By Yen Nguyen, Staff Writer
Every break, as Haverford and Bryn Mawr students scroll through their Handshake accounts, they see a familiar name: “AESOP Intensive Workshop.” Founded by Haverford alum Panos Panidis (Class of 2009), AESOP became one of the most popular workshops on campus. AESOP is where liberal arts students learn a rare set of skills that are in high demand, and start their journey to become business-technology “hybrids.” During five training days (either at Haverford or Bryn Mawr), students learn about how the business world works, receive insightful advice from professionals and solve real-life problems.
After four days attending the AESOP Workshop, I felt like I was already a beginner consultant. It was an impactful program that helped me start thinking about my career path. As I reflected upon my experience with AESOP, I thought that there is no better way to learn about a company than to learn about the person behind it. Optimistic, passionate, and down-to-earth, Panos Panidis—Founder of AESOP Academy, formerly a VP at J. P. Morgan and a Deloitte Consultant—met up with me at the White Dog Café a few days after the workshop. There, he reminisced about his days at Haverford and his professional journey through the financial crisis of 2008–09.
As a liberal arts student who graduated at a difficult time for the economy, how did your experience going through this period, shape the person you are today?
10 years into life after graduation, I learned the importance of perseverance and resilience. Many students graduating in the 2008–2009 period felt the same unsettling feeling of studying relentlessly and working several intensive internships only to experience hiring freezes and empty career options. Through that experience, I had to quickly master the career prep process knowing how competitive it was and how unprepared I was because I spent my collegiate years focused heavily on my academics. The process was a learning experience in itself. After each missed opportunity or failed attempt, I went back thinking—“What could I have done better?” The persistent effort and self-evaluation helped me develop a strong mentality and essential professional skills that have been invaluable throughout my career. Challenges, whether in or out of our control, happen all the time in life. Things don’t always happen as expected, but learning to see difficulties as self-growth opportunities will help us go beyond our comfort zones.
How do you find a meaningful professional career?
Reflect, and react. Reflect on things that you enjoy or do not enjoy, then collect all these data points to pave an ideal path for yourself. Ask yourself, “Okay, I like pieces of this work, I don’t like pieces of that activity,” then react to your self-analysis by finding (or creating) the experiences that have what you like and exclude what you don’t like. Part of the professional journey is being exposed to all kinds of experiences knowing that we can’t always be too picky at certain stages of our lives.
How did Haverford shape your mindset?
I think there are certain indirect factors at Haverford that shaped who I am today, but they all come down to: diversity of thought. In my professional world, one moment I am asked to make sense of 5M+ records of granular customer data, and the next moment I am requested to summarize my complex analysis, then I have to concisely communicate and artistically present my strategic recommendations to Senior Executives. Quickly shifting skills from the sciences to communications is an ability that I received from a liberal arts education.
A Liberal Arts education: “One moment you’re asked to analyze data, and the next moment you are expected to communicate well and express your artistic side to create a good story.”
Do you think business consulting is only for quantitative majors? If not, what are the set of skills that firms look for in undergraduate students?
I don’t believe so. In my consulting career, whether I was working at Deloitte or in my own entrepreneurial projects, my colleagues all came from diverse backgrounds. This diversity actually strengthens the service offerings because the problems are tackled from a variety of angles and expertise. For example, an accountant or finance major may be able to take on one set of client activities related to financial reporting while the political science and economics majors would be more adept at tackling another set of client needs related to assessing market research, trends, or benchmarking.
What is your own equation that will help one stand out in big companies?
I believe that passion and performance are positively correlated. I have observed and truly believe that people who are passionate about their missions or functions stand out the most in their performance. They go above and beyond what is expected because they willingly strive to take themselves (and their team) to the next level. They naturally and seamlessly become leaders that inspire others because their drive and work ethic becomes contagious.
How did you start AESOP? Was it something you always wanted to do or did a class/an event spark this idea?
After I was gratefully employed at Deloitte Consulting, it was a feeling of “I need to come back and help prepare future generations so they don’t face similar challenges come graduation day.” I have been in their shoes and remember the career competitiveness and stress, so now I am on the flip side as a professional coming back to teach students essential professional skills. I have operated the Academy for 5+ years now, and I plan to expand the program in other fields of expertise (e.g. Law, Engineering, Real Estate, Entrepreneurship) so that I can continue upskilling our workforce and prepare future leaders early-on.
If you were to give advice to students who want to start something by themselves, what would you say?
Get plenty of feedback and use failures as a constructive fuel. That’s called “Failing Fast.” Entrepreneurs are constantly learning from mistakes to improve products, services, or one’s self. When a mistake happens, quickly learn from it, and move on.
What are your three tips for Bi-Co students to maximize their four years at a liberal arts college?
1) Get involved. There are so many new and exciting events occurring everyday that can help you get involved to boost your resume and meet new peers, even beyond Bryn Mawr and Haverford. You have access to media channels, constant connections, forums—everything!
2) Connect. Truth to be told, if you look around at the people who sit in your classroom, you don’t know where they will be in 5–10 years, but there is a good chance they will do quite well in whatever industry they pursue in the future. Folks who were once my classmates, are now my trusted peers. People who were sitting with me in the cafeteria making peanut butter and oreo milkshakes using our forks are now top lawyers, young CEOs, consulting partners, and trusted network of advisors. Anytime I would need a helping hand or have a question beyond my field of expertise, they are my “go-tos”—and that relationship is mutual, dating back to college.
3) Don’t hesitate to reach out to the alumni network. Grabbing a coffee with an alum goes a long way. Connecting with an alum will not only open your professional horizons, but could potentially establish a role model relationship that influences your future or even opens doors of opportunities.
What do you do in your free time?
Well, it’s quite funny… I think I could definitely work on my hobbies. Outside of jogging and playing sports, I enjoy freelance cooking (though Panos’ favorite app is UberEats… given he doesn’t have much time to cook) because it’s fun to play around and create a dish just by working with different flavors. I am not crazy about baking because that’s more like engineering and I enjoy the creativity and exploration of cooking with different flavors—I see it as the art of taste. My cakes also fall apart. I sometimes like to think that I’m a Gordon Ramsay serving my friends a lot of inedible but well-presented dishes:
“…and here we have our main course of the evening, hand-picked penne pasta from lé ACME garnished with a lightly stirred Ragu red tomató sauce and side of taterished tots. Bon appétit.”
But hey, it’s not bad to imagine!
Image credit: AESOP Academy, Ruiming Li
