- Date published
Ayden O'Connor's Entrepreneurial Dive with Halo RRS
Ever wonder what happens when a sharp mind from Missouri State’s accelerated MBA program meets a real-world company tackling the unexpected?
Meet Ayden O’Connor, an entrepreneurship major who dove headfirst into an internship with efactory member company, Halo RRS (AKA Halo Response and Recovery Solutions), through our Entrepreneurship Intern Pilot Program.
And let’s just say, it’s been anything but “busy work.”
Halo RRS specializes in disaster response and recovery, helping communities craft vital action plans to stabilize and navigate the waters after the storm.
Ayden’s role? Far from fetching coffee! He’s been knee-deep in marketing, web design and even setting up business licensing in new states to help Halo RRS stay ahead of the game.
“That’s been cool,” he quips, a testament to the hands-on impact he’s having.
Beyond the daily grind, Ayden got to tackle a fascinating challenge through the program’s requirement of creating a minigame through The Great Game of Business®. Working directly with Halo RRS’s CJ Huff, Ayden helped strategize a minigame that was engaging and could build a strong internal team.
“It’s creating goals to improve efficiency and create transparency, so everybody’s kind of on the same page…and it brings in employee action,” Ayden explains.
For a future entrepreneur like him, seeing this in action is “a good metric to know” for his own ventures.
Ayden’s biggest takeaway for the intern program? He found that true value can often be found in niche markets, even if they seem unconventional.
And for students eyeing the program, his advice is clear: “I definitely recommend the program to anybody that is ready to learn.”
This isn’t your average “hand-held” internship.
“The more that I put in, the more I get out because they’re very open to just any of my ideas. A lot of things, I’ve brought up, and we’re doing them now.”
It’s a place where academic knowledge truly translates into real-world application, offering “monumental learning” through practice.
Get Involved
Inspired by Ayden’s journey? Our Entrepreneurship Intern Pilot Program, through support provided by the Missouri Technology Corporation and the Hatch Foundation, offers Missouri State students a unique blend of practical experience and cutting-edge business education, while providing efactory incubator member companies with ambitious, talented support.
Member companies and students: Applications for the Fall Cohort close on June 30! This is your chance to ignite a similar spark.
Learn more and apply today!
