RICK BERG RIDES ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO RECONNECT WITH HIS CLASSMATES
WRITTEN BY: BEN GRAN ILLUSTRATION BY: HEATHER GATLEY
Being a Kellogg graduate gives you a global network of talented people to stay connected with throughout your life. One Kellogg alum – Rick Berg ’95 – found a particularly innovative way to reconnect with his old friends from Kellogg (as well as others from his holiday card mailing list): riding across the country on his bike.
During 2017, Berg spent 218 days pedaling 4,600 miles on what he called his “Rick to Portland” bike ride. From Portland, Oregon, to Portland, Maine, he made a massive “W” shape across the continental United States, passing through San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, Milwaukee, Evanston, D.C., Atlanta, Boston and many other places. He visited more than 300 friends and family, including 29 Kellogg ’95 classmates and their families, and occasionally rode with them.
“Kellogg was the most collaborative atmosphere I’ve
ever been a part of, and I’ve sought both work and personal relationships that are similar.”
Kellogg was “among the best two years of my life,” Berg says, and “the most collaborative atmosphere I’ve ever been a part of, and I’ve sought both work and personal relationships that are similar.”
Berg is the father of two children, the older of whom was just two weeks old when Berg started at Kellogg at age 32. He was one of a few students in his class at the time who was a parent, so he became known to his classmates as “Ben’s Dad.” Berg says that it was particularly gratifying on the ride to see former classmates who now have children of their own and to have them see current pictures of his grown-up “Baby Ben.”
Because Kellogg is a highly selective program, Berg says it was a stretch for him to apply to the MBA program. But he was inspired by a 36-year-old man he met while teaching at an adult literacy program in Memphis. “Seeing this guy learning how to read, trying to reach his true ability, really inspired me to come to Kellogg,” Berg says. “It gave me this sense that I’m not doing everything that I can do. That spirit carried me through – if this guy learning how to read can try to do something different and better, then I can, too.”
Berg has been working as a strategy consultant since earning his degree from Kellogg, and he says that his time at Kellogg and the relationships he made there have been highly influential on the rest of his career and life. “It was a pretty intensive two years, and it had an impact on the type of work I like to do,” Berg says. “I’ve stayed in touch with those people because they’re some of the coolest people I’ve ever met. To reconnect with so many of those Kellogg friends on this ride, it’s like time hasn’t even gone by.”
Walked down 125th Street in Harlem and bought a street CD from a guy named Richard outside the famous Apollo Theater.
Witnessed the solar eclipse on the Outer Banks, sharing a pair of eclipse glasses with over 300 people.
First flat tire at 1,600 miles , and second at 1,605 miles. According to a Dine tribe member, whom Rick met next to the Navajo Nation, it was because he was riding next to Diablo Canyon.
Stay in touch with Rick Berg by visiting the Kellogg Alumni Directory via KelloggConnect.
