Mariah Manzano graduated from Santa Clara with a BS in Web Design & Engineering and minor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship this past June and is now working full-time as a software engineer at Cisco. This past January, Mariah founded Opal, a "Tinder for mentorship" app that matches students with industry professionals for mentorship. Mariah wanted to find a way to allow students to grow and learn more about their passions and their dream careers. Students have a tough time reaching out or even knowing who to talk to as they navigate the job search process, rejection, and imposter syndrome. Mariah has grown her team virtually and designed Opal's matching algorithm to create the ideal match between mentor and mentees. In this episode, we'll talk about Mariah's experience growing Opal, her experience as a student entrepreneur and University Innovation Fellow, participating in Santa Clara's accelerator program, her background in app development and product design, and advice she has for aspiring student entrepreneurs.

Check out Opal: https://www.opal-app.org/

Socials: https://linktr.ee/and_this_is_how_it_started