Alex's Kitchen

Projects

Here's everything I've worked on, plated by course. Where a normal menu has prices, mine has results.

Chef's table Things I built

Voice AI for bilingual restaurantsEN/中文

A voice agent that picks up when a restaurant is too slammed to answer, and switches between English and Mandarin mid-conversation if the caller does.

with voice AI, English, Mandarin
ACED Academy250+

Debate and business competition coaching that I co-founded and co-ran with a team of 35. We grew to 250+ students across 5 provinces, and 85% of them came back.

with coaching, operations, a team of 35
Big/little matching~300

Pairing about 150 bigs with 150 littles in a business frat has a lot of friction. For my PM&T project, I'm interviewing the committee that runs it and designing a fix.

with user interviews, product design

Specials Campaigns at ChaHalo

ChaHalo events and campaigns+350%
- A/B tested gacha, sticker, and lottery promos, lifting daily revenue 350% across 18 event days
- Went through competitors' prices drink by drink, which made the case for going premium
- Ran a 7-day lychee launch countdown with creators confirmed Aug 3 to 13
- Ran a July 4th sticker raffle with posters, creator briefs, and videos I cut myself
- Built a creator database from macro down to nano, plus brand partnerships
- Rewrote all 71 drinks into English you'd actually say at the counter
with A/B tests, pricing, creators, and a lot of stickers

Mains Client and consulting work

Dove: We Fit Together$14.99

Dove's 2017 body-shaped bottles turned women's bodies into seven bottle shapes, and shoppers felt labeled. With my Marketing Society team, I pitched a $14.99 3-pack of bottles that fit together into one Dove logo, so nobody has to pick a body type. It launches with pop-up trucks in LA and NYC and a match-cut video campaign, all on a $1.5M budget.

with brand strategy, pricing, a team of 4
$3M social enterprise$3M

With GRC, I helped a major nonprofit plan the launch of a $3M social enterprise, from how to fund it to who it should sell to.

with capital structure models, market entry
YouthBuild GlobalPM

I'm the project manager on GRC's work with YouthBuild Global's DOL Program Impact Team. First we work out how to tell if their resources are actually being used. Then we work out how to get them used more.

with primary research, metrics, client calls
Orlando PrideNWSL

Research for the Orlando Pride, plus meetings with the people who run the club's marketing.

with sports marketing, research
Kinsight Systems lidar1 page

Our team's one-pager for the McKinsey Michigan Strategy Invitational. We told a lidar company to go all in on protecting satellites in space.

with strategy, and exactly one page

Sides Markets and side quests

Frontier Airlines pitchULCC

A stock pitch on Frontier, from someone who's been watching Spirit Airlines' credit troubles for years.

with equity research, distressed credit
Poker hand converterGTO

I turned a messy poker hand history into a file GTO Wizard can import.

with data wrangling

Profile

The Chef

Hi, I'm Alex. I grew up in Toronto, I study at Stern, and I can order dinner in three languages.

Studying: B.S. in Business at NYU Stern, Finance and Sustainable Business
Year: Sophomore, graduating May 2029
GPA: 3.9
From: Toronto
Based: New York
Speaks: English, Mandarin, French
Before: Upper Canada College, 1560 SAT

About

I'm a sophomore at NYU Stern studying Finance and Sustainable Business. Before New York I was in Toronto, at Upper Canada College.

Most of my work so far has been close to the customer. I've helped price a bubble tea brand into the premium spot, tested which promo gets people through the door, and run the creator programs behind a launch. Next I want to do that kind of thinking as a PM or a consultant. Food keeps pulling me back, which is why this site is a kitchen.

How I cook

Test before I guess

At ChaHalo I ran gacha, sticker, and lottery promos side by side and let the sales numbers pick the winner.

Know what everyone else charges

I went drink by drink through our competitors' prices. That's the work behind ChaHalo's move to premium.

Talk like a person

My best outreach DMs are short and warm, and they open with something I actually liked about the creator's work.

In the toolkit

ExcelPowerPointPythonSQLFigmaAmplitudeCRMData analysisAI systems

On the stove

Distressed credit and macroSustainable businessAI for real businessesStrategy for food and consumer brands

This semester: Foundations of Finance, Management and Organizations

Off the menu

Costco's $1.50 hot dogTrying new food2010s pop (Bandle is my game)World travel, Switzerland firstChess and pokerSquash and pickleballSitcomsNight jogs

Experience

Past Kitchens

Every kitchen I've worked in so far, and what came out of each one.

CHJun 2026 – now

ChaHalo

Strategy & Operations Intern, New York

Designed and A/B tested promo event formats that lifted typical daily revenue 350% across 18 event days
Ran competitive pricing and product analysis that informed a premium repositioning
Ran logistics and communication between 4 NYC stores and headquarters overseas
Built a partnership pipeline of microinfluencers and B2B collaborations, sourcing and structuring the deals
Translated the full 71-item menu into natural English

EWJan – May 2026

Express Wages

Strategy & Data Analytics Intern, New York

Launched lifecycle email flows that raised onboarding activation 22% and set up UTM tracking
Centralized the team's comms and task workflow, making task completion 18% faster year over year
Built Amplitude dashboards for funnel conversion, drop-off points, and feature engagement
Audited paid acquisition across Google Ads and LinkedIn Ads

KAApr – Aug 2025

Kolly AI

Founding Growth & GTM Intern, Toronto

Led a global ambassador program of 120+ ambassadors
Reworked influencer partnerships for a 90% lift in average engagement per dollar
4M cross-platform views from data-driven content on Instagram and LinkedIn
Managed a 13K-member Discord and a 10K-follower Instagram community

AAMar 2023 – Aug 2026

ACED Academy

Co-Founder & Co-President, Toronto

Led 35 executives and coaches delivering business competition and debate coaching across 5 provinces
Grew to 250+ active students with 90% satisfaction and 85% returning
Ran workshops at community centres on business fundamentals and communication

Leadership

Front of House

What I'm up to outside of class and work.

Global Research & Consulting

Project Manager

Workshop mentee›Strategy consultant›Project manager

I came in as a workshop mentee and now I run projects. Right now that means our work with YouthBuild Global.

NYU Stern Marketing Society

Treasurer

Mentee›Treasurer

Started as a mentee. Now I keep the books.

NYU Badminton

D1 Captain

I captain NYU's D1 badminton team, and I captained varsity at Upper Canada College before that. I also spend too much time reading about racquets and watching the pros.

Beta Alpha Psi

PM & Tech Workshop

Eight weeks of learning how product managers think, as part of recruiting for PM roles.

Upper Canada College

Business Club President

I was also a national trainer on FBLA's National Board and played varsity squash.

Research

ESG Research

ESG research with the Cambridge Centre for International Research, GRC, and NYU's Special Situations Investing Group.

Stars

IBM x NYU Stern Case Competition1st place
FBLA National ChampionTeam Canada, 2024
Sustainable Investment CompetitionBronze medal
Dean's ListNYU Stern
AIMEQualified twice

Play

Wok Toss

A 30-second stir-fry. Steer the wok to keep everything in the air, save the dumplings, and let the cilantro fall.

Score0Time30House record0

Wok Toss

Keep dinner in the air. Ten catches in a row lights up wok hei for double points.

Move your mouse to steer the wokOn a phone, drag your fingerSpace starts, arrow keys steer too

Contact

Book a Table

If you're hiring for PM or consulting, building something in food, or just want to talk about the Costco hot dog, send me a note.

Email
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alexyichen
Based: New York, from Toronto

Reserved

For: You
Party: Any size
Booking: Summer 2027
Languages: EN / 中文 / FR

Thanks for stopping by. Tip not required.

Alex Chen, portfolio