to, like, voice your opinion with someone if there's something that you can physically see you connect on. It was hard for me to just voice, like, "I don't understand this concept," or hard for me to voice, like, "That didn't make me feel good the way you said that to me."

I had barriers on both ends, both on my race and my sex. And it played out a lot because I was a production engineer. So, it's not like your other engineering jobs where you might be designing equipment and you're sitting, you know, in a big commercial building on your computer programs, like I'm working with, what people would call your behind the woods, the blue-collar type of America that, maybe, your typical person who might have lived in the city that you've never seen. You've seen the blue-collar in the city, but the blue-collar in, like, rural areas are vastly different. And that's the world I was plunged in.

[05:50] Scott: It's really interesting. I grew up in a small paper mill town, and chemical engineering was you were either a lumberjack or you worked in the mill. And so, chemical engineering, very similarly, I didn't know what it was. I kind of discovered that, from my perspective, it was like glorified plumbing, you know, going out in a plant and you're counting elbows and feet of pipe and, you know, all these things. And you're right, the workforce that's making that happen in a manufacturing facility, it's a fascinating group of people that do that kind of work. And a, and a production engineer, I mean, maybe just tell the audience or, you know, just what is kind of like a day in the life of a production engineer. You know, you're out in a, in a manufacturing facility, but what are some of the outcomes that you're trying to drive from that seat?

[06:35] Takeya: Yeah. So, a production engineer, you want to think, like for an example, let's say I'm a plant and all I produce is tires. Like, I produce this, call it rubber. I produce rubber. So, you'll have a meeting with your commercial team. And they're going to say, "Hey, for this month, this is how much rubber you have to produce." You go back to your team. You go on our equipment. You know, everything's automated in a chemical plant. So, if I'm making rubber, I got to go look at my plant on the schematics and say, how much do I have to make per day to make my commercial commitment? I go do that. Relay that to my team, my operators who operate the plant. So, hey, we got a plan. Let's make sure we hit these goals for the month.

Well, let's just say halfway through, a pump breaks. Now, I'm hauling ass, trying to get a pump back online, because if I don't, I don't make my commitment. So, a production engineer is your... basically, your middle man between a company who wants to sell products and the people able to make it. I'm the middle person to make it happen. So, not only do I have to speak in a language that is smart enough so that my research and development folks can understand what I'm talking about, to still be able to filter it to my operators who some of them don't even have a college degree. I can't talk about thermodynamics with someone who doesn't have a college degree. But also, I got to communicate why all these theoretical concepts and stuff, why they impact my plant, to the commercial team. Business folks don't know nothing about thermodynamics, you know. So, it's kind of like that I'm the center nucleus of getting a product out the door into a customer's hands.

[08:30] Scott: That's a wild environment. I mean, it's like you're saying, fast-paced. Like, there's so many things that are out of control. I guess from just, like, an advice standpoint, things that you learned, like what do you tell underrepresented female engineers that are out there? Like, what are some of the skills that you've learned that you felt helped make that environment effective for you?

[08:53] Takeya: Man, it took some time. I think what's different for me is that it wasn't until I started working. This is going to sound so stupid. I didn't know until I started working that people knew I was black. Like, when you're a kid, right, like your whole time, like you know you look different, but it, like... it doesn't, like, really hit you. It wasn't until it was my first internship in 2011, LyondellBasell. It was the summer. You know, summer's hot, operating an ethylene cracker is hot.

So, the company sponsored watermelon for the day. Like, they were, like, just for snack because it was so hot, because of heat stress. And this older man, he was like, "Oh, Takeya, come on in. Here's some watermelon, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." I'm thinking nothing of it, like nothing of it. Like, I'm like he asked me if I want watermelon. There's watermelon here. Everybody's eating watermelon. It's okay.

Next thing you know, literally, like this happened on a Wednesday, that Friday, I got called into the HR office of that building. And the woman started asking me questions about what the guy was saying to me. And this is going to sound stupid again. At this point, I'm thinking, "Ew, is she asking if this dude is hitting on me? He was not hitting on me." That was my first initial thought. I'm like, no, because the guy was so awesome. He was helping me, whatever. Next thing you know, she asked me questions about race. Like, did I feel like he was being racist? And I said... I'm 19 years old when this happens to me. I'm 19. And I'm like, “Uh, no.” Like, I was shocked. And then it was in that moment I was like, shit, my secret's out. I'm black. That's when it, like, came off.

And like, honestly, like, for every underrepresented person, and this can go for anyone, if you're just going into an environment where you just... you know, some things you just didn't really think about because it's just you're just novice to it, just know that you're going to go through them, but you got to allow yourself to go through them so you're able to identify those things as you move forward. And once you identify what those things are and you get into, like, places of leadership, that's when you can take that stuff back. That's when you can start openly speaking.

So, it's still going to happen. But I would just say just find your allies. Like, for me, if I did not have people that I could talk to, I would not have been there. And usually, when people who are women or, like, underrepresented minorities, if they leave a place, more than likely, it's because they did not have someone there, which should speak volumes to anyone. Like, the fact of someone being there.

That is like my advice, go through it, but have someone that you can trust that you can go through it with, so you can allow yourself to grow, because you need to grow.

[11:56] Scott: That's great perspective. Thank you for sharing that. I wanted to ask you. You kind of said that you, like, wanted to get to Texas, in taking a job in the petrochemical belt down here. Why Texas? And ultimately, you know, I want to ask as well, like, why a full-time MBA at Rice? What drew you to the third coast here?

[12:15] Takeya: Yeah. I love that, the third coast. Like I said, I was at this time when I worked for LyondellBasell, I was working in a plant in Morris, Illinois. I did two plants. But the first one I went to was Morris, Illinois. And there was this thing where they would ship all the interns to Channelview, which is on the east of Houston, right? They would ship you to Channelview for a week because they want you to go to Lyondell's big, you know, manufacturing land.

And I don't know, man. It's like, as soon as I got off that plane, it was like, “Man, I like it here!” Like, first, it was like, oh, they're not on horses, like they say, right? Like, it's a little more industrialized. And from Chicago, especially from, like where I'm from, where my family's from, people still thought, like, Texas like back in the day, 1865 Texas. Like, when we hear Texas, we... that's what we think. So, coming down here, I was like, oh, it's normal. Like, you know. But it's like I felt this connection with this city. And like I said, I just... when things just tingle, it just felt right. Like, I just felt, like, this gravitational pool, like I'm supposed—

[13:23] Scott: And it wasn't the humidity. It was—

[13:25] Takeya: No, definitely it wasn't because my hair literally puffed up. I was like, wow, I look like Mufasa at this point. But what's crazy is I tried to leave Texas. And this is why I feel like, again, like there's something that keeps pulling me here to Houston. And there's some reason, I don't know what it is. But I tried to leave Texas. Like, when I was first applying to get my MBA, I always wanted to go to Stern in New York. And that was more so driven, like, it's your typical story for a young adventurous female, right? Like, you're 26, 27. The dude you thought you were going to marry, you don't marry. And you just want to, like, start over. So, I wanted to have my, like... what's her name from Sex and the City? Is it Carrie? Whatever her name is, Carrie. I wanted to have my moment. You know, I was, like I'm going to go to New York, live this life, change everything. But then, I met a Houstonian boy, who... I don't have my ring on my finger right now, but who just proposed to me two months ago.

[14:24] Scott: Congratulations.

[14:24] Takeya: My now fiance. But I met him, and it changed a lot. And I was like, “I can do what I want to do here in Houston.” So, Rice became that choice, which ultimately, again, was the right choice because I don't think I could have accomplished as much as I did at Rice at Stern. I just think it's two completely different things. And I think it happened for a reason. Some people don't believe in, like, divine intervention, but some people, you know, you know when things are, like, tingling. Like, there's something happening. And that's kind of what's been, in my head, have been happening in my life, clearly, since I'm still here.

[15:05] Scott: I love that, kind of beyond coincidence, in that sense.

[15:07] Takeya: Yeah.

[15:08] Scott: I want to talk a bit more about your Rice experience, but I do want to ask, because I think this is amazing. You're a production engineer. And then you decide to audition for the Houston Texans cheerleading squad. I'm sure you get asked about this a lot, but I'm sure it wasn't like just an overnight decision. But can you just share a little... I mean, I've played some sports in school and stuff or whatever, but, like, I had just, like, abandoned all hope for doing anything athletic, like, after graduating. Like, what was the thought process and the experience of working in the Texans organization as a cheerleader?

[15:43] Takeya: Yeah, man. Every time I try to erase this thing about myself, it just follows me. But no, seriously, out of everything that has ever happened in my life, being a Texans cheerleader taught me so many valuable lessons that I, like, carry throughout my career. It's crazy. Like, I've learned more from that environment than I've ever had in my entire life. And I think it's mainly because everything's abstract, right? Like, when you see a girl dance, everybody has their own taste. You might like that her hair is black. And she might like that she could do a split. And he might, you know...

When everything is so perceptive, like, I tell people there... Now, there's some downsides, right? Like, I was 14% body fat when I was a cheerleader. And when I tell you I was that fit and still felt fat every day, like it's crazy. Like, the tricks your mind goes to when you're in those realms. However, like, working for that organization, I had such a great time. Like, I met Bob McNair before he died, a sweet man, like a sweet man. Even the late Jamey Rootes, the business president that just died, I met him a couple times. Such a great guy. That organization is ran like a family. And, like, I really, really say that, like you could feel, like, the Texas, you know, hospitality when you worked for them. So, like to, you know, see Bob passed, that was sad. And, you know, with Jamey passing, that was sad to see. But it was just such a beautiful experience. I just can't speak more highly of it.

[17:29] Scott: I think it follows you because it's such a unique experience. And I think, you know, someone born and raised in Chicago and, like, falling in love with Texas, and then to just, like, be a member of the Texans family, as you're describing, it just seems like such a unique experience. How did being a Texans cheerleader, like, hit your radar?

[17:47] Takeya: Yeah. So, I have to caveat, I never cheerleadered in my life. I was never a dancer. My whole life, I played sports. Like, I was, like, played basketball for 12 years. I'm a state-qualifying tennis player from high school. Like, I've done all those sports, never this. So, when I moved to Houston, the typical, "I need to get fit." So, I was looking for gyms, and I came across this gym here in Houston, Inner Me Studios. And it's like a female fun fitness gym. Now, it's located in Third Ward. The owner, I know the owner there now.

They just had, like, these fun dance classes. So, I just went to a fun dance class, just to, like, work out. And one of the instructors, she was an ex-Rockets Texans. And at that time, Houston Dynamo, when they had girls. She did all the cheerleading for them. And she was like, "You should really, like, go out for the Texans." And I laughed. And I said, one, my body type, I can't get Megan Fox skinny. And two, I'm not blonde. That's, like, what I told her, because, you know, when I was growing up, that's what the cheerleaders look like. They literally look like Adriana Lima. And I was like, man, I'm not eating three Cheerios in a day. Like, I like to eat. So, she was like, "Just do it." Like, she was like, "Just audition. Just audition."

So, I go and I audition. This was the Super Bowl year, the year that the Super Bowl was in Houston. And I went and I auditioned. Didn't make... I didn't get past second round. But I just was like, hey, I'm here. But preparing for that, that's a whole different type of experience, man, a whole different type. But...

[19:24] Scott: Yeah. No, I believe it.

[19:25] Takeya: So, that following... after I did it, I was like, “Oh, like, alright, yeah, I think I could do this.” So, I started to train. After I would get off work at Dow at like 6:00 or whatever, I'd be in dance classes, I kid you not, from like 7:00 to sometimes midnight. And I was just dancing. Like, literally, 20 hours a week, I was dancing — dancing, working out, getting fit. So, when the next year rolled around, I was like, “Alright, I'm in here.” Like, this is the time. I'm serious, because I got that stacked competition. I get eliminated in the exact same round as the first year.

[20:01] Scott: Oh, wow.

[20:02] Takeya: And I'm pissed. First of all, I'm going to tell my friend, "Let's go to Buffalo Wild Wings, because I haven't eaten... I haven't eaten nothing good in weeks." And I'm just sitting there, like, just I'm pissed, because I'm like, "I did this. I did that. I did that…blah blah blah." And I was like, man, forget this, because everyone kept telling me, with my body type, because I was so muscular-looking that they were like, "You should be a Rockets girl. Like, you're not the Texans type of cheerleader. You're a Rockets girl." So, I was like, “Fine, next year I'll go out for the Rockets.” So, that's why I went back to my training. So, now, I'm going even harder like, now at this point, there was some nights I was dancing 'til like 1:00 a.m. Like, it was like going back on it, I was a nutcase, but I wanted it so bad.

So, here I am, dancing almost 30 hours a week. And I was like, “Okay, if I got to do this Rockets audition, let me just do this Texans audition. Let me just do it to practice. So, when I get to the real thing, like, I'm cool.” But in that, because I was, like, throwing it off, like, “Oh, this ain't nothing,” I was like, “I'm going to just dance like how I normally dance.” Like, usually, when I would go to a Texans audition, I try to look like what the team looked like. Like, this is how they dance, so I'm going to dance that way. This time, I was like, well, they're about to get raw Takeya. And that's what I did. And when I tell you after I made that team, when I had a one-on-one with my coach, she sat me down. It was Coach Alto. And she said, "I picked you because you ain't look like nobody else."

[21:41] Scott: That's awesome.

[21:42] Takeya: And it was in that moment, and I take this everywhere in my life, your biggest competitive advantage is your authentic self. Nobody can be you. That is your superpower. And that's, like, how I live my life. Like, even to this day, like... it's like, if you like Takeya, you'll like her. If you don't, I'm just not your flavor. And that's okay.

[22:07] Scott: Takeya, that's amazing. And I think that's just a fantastic philosophy that's so hard for people to get to, is that, that self-discovery and that, just, courage to be you in so many unique different circumstances. And I guess as you've retired from cheerleading and now moved on to a different part of your career, you said it's one of, like, the most educational experiences, you've learned so much from that, what are some of the things that you take from that experience? I mean, you're touching on kind of just this authenticity, just embracing yourself. Are there any other things that you take from that experience that you carry with you?

[22:44] Takeya: Yeah. You can only control the things that you can control. That's one. Two is, there's no such thing as luck, man. It's when preparation meets opportunity. And three, like I said, your biggest competitive advantage is your authentic self. When I tell you, like I applied for business schools before. Like, while I was auditioning for the Texans, like I applied. And I got rejected. I remember I applied to Fuqua at Duke. I applied to USC, UCLA, and got rejected by everyone. Everyone, man. Like, everyone.

And that second time around, like when I was doing my applications, again, it was like what I felt in my heart, like what I really wanted to do, how I really wanted to portray me. Because a lot of times on your MBA apps, you just be saying all this foo foo fairy tale, you want to save the world. You know, everyone's going to drink water. It's going to be water everywhere, you know. But this time, it was like I was very realistic, but I was also me. And I got into every school I applied to. And that's why I just... I really firmly believe, like, your biggest competitive advantage is your authentic self, because people are not okay with being themselves. Like, I'm telling you, it's such a freeing experience.

And that's why, like for an example, I'm not trying to equate them at all, but, like, when people who might identify as gay, like, how much they change like when they are able to say, like, "This is me," it's such a freeing experience. And not everyone gets to experience it because people are really scared to be themselves, because they are afraid of whatever consequences they've built up in their head. And so, I always... that is my motto. Like, just be yourself. You're enough. You're enough, you know?

[24:40] Scott: I love that. I mean, that's just such fantastic perspective and advice. And like you're saying, there's so many social constructs and things that are, kind of, put in place that people feel like they need to conform or be a certain way or whatever it might be to, kind of, be accepted. And you do that over time, and that can create just so many self-inflicted barriers. I love that you're a living example of that. And thank you for sharing those experiences, because I just think they're so unique and important in terms of what people can learn from.

And so, I want to talk about your Rice experience. Obviously, we're on the Owl Have You Know podcast. Just want to talk about your experience and like what stands out to you having gone through the Rice program and what are some of the, you know, just experiences or favorite stories or kind of impacts. We'd just love to hear about, kind of, your time at Rice.

[25:28] Takeya: I had such a great time at Rice. And I think it's because I really wanted my experience to really transform me. And I was really able to unlock, like, my... when I say my fullest potential, that sounds so cliché, but I really mean it. Like, I wanted to see how much I could do. I've always been like a multitasker, like, doing multiple things at one time, always been able to do it. But I wanted to see, like, what's my barrier? Like, where am I stretched? And I did so much—sometimes, I think, too much.

But I will say, one of my, like, favorite, like, moments is, and it's just fresh off my mind, is when I won the M.A. Wright award for my class. It's an award where the class actually nominates and picks who they think made like the best contributions to our class in our MBA experience. And I won that award.

[26:28] Scott: That's a peer... an award from your peers.

[26:30] Takeya: Yeah, it's an award from your peers. And when you win, at investiture—because we don't call it graduation at Rice, it's investiture—at the investiture, I gave a speech after I won the award. And in my speech, I was very, again, myself. And I talked about some of the experiences that I felt. I went to Rice right after George Floyd got shot. So, I want, I want to, like, lay that foundation.

So, at that moment, there was so much turmoil going on in the world, you know what I mean? Like, that was like the last straw that sent Black Lives Matter all around the world. And so, you know, in school, we had, I want to say, the largest amount of black people at Rice in the full, in the full-time MBA program. We had the largest number ever. Just black women alone, you probably only had one-to-two in every class. Well, this year we had 14.

And what we found was, along all my experiences, is that, even though we were going into like a PWI that is known to be prestigious white, even down to our professors had to adjust to us in the classroom, because you increase the amount of minorities in the classroom, our perspectives are so different that, a lot of the times, we found ourselves teaching our professors certain things. But it's not their fault that they were ignorant to certain things. It's just, when you don't have a lot of black people in the class, you might not know you might be talking about slavery, but you don't know. Like, who's going to tell you? Like, your auditors are probably white. Why would they think of those things?

And so, there were some growing pains at Rice during our time there. However, like, the staff, like Peter Rodriguez is, like, an amazing... I've never had a dean that I felt like cared. And, like, Peter cared. And to be so openly available like him, Dean Andrews, even from the student program office, Adam Herman, you could just tell that they cared. And it just meant so much. And, like, that's one of those big things I'm going to always remember, like, being at Rice. And I talked about that in my speech. Being at that podium, getting elected by my classmates, how it's such a validating moment for me, because you... like, I feel like I've been seen. And it was just a very powerful moment at my time in B-school. And I still hear about my speech, like someone's like, my classmate, Jordan, is like, "Yeah, my dad was like, 'That girl who did that speech. She was right on.'"

[29:19] Scott: That's amazing, Takeya. I mean, it's just like... just a really cool perspective that's so important and so needed. And as you take that now from your Rice experience, you've now charged into this, like, new foray for you of investment banking. What drew you to investment banking? And how has been that transition, so far, newly graduated and now kicking ass in this new different realm?

[29:45] Takeya: In my black hip-hop culture, whenever we are not adjusting well to something, we usually say it's ghetto right now. That's what they say. Man... like, while you're in business school, you're, like, in this, like, moment of bliss. Like, money is not a factor, even though you have no job, you know, like... but you're traveling the world. You're doing whatever you want. Like, your time is really your time. And in that time, you forgot why you went to business school, it’s because being an adult is ghetto. Like, it sucks, like... So, to put it in layman's terms right now adjusting to just putting banking aside. If you talk to any of my classmates right now, we are all like, “Damn, we can't go back to school again.” Like, this is it. Like, this is it, right?

So, I chose banking because, well, one, I wanted... after the pandemic, right, like the pandemic really, like, was shifting my mind, and I wanted... I didn't want the same thing that happened to me out of undergrad to happen to me in business school. Like, you know, like, when you come out as a chem-e in production engineering, it's like that's the only job you can do now. Like, I can't, like, jump to something else. I have to jump to it within my own company first, and then I can migrate out. I was getting so tired. I wanted to go in the business side, and Dow wouldn't let me do it. They kept wanting to keep me to being an engineer, which is fair, whatever. But for out of business school, I was like, “I want to have a job where I have multiple options afterwards.” And so, in that, it's like it's either consulting or it's banking, because I did not want to do industry. Like, I didn't want to get stuck in an industry again. So, it was really between consulting and banking.

And so, what honestly drove me to finance is that, at the end of the day, since the beginning, I've always been a numbers girl. I know all levels of calculus, right? Like, I've always been a numbers person. And so, it just more so drove me more towards finance. I was still considering consulting, but I think the nail in the coffin was I did this... it was like a day in the life of an investment banker by this company called BrainCeek. And so, they let me experience what it was like being an IB, because what was keeping me from IB was the perception of: it's an all white men, they do drugs to stay up, and they work too much. Like, that's all I knew. Like, I was literally thinking Leonardo DiCaprio in the Wolf of Wall Street. Like, that's what I was thinking. IB was, and I was like, “That's not my... that's not my MO.”

So, we do this thing. And I'm like, this is how these guys do and this is how much money they make? Sign me up. Like, I was like, “Sign me up.” Like, because I was so afraid. I was, like, I thought it was so much harder than it was. And because I've explored my questions that were keeping me from going there, I was, like, I felt comfortable. So, I started recruiting for it.

Turns out, after going through my whole business school experience, I made the right choice. I still think I made the right choice. And being a banker, like, I'm one of the most sought-out finance professionals of anyone because I know how to raise capital now. And cash is king, as they teach you in business school, right? So, I'm super happy. I work for Citibank here in Houston, only work in clean energy transition. So, anything that's with the clean energy transition, those are the type of deals my group does. And it's so funny because your chemical engineering, it comes in. So, I find myself with certain—

[33:29] Scott: Technology risks.

[33:30] Takeya: Right. Like, even some of the companies, some of the things they're trying to do, like, I've done them before. And so, it's, like, it's so funny how things are kind of, like, coming back full circle. But investment banking is so hard, I'm not going to lie. I've been working, I think, almost three months now. And it's, not only battling the whole, “I'm back to work,” but also battling, like, I think people sugarcoat this, and I need this to be known for like a full-time MBA, especially for full-time MBAs, because the purpose of our program is to get a new job, you know, versus like executive program versus like the evenings. The value propositions are different for us. It's “change your life, get the new job,” right?

But to be 31 years old and having to start over is such a humbling experience. Like, I'm not an Excel guru. Like, people put they're proficient on Excel. You're lying. Like, I'm learning new things that I never... that I feel like are so elementary. Like, I should know how to shortcut in Excel, and I didn't. And, like, trying to learn that and then be in a new space, like, yes, I'm a chemical engineer, so I know a lot about downstream in oil and gas, right? But I don't know about hydrogen as a fuel source. I don't know about batteries. I don't know about solar, wind, nuclear. These are all verticals I hit now. So, it's like I'm hit with learning new hard skills, but I'm also hit with learning, like, a little derivative off of what I know.

And so, it's so humbling and frustrating at the same time to be in that spot. And I just want people to know, like, it gets glamorized. Like, yes, you do get a new job. However, like, think about yourself. At 30-some years old, you want to feel like you know everything. And to be back to where you were at 22, 23 straight out of undergrad, it's a humbling experience. It's definitely turning the boys or girls into men and women, as they should say, you know.

[35:32] Scott: Takeya, this has been amazing. As we wrap up, I just wanted to kind of ask, what's next? I mean, what do you have on the horizon? I mean, obviously, you've got your hands full with new job, new career prospects, and other things, but, like, do you have any sort of things in the back of your mind that you're cooking on or thinking about, like, on the horizon that you might go and tackle next?

[35:52] Takeya: My wheels have definitely been spinning. This is why I say getting an MBA is so, like, life-transforming. Like, now, I know that anything I want is obtainable. And it sounds so crazy, but, you know, even in my office, like, I, you know, network with people worth 50 million plus and it does not faze me anymore because I know it's obtainable.

And so, one of the things I am excited for is two big things in my head. One is, like I said, I just got engaged. My fiancé, Josh, proposed to me in Mykonos, Greece over the summer. So, that was phenomenal. So, I am in the midst of... well, I'm not planning. We're hiring a wedding planner. Thank you, God. But the second thing I would say is I don't know if people know, but I won an award from the Texas Business Hall of Fame. I won the Executive Leader... Leadership of Distinction Award, which is a brand-new award. It's actually only granted to one MBA student in the entire state of Texas. And so, I'm the first person to ever win this award. And it's named after the CEO of AT&T, Randall Stephenson.

They induct Texas Legends every year. And this year, it's, like I said, the type of people they've induct are billionaires who are generous with their wealth, as in, like, they use it to make things better. For instance, one of the inductees is Paul Hobby, whose grandfather is William P. Hobby, after the airport. There's a woman named Whitney. She was the youngest woman to ever IPO Bumble. These are, like, the people that will be there. Like, last year, like, Mark Cuban was inducted. So, just going there to be around a caliber of people that I never thought I would ever... I wouldn't say I never thought I'd be around, but to actually be 31 years of age and have that much access to millionaires and billionaires of Texas and be able to have that opportunity is, to me, it's, like, phenomenal. This is why I say I feel like I was supposed to be living here in Houston, there's just been so many things that have been happening to me.

And so, I'm excited for that, to get to know people on a whole different like era. Like, I'm super excited. That's what's on the horizon for me. I don't know what's going to come out of that. You never know. Like, my job at Citi, I wasn't supposed to work at Citi. I thought I was going to work at Credit Suisse. And I met the head of the group at a Rice scholarship dinner, and he gave me a job. Everything keeps happening to me here in such weird ways. So, I'm just trying to absorb the blessings. Hopefully, one of these days, who knows? Maybe, I can get a finance government position, I don't know, run the Bank of Texas, who knows? Bank of Texas, have my own family office, who knows? The world is my oyster at this point. And I honestly don't think it would've been like this if it wasn't for my experience at Rice. Like, I just feel like, at this point, anything I want is obtainable.

[38:52] Scott: It's amazing. The ceiling is high. Texas Legend in the making, Takeya Green, thank you for being on the show.

[38:58] Takeya: Thank you for having me. This has been awesome.

[39:03] Scott: Thanks for listening. This has been Owl Have You Know, a production of Rice Business. You can find more information about our guests, hosts, and announcements on our website, business.rice.edu. Please subscribe and leave a rating wherever you find your favorite podcasts. We'd love to hear what you think. The hosts of Owl Have You Know are myself, Scott Gale, and Maya Pomroy.