VACorps Alumni Interview: Mayuri Reddy ('11)

VACorps | January 2025

Mayuri Reddy joined the VACorps program in 2011. We were thrilled to reconnect with her 14 years later to learn about the remarkable, global career path she has pursued since her marketing and advertising internship in Cape Town.

Please give us a summary of your career to date. What have you been doing and where do you see yourself heading?

After graduating from the University of Washington (go dawgs!) I went on to spend 16 months abroad in Australia, India, and Thailand. When I returned to Seattle, I worked in the music industry for a bit before switching to Tech – working within marketing and events. But I always wanted to live abroad; Cape Town really opened my eyes and created a curiosity for what was beyond the possibilities in the US. My eyes were set on Europe, and I ended up moving to Berlin, where I’ve been for the past 7.5 years. Berlin has an awesome tech scene and is full of expats, so it’s been an exciting place to learn and grow. I’ve recently started working as a fractional marketing leader and consultant, which gives me the flexibility to work on projects for a variety of different companies while being more embedded within the organizations. It also provides me with the space to work on my podcast, The Founders Atlas, which will be launching in early 2025!

Describe some of your greatest and most memorable professional achievements

Hands down, Camp Rahh – the Summer Camp for Adults that I co-founded in Seattle. I started it with four friends after we saw our community in Seattle become increasingly disjointed and centered around alcohol consumption. We had no idea what Camp would become and I’m so honored to have played a role in building it.

What were the highlights of your internship experience in Cape Town?

Meeting new people – the crew we had was just impeccable. We hung out almost every day, always going on adventures together and soaking up every bit of Cape Town summer. This was in 2011 so before Uber – and we made the most of minibusses and the trains too. My internship was also in Kalk Bay – so I had the joy of working in such a serene part of the city. I also loved what I worked on! Matchboxology is still an epic company, and at the time they entrusted me to work on some really cool marketing projects.

Can you share an example of how your internship experience aided your career growth?

Beyond learning how to approach problems from a different perspective and with factors I wasn’t used to, it really opened my eyes to what possibilities were out there for not just my career – but lifestyle. When I arrived on my first day, the CEO of the company looked like a cool surfer dude from Cape Town, complete with sunnies and wearing flip flops in the office. After giving me a low-down of what projects I could work on over the 3 months, I asked him where in South Africa he was from. He laughed – and said “I’m from Kansas City, Kansas”. When he went through his career trajectory, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. As someone who’s big life goal at the time was to move to NYC, it never dawned on me that I could dream bigger than that. Over those 3 months, not just by working with him but through all the people I met in Cape Town, I began to understand that there really was no limit to where I could go. I really don’t know if I would have explored working internationally or would have this deep curiosity into how businesses are built globally had I not had the internship with Matchboxology. So big shout out to Cal Bruns.

What’s the single most important piece of advice you’d like to give to future VACorps interns and/or those considering participation in the program?

Take time to not only connect with your peers, and those in your internship, but with the city itself. Explore and find your own community beyond the program. I’m actually in Cape Town right now for a wedding of people I met that weren’t in VAcorps – but were my neighbors in Observatory, 14 years ago!

Any predictions for what we can expect from you in 2030?

Running my business full-time from wherever in the world I please, spending part of my Northern Hemisphere Winters in Cape Town Summer, and my podcast The Founders Atlas is a big ole success with listenership around the world 🙂

VACorps Alumni Interview - Mayuri Reddy

Mayuri Reddy joined the VACorps program in 2011 for a marketing and advertising internship in Cape Town. Fourteen years later, we were delighted to catch up with her to hear about her life and career since then.

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