When Mary Fritz thinks back to her 2012 WDI summer internship in India, she remembers the oppressive heat, communication challenges, being the constant object of fascination among the locals and taking a shower by pouring water over her head. In short, Fritz said, she was “missing my U.S. life.” So it might be surprising to discover that Fritz, who has since built a young career helping launch startups in Latin America, also fondly refers to this time as an “amazing, multifaceted experience that really shaped me on a lot of levels.” As she explained, “India is extraordinarily beautiful and diverse, and farther removed from Western culture than I had ever been before. It made me stronger and more independent, flexible and patient.” Along with the life lessons she took in many business lessons as well. “I learned the importance of including the customer in every strategic decision,” she said. “I learned humility. I learned how to connect with people without sharing a language. And I learned that sometimes you just can’t.” At the University of Michigan, Fritz enrolled in an MBA/MS program between the Ross School of Business and the School of Natural Resources and Environment. She said she chose U-M for graduate studies because of the university’s commitment to impact. She was also familiar with WDI’s support of student programs before arriving on campus. “I’ve always been interested in social enterprise as a way to address social, economic and justice issues,” Fritz said. “I wanted to learn what goes into building an impact company from the ground up, and WDI gave me that opportunity.” Fritz worked with Wello, a small business that makes water transportation products to help low-income women collect and carry water long distances. Wello was founded in rural India by Cynthia Koenig, another WDI alumna. Working out of Mumbai, Fritz frequently traveled around the Indian states of Rajasthan and Gujarat. Because Wello was a fledgling startup with a small staff, she worked on a bit of everything. But her main focus was how to get the product to the people who needed it at a price they could afford. There were many manufacturing details to work out, as well as market research and customer interviews to conduct, pricing models to build and distribution channels to develop. She also studied how to measure impact. After graduation, Fritz took those valuable work experiences and began building and launching startup organizations in Latin America for Agora Partnerships, a business accelerator. She recently moved to Seattle to work for Lenati, a marketing and sales strategy consulting firm, where she continues to work with startups and nonprofits as well as corporate clients. “My experience with Wello definitely influenced my career choice,” Fritz said. “From a functional standpoint, I became very interested in everything that’s involved in bringing a product to market. And I love working in a startup; every day is different.” Today, more than four years removed from that summer in India, Fritz smiles when she thinks about the experience. “Wello was my first and most intense experience conducting customer research and trying to develop a human- centered approach within a go-to-market strategy,” she said. “I use those lessons all the time.” Mary Fritz Alumni Features 56 William Davidson Institute