Grayson Pruett ‘23, founder and podcast host of the self-improvement motivational business, Meant for Big Things, sits down to catch us up on her collegiate journey and tell us all about her business. This week she will be featured in our Senior Spotlight, and to follow will be an article that dives deeper into her business, podcast and all that goes into such an endeavor as a full-time student.
Grayson is from Lake Forest, Illinois, right outside of Chicago, but began her college journey at Franklin University Switzerland, an American university in Switzerland. “I wanted to do something different and super exciting. I wasn’t over the moon about my college choices and decided to do something about it,” she shares. As a Swiss citizen, she wanted to learn more about her heritage, and the encouraging words of her mother, who had spent her junior year abroad there, helped her to come to the decision. “It ended up being the best decision ever, because I had the most transformative experience there,” she says. In her time in Switzerland, she got to know people from all across the world, as well as get the idea for her passion: her podcast.
In 2020, she began her search to transfer and return to the U.S for her sophomore year. She wound up at Villanova in a particularly beautiful way, and gets chills each time she shares the experience. An old high school classmate of hers adorning a Villanova necklace prompted a conversation between the two about the university. Grayson shared that she asked a lot of questions, and each of her classmate’s answers was a perfect match to what she was seeking. “When I got into Villanova, I was so excited that I went to Amazon, bought a T-shirt and wore it for three days straight,” she shares with a smile.
However, a few days later, she received an acceptance from BC, and was now faced with a decision between the two schools. She took her dog on a walk, wondering if perhaps she should change the shirt. “I’m a person who very much goes with my intuition, and something told me to just keep it on,” she shares. On the walk, weighing her decision, she posed a question aloud: “God, where should I go to school?” Then, she turned the corner and came face-to-face with a tree in the exact shape of a V. “I told myself ‘Okay, I know where I’m going to go’. I went to put my dog in front of the tree to take a picture and I heard someone from behind me say, ‘Excuse me, are you a wildcat?’ She ended up being an alum who graduated 20 years ago, who told me it was the best decision of her life. That night I put my deposit in.”
Grayson describes getting to Villanova as “a dream come true that I didn’t even know I had” and her arrival at the university taught her a valuable lesson. Although she loves planning, she says: “Some things just happen accidentally, and sometimes those are the most beautiful things.” She has since become one of Villanova’s most-involved, majoring in Political Science with minors in Business and Finance. All while serving on the VSB Mentoring Advisory Council, in the VSB Mentor Program, and being a part of Blue Key, Minor Problem A Cappella, the Equestrian Team and her sorority, Delta Gamma.
She loves the friends and communities she has found across all of her extracurriculars. “The girls on the Equestrian Team have become my best friends, and they’re just so supportive,” she shares. She also raves about the VSB Mentorship Advisory Board, sharing: “The people in it are so driven and many are entrepreneurs themselves. We even have this group where we discuss where we want to take our businesses moving forward, while also helping the mentor program grow.”
With the remainder of her senior year, she is focused on making each day count and facilitating as big of an impact as she can. “I want to get everything out of this Villanova experience, especially as a transfer here. I also just want to enjoy the company that I have. We’re in such a unique place where we get to be with all these different minds that are focused on different things like psychology, neuroscience, finance, engineering, and we can all talk about what we study. It’s such a cool microcosm of personalities and mindsets,” she says insightfully.
Her favorite memories at Villanova are centered around meeting people and forming deep relationships here. “When I first came to Villanova, it was during COVID, and I lived off campus. I wondered how I would make friends, so I challenged myself every week to meet at least four to six new people and take them out to breakfast, lunch or dinner,” she explains. She remembers having to come up with creative ways to meet new people and usually talked to people in line with her at Holy Grounds. She offered her phone number and an invite to eat to whoever was standing around her. “I met some of my best friends this way,” she says.
Another of her favorite things about Villanova is how exciting she finds each day here. “There’s so much vibrancy to this campus in every single facet. Every day I’m so excited to discover more deep relationships, academic curiosities, extracurriculars and ways to give back to the community. The support of the community here is unrivaled, and I feel the most uplifted that I have ever had,” she says.
As for academics, Grayson says her favorite professor is definitely Ryan Weldzius. “He has just always looked out for me and made the time to talk about my career or to just be extra support for me. He’s intelligent, talented and a great educator. The way he situates his class makes it so students really want to perform well. I’ve never met a person that doesn’t love him and rave about him,” she shares. She detailed how influential Professor Weldzius has been for her in one of her podcast episodes. “He gave me so much academic competence and transformed the way I learned and thought about myself,” she says.
She has also had some great internship experiences – one of which led to her full time position! Her sophomore year she took Professor Weldzius’ Classical International Political Economics class. The course helped fuel her love for economics and at office hours with Professor Weldzius, he mentioned that Villanova was running the first Political Risk Analyst Apprenticeship Program. Grayson got to complete this program, working with Villanova alum, Robert Hagstrom, who was Chief Investment Officer of Equity Compass, as well as 12 other student researchers in groups of four. “We looked at how different things like pandemics, populist parties and financial crises have affected the market,” she explains. Her group specialized in the politics of financial crises, and this grew her interest in monetary policy. “We were looking at the Great Depression, Great Recession and COVID crisis through the lens of fiscal policy, monetary policy, global trade and congressional control,” she says. “It was transformative and really changed the trajectory of my whole Villanova experience. It made me realize I loved economics, and I really liked finance,” she says. She went on to apply to Villanova’s Summer Business Institute, and still keeps in touch with her mentor, Robert.
This summer, she interned in New York at an investment bank, Jefferies. Her team worked on fixed income sales support. “I processed all the different fixed income trades that happened throughout the company. So, I talked to the front office, back office, and even the clients. I was situated in the perfect position to learn our role in the business and how a trade cycle works,” she explains. She received a full time offer and will be returning after graduation to work with Jefferies as an Operations Analyst.
“My favorite thing about being a Villanovan is the constant feeling that we have each other’s backs. There’s always a push to help the person next to you, behind you or in front of you,” Grayson says. Being at Villanova also taught her a valuable lesson: “If you just suck it up and be the person to introduce yourself first and make that connection with someone, opportunities will open up for you. New relationships and deep relationships will come into your life.” She explains that she will take this mentality of openness to every new relationship with her beyond Villanova.
When asked what she’ll miss the most about her home for the past three years once she graduates and moves off to New York, Grayson said “the gift of beautiful friendship,” and explains how she has found the most genuine of friends on this campus. “I feel like we connect soul to soul. My friends have been there for me through everything and genuinely want to support me,” she reflects.
Looking to the future, Grayson will work at Jefferies, but also wants to continue growing her business. “I’m working right now on a couple of special projects to transition Meant for Big Things out of Villanova. I’ve also worked on an Instagram and many different campaigns to engage others,” she explains. On the way to her internship this summer, she also began filming and posting vlogs in which she shared a short, inspirational message for her social media followers. “Sometimes it was what I learned the day before or just me walking in New York with that city feel, like everything’s at your fingertips. I really want to continue that kind of vlog style format when I start work,” she says. “I literally could take it anywhere, it just depends on the amount of effort, focus and planning I put into it.”
Don’t forget to check back for an article all about Meant for Big Things in the coming weeks! Grayson fills us in on how she started the business and the journey it has been for her. Until then, be sure to check it out on Instagram @meantforbigthings and listen in to the podcast available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!
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As a Staff Writer for Villanova University’s Office for Undergraduate Students, sophomore Gabrielle Piccirilli shares the stories, experiences, and accomplishments of the students of Villanova’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
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