I try to instill the great qualities of Bain's culture into my team at Disney: to motivate people to work hard, but also have fun and form a collaborative team environment.

• Background

  I started my career in the entertainment business, working in finance and business development for a number of studios, first within the Walt Disney Company and then for 20th Century Fox. I primarily worked on the distribution side of the business: getting our films into theaters and then through VHS sales (DVDs were not yet around!).

  Throughout these years, I gained a solid sense of the underlying operations of the industry, but decided to pursue my MBA to broaden my knowledge base of business issues and develop a general management perspective. I fell in love with the case method and began exploring management consulting as a way to apply it in a real-world setting.

  With my long-term goal of running a large company still very much intact, I accepted my summer associate position with Bain's L.A. office to begin building my general management and strategy skill set. I loved my summer at Bain and quickly decided to return full-time after business school.

• My experience at Bain

  My years at Bain were filled with diverse experiences. I had the opportunity to work in industries in which I had no previous knowledge as well as leverage my pre-MBA work experience through several media cases.

  A few specific moments that stand out in my mind capture the essence of the Bain culture and casework that I experienced. One such moment occurred during my first three months as a full-time consultant. I was working on a growth strategy plan for a multibillion-dollar recreational vehicle company. In the true spirit of "Bain will throw at you as much as you can take," the partner and I went alone to the COO to present my work. The client was a down-to-earth and street-smart kind of guy; once we finished the presentation, he asked the partner, "So what does this mean for me? What do I do with this new information?"

  After the partner suggested various ways the Bain team could help implement new initiatives within the company, the client turned to me and said, "Jason, what do you think?" At that instant, as I could feel the heat rising in my face, I understood the respect the Bain name carries. This veteran senior manager had turned to me - a very "green" consultant - and genuinely wanted to hear my point of view.

• My alumni experience

  I came back to Disney after two years at Bain as a director of distribution strategy. It felt like the closest thing to working in strategy consulting, but with an industry focus. For four years, I stayed in this role, which was a blend of growth strategy, business development and operations.

  I used my Bain training almost on a daily basis and continue to do so today in my new role as senior vice president of worldwide digital cinema and cinema programming. For example, I use the hard skills and a data-driven approach to solve problems and strategic issues. But I also continue to adopt Bain's "gut check" and "answer-first" approach, which helps me form an initial hypothesis and then let the data validate or disprove it.

  I try to instill the great qualities of Bain's culture into my team at Disney: to motivate people to work hard but also have fun and form a collaborative team environment. I always appreciated that everyone's opinion at the table was valued - from associate consultant to partner - a lesson that has stayed with me through the years.

  In my new senior VP role, busy work schedules and travel often don't allow me to keep in touch with Bain colleagues as much as I would like. However, I still try to attend alumni events in the L.A. area as much as I can. Whenever I see openings at Disney that I think would be a good fit for the skill set of a former consultant or associate consultant, I absolutely reach out and help to recruit him or her.

  Having the Bain name on a résumé that comes across my desk is like a seal of approval: I immediately know the caliber of work the applicant is capable of and the rigorous approach to problem solving he or she will bring. It is a terrific training ground and a foundation from which I have greatly benefited over the course of my career.