The Power of a Teammate
- July 15th, 2026
- in Case Team, MBA Case Team
The Power of a Teammate
Some of the best partnerships begin not with instant chemistry, but a shared respect for one another’s differences. In Fall 2025, that was the dynamic between Eric and Teegan.
When Teegan first met Eric, she thought he was “hard to read — mysterious, even.” During their first competition together (Florida Southern), Eric “challenged us to think outside of the box, questioned why we were making the decisions that we did, and constantly pushed us to be better.” The team finished first, and that experience, Teegan says, “set the tone for the rest of my year on Case Team and changed the way that I approached cases.”
Later that year, Eric and Teegan were both selected for the 2026 SEC team, and their differences sharpened into something powerful: Teegan, a big-picture thinker and natural leader, brought vision and momentum. Eric brought what she calls a “detail-oriented mindset and natural inquisitiveness” that made every idea stronger. Eric knew what he needed from Teegan: “My own knowledge of financial analysis is considerably less useful without the ability to communicate what is important in a way that is understandable.” Teegan filled that gap, “(she) was always able to put together a clear way to present information.” Their team took home third place, and more importantly, over the year, they developed a true friendship.
Eric’s “side tangents made the longest hours of the case enjoyable,” Teegan recalls, and he took the time to know each teammate on a deeper level, remembering details about them “that I sometimes couldn’t remember about myself.” He “played along with the crazy plans I created for everyone” — a twelve-hour Innis Challenge, staying up until sunrise after graduation — “begrudgingly,” Teegan says, though she suspects he enjoyed it more than he’d ever admit. “Eric was always there to bring a smile to our faces and be a great friend.”
They already have reunions planned, and both are confident that the friendships built during Case Team won’t end after graduation. Watching their mutual respect blossom into a friendship is a reminder of Case Team’s impact on all of us outside of the classroom and the intangibles we gain from our time together. Says Teegan, “I have no doubt that Eric will continue to be the kind of person who makes every room better… I can’t wait to see what comes next for him.”
Teegan Mathey
Eric Gumz
Jade McGee
Mallory Sublette
When Jade and Mallory joined forces for the Ivy Mind to Market Challenge — a 24-hour boardroom case competition new this year — they brought two very different minds to the same problem.
Jade is analytical by nature, most at home building solutions that are “strategic, realistic, and well supported.” Mallory, a self-described “100% extrovert,” knew from the start that “I needed to intentionally get to know her (Jade) as a person, peer, and professional if we ever wanted to create good team chemistry.” In a high-pressure format like a 24-hour case, differences can easily cause friction among teammates, but here, the girls’ intentions paid off, and their differences created strength.
As Jade describes it, Mallory “was great at helping us think about the problem and solution from a broader perspective, which really helped during the idea generation process.” What surprised Mallory was how much Jade’s personality became an asset in the pressure of a 24-hour format. She came away with “a true appreciation for her calm, reserved manner that served as a steady throughline for our team during the prep period,” finding that Jade’s “quiet, observant nature complemented my outspoken, forward-thinking nature very well.”
Jade agrees: “Our differences actually made the team stronger because we challenged each other to think outside of our usual approaches — and beyond that, she was just really easy and enjoyable to collaborate with, which made the entire experience even better.”
What began as an intentional effort to connect ended with a first-place win and a friendship. Mallory put it simply: “I now consider Jade one of my great friends.”
