James Sheeler – RIT MBA Student

Hello! My name is James Sheeler. While originally from Boulder, Colorado, and Cleveland, Ohio I came to Rochester, New York to get my BFA in Industrial Design and my MBA in STEM.

From a young age, I always enjoyed being creative in both drawing and building. This would ultimately lead me to study design at RIT. However, as I continued through the program, I became increasingly curious about how to sell the products that I was designing. I began to enroll myself in entrepreneurship classes that began to fuel another interest of mine, business. Furthermore, I began entering pitch competitions and business accelerators where I was able to become more comfortable with public speaking. These lessons have increased my confidence in seeing ideas through from the ideation phase to understanding the steps it takes for a product to get to a customer.

After graduation, I look forward to being part of a company where I can continue to apply my skills and interests in design and business.