Olivia Asare

Call her a triple threat.

With majors in marketing, supply chain management, and operations and technology management (OTM), Olivia Asare is preparing herself to be a force in business and a successful entrepreneur.

“I really want to have my own business at some point,” she says. “But I definitely want to learn as much as possible before taking that on.”

“None of the accomplishments or things I’ve been able to take part in mean anything unless I’m really willing to give back to other students and show them that those things can be available to them too.”

Majors aside, she’s already got quite the head start. Before coming to UW–Madison, Olivia remembers running side hustles as a kid before later getting involved in her high school’s business club and school store. When she arrived on campus, the decision to study business just felt right. A passion for math and data drew her down the supply chain management path, while a love of working with people pushed her to also explore marketing and OTM.

“Business school has definitely been a cool place to push myself as a leader and find opportunities and community,” she says.

One of those opportunities came when she joined the board of the Multicultural Center at the Wisconsin School of Business, where she played a key role in designing the new space aimed at supporting students from historically underrepresented backgrounds. She also took on a leadership role with Diverse Leaders for Tomorrow, and outside of campus, became active with the Boys & Girls Club, where she develops educational programming for kids of all ages.    

Needless to say, her résumé—complete with awards and honors—is impressive. But Olivia has never been one to boast or brag.  

“None of the accomplishments or things I’ve been able to take part in mean anything unless I’m really willing to give back to other students and show them that those things can be available to them too,” she says.

Most recently, her talents caught the eye of Bain & Company, where she’ll soon be working a summer consulting internship. She hopes to stay on with Bain after graduation before ultimately finding the opportunity to create something of her own.

“Business school has definitely been a cool place to push myself as a leader and find opportunities and community.”

“I love the idea of saying that I’ve produced something, that I work for myself,” she says. “There are so many different ways to intertwine an entrepreneurial spirit into your life, and just knowing that you can combine things that you love and you can make work not feel like work is extremely enticing to me.”

Through it all, Olivia is committed to sticking to the fundamental values that have gotten her this far—humility, selflessness, and passion—and encourages others to do the same.

“When opportunities come your way, take them with grace,” she says. “Take everything with a very humble attitude and continue to give back. Because you’re only as good as the people around you, and it’s good to build other people up.”