There is a famous saying about how insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result. For Edward Nagai, he had a steady life, relaxing on the weekends were spent traveling around and traveling abroad once or twice a year was the norm. Two and a half years ago, he found himself in a very comfortable place in his life, too comfortable for the leader he wanted to become.
“I felt stuck in my job and life in general, with little to no opportunities to move up since I didn’t feel like I was growing.”
With a very technical background, but not enough knowledge to understand the business aspect, Nagai had felt the desire to learn more about business, obtaining his MBA degree was the first, and only choice that came to his mind.
So, in June 2017, he packed up his Subaru Outback and left California for Illinois driving thousands of miles to Kellogg School of Management where he would begin his MBA studies.
When asked about his thought on success, Nagai contemplated, and had various answers for his own definition of success whether it being short term or long term,
“When I’m about to die, I would define success as looking back in my life and knowing that I have touched the lives of many others in a positive way, making their lives better for themselves and those around them.”
Currently, Nagai is the President of the Kellogg Student Association (KSA), a student governing body at Kellogg School of Management. Nagai did not intend to become President of KSA mentioning that it was an “accident” and when asked how that happened, Nagai had only wanted to join three clubs when he came to Kellogg: Business Leadership Club, Tech Club, and the Marketing Club where he thought would be the most interesting and best for his future career.
As he walked into the club fair, “the clubs I was interested in had big groups of people gathered around them and I’m typically not the type who goes into big groups if possible.”
Looking around, Nagai saw a guy all by himself looking lonely “so I decided to approach him and talk to him. His name was Jack and it turned out that he was the VP of Academics for the Kellogg Student Association (KSA).”
When Nagai learned that KSA was about making Kellogg better and how great of an opportunity it was, he signed up to be on six out of twelve different committees within the KSA, one being the Technology committee. From there, Nagai went on to becoming VP of technology for a year before the next election period approach.
“The current President at the time texted me saying that she thought I would make an excellent President.”
With his broad connection base and knowing how things operated, becoming KSA’s President would be another role he would take on. Nagai, however, decline the role of President at first, but the current President at the time was persistent.
“She finally got me with the question “would you rather have someone you don’t know lead Kellogg? Or would you rather do it yourself? She played to my ego rather nicely and I was successfully elected to be President.”
Nagai continues his Education at Kellogg School of Management, set to graduate June of 2020. He continues to learn and work hard.
“My dad once told me when I was a kid that in order to get better than someone else, I’ll need to work twice as hard just to catch up. The reason being that the other person is also working hard to improve himself/herself. If you are working only just as hard, you will never catch up.”
Keeping his schedule busy, working hard and continuously growing and learning, no longer feeling stuck in his job, or his life. Edward Nagai, from California to Chicago; he is where he should be.
The Gray Chicago 