For Paige Martin and Christoff Chisholm, business school was as much about learning as it was about proving they could create real impact.
“The place where opportunities are unlimited,” Chisholm said, describing his experience at the University of Miami Patti and Allan Herbert Business School.
Within a single year in the Master of International Business program, the pair translated classroom concepts into real-world results, including consulting for a multibillion-dollar company, competing on a global stage, and launching a startup now valued at $1.9 million.
Their defining moment came during a consulting project with Digicel, a telecommunications company operating in the Caribbean. Tasked with developing a 5G deployment strategy for the French West Indies, the team analyzed each market individually and recommended focusing on Martinique and Guadeloupe.
The company ultimately implemented their strategy.
“We didn’t know that our work would contribute to the shift of two countries,” Martin said. “It made us believe that we could go even beyond this.”
The experience reinforced a key lesson: solving real business problems requires clarity and precision.
“They care about the specific pain points,” she said. “You have to get to the solution quickly.”
Their global perspective expanded further during a program trip to Singapore and Vietnam, where they built international partnerships and recruited members for their startup’s technical team.
“It taught us how important culture is in business,” Chisholm said. “You have to adapt how you communicate and learn before you act.”
Martin added that understanding regional differences is critical. “Each market is different,” she said. “You cannot apply the same strategy everywhere.”
The pair also placed second in the Global International Business Law Competition in San Francisco, where their recommendations on pharmaceutical pricing and accessibility later mirrored real-world market shifts.
Building on that momentum, they spent nearly a year developing a health and wellness technology platform designed to connect providers with clients while reducing marketing costs and consolidating fragmented health data.
“We were working eight to 10 hours a day,” Martin said. “It evolved constantly. We kept refining the idea.”
The venture, supported by Miami Herbert faculty and the university’s Launch Pad program, is now valued at $1.9 million, with plans to launch within the next six months.
Both credit the program’s structure and support system for preparing them to move quickly from concept to execution.
“There is so much support, you just have to reach out and take it,” Chisholm said.
For Martin and Chisholm, the experience reshaped how they approach business and what they believe is possible.
“We didn’t just learn business,” Martin said. “We learned how to build something real.”
