Marie Thompson, MBA 19 - Talking About Cancer, Athletic Mentality, Clean Energy & Climate Tech | OneHaas

Marie Thompson, MBA 19 - Talking About Cancer, Athletic Mentality, Clean Energy & Climate Tech

Marie Thompson is a Principal Investor at Powerhouse Ventures, an innovation firm that works with leading global corporations to help them find, partner with, invest in, and acquire the most innovative startups in clean energy, mobility, and climate. Despite her struggle with health, she's made valuable contributions at Powerhouse Ventures, where she was offered her dream role right after her internship.

Marie's perseverance shines because of the mindset she cultivated through athletics. In this episode, Marie shares her story of pursuing an MBA and choosing Haas, the relationships she formed along the way, and overcoming a life-threatening illness. She also talks about helping industries pivot to clean energy and address today's climate crisis.

Episode Quotes:

Marie’s reasons for pursuing an MBA

[00:06:42] I had two north stars that really made it clear that business school is the right step for me. One was just that personal development. I stalled out where I was. I wasn't going to get an opportunity to practice leadership or management skills or be able to connect to people in a real way. I knew I couldn't get that in my current corporate environment. The other one was very practical and functional. I was done with oil and gas. I strongly wanted to pivot industries into kind of clean energy or climate tech.

On choosing Haas

[08:40.97] Once I finally started interacting with Haas students and learning more about the school environment and how amazing everybody is in an inspiring way and not an intimidating way, that was huge. Being in a place where I felt like I could learn from people and collaborate was so much more important than some prestige or some specific class. I got a little lucky that the Bay Area is home to where the industry I wanted to be and Haas happened to be right there.

On creating and preserving meaningful connections through BERC (Berkeley Energy and Resources Collaborative)

[00:14:23] The number one thing I got out of BERC was that experience of leadership and connecting with so many people in the industry. That facilitation, especially across different majors and departments, was really special and important and something that I think BERC did a really good job of. I'm still in touch with most of that executive team.

Recovering from cancer with the help of her athlete mentality

[00:25:54] The athlete mentality was really helpful in some ways of just getting through it, pushing through, enduring. It really was just endurance. I thought recovery might be like a path of a mountain; as long as you walk the path and follow the rules, things will get better and easier. But it's really more like you're staring into this giant void, and nobody has some answers for you. People my age and gender typically don't get this type of cancer. There's no guidance, and you're just off in the wild to rebuild your body and rebuild your mind. That lack of structure and detachment from the athlete lifestyle that was a part of my twenties and my athletic career has been a journey every day to choose to be nice to myself and proud of myself and keep moving forward with my teeny little baby steps.