Student Experiences in Ghana Spring 2023: Kyle LaPlant

Interviewer: Can you tell us a little about yourself?

Kyle LaPlant (KL): My name is Kyle LaPlant. I am a second year MBA student in the David Eccles School of Business, with an emphasis in brand management. I have a job now at Warner Brothers Studios on the Global Influencer Marketing Team. I work cross functionally with teams across the globe to launch console and mobile games for franchises like Harry Potter, Mortal Kombat, and the DC Universe. Specifically, I manage the influencer marketing strategy for mobile titles, and I collaborate cross-functionally for console games to align our influencer marketing strategy with the overall gameplan for each product launch globally.

Personally, I grew up on the reservation for a bit and then finished up high school in Chicago. I went to BYU for my undergrad in neuropsychology, and served an LDS mission in Ventura, California.

I came back here for my MBA with an emphasis in brand management and marketing. I have always been interested in humanity, in motivation, and what helps people succeed where others may fail—especially being mindful of the people I come from. A lot of natives drop out of school and don’t reach their full potential, so for me, addressing that was the aim with psychology. Brand management and marketing are very closely tied to consumer behavior, so it was a natural fit.

Interviewer: Can you tell us a little bit about why you decided to take this course that travels to Ghana?

KL: Simply put, because nobody in my clan has ever been to Africa, let alone Ghana. And because I know what it’s like to grow up with people who are in an impoverished situation. What I saw over in Ghana really wasn’t that different from the reservation I grew up on. It was an opportunity to do consulting for a business in a developing country that could just as well have been on the reservation. I felt that I had to be there—it was an opportunity to serve my people by serving other people abroad and to hone my humanitarian skills to help my people build businesses.

Interviewer: You mentioned you lived on a reservation, could you tell us a little bit more about that?

KL: Yeah, my mother is Navajo (Diné) and my father is French. I grew up with my mom and her people in a little desert town called Sheep Springs, New Mexico—if you blink you will miss it on the highway. It’s very similar to how it is in Ghana, but to be honest, it’s got even less. People survive by being entrepreneurs—creating goods and services, specifically pots, vases, jewelry, rugs, etc.—things that you might see white people selling at a premium price, but which are typically bought from us at a very low price.

Public education is not very good, and people rarely leave the reservation. For those of us that have been able to travel abroad, it is with the intention of coming back. Everything I’m doing is to build myself and go home and build my community.

Interviewer: You touched a little on the experiences of entrepreneurs in your community. How did that inform you in Ghana as you advised Mr. Cedi of Cedi Beads on his business?

KL: That’s a great question. Professor Jay Barney does a really good job of teaching how to offer consulting in a way that isn’t just “privileged to privileged.” When you work with people who are in a very humble situation, you can’t just air drop one size fits all solutions because it’s biased. Clearly, where we come from is a lot different than Ghana. It is important to tailor solutions to people.

In being native and coming from a reservation I have a unique perspective because nobody else knows what it’s like to put bread on your table by literally selling frybread out of the bed of your truck with having a hand-drawn sign as one’s only form of marketing or by selling a Navajo wedding vase to somebody who doesn’t know anything about it. It’s actually a big part of our culture. Those people need consulting in a different way.

I know what it’s like to want desperately to improve your business situation and not know how. I think bringing that perspective to the team was invaluable. And I believe that was a big reason why I was able to connect so well with everyone there.

Interviewer: Can you tell us about the recommendations that you and your team made to Cedi Beads?

KL: Our deliverables were two-pronged. The first was his request from a financial standpoint— “Can you go through my books and ensure that I’m profitable, and if I’m not, can you suggest some solutions?”

The second prong was from more of a marketing standpoint—how to grow the business in general, how to connect more with the tourist market, and what kind of tactics to utilize. To address this concern, we assessed his products—how these same products were priced elsewhere and what tourists were willing to pay. We found that tourists were willing to pay quite a bit more than what he was selling his product for, so we created a website for him and helped him with his social media. We looked at this from the standpoint of a tourist, while also trying to preserve the integrity of the business for the locals. I feel like we did a really good job of collaborating to offer good, tailored solutions.

Interviewer: You mentioned that with both Mr. Cedi and with entrepreneurs in the community you grew up in, that often artisans price their goods too low. Do you have any more thoughts on that?

KL: First, in business school they teach you about how price is reflective of quality. When Hoggan, Tim, and I first walked into Cedi Beads we thought, “I cannot believe how cheap these are!” My first thought was quality— how long is this item going to last? And boy, was I wrong. It had nothing to do with quality and everything to do with a man who knew very little about his competition. He was massively underselling himself.

Second, African culture has really come on the scene as of late, thanks first and foremost to Black History Month, and also, I would wager, Black Panther, and it’s been fantastic to see that.