Consulting club uplifts women in business

As an out-of-state student, UNC sophomore and business administration student Olivia Bouvier felt she was at a disadvantage. 

Specifically, she was having trouble joining business organizations on-campus, which she said are typically exclusive. Additionally, Bouvier was very aware of how male-dominated the consulting industry is. According to the Women in the Workforce 2024 report from McKinsey & Company, women are underrepresented in various consulting positions. At the C-suite level, women only make up 29 percent of the workforce. 

These concerns prompted Bouvier to found Women in Consulting at Carolina.

“I wanted to create a community that any woman can join so she doesn't feel the same burden and the discomfort that I felt trying to find my community here at UNC,” she said.

WICC helps women interested in consulting achieve their career goals through workshops, speaker events and networking opportunities with consulting firms. Although it is oriented toward women in business, WICC is open to all majors.

Bouvier founded the club in the spring 2024, putting up flyers around campus and sitting through over 75 hours of interviews to select candidates for WICC’s executive board.

She also reached out to Molly Macchia, the assistant director of student engagement at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, who became the club’s staff advisor.

“She came to me, had this idea, and I could tell that it wasn't just another club to bolster your resume,” Macchia said. “She wanted to found this organization off of her own convictions and passion, and she really valued inclusivity and impact.”

Today, 275 women are a part of WICC.

Ariana Mohan, a UNC first-year and member of WICC’s Professional Development and Education Team, discovered WICC via Instagram and said the club was very welcoming when she joined.

She also said that Bouvier is accessible to WICC members, with Bouvier and Bhumika Bhadriraju, WICC’s vice president of education and professional development, helping members apply to other clubs.

“They're putting in good words for us, they're giving us advice for applications, for interviews, they're willing to help us in literally any way, and I feel like you don't get access to people that smart and that successful in other clubs,” Mohan said.

For Prathiti Jain, another UNC first-year and member of WICC’s Professional Development and Education Team, WICC informed her about internships and networking events that she wouldn't have found otherwise.

“I think WICC is really proactive, and it's a large enough community where they have a lot of people you can learn from,” she said. “However, it's also small enough where it's not overwhelming." 

Aside from career opportunities, WICC also promotes community service. The club is currently hosting a clothing drive where WICC members can donate business attire to Kenan-Flagler students. Students can choose and receive these clothes at a thrift event that WICC is scheduling with the UNC School of Social Work.

Any remaining clothing will be donated to the nonprofit Dress for Success, which donates business attire to both employed and unemployed women.

Currently, WICC is preparing for its first club-wide case competition on March 19, where members can practice for case competitions hosted by larger organizations. These competitions involve teams of students devising and presenting solutions to business problems.

For Bouvier, WICC has helped her find the community she was searching for as an out-of-state student, and having women seeking advice from her has been rewarding, she said. 

“It's something that I never thought I'd be able to create: an empire of such ambitious women that are so passionate about contributing and also becoming a future consultant,” she said.

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