An Interview with a Business School Entrepreneur

By Tiffany Smith, MBA Prep 2015, MBA Professional Development 2015

Tiffany Smith has always been one to go after what she wants. Her natural drive and determination paired with her business school knowledge have molded her into a force to be reckoned with. Not only has Tiffany managed to successfully complete her first year of business school while co-founding a business, she also recently won the first ever Forte Foundation Power Pitch Business Competition. Tiffany shares her MLT journey, more about her company OrangePrint and advice for those interested in Entrepreneurship.

“My friend and current MBAP fellow Joi Humphrey introduced me to MLT in 2013. I honestly wasn’t even sure what an MBA was and what it could do for my career,” Tiffany recalls.

After extensive research, Tiffany decided to take the plunge to submit an application and that was the beginning of what would kick off an incredible business school journey.  

“MLT was the sticking point for me. I know for a fact I would not have made it through the journey without the support of my coach, the program itself and all of the friends that I’ve made the last three years. The biggest thing that goes understated about MLT is some of the bonds that you make in your cohort. I think that they shaped my journey in more ways than I could ever imagine.

I honestly can’t speak highly enough of MLT and I tell people all the time if you’re thinking about business school and you’re a person of color, you really need to look at MLT before you decide to just do it on your own. I think aside from the preparation; the people are invaluable.”

MLT was the sticking point for me.

Aside from being a full time student at MLT’s business school partner, Kellogg School of Management, Tiffany also runs her social enterprise startup “OrangePrint”.

“OrangePrint is the brainchild of myself and my co-founder. We launched the company officially this past Spring after spending several months in ideation and research phase. We both have this knack for social and restorative justice for people who can’t defend themselves.

Our business model is to find candidates in halfway houses from the Federal Bureau of Prisons which is a very specific part of the prison population. We  work with them to place them in jobs that are skilled, so that could either be in construction, manufacturing or similar skilled labor industries.”

It is because of OrangePrint, that Tiffany was crowned the winner in the Forte Foundation’s first ever Power Pitch competition this summer. The competition allowed for startup businesses, who had teams that were at least 50 percent female, to pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges. She walked away from the competition with $10,000 and a new laptop!

“At the end of the day, whether I won the competition or not I knew that I was still tackling an issue that was bigger than all of us. We have our black and brown men that are coming out of these prisons and no one is there for them. No one. That’s what OrangePrint is about”

Tiffany recognizes the path of an entrepreneur is not one for the lighthearted and offers her final words of wisdom for those who have entrepreneurial goals.

“Believe. You have to believe that everything that you’re doing, that feels right, is going to work out. It is a much riskier path to take, but if you genuinely believe you can do anything that you say you want to do, you’ll be fine. You also have to have a really strong support network and be able to lean on them. I think my ability to keep the right type of people around me at all times has opened a lot of doors.

You can take the time to really decide what is best for you, but remember life is too short to think about it too long. At some point, you just have to do.”

Tiffany stopped working on Tiltas in January 2019 and since transitioned into human-centered design consulting at Fjord/Accenture out of their Washington, D.C. office where she helps Federal agencies improve citizen experiences with Federal technology and services.

Click here to learn more about MLT’s MBA Prep Program.

This blog was originally published in 2016 and has since been modified.