Crystal Harvey
University of Nevada, Reno Innevation Center
Reno, NV USA
"The most valuable thing to have in your professional career is very accurately knowing what your strengths and weaknesses are and being very honest with yourself about it."
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Crystal's work combines: Business, Technology, and Problem Solving
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
Many people look at failure as a negative. However, in the world of entrepreneurship and innovation, it's important to not fear failure. Failure is a huge part of innovation. Sometimes you have to push forward with an idea in the face of negativity and sometimes your idea will fail, but you need to be able to learn from it and keep moving forward.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Mechanical Engineering
University of Nevada, Reno
Graduate Degree
Business Administration and Management, General
University of Nevada, Reno
Life & Career Milestones
I've taken a lot of twists and turns
1.
I grew up in Nevada and went through the International Baccalaureate Programme at Wooster High School, which is designed to teach students through an intercultural lens.
2.
I originally wanted to pursue aerospace engineering because I loved airplanes, but the University of Nevada, Reno, didn’t have an aerospace program, so I went into mechanical engineering instead.
3.
After graduating, I spent a few years as a mechanical engineer at a startup company—it should have been my dream job, but I realized that I wasn’t as happy as I should have been.
4.
When the company lost funding and had to downsize, I made the decision to go back to school for business rather than look for another engineering job.
5.
I decided to go back to the University of Nevada, Reno, part time for my Master of Business Administration degree.
6.
While going to school, I also started working at the University of Nevada, Reno Innevation Center, which helps to build Nevada’s innovation economy through the lens of the university.
7.
After working with the Innevation Center for a few years, I’m now the assistant director, managing our staff and programming.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Society in general:
Failure is not okay.
How I responded:
Many people look at failure as a negative. However, in the world of entrepreneurship and innovation, it's important to not fear failure. Failure is a huge part of innovation. Sometimes you have to push forward with an idea in the face of negativity and sometimes your idea will fail, but you need to be able to learn from it and keep moving forward.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
I loved math and science in school, so it was natural for me to pursue engineering. When I entered the workforce as an engineer, I realized I wasn't as happy as I should’ve been in the field, so I made a switch and went back to school for business.
The startup I was working for ended up losing a lot of funding and let go of their whole junior engineering team, which included me. However, the job loss gave me the opportunity to reflect on my interests and make a change.