Ellie Symes
Founder & CEO
The Bee Corp
Indianapolis, IN USA
“Find your inner compass and follow it, and you’ll be happy with whatever you do.”
Videos
By Roadtrip NationEllie Symes
Milestones
My road in life has been direct.
I grew up watching my mom thrive as a successful career woman.
I went into college knowing that I ultimately wanted my career to involve solving environmental problems—I chose to major in environmental management.
I decided to go to graduate school straight after completing my undergraduate degree—I studied international development and worked with women farmer groups in India and Africa.
While in graduate school, I became very interested in bees and started a beekeeping club.
I was encouraged by my university to take the beekeeping club further, which resulted in switching my major to information systems and co-founding The Bee Corp.
My co-founder and I won a substantial amount of money in a business plan competition to help get our business started.
We originally wanted to use technology to become the best beekeepers in the country, but decided that was too capital-intensive, so we decided to focus on developing technology to help beekeepers.
I currently manage The Bee Corp as the CEO and hope to keep growing and creating a positive social and environmental impact throughout my career.
Keep following my journey
Education
High School
Bachelor
Environmental Management
Indiana University Bloomington
Environmental Management
Indiana University Bloomington
Graduate
Information Systems
Indiana University Bloomington
Information Systems
Indiana University Bloomington
Career
Founder & CEO
I manage a company that uses data and technology to help beekeepers keep healthy hives.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Technology
Environment & Nature
Helping People
Day to Day
I spend most of my time on the operations side of the business to keep the company running. Most of what I work on is to bring money into the company. That includes sales, fundraising, and grant writing. I also manage the team, which involves managing the research and development projects and making sure everyone is happy within the organization.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for college students
Don't worry too much about the perfect career path. Knowing what you want to try now and roughly what you want to do next is good enough. Look for opportunities and don't be afraid to say yes, even if they terrify you. I also recommend finding mentors to help along your journey. Go to meetup groups, attend events, and reach out to people. Be tenacious about it and don't be afraid to try and connect with people because these relationships can be so important at any point on your path.
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Peers:
"You can only make a positive impact in the nonprofit or public sectors."
Challenges I Overcame
Imposter Syndrome
Interviewed By
At Your Fingertips
Computer science from new perspectives
