Staff Interview with Justin Fultz

Get to know Global Learning Opportunities' staff!

What inspired you to work for your organization?

As a former teacher, I love educating students. As an avid traveler I understood how much more a person learns when visiting different cultures first hand. This is why I was inspired to work as an advocate of studying abroad and facilitate the importance of a student's development in life to travel and learn.

What is your organization's mission and how do you continue to work toward it?

The purpose of the International Business Seminars (IBS) program is to expose participants to the business environment and practices outside of the United States while providing insight into the cultural, social, and political environments of each country visited. The goal is for participants to use their research and experience to determine trends, threats, problems, issues, and implications for businesses while developing global competency. We continue to work toward this mission in every program we do by providing top Fortune 500 company visits in each country visited as well as give the richest cultural experience possible with local guides and activities.

Describe what a typical day at work entails for you.

I plan the logistics of study abroad programs from reserving hotels, transportation, and activities to talking to CEO of companies requesting visits for the students to learn from. 

What are some current projects you are working on?

I am currently working on our Winter One and Winter MBA programs. The Winter One program is an "open" program meaning it is open to students from any university in America during their winter break. They will be traveling to the UK, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. This is an believable experience for the students as they get to see all these different cultures as well as network with different students from all different parts of the country back in America. The Winter MBA group is also an "open" program, but for MBA students. They will travel to the UK and France visiting fortune 500 companies, being able to hear top executives and ask questions and network with their fellow students.

Why do you do what you do?

For the students! I want them to catch the travel bug like I did when I was young when I first traveled. I want them to see what the world has to offer and how much you can learn from it. 

How do you use your own travel experience in your current role?

As a former teacher there are many "teaching moments" (maybe too many) that can be used on the programs that will help students get more out of each place, activity, and company visited.

What challenges do you face in your role and how do you overcome them?

The biggest challenge is convincing students to travel abroad and how much of a life changing experience it truly is. Many have anxieties of traveling abroad for the first time by themselves and to get them out of their shell and take the leap is sometimes the hardest challenge. 

What advice would you give your pre-travel self?

What are you waiting for?! There is no better time than now! If you keep putting the most important learning experience of your life off then you may not be able to do it later.

How do you help support participants throughout their time with IBS?

We support participants in every way along the way, from the initial discussion of questions about traveling abroad to offering scholarships and payment plans making their dreams come to fruition to teaching them in orientations and classes what to expect in each country and culture to being with them keeping them safe and comfortable at each location, and finally helping them reflect on what they saw and learned and how it changed their life for the better.  

What questions do participants often ask you, and how do you typically respond?

The most popular question is on the locations of certain things in the areas they are traveling. For example grocery stores, laundry, restaurants, cultural experiences. I always have a list of these locations ready for them and it is provided for them beforehand so they can find it in their itineraries. 

What do you hope participants take away from your programs?

We hope each participant can reflect on their individual program as a life changing experience that shaped them into a better person. We hope that each participant learns from their experience and has a better understanding of what they want to get out of life and what they want for their future. We hope that participants make friends for life with the different people who go with them on their program as well who they meet abroad.

What makes International Business Seminars special?

International Business Seminars gives the students the experience of being their first business trip abroad. They will stay in 4 and 5 star hotels as well as meet with top executives from Fortune 500 companies. They will be able to network with top companies for recruiting and experience the rich cultures of each city visited.

We offer a once in a lifetime experience to learn how and what it is like to travel as an international businessman/woman. Students will have the same experience as a person working for a top international company. They will talk to top executives from international corporations and see the difference cultures play on business in each country. Students can network not only with top executives, but with fellow students from different areas of America who share the same interests of international business.

Why should someone choose International Business Seminars over your competitors?

Our organization is the only company that teaches students first hand how to successfully travel abroad for business. We replicate and teach what it is like and what to do when working for an international company. We have a plethora of companies throughout the world that host our students with top executives that share their experience and how they conduct business. 

What is your favorite part about your job?

Seeing the students before and after the programs and how much they have learned and changed from the experience. I love to hear their stories of what they experienced and see how excited they are as they tell them and what they have learned.

If you could participate in one of your organization's programs, where would you go and what would you do?

We have just started a new program in Australia that will open in the Summer of 2021. This is open to all university students across America that will be able to visit the best locations in Australia as well as some of the biggest companies Australia has to offer. I would love to hear what the companies have to say on how Australia conducts business and how it is different from American companies. I would like to go diving in the Great Barrier Reef and meet the wonderful Australian people who are world renown to be warm and welcoming.

Are there any recent developments with your organization this year that people should know about?

Due to the unfortunate set back the recent pandemic has put on study abroad programs and traveling abroad, International Business Seminars has initiated our very first virtual study abroad program. Students will be able to still visit countries from the comfort of their homes, with virtual live tours as well as talk to top executives live from the countries visited.

What hopes do you have for the future of your organization?

International Business Seminars is constantly expanding to offer experiences to different parts of the world. We have just opened up programs in South Africa and New Zealand, and hope to continue to offer experiences to new countries around the world.

Why do you think it is important for people to travel abroad and experience new cultures?

It is impossible to truly learn about different cultures by reading it in a book. A person must go see those places and be in those places to get the whole experience of the culture. From ordering bread at a bakery in France to listening to top executives at a company each experience can only be fully appreciated if you are there.

What does meaningful travel mean to you?

When I can experience the culture and see not only the main attractions of a place visit, but also see how people live and work in their environments. I would like to be part of that culture only if it is for a little while to see what it is like to live in someone else's shoes and learn from that experience.

What advice do you have for individuals thinking about going abroad?

The best advice I can say is always keep an open mind to different ideas and ways of thinking. If you do this it will expand your mind and make you a much more intelligent being. Just because you learned something to be true in your own culture doesn't mean it is necessarily true in another person's culture. Try and look at life in other people's eyes once you experience their culture.

What hopes do you have for the future of international education?

I hope that the future of international education will bring cultures and communities together and disintegrate stigmas and negative stereotypes that are portrayed now in the world for certain cultures. I hope international education will bring people together from all races to realize we are all humans living in the same world and there is no room or time to hate, but rather work together to appreciate the differences we all share and make this world a better place.