Matt Milasius: Cheers to a career in global entrepreneurship
Recent business and entrepreneurship graduate Matt Milasius has reason to toast to life as of late, for he was recently hired as Operations Manager for AVE Winery, located in Paso Robles and Ranchos Palos Verdes, California.
Matt, who hails from Chicago’s West Side, says he was able to attract employer interest by crafting messaging for his LinkedIn profile with a Career Coach in LMU’s Office of Career and Professional Development.
“It was just a simple message directed at LMU alums,” Matt said, “introducing myself and inviting them out for a bite to network.”
In no time, Matt found himself having lunch with LMU alum and AVE Winery owner Robert Kugler, who soon after offered him a job.
But one cannot attribute Matt’s good fortune to strategic messaging alone, for his experience abroad, namely in China, and acumen in international relations is quite impressive.
Matt wisely took advantage of LMU’s popular study abroad program, spending eight months in Beijing, China, five at the Beijing Center and three interning at Cloudsite Intelligent Data Centers, a data center development company, building a financial returns model.
“China is a good place for business because of the boundless opportunities,” Matt said. “But you have to be bold enough to seek them out, you cannot go over there and be timid – you really have to be bold, take control of your experience and mold it.”
Matt believes his new position will only strengthen his international business savvy, as he says he will be meeting and negotiating with Chinese investors. In fact, one of his life-long goals is to live for several years in Shanghai, mastering Mandarin and gaining plenty of international business contacts.
Looking back, Matt says he was originally attracted to LMU because it seemed radically different from what he had experienced in his life up to that point. The university’s entrepreneurship program’s esteemed ranking did not hurt either. The program just garnered a No. 7 nod in U.S. News & World Report’s rankings.
“My time at LMU was like a platform experience,” Matt said, “in that each year I took steps up, could see myself growing and becoming a different person. All in all, my college experience was very fortunate, especially since I got to study abroad – that was the highlight.”
Matt has a few pieces of advice for incoming Lions:
“Study abroad and learn another language,” Matt said, adding that LMU’s annual career fairs are valuable resources that should be taken advantage of.
“You have to stay hungry and always keep an eye out for good opportunities," he added.