Gabelli Sophomore Combines Her Love of Business and Fashion

Rabela+Bodini+rose+to+the+occasion%2C+winning+the+Gabelli+Consulting+Cup+Challenge

Rabela Bodini rose to the occasion, winning the Gabelli Consulting Cup Challenge

By Andrea Garcia

Rabela Bodini rose to the occasion, winning the Gabelli Consulting Cup Challenge

Rabela Bodini rose to the occasion, winning the Gabelli Consulting Cup Challenge

In a sea of suits, firm handshakes and polished resumes, how does one stand out amongst the crowd in the ever-so daunting career fair? Rabela Bodini, GSB ’19, does so with internship experience, distinguished outfits and a recent major award on her resume: first place at the 2016 Gabelli Consulting Cup Challenge.

The Cresskill, New Jersey native came to Rose Hill with a different career in mind.

“Initially, I was a chemistry major,” she said. “I had a dream of becoming a dentist. However, as I started my freshman year at Fordham, I realized that business was my true calling.”

Her older sister, Zamane, GSB ’14, is one of her business role models. “I see a lot of resemblances between us. I’m learning from her as I go,” Bodini said.

As just a rising sophomore in Gabelli at the time, Bodini had landed two internships with GAMCO Investors, an asset management company, and LICT, a company in the telecommunications sector.

“At GAMCO, I was an operations intern, and I reconciled around 20 accounts per month. At LICT, I did a bunch of admin work at meetings by creating documents and portfolios that people at the company would look at to access different acquisitions they were looking into.”

Sophomore year at Fordham brought a new challenge to Bodini: The Gabelli Consulting Cup Challenge. She did not have any qualms about working with teammates Chris Dollesin, Sophia Woody, Gabrielle McNees, Luke Fiore and Patrick O’Donnell.

“We just clicked the first time we met and knew we were going to go far in the competition,” she said. “We did well at identifying each other’s strengths and, most importantly, each other’s weaknesses, and we all knew the hard work it would take to reach that one common goal.”

She even loves telling the anecdote about how their team’s group text got its name.

“I was looking at the 10K report and was looking at Chipotle’s trademarks, I saw that one of them was unburritable, and I immediately told everyone I was changing our group chat’s name to that.”

Bodini shares how their team defeated the odds and truly became unburritable. The group chat and other forms of new communication were essential to their success.

“Communication was our main goal and, because of new technology, we were able to talk 24/7. No one would skip group meetings, and if they couldn’t actually make it to the meeting, they would FaceTime us. We didn’t see each other as friends, but rather colleagues, and that definitely helped because we limited our meetings to just work.”

After months of solid communication and collaboration, the team’s work culminated with their presentation at the Consulting Cup finals. Bodini will never forget the moment their win was announced.

“It was so crazy. It brought our team back to the first time we met.”

Being part of a team equally comprised of males and females, Bodini recognizes how she has been affected by the strides women are making in the business world.

“Women are taking over,” she said.

With a revolution of women entering the business world at higher rates than previous generations, Bodini has also made observations about the role of women’s fashion in the workplace.

“Many people say that women have more options than men do in the business world in regards to how they dress,” she said. “Women in the office have this expectation of wearing things that are less-revealing and bland, but as fashion progresses, new office wear is entirely revolutionizing. There are more options that are using colors, are embellished, or are simply more figure-flattering.”

Whether for a career fair, internship or a high-stakes presentation, Bodini loves the empowerment that wearing a suit brings her.

“One thing I really love in business, is that you really empower yourself when wearing a suit or anything you wear to the office. Personally, I always feel confident when I put on a suit,” she said.

The only question remaining is “what’s next?”

“People say you should do something you love, so I’m trying to do just that, incorporate my interest in fashion with business,” Bodini said. “I’m definitely passionate about the fashion industry, and I want to take that passion and do something with it.”