In order to pay for school during his undergraduate career, Shane McGuire (MBA ‘16) pursued a door-to-door sales career, and it was during this time that the aspiring mechanical engineer’s passion for the business world ignited.
“Selling somebody of one thing at one time is a relatively easier thing to do, but to convince massive amounts of people to change consumer behavior is tough,” mentioned McGuire. “That’s what brands do and that’s why I decided to go to Krannert to do an MBA -- to close that knowledge gap from the business to the engineering world where I had previously come.”
During his time at Krannert, McGuire was introduced to a pair of aerospace engineering doctoral students who had developed a marketable technology and were looking for someone to help with business development to scale the technology into a startup. With a background in engineering, his sales experience, and a knowledge of business best-practices through his pursuit of an MBA at Krannert, Shane was a natural fit for the group.
And just like that, Adranos Energetics, LLC was formed and the student founders quickly worked with a local attorney to present a formal concept for a more powerful and environmentally-friendly rocket fuel.
The result didn’t just successfully “increase total propulsion while minimizing HCI aerosol formation.” It started a domino effect of business-competition victories across the country which helped the group garner thousands of dollars for their business. McGuire went on to be offered a position and equity stake within the company.
After the completion of his MBA, McGuire left Purdue University’s campus to spend almost three years as a brand manager with the consumer goods giant, Reckitt Benckiser. It wasn’t long until he found himself with a new career opportunity to work with CEO Craig Dubitsky, as a friendly innovation brand manager with Hello Products LLC -- a naturally friendly oral care company.
Dubitsky, well-known in the world of personal care, has been involved in multiple highly-successful businesses. He is the co-founder of lip and skincare maker EOS Products and a founding board member of green-cleaning upstart Method Products.
“Krannert opened the doors for me to be able to be where I am right now,” said McGuire. “It opened the doors for me to be able to gain a skill set, to be able to pitch myself in such a way that I could get the job that I wanted. That has been an amazing opportunity and it will take me to where I want to go in the future as well.”
Taking small steps from being a door-to-door salesman raising money for his undergraduate education to becoming a brand manager for one of the fastest-growing oral care companies in the world.
