Meet Tej Patel

As a biomedical engineering major at Northwestern University, Tej Patel, formerly a Vice President at AlixPartners, initially set his sights on a career in medicine. However, he didn't like the experience of actually working in a hospital, leading him to scrap his pre-med trajectory.

At a career fair, a chance encounter with a consultant planted a seed for Tej's future path. The consultant told Tej that when his 8-year-old asked what he did, he’d say he was a “business doctor.” Tej remembers thinking, “Oh, okay, that's kind of a creative way of looking at this!” 

While pursuing his MBA at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, a class in family enterprise management planted another seed. Tej’s father had founded Techevon, a company specializing in metal finishing chemicals a few years earlier, but Tej had never really considered the possibility of joining the family business until the class opened his eyes to the idea. “However, coming out of an MBA program with six figures worth of student loan debt, I wasn't prepared to really make the financial sacrifice of signing on with my dad right away,” he laughs.

The AlixPartners chapter

After graduating, Tej joined AlixPartners. He was attracted to the unique opportunity to work directly alongside senior leaders both within the firm and at clients. “At AlixPartners, it's not going to be a scenario where you're going to be given only the busy work of spreadsheets and slides,” he remembers hearing. “You're going to do the analysis, build the presentation, and actually present it to the CEO of the company.”

“I was given the opportunity to do all of those things and wear all those hats,” he says., “There was no class at my business school that could teach me what I learned at the firm”

Eventually, it was time for the seeds planted in his MBA program to come to fruition. His family’s business was in a stable place, and he felt the timing was right to join full-time.

Coming home

Seven years later, Tej has settled into his role as a Director at Techevon. His face lights up when asked to explain what Techevon does. 

“We're in the metal finishing industry, and specifically that metal is aluminum,” he says. “So we supply chemicals to individuals who take aluminum, they clean it, they coat it, they color it, and then they seal it. Cosmetic packaging is all aluminum. Your iPhone, your laptops, cosmetic packaging all that's anodized. Aluminum automotive components are in your car. Your speaker grills are anodized. It's a pretty prolific coating, and you see it all over the place. What we essentially do is find ways to make that coating better or more visually appealing.”

Tej has helped triple the size of the company since he joined, with new customers in Australia, Japan, and parts of Europe. “We just purchased a new building here in Chicago, a 15,000-square-foot facility,” he says, at a time when he sees his competitors stagnating or folding.

Keeping in touch

Tej has stayed connected to AlixPartners, and is active in the AlixAlumni program.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Techevon pivoted to manufacturing essential supplies like hand sanitizer, which Tej was able to supply to some of AlixPartners' clients. Just an example, he says, of “one of those situations where the network really never ends.”

When Tej looks back on his time at AlixPartners, there’s one more takeaway he truly lives by.

“I'll never forget the phrase, ruthlessly prioritize your time,” he says. “As a small business owner wearing a lot of hats, I must be very smart about what I spend my time on. Am I generating revenue? Am I reducing cost? And at the end of the day, it must be one of those two things.” 

And yes, he finds himself applying this mantra outside of his work life, too.

“A major reason I joined Techevon was to spend more time with my family, including my father, as well as my wife and two kids,” he says. “I’m happy that my current role allows me to be present for my family inside and outside of the office.