Student Accepted to Global Business Conference

By Brynne Irish

The College of Professional Programs is excited to congratulate Kimarie Fox on her acceptance to the X-Culture Global Business Week Conference!

Kimarie is a senior at Eastern Washington University, majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies with an emphasis in Workforce Management and is now expected to graduate in June 2025. Originally from Tucson, Arizona, Kimarie moved to Spokane when she was 14 years old.

In Winter Quarter 2025, Kimarie took the IBUS 470 International Business course with Professor Abrahim Soleimani, and had the opportunity to participate in an X-Culture Project. She explained how this project teaches students how to work with people from other countries to create a professional report helping a company with an issue or to improve in some way. Kimarie mentioned that she was in a group with the following international students: Lauren from North Carolina, Shashank from India, Vicky from Hong Kong (studies in Canada), and Emilien from France.

Kimarie expressed how she enjoyed meeting new people from different countries, but that they did experience struggles working on this project in coordinating Zoom meetings because of all of the different time zones. However, she shared that they made it work and still managed to write an outstanding report. Kimarie took on a leadership role in her group, and she ended the project with a high peer evaluation score. This led her to being invited to apply to the X-Culture Global Business Week Conference in Vaasa, Finland.

I decided to apply even though I might not be able to afford it, because the invitation itself would be a great accomplishment to share with future employers.

The X-Culture website describes the X-Culture Global Business Week (Global Symposium) as an event that brings participants together from across the globe, chosen from the best of the best. Students from around the world from international teams that meet initially online and finally in person, to finalize their work in solving a real business problem. The selection process is competitive, with a limit of 150 students. Preferences are dependent on student applicants who have demonstrated excellence in past X-Culture programs, with consideration given to maximizing geographic and cultural diversity.

Kimarie’s X-Culture team chose the company Vivavoce, which is a medical clinic in Italy that specializes in speech therapy, other vocal cord related treatments, and rehabilitation. Their goal was to expand their services to other markets in different countries and once they analyzed those markets, they ended up recommending Japan. Kimarie credits Professor Abrahim Soleimani as being very helpful in assisting her group through any questions, feedback, or concerns they had.

Professor Soleimani had a Zoom call meeting with me, assisting me with any edits I should make, which I then relayed to my team. I could not have done it without his help.

After completing and mastering this class project, Kimarie was encouraged to apply to the X-Culture Global Business Week Conference in Vaasa Finland, and she was accepted! She states that, “This achievement means so much to me because it feels like my hard work was worth it. I was so excited when I found out and wanted to tell everyone I know.” This accomplishment additionally led Kimarie to start thinking more about if International Business is something she would enjoy pursuing in the future.

I really challenged myself with this project because of the leadership role I took on. I am normally not much of a leader, but I wanted to show myself that I am capable so that I can advocate for myself in my future career that I am leadership material, and that paid off as well.

For anyone else who may be interested in the X-Culture Project, Kimarie advises those students to step out of their comfort zone. She states, “while you can’t force anyone in your group to work hard, you control how hard you work and that matters.” She also recommends holding yourself and others accountable because it is important to make sure you finish the project with an end result you are proud of. She added that “this project is unique and so helpful for people that want to pursue International Business, it is worth participating in.”

Lastly, Kimarie added that she loves the Interdisciplinary Studies program because she is continuing to gain knowledge in multiple subject areas, which has allowed her more flexibility when job searching. Her long-term goal is to start a career and eventually be able to buy her own home.

The College of Professional Programs is thrilled to recognize and honor Kimarie Fox for her accomplishments and acceptance to the 2025 X-Culture Global Business Week Conference in Vaasa, Finland.