Beck & Stone’s apprentice opportunity, the Museion Fellowship, provides training and networking for young students or professionals who want to rebuild American culture. As the search for our 2023 fellow winds to a close, we’re reflecting on the need for coaching and mentoring that is values-aligned and strategically-focused.
This year, we’re bringing on two Museion Fellows with incredible talent and strong backgrounds in research, tech, finance, and international studies. At Beck & Stone, they will have the opportunity to meet some of the most successful and influential cultural figures in the country. They’ll execute new ideas, manage accounts, brainstorm design, and learn how the sausage is made. Most importantly, they’ll be part of our company culture and team camaraderie—fresh reinforcements on Horatius’ bridge.
Ask any CEO of a corporate, white-collar company to name their most valuable asset and their biggest current need. Most will answer both questions the same: high-skilled employees who are dedicated to their work. It’s your people who build your firm, create your company culture, and scale your ideas into enterprises. And there seems to be a shortage.
When we began Beck & Stone seven years ago, we had a difficult time finding qualified people to work here, even in the deep creative talent pool that was pre-2020 New York City. We were in a weird niche: a creative agency paired with specialized consulting services, serving institutions who sell ideas: magazines, think tanks, churches, university centers. It’s not easy to find an employee with sharp aesthetic instincts who can also code a website, strategize a subscriber campaign, and still understand the subtle differences between the audiences of First Things and The New Criterion.
On the supply side, working at Beck & Stone was a tough sell when Google and Droga5 were down the block. Now, the opposite seems true: the brightest and most independent minds feel stultified at Silicon Valley firms or climbing the ladder on Wall Street. They want ceiling-less, open-door opportunities, not status quo drudgery.
The unorthodox—but necessary—lengths Beck & Stone went to find and vet talent, and the long talks persuading the best people to apply, taught us something about what young people want out of work. It taught us that companies with a pioneering mentality don’t need to worry about skilled worker shortages. The reputation we’ve built for professional trust, loyalty, and understanding has made us a magnet for institutions outside the mainstream who need world-class design, strategy, and consulting—and young professionals who want to become part of that reputation.
The last job opening we posted had over 350 applicants, all who understand what we’re building—and want in.
What do the best employees want? They want their work to mean something beyond the paycheck. To strategize and build, not just check off a to-do list. To set standards and goals, not sell clients on fluff. To feel valued and be mentored, not tiptoe around office rules or mores. To let work enhance their quality of life, not to invest years in a toxic, miserable office.
The word Museion is the Greek root of our modern English museum. It referred to the shrine of the nine muses, the patronesses of art, music, and other studies. The Museion Fellowship carries forward the ancient cult of creative genius, the seed of culture, from past into future.
We seek to capture a blossoming revolutionary energy across our country by offering a new prospect for rising stars and future operators stuck in the monotonous confines of today’s corporate world. Through a creative, intellectually-stimulating environment and close contact with icons of art, literature, politics, and innovation, we’re redefining the pathway to success by bringing passion back to the office.
Like every company, we’re only as good as our people. That’s why we’ve chosen to start with step one and help create the change—and the change-makers—we want to see in the professional world.
Meet Our 2023 Fellows
WILLIAM WILLOUGHBY is a recent graduate of the Andre B. Lacy School of Business at Butler University in Indianapolis, IN. He is a native of Michigan and lives in Kalamazoo.
During and after his college experience, Will has worked as a closely held business consultant, data analyst, project manager, and machinist. While in college, he also founded or co-founded two campus philanthropy organizations, BIGS Venture Philanthropy and The Giving Circle.
Besides continuously trying and failing to be a devout Roman Catholic, Will enjoys nothing more than coffee, a Gambler Red Premier Supermatic Blue 100, horology, gothic architecture, Oxford commas, and equestrian mathematics. When not on his front porch or high horse, he can often be found at the thrift store.
PETER RYAN recently completed an MA in Global History (economic specialization) from the University College Dublin and was awarded first class honors. He received his B.A. from New York University in economics with a double minor in business & web development, as well as a certificate for business & financial modeling from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Peter grew up in New Jersey.
Peter is also the CEO & Founder of Ryan Research, where he advises private clients and creates public content on economics, technology, and history. He led research efforts at CoinDesk, the most popular cryptocurrency brand in the world, producing data insights, cutting-edge reports, and useful tools to help users better understand the complex industry. Prior to that, he was an analyst assisting venture capitalists and startups in making smarter decisions through data.
Andrew Beck is Founding Partner at Beck & Stone and father to six children that he and his beloved wife now raise together in the great state of Texas.
