An upcoming feature of “I Heart Travel Week” will share the story of one BW alumnus journey to the founding his own multinational business.

This year’s “I Heart Travel Week” lecture was put together through the collaboration between BW Explorations/Study Abroad and the CIG. Michael Tindall ’10 will be giving the lecture.

Launchnet Program Manager Hannah Schlueter came into contact with Tindall over LinkedIn. They had originally met as students at BW through the Hepcat Swing Society.

“As an entrepreneur himself, he wanted to learn more about the entrepreneurship program we offer,” said Schlueter. “We had a couple conversations about his career and what he’s done with it.” Tindall offered to give back to students by visiting a class or giving a lecture.

“When we were planning for the spring 2019 calendar, I brought his name up,” said Schlueter. “With the partnership with BW Explorations, everything fell into place.”

Michael Tindall was a German and English double major at Baldwin Wallace. He originally planned to study English at a German university. However, the financial recession made it difficult for him to find jobs in teaching after he graduated. During his time at BW, Tindall founded the International Film Series at BW.
“I started the film series the first semester of my senior year,” said Tindall. Tindall created the film series with one of his old roommates. His lecture will include more details about how International Films Series came to be.
Tindall also founded another club at BW, the video game club called G.A.M.E.
“The club taught me about budgeting and creating events,” said Tindall. “It also taught me about managing people and retaining talent.”
Tindall was a member of German Club and Hepcat Swing Society and held officer positions in both. He was also an ISS student ambassador.
Tindall is the founder of Opus Global Services. “We help businesses grow, scale, and optimize operations,” said Tindall. “I hire top tier talent from all over the world.”
He attributes his business success to the foreign language and cultural skills he gained as a student at BW.
“The two key things that put me where I am today are my foreign language background and interest in different cultures,” said Tindall. “Without them, I wouldn’t have been hired for the positions that led me to today.”
After learning from his experiences, Tindall offers a word of advice for future students.
“The key advice I have for students outside of learning a foreign language is to be active,” said Tindall. “Take advantage of clubs and internships. Also, be willing to take a risk and go outside of what you were planning to do.”
Schlueter finds Tindall’s story a great example of what a student can accomplish with a humanities degree.
“We are also working closely with the German and English departments. The lecture is open to everybody, but we are especially hoping to draw in students from those departments to see a pathway for their careers,” said Schlueter. “Traditionally, I feel that German and English majors go down a path where they go to grad school, so they can teach. And there’s nothing wrong with that, but we just wanted to present them with another option.”
The lecture will be held on Feb 12 in the Marting-Treuhaft Lounge in Marting Hall from 12-1 p.m. Refreshments will be available.
People can register for the lecture by finding the link on bw.edu/cig or by going directly to tinyurl.com/CIGtravel.