Max Von Deylen ’19 Adorant Group – For almost the entirety of the summer, I have been fortunate enough to work as the business development intern for Adorant Group, a financial services technology startup, founded and run by Brian Mantel, Wabash College class of 1993. I was presented this opportunity as a result of the generosity of the Wabash College Small Business Internship Fund. Currently, Adorant is in the process of developing a software platform for financial advisors and their clients, in an effort to enhance the financial planning capabilities for both parties. While still in development, Adorant’s platform is among the most advanced available and there are exciting times ahead!
As for my work throughout the summer, I spent a good portion of my time editing and improving the platform’s existing content. However, I also wrote a large portion of content, myself. The majority of my time from May to August was dedicated to writing and developing a freestanding financial curriculum, as well as individual financial education materials. Ultimately, I completed developing a curriculum that covers established financial literacy standards and even some more advanced or nuanced financial planning topics. The curriculum is organized and presented in one of two ways: based of generational demographics or by complexity of topic. For example, Generation X (one of five total generations) has its own dedicated curriculum. The individual financial education materials that I created were articles aggregating the best content from the best sources for a given financial planning topic.
While Adorant itself is based in Chicago, I spent the majority of my time at home in Indianapolis, working remotely. I was fortunate enough to be given access to a co-working space in downtown Indianapolis where I spent the majority of my time. I would work independently during the day and then correspond with my boss and the other members of the Adorant team during the evening. I also had the opportunity to travel up to Chicago on several occasions to meet in person with the Adorant team.
Overall, my summer internship experience was incredible. I did work that was interesting to me and completing work felt worthwhile. I would attribute much of this enjoyment to the fact that I was working with a small startup, instead of a large corporation. Therefore, I could really see the impact of my work, and I never felt like a cog in the machine. I cannot thank the Small Business Internship Fund enough for this opportunity. Without it, none of this would have been possible!
