Born and raised in Beijing, China, Ann moved to the U.S. with her family at age 11 but has always maintained a strong cultural connection to China. After getting her Master’s degree in electrical engineering from UC Berkeley, she moved back to China and launched into a successful career in high tech. When the need arose to add more business acumen to her skillset, she knew Berkeley Haas was her best option for an MBA. 

Ann’s latest career pivot has been into education, where she’s opened the first American-Chinese bicultural school in the U.S., named in honor of her father, Bert Hsu. 

Ann joins host Sean Li to discuss the exciting ways they are reimagining education at the Bert Hsu Academy, how her Berkeley degrees have supported her career journey, and her advice for current MBA students and young alumni. She also shares her memories of moving to the U.S. as a young girl in 1978, her family’s history in China, and how her own bicultural experience has shaped her career and worldview. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

On her assimilation to American culture

“ I remember a discussion in class and they were talking about china, the bowls and plates. Well, I thought they were talking about the country of China. And I raised my hand, I said, ‘I'm from China.’ Yes, I knew the word, but I didn't know that we were talking about plates and bowls china and not the country of China. That's what I mean by cultural assimilation or Americanization. It took me four years.”

On where the idea for a Chinese-American bicultural school came from

“ I thought back to my own experience of going to school in China and the U.S. and then watching my sons go to school in China …and about what's good about the Chinese education approach, what’s good about the American ones, what’s bad about each. And I thought, I want to combine the Chinese education philosophy, approach and practices with the American ones because both have pros and cons. And if I'm going to design [a school] from scratch, I'll just pick the good ones. The pros!”

On her decision to name the school after her father

“...It came to me that the person who embodies the bicultural and bilingual Chinese American experience, whom I have the utmost respect for, is my father. And he was bicultural, in addition to being bilingual. He not only survived, but thrived in both China and in the United States because he understood [the culture] and could really thrive in both cultures. And I thought, that should be the goal. I want all of our students to be able to do that.”

Her advice to current MBA students

“ MBA students, they fret about,what should I do [after MBA]? Which job should I take? What career should I pursue? what I tell them is that you only have so much information. You're never going to get complete information, and you're never going know whether that decision you made is the right decision. So what you do is you take all the information you have, make a decision, and then make that the right decision.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Bert Hsu Academy Website

Dean Chatman is not just a double bear, with an undergraduate degree and PhD from Haas, but has called UC Berkeley’s campus home for most of her life. 

In this interview, she chats with host Sean Li about growing up in an academic family, how her father, a Berkeley professor, inspired her to pursue a life of learning, how following her curiosity led to a pioneering career studying organizational culture, the enduring relevance of Haas' defining leadership principles, and why she thinks the future of Haas is very bright indeed.  

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

On passing the baton from one Berkeley professor to another

“ So I remember being out here just before I was about to start and my dad was just about to retire. We had lunch somewhere on campus and we were sitting on the steps of Harmon gym… and a student walks by and looks up and says, ‘Hi, Professor Chatman.’ And my dad looks at this student and he looks again. He said, ‘I don't recognize that student.’ I said, ‘Yeah, Dad, that's one of mine.’ So that was the official passing of the baton.”

On finding a passion early on for social psychology

“ I've always been fascinated by social interaction. And I remember in high school…I always loved to type up surveys and then I would go give them to people. I’d give them to my parents, I’d give them to my sisters. I’d give it to my friends, like, what did you have for breakfast? And, you know, A, B, C, or D. Right? And, I just found that sort of calculating of what people were doing and what were the similarities across people and what were the ways in which they diverged. I found both of those things very, very interesting.”

On the importance of trusting and leaning into your curiosity 

“ I think the advice is trust your curiosity and trust what gets you excited and passionate and figure out a way to lean into it, and develop a pathway that involves the things that kind of get you up in the morning. You know, career paths are very, very long and you wanna be doing something that's interesting to you. That gives you energy and it's actually something I really admire and love about our Haas students. There is not one Haas student that I've ever run into who is anything less than completely fascinating. Every single one of our students is interesting. They have a unique and distinctive story. They have really wide ranging interests. I find it just a profound distinction that we're privileged to have this community of super interesting, passionate students.”

On her hopes for the future of Haas 

“ I just think that this is a really incredible moment for our school and we're so full of ideas and our students are so capable and eager and brilliant. They are defining the future and I think that our humanity as well as our skills in leveraging technology, but it's our humanity that's going to allow us to flourish into the future. And I'm just really excited about that.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Haas Profile
• Professional Website

Growing up in a working class home in Chico, California, Cory always knew he wanted to go to college, but coming from limited means made that a challenge. So he decided to start his career by first joining the military – a decision that sparked a lifetime passion for service and social impact work. 

Cory tells host Sean Li how his time in the Air Force prepared him for a successful career in business, what it felt like to fulfill his childhood dream of attending Haas, and how he’s giving back to the veteran community through his work at Hiring Our Heroes. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

On how the Air Force prepared him for a career in business

“ I always knew that I wanted to be like a business person, right? And I kind of just made up this person, this fictitious person of who I wanted to be. And I took characteristics of people from books, magazines, shows, and stuff like that, of who I wanted to be as a business person. And so one of the things that I thought was like, okay, well, a business person has to be able to be a public speaker and speak in front of people…And so I was like, well, how do I do that? I don't have the skills to do that. So I joined the Air Force as a military broadcaster. I was like, I'm just gonna throw myself into this.”

On his switch from the investment banking world to military programming

“ There's a role that came open at LinkedIn to build out their military recruiting programs. I had zero experience as a recruiter. I wasn't a recruiter, but I was like, I'd really like to work with the military community. And so I talked to a friend of mine who owned a nonprofit… And he’s like, Cory, what do you do for free? And I was like, I help vets get jobs and get into school. And he’s like, you should figure out how to get paid to do that.”

On fulfilling his longtime dream of attending Haas

“...Immediately I was with my people and I was like, no doubt I'm coming here.  Just a huge sense of belonging. I went there and basically I was able to, between like the core courses, which every one of them really resonated with me, I loved the curriculum of the program, but also when it came to electives, I was able to build out a learning path for myself that was more geared towards buying a business than it was doing a startup.”

On the work he’s doing at Hiring Our Heroes

“ They come into our ecosystem and we're making sure that we're getting them to the places that they need to be. For instance, if somebody has a housing issue, they don't have housing or they're about to lose their housing, or they can't pay their utility bills, like that person's gonna be really difficult to help get a job because their basic needs aren't being met at that moment. And so we make sure that they're gonna get to the right people to be able to help them fix that issue and then come back into our orbit so that we can help them connect to meaningful employment. Not just jobs, but like jobs that matter, jobs that are gonna be sustainable, jobs that are gonna have good wages and benefits and stuff like that.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn profile
• Hiring Our Heroes website
• Cory’s book recommendation: HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business: Think Big, Buy Small, Own Your Own Company

Bryce, a Californian through-and-through, grew up in Irvine before moving to San Francisco to begin his career at Pacific Gas and Electric. After many successful years in the energy sector, he hit a ceiling and saw the MBA program at Haas as a pathway forward. But what began as a practical step in his career turned into so much more. 

Bryce joins host Sean Li to discuss his journey from PG&E to venture capital and how coaching others and a personal growth mindset is at the core of everything Bryce does. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

On what led him to Haas and his drive to get an MBA

“The beautiful part of the whole thing was like after going to Haas, it really opened up my eyes. You know, I saw a bunch of other students with a bunch of other jobs. I saw a bunch of people starting their own businesses and it really expands your mind going there and just talking to your fellow students and hearing some really inspirational professors and, you know, the chancellor now, Chancellor Lyons, he was the dean of Haas right when I joined, and he was super inspirational. So even at the welcome dinner, he was like, I want my students to learn all this stuff, but I really want them to learn: ‘They do that, we do that.’ And that line stuck with me so much where it's like, oh, okay, yeah, I don't have to just simply revere or wonder why other people did it. I could actually go leap in and try to do it myself.”

On his decision to take a semester off and travel the world

“ There was like a need to go do it and find more of myself, like shed the layers. So it was really, really cool that – you know, I'm forever thankful for Berkeley for many things. But one of them was that they were like, yeah, we have a method for this. We'll make it work. And they gave me that chance to do that.”

How he ended up with the Cal Innovation Fund

“ When this presented itself, I just dove in and was like, okay, I gotta have some ability to coach and impact leaders because that's what I feel like is kind of in my soul, almost, or my spirit is aligned towards that. And then I wanna be able to make an impact in the world. And, you know, the Cal fund aligns with that. Totally.”

What opportunities the Cal Innovation Fund looks for

“We try to invest in startups that are gonna make a greener, healthier, more sustainable world. So it's kind of a value-based fund. And then the fund donates 50% of the GP profits (so the company profits, not the investors’) back to the school. And so it just feels very aligned in that we're trying to support the Berkeley ecosystem, really all the UCs, but most founders are outta Berkeley, and trying to make the world a better place in the process. And then trying to give back to that system and create the flywheel of innovation for that.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile

Every time Richard felt like he hit a ceiling at a job, he pivoted and found new ways to keep moving up. Hailing from Brooklyn, New York, Richard learned the value of education and hard work from an early age. It was this drive that got him accepted into one of the most competitive engineering colleges in the U.S. and launched his career into the automotive industry. Richard’s relentless pursuit for personal growth led him to hold senior leadership positions at Microsoft, Pepsico, and Amazon. But through all those jobs, a constant for him has been his desire to give back and uplift other Hispanic business professionals in their careers.  

Richard chats with host Sean Li about his career journey from designing cars at Honda and Porsche, to being one of the key masterminds behind Xbox Kinect, his pivotal role at Pepsico, and his new position as CEO of the Latinx MBA Association.  

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

On his journey to Haas and getting his MBA

“When I had the opportunity to move to Germany to work for Porsche, I put my MBA plans on hold and I was like, you know, I'd rather go to Germany and live in Europe for a few years before I take that route. So it was great. I really loved living in Europe. That's where my love for traveling started. I've been to 105 countries since then, but it all started living in Germany…So after two years at Porsche in Germany, I applied through the Consortium for Graduate Study Management, they give full fellowships. At the time it was for underrepresented minorities who were looking to get their MBA and was open to anyone who has a commitment to diversity. And I applied, I got into Haas.”

On Xbox Kinect’s success and Richard and his team’s involvement 

“People just really got into it... So the thing with Kinect was since it was doing skeletal tracking, if you just flick your wrist, the character on the screen would just flick their wrist. There was no like faking it. So Dance Central was phenomenal. It showed you which arm was wrong. It highlighted in red when you were doing something wrong and it was game changing at the time. So it set a Guinness World Record, it was the fastest selling consumer electronics device, it was like 10 million 10 million units in less than like two and a half months or something like that. So it was a big deal.”

On his decision to leave Microsoft for the beverage industry and a top role at Pepsico

“ It was similar to like the car design and like, it's gonna be slightly different [but] it's all gonna do the same thing. So it wasn't advantageous for me to do it 'cause I wasn't linear or growing in any way, shape or form.  I'm still an individual contributor. I'm not leading any teams. I want to get promoted, I want to advance.”

On why he wanted to pursue a full time role in helping other Hispanic business professionals grow 

“ After 30 years, I was like, well, I'm getting more personal fulfillment from these scholarships that I'm getting for students who are like me who didn't have those opportunities to get into school, for helping people get their first jobs, for helping them invest in their careers, than I am by making an extra billion dollars or a hundred million dollars for Amazon or these other companies that don't really need it…It's not giving me the personal satisfaction that I'm getting from this work I'm doing with people.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Latinx MBA Association Website

Joshua grew up in Lagos, Nigeria in a household brimming with music and entrepreneurial spirit. After following one of his brothers to California and attending Berkeley City College, he set his sights on the Haas School of Business. Through his Haas education, Joshua found a way to combine his love for music with his desire to make the world a better place. 

Joshua joins host Sean Li to chat about the inception of the ATIDE Project and the community impact it’s had in Lagos. They also discuss the growth and global success of Afrobeats, his work with Warner Music Africa, and his vision for Nigeria's music industry.

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

On what drew him to Berekley Haas

“It was this campus and school that had values or principles that were very clear in their culture and they sort of embodied that into the learning process as well. So I was drawn to the principles because that was pretty new for me, and I just ended up spending the next couple of months learning more and more. I was stopping people that were wearing Berkeley Haas merch like, ‘how do I get into this castle atop the hill?’”

On the origins of ATIDE

“ So it started off as a philanthropic project, right? Our focus was sort of giving back with commerce. The name by the way, it's Yoruba and it means, ‘We are here.’ In the early days, we had launched this curated online store in partnership with a couple Nigerian entrepreneurs who were passionate about social causes. And during my time at Haas, I was very inspired by brands like Tom's. Like, you know, the idea that commerce could fund impact in a very sustainable way because as opposed to donations, you are actually building a customer, building an audience and that can scale. So our goal was simply to sort of help these local businesses reach the global audience while also funding meaningful social change.”

On the important role music plays in his work

“ That's the language I speak, man. Like, I play instruments, I collect records, I love seeing artists perform. It's such a vulnerable and expressive form of art. And even though we've worked across different industries –  hospitality, nonprofit, e-commerce, gaming, whatever it may be – my most exciting projects, personally, are our music campaigns and our artists like rollouts.” 

On the booming music scene in West Africa

“ A couple of things that could have helped with the growth that we're seeing now is just the confidence that we have in our identity. I think in the early 2000s, we were sort of focused on fusion. How do we put in R&B with our sound and how do we put in this record with that one? But now, being African is cool and our artists are leaning into their identity of what it means to be African and make music as an African. I think that confidence in our Africanness has been something that has allowed us to sort of stand out in a very saturated music market globally.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• ATIDE Project
• The Cavemen.
• JOEBOY 
• Joyce Olong

After planning her own dream wedding, Liz wanted to pivot from education to the events planning space. With the help of her two friends, they launched Tinsel and quickly grew it from a boutique agency to a powerhouse experiential company working with clients like GitHub and Uber. 

Liz chats with host Sean Li about the evolution of Tinsel, the importance of having a clear vision when it comes to company culture, and why she wanted to pursue an executive MBA at Haas with an already successful business under her belt.

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

On Tinsel’s early days

“ How do brands connect with their audiences? This was sort of the beginning of experiential. And man, we were the redheaded stepchild. It would go through like capital A agency, it would go through create, it would go through digital, you name it, every other entity…And then they'd be like, I think there's $3 for experiential. And now it's wild. It's totally the opposite where everyone is thinking about how does the customer experience the product?”

On why she wanted to pursue an executive MBA 

“ Well, if I'm going to be able to exist as this person who started a company and it is successful, I'd like to feel confident enough in a room of other people who run businesses and know what I'm talking about. And I do know for myself, but I've always done it by learning the hard way or by learning from other people that we've hired. And I think that I wanted to know that what I had done was right.”

The surprising lessons she gained at Haas

“ That's one of the greatest things that Berkeley gave me. I thought I was coming for the operations. I thought I was coming for the finance, but actually I was coming for politics and power and difficult conversations. And I can think of like 12 different classes where I'm like, oh my God, that's what I came to Berkeley for.”

On where she’s headed next 

“ I have always thought of myself more as a builder, then this like visionary, you know, futurist if you will. And so I know that my skillset is around building tinsel into a sustainable model at scale within this holding corporation. That's what I'm excited to do. I'm excited to see the right teams and the right people and things sort of moving in the right direction and taking it from where we were post acquisition, which was still nothing to sniff at, you know. But I think there's just a different level of complexity and growth that's there. And I wanna see it through and I wanna make sure that Tinsel is an entity that will stay on and continue.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Tinsel Experiential Design

With a background in international relations and environmental science, Christina joined USAID as a Foreign Service Officer in 2012 where she worked on climate change adaptation, clean energy, wildlife conservation, and improving economic conditions in places like sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean. Wanting to expand her financial knowledge, she decided to go back to school and pursue an Executive MBA at Haas in 2020.

Christina chats with host Sean Li about her family’s deep roots in California, the challenging and inspiring work she’s done through various roles, including her time in the Foreign Service, the critical and often overlooked work of USAID, the impact of recent U.S. policy shifts, and her current role at the DFC.

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

On growing up as a fifth generation Californian

“ I grew up in the foothills near Sequoia National Park and from an early age was raised running around in the orange groves and going up to the mountains. Every summer, my dad would take my two older brothers and I backpacking for a few days and give my mom some rest before she started teaching school again in the fall. And I think that really shaped me in many ways: my love for the outdoors, appreciation for nature, cold, clear water, fresh air.”

On the recent policy shifts that have affected USAID

“I think a lot of Americans had no idea what USAID was until they heard about it in the news this February when it was ripped apart. And they were told that it was an agency that had been corrupted and was basically full of waste and fraud.

So I would advise people to do their own research. There was actually something called the DEC [Development Experience Clearinghouse] where we put all of the project information, where all of your taxpayer dollars were going for USAID work, into this database. It showed who the contractor or grantee was, which are the main forms of how we got money out the door at USAID, and what that money was spent on. I would encourage people to go look at the current data on foreignassistance.gov and to see what your taxpayer dollars were spent on.”

On her role with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation

“ What we do is we put in place these risk reduction mechanisms or incentives for financial institutions to take on more risk. To lend to a farmer who doesn't have title to their land but is still farming it because of antiquated titling systems or whatnot, or to women who can't legally own land because it has to be in their husband's name. So, how are these people going to get a loan? We help facilitate or work with the banks, and a lot of times, microfinance institutions to open up their lending aperture and get capital to people who will make really good use of it.”

On her efforts to continue the impact of USAID’s work

“ A former USAID colleague and I have submitted a proposal for funding to categorize all of the terminated climate projects that were started by USAID, with very basic information: what country was it in? What sector? Who was the local partner? What was the project aiming to do? How much financing or funding did it need? We want to put all that information into a platform for donors, foundations, impact investors, multilateral organizations like the World Bank or others, and ask, ‘Are you interested in continuing any of this work? This is work that has already been designed and vetted by the U.S. government, not to mention all of these people who are working on these programs are available if you would like them to continue the work.’ ”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile

Shinghi’s entrepreneurial spirit at a young age propelled him into a successful sales career with experience at major tech companies like Google and Amazon. After beginning his higher education at Berkeley City College, he transferred to Haas and a world of opportunity opened for him. 

Shinghi chats with host Sean Li about finding his entrepreneurial drive as a kid, the organizational lessons he gleaned from working at Amazon and Google, how he launched Wholesome Story with his wife, and why he believes everyone has the power to be the change they want to see in the world. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

How his entrepreneurial spirit began from a young age

“ We moved to Virginia when I was like seven from California, and I remember we were doing a yard sale for like selling stuff before we left and I was in charge of the money and selling things and I still remember being a little kid like, I loved that. I loved selling things and making money. And it always was in my interest sphere. And like, even when we moved to Virginia…I was mowing lawns, making money. I think my parents also raised me with that type of mindset where there are no handouts. You don't just get money from your parents, you need to go earn it.”

Lessons he learned from Amazon’s corporate culture 

“Amazon is a written culture, so there are no PowerPoints…You don't have a presentation where some guy stands up in front of everyone and talks about it. Everything's in a doc, so I had to learn how to write and that has been the most valuable asset that I've learned from Amazon. I still use it today. I try to have my own team lean into writing versus presenting just because it's so much more tangible and it also forces you to think very clearly.”

On leaving Amazon to take Wholesome Story to the next level

“ It was absolutely liberating…At Amazon, like you could really just work your ass off or any corporation and you can get 10% more in salary. And in a business you could work a thousand percent more and you can make a million percent more. It's like that return on your time and your effort is so much higher in entrepreneurship if things work out.”

His advice to budding entrepreneurs

“ I would focus on – aim to be a millionaire, not a billionaire. And I think, again, going back to that barrier mindset where you have the Googles and the Facebooks and that's who you want to be growing up. That's like a one in a billion chance of you hitting that, right? And a lot of people will spend a ton of time, they'll do a startup, they'll raise a ton of money, they'll be diluted to the point where they would've been better off becoming a millionaire. And so like my point to everyone is that there are million dollar opportunities everywhere, and it's simple. It's like you can create a million dollar business and you just take a problem, a small problem, and you solve it.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• X Profile
• Medium Article: “E-commerce Wars — and how the US is losing.”

For much of Laurie’s early career in the mining industry in Australia, he kept his identity as a gay man separate from his work. But after more than a decade of hiding this key part of himself, he decided it was time for a fresh start in the form of an MBA degree at Haas. 

Laurie chats with host Sean Li about his struggles with accepting and embracing his sexuality in a traditionally conservative environment, the pivotal role Haas has played in his life, how he’s giving back through Q@Haas, and how he’s working to make mining more sustainable through his consultancy firm Resourceful Paths. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

How going from mining in Australia to Haas changed his life

“ I think with Australia, by the time that I left, things were changing. I was safe in the cities…I was not feeling safe at all to come out at work. And really that's where Berkeley was a fundamental change in my life because when I came to Berkeley, I just came out the first day I was there. And that was such a liberating experience compared to that feeling of suppression and separation that I felt in the mining industry in Australia.”

On the work he’s doing with Resourceful Paths

 ”When we talk about helping you mine responsibly, what I'm really talking about is how do we do things in ways that minimize environmental impact that are more socially acceptable? How do we incorporate practices that reduce energy use, water use, that reduce footprint, those types of things.”

On living authentically

 Being your full self to whatever extent you can and recognizing that in the LGBTQ+ community, that's really primarily the journey of coming out. And that's something that people have to do at their own pace. It's a unique journey for everyone. And we can't necessarily live authentically completely straight away because there may be issues around physical danger, around social pressures, cultural issues, et cetera, which you've gotta navigate through. But that's very important that people, you know, feel that they can be themselves, be their true selves to the largest extent they can.”

On being a good ally

“Are we showing up, firstly? Are we showing up authentically? Is it about supporting the community or is it about ourselves? So if we're showing up because we just want to feel good about ourselves, et cetera, well, sorry, that's not enough. It's not okay actually. I think allyship has to be something much deeper and I think you're gonna stand with those people and support them authentically when the time gets tough or not.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Resourceful Paths

After being born in the Bay Area, Keith and Kenneth moved to Hong Kong where they spent the first formative years of their childhood. Growing up in a family that prioritized education and exploration, the twins developed a strong sense of curiosity for the world around them. It’s this curiosity that sparked their desire to pursue not one, but three majors for their undergraduate degrees at UC Berkeley. 

Keith and Kenneth chat with host Sean Li about how they applied those three majors to careers in entrepreneurship, lessons they learned from growing up in Hong Kong and then reacclimating in the U.S., and how their career journeys have taken shape thanks to a healthy dose of staying curious and making friends. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

Kenneth on why their decision to add business as a second major

“ I think we were just blown away from the beginning, like, wow, all this business stuff is completely different from your history class and your chemistry classes in high school. It felt practical and relevant. And I think we were hooked pretty early on. And I think, to be honest, I think Keith and I are a bit competitive, and then I think with Haas, some people might know, the undergraduate is competitive and we figured we can do this too. So let's get in on this game and succeed here.”

Keith on how the brothers identify entrepreneurial opportunities

“ I've worked in all kinds of businesses and industries, obviously venture capital, then you have Nest with thermostats. I've also worked at LinkedIn and Meta, big companies, but also small companies doing housekeeping double-sided marketplace and robot delivery pizza. So it's a little bit of everything. But part of that is just being open to what's interesting, like do you see value here? Like are you able to have an impact? So that's like the first checkbox you're looking at: can you actually do something that is influencing change? And the second part of it is just being able to be open with your network… like you're talking to people and you're learning about these things and when something catches your interest, you just learn a little bit more and see whether you have a role to play in that. So I think that's, at a high level, that's what it really is, being open to these opportunities.”

Kenneth on being a student always

“ …Just to plug the Haas values, just being student always, I think the learning never stops. And I think that curiosity sort of kept us going. And in hindsight, I think a lot of these things are hard to plan. They're kind of serendipitous, but I think if you're open to learning and then having that curiosity is what sort of led us down these paths that we've taken.”

Keith on how their parents nurtured their curiosity early on

“ They definitely provided us with different opportunities to explore our interests – playing different sports, soccer, baseball, being in the Boy Scouts, which I think was actually one of the best experiences. It was kind of where we were able to just experience all kinds of things like archery, horseback riding, stuff like that, and just try different things. And I think that really is important for setting that foundation to be curious always, is that you are able, you're comfortable being in new situations and after the first time you realize that's enjoyable, you do it a second time, it's still enjoyable and you just keep it up. But I think if you were in a situation or environment where that is limited, you're always being constantly told no, I can very much see how that could be hampered.”

Show Links:

• Kenneth’s LinkedIn Profile
• Keith’s LinkedIn Profile

After years working in the data science and risk management fields, and holding top leadership positions at Wells Fargo and Capital One, Jeremy realized he wanted to spend more time coaching and developing his team than playing corporate politics. 

Jeremy chats with host Sean Li about how he made the pivot to coaching, explains the nuances between coaching, counseling, mentoring, and advising, and gives Sean a taste of his coaching style with an emphasis on the impact and return on investment personal development work can provide. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

On his journey from data science to strategy, and discovering coaching as a career path

“ I would get into these jobs that'd be very specific, very narrow focused.  And I had a way about me that I would create a T shape out of every role I'd end up in. So, you know, where they wanted me to do a certain thing and go really deep on something, I’d learn everything around it, connect all the dots together, you know, and make it really broad. Also, I generally master the one thing they wanted me to do pretty quickly, and then I'd get bored and wanna figure everything else out. And I was doing that in every job I was in.”

On how the birth of his son propelled him to pursue coaching

“I wanted to be a father, but I was also afraid I wasn't gonna be a great one. And there was a day that it hit me that, you know, I'm having a son and I'm gonna be his male role model.  And it was like a bucket of ice water got dumped on my head. It just woke me up. It woke me up out of this, whatever life I had been living up to that point, it wasn't what I'd want my son to look up to. I didn't see myself as a role model. A lot needed to change and a lot of that was about accepting myself.”

On the definition of coaching

“ Coaching is not about right or wrong, good or bad. There's nothing bad or wrong about that.  Coaching is about noticing it, asking yourself, is this getting me what I want? Like what I really want, what I say that I want right now? I might wanna be right about something, but what do I really want? And so that's what I ask my clients: Is that getting you what you say that you want? You know, thinking that other thing's gonna be better than this thing. And you know, the answer is always no. And it’s an interruption tool to see that, ‘Hey, wait a minute, I have everything I need right now in this moment. I am already a whole complete, perfect human. And I can still aspire to be an even greater version of myself.’”

On the ROI of coaching

“ A coach can accelerate your journey to your freedom, your happiness, your fulfillment, whatever that is.  You know, whether it's in your relationships, whether it's in your job, whether it's with your finances, your relationship with money. The sooner you take care of these things, the more of your life you're gonna live, right? You might even live longer, because you'll be putting less stress on yourself.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Instagram Profile 
• Leading Your Life Coaching

Like so many of the best entrepreneurial ventures, Twrl was born out of a necessity during the COVID-19 pandemic. With boba milk tea shops closed, Olivia and her co-founder Pauline Ang were finding ways to still enjoy the treat at home while also making a version of milk tea that prioritizes quality and pays tribute to their Taiwanese and Chinese heritage. 

Olivia joins host Sean Li to chat about being raised by immigrant parents from Taiwan, her career journey from Haas to Twrl, and Olivia dishes on all the ways her on-the-go milk teas are taking the boba industry by storm.

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

On her family’s deep Berkeley roots

“I actually am,  I would say, like a Berkeley baby, because we were in the Berkeley family housing units, there are baby photos of me playing on the playground. And so Berkeley has always been a really big part of my identity because my family, my dad are Berkeley alums. And so, my parents were really, really proud when I actually was accepted into Berkeley. And so being kind of from the Bay Area, you know, when relatives came, the first place we'd take them would be Berkeley to go see the campus. And so when I got in, it was kind of a no-brainer that I would be attending.”

Lessons on entrepreneurship from her parents’ career paths 

“ How the evolution of entrepreneurship goes is, you know, you climb one mountain, but you're at the bottom of another hill. And so you just keep climbing these mountains and then you just hope you can peak at an amazing peak. And so that is literally entrepreneurship. That is also the journey of an immigrant, right? Like, you go through these ebbs and flows of mastering language or mastering cultural norms.  And so those types of skills that I've seen my parents persevere with, they have been very, very motivating.”

On what makes Twrl stand out

“ What makes our canned drinks unique is we're the first to bring nitro infusion to the tea category. We're the first to bring pea protein. And so there's very little innovation in the last 30, 40, 50 years of the tea category. So we are literally the first tea brand out of all these big players out there to bring nitrogen infusion, to use pea protein. So it has actually changed a lot of things that are happening in the tea category itself.”

On how Twrl got its name 

“ Twrl is a really special name for us because we, you know, think about our heritage and our origin. And an emperor was walking through a garden holding a hot cup of water and a leaf twirled into his cup and that's where the first brewed tea was born. That's the origin story. And we'd love to kind of say that, you know, our brand is steeped in history, but we're twirling for the future. And so we're really excited to share a little bit more about ourselves. And we're really, really proud of our heritage as Taiwanese and Chinese Americans.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Twrl Milk Tea
• Podcast Rec: How I Built This with Guy Raz 

Yael moved to the U.S. from China when she was a teenager and found herself drawn to the world of engineering. After getting an undergraduate degree at MIT, she felt like her true calling was elsewhere and decided that business school was the best way to find it. 

Yael chats with host Sean Li about finding her passion for marketing at Haas, her family’s experience emigrating from China after the Cultural Revolution, and some of the top lessons she’s gained from serving as a Chief Marketing Officer and now a board member. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

On coming to the U.S. from China in 1981

“ When I came to this country, I went to New Jersey and was finishing up the last few years of high school. And it was such a completely weird experience. Eyeopening would be an understatement. And I remember going to a local supermarket and finding the shelves just full of stuff like everything was stocked with stuff, and I was telling my sister like, oh my gosh how could there be so much stuff in the store? You know, of course, I came from a country back then, stuff was still kind of scarce.”

On the misconceptions of what a Chief Marketing Officer does

“ It's not about just taking a product and then, you know, go put out a website and some blogs and whatever, some market advertising. I mean, that's kind of the tactic. [But] far more important and far more interesting is to really figure out, behind all the tactics, [the product market fit i.e. what customer problems need to be solved and how big and how pressing,] what strategy you need to adopt, how you price it, how you package it.”

On the importance of doing your homework on a company before working there

“ I've known people who kind of feel like, oh, you know, you seem to have got pretty lucky with several companies that have really gone somewhere. I think luck is definitely a big part of it. But I think like anything, as we all know, you improve your luck or increase your luck by really doing your homework ahead of time, right? You try to see, okay, this company is really trying to attack a problem that's really big. A lot of customers, right? A lot of businesses feel the potential pain. And so there's a really potentially big opportunity to try to solve that problem.”

On being a board member vs. an operational executive 

“ I think that we are constantly reminded as board directors that it's not our job to actually run the company. That's the job of the leadership team, the management team. We're supposed to provide oversight and governance. So having been an operator for many years, you know, I have to constantly remind myself   nose in and then fingers off. So it's our job to ask questions and ask good questions to help the management team to make sure that they have the right strategy in place and that they're executing effectively.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Yael’s recommendation – HubSpot blog

Growing up in Sacramento, Heather’s connection to UC Berkeley and Haas runs deep. After getting her undergraduate degree in economics and English from Cal, Heather went on to work in the investment banking sector, before deciding to return to Haas in pursuit of a more meaningful career path. 

Heather joins host Sean Li to chat about her California roots, her passion for supporting public institutions like UC Berkeley, how she gives back through board service and mentorship, and what led her to her fulfilling career in the medical devices industry at Abbott.

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

On her passion for public education

“ I just am a huge believer in the ability of education to be transformative to people. And it was really a big thing that was transformative for my family – on my dad's side in particular. So when my dad's family came over from Mexico, his grandparents didn't have any education at all. They had about third to fifth grade education. When they came over here, one of the things that was really important to them was that their kids were able to get an education. Even though they never learned English, they were really clear that their kids had to not only go to school, but they had to go to college. And so all of their kids graduated from college.”

On what drew her to healthcare and Abbott

“ I just love working on things where there's a tangible benefit to many and an identified problem that it's a tough nut to crack. Even if I can solve one tiny piece of it, so the piece that I'm addressing is through the lives of diabetics and it's still meaningful and I can see that difference, not just in shareholder value, but in meeting diabetics who are using our products, that's what is so exciting to me.”

Lessons she’s learned throughout her career

“I personally think it's better to work for a good manager and a good organization than work on something that's sexy. You can have both, but I think if you have to make a trade off, I've definitely had bad managers and I knew it and I just thought, Oh, but I'm getting red flags, but this opportunity seems too good and, or I'll be able to work with them. And it's true that you can work with them, but you may not thrive.”

On the Somos Haas initiative 

“What we're trying to do is help people understand that you can come and get a business degree at Haas. It's attainable. And here's the way that you can do that. And then helping other organizations see the value of having diverse candidates apply that are all equally qualified. And so I think it's even more important now that there are organizations where people can feel a sense of community that are connected around a cultural identity, but also a singular purpose to be able to have a community that's focused on just supporting one another and driving a community that is oriented towards helping ultimately elevate, at least our objective is to elevate people of Hispanic origin in the business world.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Book Rec: From Strength to Strength by Arthur C. Brooks
• Berkeley's BIG GIVE

Chuck’s time as a pioneer dates back further than business school. Growing up in Macon, Georgia in the ‘60s, Chuck navigated segregated times but nevertheless pursued his passion for aviation. At Berkeley, Chuck got his MBA before Haas was Haas, and applied that degree to an impressive career in aerospace, military tech, and Homeland Security. 

Chuck joins host Sean Li to discuss his upbringing in Georgia, his time in the Air Force, Chuck’s experience at Berkeley including how he helped shape the foundation for the future Haas School of Business, his time working for the Department of Homeland Security, and how he continues to help future generations pursue higher education.

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

On growing up in the South during the Civil Rights Movement

“ In my junior year, which was about 1965, schools are starting to be integrated in the state of Georgia. So I live right in front of, believe it or not, a white military school. And I used to see the guys out there doing their drills every day and, you know, marching around. I said, one of these days I'm going to go to that school. I went to that school and integrated it my senior year. That was one of the firsts of my life that I did. Everybody always said, you did things first. You were the first in everything. I was so involved with the Boy Scouts of America. I became one of the first Black Eagle Scouts in the state of Georgia.”

On why he chose UC Berkeley

“ I was always known to be a radical. Because I spoke my mind when I saw things being done wrong. I just couldn't bite my teeth. I had to let it out, you know, whether you like it or not.

And I was that kind of person. I've been that way all my life. And if I see it's wrong, if something's wrong, I'm going to tell you it's wrong.  And how I can make it right or how we can make it right, you know, we're going to do it together.  And one of the reasons why, at Berkeley, Berkeley was just, it was one of the schools to be at in the United States during that particular time.”

On how he’s helping the future generations now

“ Mentoring is the best way to make people feel good about themselves…So that's where I am right now in my life. I'm trying to encourage young folk, you know, I thought about writing a book maybe. And I said, well, is it really worth it?  No, it's really worth it for me to do exactly what I'm doing right now. Talking to you, you know, putting myself out there to let people know who I am and the life that I've had.”

On how he celebrates Black History Month

“ I learn a little bit more than I knew the year before. I do that for a reason, and try to put it in perspective. Somebody that created something, did something, you know, and then never recognized, you know, like myself. I created a lot of things, I've done a lot of things in my life, I never boasted on it, you know…But the real pioneers of black history, you know, we always say Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and whoever else, you know, the mainstream people, but you've got a lot of people, man, that are black history pioneers that have never been noticed. They didn't want to be noticed.”

D’Juan comes from a military family with deep roots in Gary, Indiana. After getting his bachelor’s degree at Indiana University, he decided to join the Navy as an officer. Over the course of his 14 years in the military, D’Juan learned the importance of putting service at the center of all of his work. 

D’Juan sits down with host Sean Li to chat about his time in the military, including the culture shock he felt arriving in Japan and his experience joining as an officer. They also discuss his decision to get an MBA at Haas and the impactful work the Bush Center does for veterans. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

On his family’s values around education

I also grew up in a home that was full of love, not full of very much money, not full of very much access. But my mother, she was definitely one who was big on education. She showed it when she was in school and she told us to lean into it the same way. I'm an advocate of public education for that reason. Every school that I've attended from the beginning all the way through Haas has been a public institution. Most of the time that has been by deliberate choice.

On earning the respect of his subordinates as a Naval officer

The way that I earn respect from them is from showing up every day. This was the most instructive period of my professional career, was that you show up. That's half the battle,  right? Because some people don't. They just mail it in. That was the first way to earn their respect. Two, know my damn job. Take it seriously. I am new, so when they came to me, they expected to see my nose in a book. They expected to see me asking questions, being curious. Figuring it out so that I can get better to be a better leader for them. 

On his decision to go to Haas

I'm looking down the road, and I can see the water, and I'm like, this is a done deal. This is a beautiful school, beautiful campus. Then I go to the classes, like, yeah, I like this approach. I went with my classmates. We had drinks and dinner afterwards. It's like, this is a done deal. I started my application and that's the end of that story. I never looked back at any other school. I didn't apply. This was my target school and I got in. 

On some of the work the Bush Center is doing for veterans

We recognize that part of the reason why people don't get to mental health care is because it can be difficult to navigate. So we've thought of creating an easy button whereby we have essentially a concierge service to do an intake. We have all these clinicians and veterans service organizations to help identify whatever supports you might need and we connect you for free. Your services that they get are for free and this year we've been able to reach 2,000 people. 

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile

Originally from Mexico City, Fernando moved to the U.S. during the first dot com boom as a software developer and engineer. But the idea of building a business has always run deep in Fernando’s family. After falling in love with the San Francisco area, he decided to pursue his MBA at Haas where he found his passion for sales. 

Fernando and host Sean Li chat about the art of sales, his experiences at tech giants like IBM and HP, why sales has historically been undertaught in business schools and how Fernando is working to change that. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

The origin of his passion for engineering and building things

“I was told stories about me having like one of those musical boxes next to my crib and I would reach out and take it and start disassembling it and like trying to figure out how it worked. And I've always, still to this day, I like building things and like figuring out how they work.”

His advice for facing rejection in sales

“You can look at it from a mathematical point of view, right? Let's say your conversion rate on reaching out to people is 5%, right? That means you need to make 100 calls to get five people to engage with you. When you're going through them, you're going to get 95 rejections. You might as well just go through them. And don't take it personally, right? Like people are not rejecting you because of you. They're rejecting you because maybe they're busy.

Maybe they don't need what you're offering.”

One of the important lessons he’s learned in his career

“Many times, it is not about trying to convince someone what you say or so on…It's about asking the right question. And the same thing applies to leadership in many ways, right? Like, when you're trying to lead a team and you're giving them the answer, you're like, ‘Oh, this is how you should do it. Let me try to convince you this is the way.’ You're not as effective as when you ask the right questions and they figure it out. So to me, that’s really important in sales, in leadership, in life in general, right? Like trying to figure out not what's the right answer. Yeah, share that answer. What's the right question? So that whoever you're working with can figure out what's the right answer for them.”

The critical role of sales in business

“Not a lot of people go into sales right after business school. But I was sharing this with someone recently, eventually you do end up in sales. Like if you go into consulting and you make it to partner, you're in sales now. You know what I mean? If you make it to the C suite, like if you're the CEO, you're in sales.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• The Qualified Sales Leader: Proven Lessons from a Five Time CRO by John McMahon
• Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
• Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter by Liz Wiseman

Sahar, a first generation American, grew up in New York after her parents emigrated from Iran to further their education. The time she spent watching her mom work in finance on Wall Street and help run her uncle’s photo business had a significant impact on Sahar’s career path. 

She and host Sean Li chat about Sahar’s experience moving from brick and mortar to the e-commerce world, the importance of taking risks, and how Haas provided her with her own personal board of directors. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

How her family’s photo business shaped her early on

“That was the first of my hard lessons to be learned as a child, to really learn what it takes to drive a business. And I'm talking about all the tasks that you can think of and having to earn my way to that spot where I could actually start working on developing photos for customers…and it started with grabbing that Windex bottle and wiping the windows outside of the studio.  And really learning really early on that it takes hard work to get to where you want to go.”

Why it feels like she gained a personal board of directors from Haas

“There's something about putting yourself in a room with a bunch of strangers who all of a sudden over time become family… And you get to know people and you share your stories, and you have this unbiased group of people who are just looking to help you unblock yourself oftentimes. And so maybe during the program things would come up that were work related and then you find yourself just having these go-to individuals that really help you think things through and hold you accountable to the things that you think of doing for yourself and the things that you haven't even thought of doing for yourself and for others.”

What keeps her engaged and motivated to stay connected to the Haas network

“I want to be able to create that same feeling of being in school and back in the program, even though we're not in the program anymore. I always want to feel that optimism that I felt in the classroom, that not only can I do anything and lead through anything and be anything, but I want others to feel the same thing. And so I want to create these opportunities in the forum for people to stay connected and be able to share what they've been thinking about that's inspiring to them and, you know, have a sandbox of network members to collaborate with to nurture and debate those kinds of thoughts.”

On what’s next for Sahar

“I'm just always out there thirsting for the next big challenge. Ideally, I want to share my knowledge and help lead the next generation to solve big problems and make a big impact. And even better if those next generation leaders come from Haas.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile

Allan spent much of his childhood fascinated by how his dad ran their family home furnishings business. But he was also curious about how businesses could be used for social good. After getting his JD MBA from Haas, he combined his two passions into RGI Home which he led for more than 30 years. 

He and host Sean Li chat about Allan’s upbringing in New York, his unique business approach to RGI Home, and how a passion for community and social impact led him to study Middle Eastern politics and how that experience still influences his social entrepreneurship today. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

On his relationship with his father

“I remember pretty vividly spending a lot of time with my dad when I was quite young…My dad was not just an engineer, but he was also an inventor. So I would sit in his work room with him and marvel at the mystery of the inventions that he was coming up with. Then he fought for a couple of patents and I didn't really know the content of what he was doing, but it looked so interesting and innovative. And that was my introduction to bringing a different point of view to product and his point of view as well.”

On his decision to get his JD MBA

“I've always been somebody who attempted to be a student always and this was a chance for me to catch up to what I missed when I was in undergrad.You know, having taken the kinds of classes that I thought would matter once I got into business the quantitative side of things. So, law was gonna teach me how to think one way, but I felt business school would teach me how to think a different way. And together, it would provide me with the best, most well-rounded education.”

Some of the challenges he faced running RGI Home

“How to run a business with no money. That was my first challenge. Along with that, running an international business by fax, no email. So you're faxing overseas or whatever, and you know, people who don't even speak your language and trying to figure out how to be able to integrate, you know, the various offices with the U.S. based offices.”

On his lasting legacy

“Since I was young, you know, I've always thought about transforming societies. I can never quite understand why people couldn't figure out how to connect with each other. And also I thought that somebody like myself who had a fortunate upbringing and also had the fortune to be really educated, to go to places like Haas, build the business, had a responsibility to do more. So when I went to build a business, it was not just about industry. It was also about the ability to be able to give back to the communities that I was working in.” 

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• RGI Home | History
• Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow
• Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't by Jim Collins

Jeff grew up in Chicago with a passion for experimenting with the latest cutting edge technology. After some unfilling corporate jobs, Jeff got his MBA at Haas and jumped head first into the startup world. From there, he found a new passion for crypto and AI and started writing his own newsletter filled with keen market analysis. 

Jeff and host Sean Li chat about his unique view o  n the crypto and AI markets, what Jeff views as the best uses of AI currently, how those uses could shift in the near future, and if the overall impact of AI on our world is net positive or negative. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

What he got from his time at Haas

“Open doors is probably the biggest kind of value that [Haas] can bring and meeting people that also were in the spirit. And I think at least like two or three of the opportunities after just came from other classmates who were trying to build something. And I think that's saying something that, yeah, opening doors is not because of going to a class. It really is like people that you interact with and have common values or common alignments of what you want to build.”

On what RocketFuel Education is

“We converted that into kind of like lessons on the crypto markets. And now it's more like crypto macro and AI markets and just like really understanding what's going on. And then again, being predictive.

And if I'm accurate, sometimes that's great. And sometimes I'll be wrong, but I think over time, just having the understanding. And really understanding how markets work on RocketFuel Education, that is why people stick to it.”

How he got the idea for RocketFuel

“If you join these crypto communities, you actually get some really good insights as to what is upcoming that nobody else is going to be joining. If you go to these crypto conferences, you meet people that are actually the CEOs of these projects. And you can see if they're like for real or not. Or you could even meet the CEOs of projects that had not even been released yet. And you could actually invest in those companies as well. So you can get an edge by just being very early. And a lot of those interactions like kind of compelled me to be like, ‘Hey, spending all this time doing all this research, at least I should put a brain dump of that somewhere.’”

On how AI is going to help humans

“Everywhere that we are stuck in right now, like even if it's due to physics or if it's due to just manpower, right? Anywhere that humanity has slowed down. I think AI is just going to speed it back up again. I mean just think about like, if I could add more, headcount to any problem that humanity is facing. I think AI is kind of that solution, right?”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Jeff's education platform: https://rocketfueledu.com/
• Jeff's AI blog: https://jeffwang.substack.com/
• Codeium: https://codeium.com/
• Twitter: @jeffwangcrypto 

Born to Korean-immigrant parents, Albert grew up in a small town outside Albany, New York. His dad worked as a scientist at a research and development laboratory right next to Albert’s high school – a school with a reputation for producing successful entrepreneurs.

Albert chats with host Sean Li about co-founding the health app MyFitnessPal, why his approach to entrepreneurship has a lot to do with solving everyday problems, and how his time at Haas helped him reinvent himself. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

On his unique high school experience

“Our school actually, you know what's kind of crazy is, has a couple other very successful entrepreneurs that have gone through it. So prior to me, a guy named Colin Engel, who founded iRobot, the company that makes the Roomba, actually went to my high school. And after me, actually Brian Chesky, the CEO of Airbnb, went to my high school as well. So it's kind of this small high school in the middle of nowhere, but has this sort of background of being affiliated with all of these like inventors and scientists. And so there, I think it fostered some entrepreneurial activity.”

On the invention of MyFitnessPal

“My brother and my sister-in-law were getting married and they had decided to have a beach wedding in Mexico. And my brother was like, man, I am not in good shape. He's like, you know, I really want to look good for this wedding. 

So they went to a gym, they went to see a trainer, they started working out. And the trainer said, you know, it's great, this is definitely important to get him to a fitness plan. But if you really want to reach your goals before this wedding date, you're also going to have to think about what you're eating. And so the way that I want you to do that is to keep a food journal. And here it is. And he literally presented my brother with this, like, paper and pen diary plus, you know, a little reference guide that had some generic information about foods and calories…And so my brother took that. I think he felt like logically it made a lot of sense to do this thing, but just couldn't believe there wasn't a better way to do it.”

On his approach to entrepreneurship

“You can start very organically from your own experiences and say, okay, well, what is the stuff in everyday life that I'm doing, seeing, feeling that just doesn't feel quite right to me? You know, are there products that I'm using that I don't like? Are there experiences that I'm having that don't make any sense? And I think my brother and I had determined that the latter way of  trying to build something was much more aligned with how I think we think and we operate and how we feel motivation. And it comes a little bit from the selfish place, which is like, well, I have this problem and I kind of want to solve it, you know, and it doesn't look like anybody else is going to solve this. So I'm going to try to do it on my own.”

On how his experience at Haas shaped his mindset

“I think one of the magical things about being a business school student is sort of this, you get this kind of new identity where you are.  You're kind of something, but also nothing, you know?  And I don't mean that in a disparaging way, but it's sort of like you have this opportunity to sort of reinvent parts of who you are and expose yourself to a lot of different things. And just like immersing myself in a community of people who, many of whom had entrepreneurial aspirations, just completely changed my personal mindset.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile

Noor and his brothers grew up in the Bay Area but come from a big Palestinian family. Raised by immigrant parents from Palestine and Jerusalem, Noor learned the importance of education and following your heart and passions at an early age. By 16, he was already running his own business selling iPhones. 

Noor brought that entrepreneurial spirit to Haas where he honed his talents for marketing and brand positioning. After graduating, he found himself at Square and it was through this job he found a new passion: coffee. 

Host Sean Li chatted with Noor about his journey from iPhones to coffee, how the creation of Jaffa is rooted in his family’s culture, and what sets their coffee apart from all the other artisanal coffees on the market. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

On his dad’s decision to leave Palestine and head West

“My dad left Palestine in the ‘80s after the Oslo Accords. And, basically not seeing any potential for us to have any opportunity for, you know, like a life of education and career in Palestine. He was the, I wouldn't say odd one out in his family, but he's the only one who didn't see himself staying, because he was the educated one. He was the one who wanted to study engineering and like he made that happen by finally getting a visa and leaving Palestine.”

The early beginnings of his entrepreneurial spirit 

“In high school, I was buying candy bars from Costco and I would sell them, resell them at school. And then I started selling iPhone cases. And people would just buy them from me. They just knew that I was like the jacket guy. I was like, what do you want? And I didn't do it for vanity or like even really for money. I just kind of thought, I'm like, why isn't everyone doing this? Why isn't everyone turning a profit or making arbitrage? And my brain just understood buy low, sell high and provide value. People want candy. People want lemonade.”

The specialness of Jaffa Coffee

“Coffee roasters in San Francisco are the vanguards. They bring some of the best. As you go up North, you'll find that in Oregon and Seattle, they lack color. It's a very white world in coffee roasting. There hasn't been really one like coffee roaster that has been Palestinian in the Ivy League status of like Ritual, Blue Bottle, Stumptown. That doesn't exist. What we're doing is like the Michelin star equivalent of coffee.”

On his passion for coffee

“I would do this as a hobby. It was like my library. I would go and I'd order a latte and I'd order a cortado and I'd sit there and I would just think about coffee because it was fun to me.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Jaffa Coffee Roasters

A child of Vietnamese immigrant parents, Tricia grew up in the Bay Area with her heart set on one day attending UC Berkeley. Her family instilled strong values of education and hard work in her from a young age. 

Host Sean Li chatted with Tricia during Women’s History Month. The pair discuss Tricia’s amazing story of emigrating to the U.S. from Vietnam as a baby and the challenges her family faced along the way. They also chat about her experiences working as an Asian American woman in Asia vs. the U.S. and the alumnae group she started for Haas women called Women in Leadership (WILA).

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

On the challenges her parents faced when trying to leave Vietnam

“It was one of those moments where the decisions you make will alter your life. My dad had the choice to either keep waiting and risk the months of planning to get caught, and not be able to escape or leave for freedom and risk never seeing his wife and his daughter possibly ever again.”

How her parents adapted to their new life in the U.S. 

“She learned how to cook and she learned it by memory. She remembered the flavors of the dishes that she had in Vietnam and she recreated those from memory. They both had several careers in restaurants, in condiments, in the steel business, in jewelry. There were several businesses that they had and I saw them pivot and try new things, and have success and sometimes failures, but they always learned from that.”

Her experience working in Asia vs. the U.S.

“Even though I was working in a key hub for Asia, like Hong Kong, you looked around and there were a lot of people of Asian ethnicity working there, but none in leadership. And in fact, when I interviewed with the head of our group, who was a Westerner from the UK, she remarked in awe, she said, ‘You speak beautiful English.’ When you feel that you are Asian, but you're also American, there's all these facets of you. You're a woman, and you go to a different country with a different background and people have these biases and they have these assumptions and it's important, I think, but hard to call those out, right?”

On the creation of WILA

“I was struggling professionally and personally, and I wanted a space where I could seek out other Haas women who I knew could understand and provide some perspective. I knew I wasn't alone in feeling this. And today, WILA is thriving and we continue to serve our mission.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Women in Leadership Alumnae

Eileen was born in the U.S. and spent the first six years of her life in New York where her parents furthered their studies at American universities. When they decided it was time to move back to Taiwan, young Eileen quickly realized she was not going to fit in with her classmates who all spoke and read in Mandarin while she only knew English. But she was determined to assimilate into the culture of her new home. A determination that would come in handy again when Eileen moved back to the U.S. for high school and had to re-assimilate into another culture. 

Eileen chats with host Sean Li about how those cultural experiences have influenced the way she builds relationships with people in her career, her family’s rich cultural history as mainlanders in Taiwan, and her approach to mentoring and networking. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

Her experience assimilating to Taiwanese culture

“Having spent the first six years of my life in the U.S., English was my first language. I didn't speak or write Mandarin. I think thinking back to that period of time, despite how I looked on the outside, I was different, and being different was hard, and I learned that firsthand. But in hindsight, that period of time was also a very valuable life lesson for me to learn about perspectives. Don't make assumptions. Give others the benefit of the doubt. Walk in other people's shoes.”

The importance of preserving Chinese culture in her family

“My family fled from mainland China to Taiwan, but so did I think a million other people.

And my grandparents on both sides had this strong sense of responsibility to provide for those who came along with them and to uphold that culture and those values that they were accustomed to when they lived in mainland China.”

A major takeaway from her first job

“There are many ways to invest. Alpha generation or generating returns above the benchmark is possible in any market environment and to be a good investor does not just require skill, but it requires tremendous judgment.”

Her approach to networking

“I really care about people, I want to understand where they come from. I want to be able to appreciate their perspective, whether it's the same or even better or different than mine, gives me maybe a more genuine starting point and hopefully that sincerity and authenticity comes across and is reciprocated, as not just a launch pad to have that connection off the bat, but to really serve as a foundation to foster meaningful, long-standing, hopefully lifelong relationships.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile

A first-generation American, Laura grew up in a military family from Panama with her parents always encouraging her to stay curious and never stop learning. She got her undergraduate degree at San Jose State and went on to earn her JD and MBA at Haas. From there, she worked with some of the biggest tech companies in the world, including Apple, IBM, and Microsoft.

Laura and host Sean Li discuss her experience working with tech giants, the important influence her parents have played in shaping her view of the world, and why finding your personal philosophy is crucial to your success. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

The influence that her parents’ have had on her life

“I think about that a lot, about how they came to the United States first of their family to come here. And I think about the sacrifices that they made. They left behind their family, friends, food, culture, language to create a life for a family yet to be born. And I think about the strength and the courage that they bring to the table and you know what – it actually informs the way that I think about the world.”

How she uses her personal philosophy statement every day

“When I start my day, I think about my personal philosophy and I commit to doing the best that I can. At the end of the day, I reflect and sometimes I don't do as well as I would like, but I commit to do better the next day. And so this, once again, you know, it just really influences everything, everything that I stand for, that I think about and how I live my life.”

On her decision to join Microsoft

“Sometimes you get these calls out of the blue and you almost have to say yes, because it absolutely made a difference in joining that organization. Satya had just been appointed the CEO, maybe he had been in the role for a year and a half, but he put together an incredible program to change Microsoft from being known as a ‘know it all' company to a ‘learn it all company.’”

Why the personal philosophy statement is crucial in business

“The first thing that you do when you meet a customer, [is] you're trying to build empathy as a salesperson, [and] you've got to know who you are. So you need to know what your personal philosophy is. So you're supposed to convey that. ‘Hi, my name is Laura Clayton McDonnell and I'm so glad to meet you. I'd like to share my personal philosophy and then I'd like to hear yours too.’ And then you build that connection point. Talk about those words and what they mean.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Growth Mindset by Carol Dweck

After immigrating to the U.S. at seven years old and navigating life with a disability, Dr. Pineda graduated from the Haas School of Business in 2002 and has since gone on to advise Fortune 500 companies, negotiate international sustainability agreements, founded and run the foundation World ENABLED, and is an adjunct professor at UC Berkeley’s College of Environmental Sciences. 

Dr. Pineda chats with host Sean Li about moving to the U.S. from Venezuela, the different opportunities that gave him, his work to enact social change in the world, and why building inclusive environments benefits everyone. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

The impact that moving from Venezuela to the U.S. had on Dr. Pineda

“My mother was told that I would not be able to be educated, that I would not be able to have a job, I would not be able to form a family. And all of those ended up being not true, because it wasn't my physical limitations that constrained me but the lack of public policies, the lack of institutions, programs, and laws that allowed somebody like me to thrive. That all changed when I came to California.”

How Dr. Pineda is enacting worldwide social change with his work

“We're not going to fix these challenges by only pointing out what's wrong with the world, but rather what's investing in what's right with the world. So what we've invested in, in a partnership with the city of Amsterdam, was a three-year project on leveraging AI to map access barriers. Now that's important for disaster risk management and for emergency preparedness, as well as for infrastructure upgrading and climate adaptations.”

How listeners can make an impact and support Dr. Pineda’s mission

“We can each become advocates for more inclusive innovation, no matter what sphere we work in. I think sharing my research around AI, this playbook on inclusive cities, the autism-friendly design guidelines, as well as some of the work we're doing to build a global advisory council on inclusive innovation becomes ways that the very talented Haas community could connect with real systems change.”

Dr. Pineda’s thoughts on ensuring AI is used as a force for good in the future 

“I think we need to open up our hearts. I think we need to be grounded with who we are as individuals, what we value, and really create a more intentional approach to how we direct our attention. Because what you appreciate, appreciates, right? If we're in a fear economy, we're feeding fear. For an economy that's investing in more integrated, holistic approaches, we're building those.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• The Victor Pineda Foundation
• World Enabled
• My Disability Justice Youtube series
• Victor Santiago Pineda’s book: Building the Inclusive City: Governance, Access, and the Urban Transformation of Dubai 

Other recommended reads in this episode: 

• Mismatch: How Inclusion Shapes Design (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life) by Kat Holmes 
• Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
• The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle 

Michael is a member of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe in upstate New York and grew up on the reservation. After spending some time in an aviation career, he applied to Haas to get his MBA so he could give back to his community. 

Michael and host Sean Li discuss what it was like growing up on a reservation, the current challenges facing Native American communities, and how Michael has been able to use his MBA to help his tribe economically. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

Why he decided to change careers and get his MBA

“I just started wanting to learn more about the finance and operations side and help the tribes. That really was my passion was to be able to give back to the community. When I applied to Berkeley, that's what I said I was going to do. And that's what I had always done with the reservation is helping youth and trying to develop the economy of the tribe because there's nothing really here. It's economically depressed.”

How gaming changed the economic landscape for tribes

“It gave our parents jobs, or in my case, us jobs, so our children had somebody to guide. Meaning like, they could see like a career path… You can get a job in a casino, and you can go get your education. But what's interesting with the Mohawks is a lot of people went to Yale, Dartmouth, Cornell, back in the 1800s. So we are one of the most educated tribes, like reservations, where people have education. It's a big part of our culture is getting your education. So growing up was tough because there was not much opportunity.”

How his generation keeps the next generation involved and connected to their culture

“I think a  lot of that responsibility lies in the home with the parents and making sure they get out. For the Mohawks, a big part of our culture is the sports, you know, unplugging them and they're involved in sports and they have a positive outlet rather than drugs, alcohol. So I think doing things with your children as they're growing up. So when they're teenagers, you have a relationship with them, so they'll listen to you better.” 

His advice to young Native Americans about the value of college 

“I've talked to a lot of tribal youth and said, ‘Oh, I don't want to get in debt.’ And I would, almost like a spreadsheet, explain to them how it makes sense to get in debt for a university. How you would be better off. I always say, ‘Well, you can get your sneaker at Walmart or you can get a Nike sneaker. Which one has more perceived value? Well, the Nike does.’ And then go, ‘Well, that's about education. You go to a top university, the top employers hire there. And so that's why you need to work hard to get into these universities.’”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile

As the son of a Korean military vet, Joseph grew up always wanting to go into the service. After attending the Naval Academy, he landed one of the few and coveted spots with the Navy Seals and spent nine years in the service before enrolling at the Haas School of Business. 

He and Cassandra discuss his parents’ journey to America from Korea, the intensive training he went through with the Seals, lessons he brought from the military to business school, and his current role at Amazon. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

Common misconceptions people have about military service members 

“One big misconception is that those who decide to join the military are very close minded, narrow minded, and not very intelligent people…Or sometimes that it’s troublemakers who decided to join the military.”

What inspired him to go to business school

“I'm going to be real honest here. A lot of military folks when they get out of the military have no idea what they want to do. And I was one of them. I had no idea what I wanted to do. However, thankfully, because of a lot of those ahead of me who got out were great mentors in this sense where a lot of them do go to business school. So it's not uncommon to see a lot of military folks go to business school.”

His advice to prospective business school students

“I think what's more important is, you know, instead of taking that depth and trying to dive into academics, use that time to get to know your classmates, to try new things, expand your reach, do things that you wouldn't have done normally because I think it's also a safe time to take risks.”

Insights he’s taken from the military and business school into his current job at Amazon Ads

“The job in itself is usually quite simple in comparison to people. People are the hardest. Human relations are the hardest thing to work with, to navigate around and deal with. And I think that is something across the board that I've seen consistent.  In the military, with my last role, with the current role, is that in anything and everything, humans are the most complicated, and hence that's why communication is so important, having empathy is so important.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile

Cassandra is a first-generation Filipina American whose parents emigrated from the Philippines in search of the American dream. It was this story that propelled Cassandra's adventurous career path and ultimately led her to Haas. 

She and host Sean Li discuss what it was like growing up in a traditional Filipino household and her trips back to the Philippines, her diverse career path from accounting to commercial banking to social enterprise to tech product marketing, and how she made it her mission to meet and spend time with nearly every single one of her Haas classmates before graduation.  

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

When she took the first big career transition 

“During my social impact fellowship, I had the opportunity to travel to the remote parts that most people in the world have not heard of in Ecuador and Peru and meet people from these regions and hear their stories about what they're using their loans for and how they're using it to propel them forward and got to tell those stories through different blogs, through different interviews that the organization I was working for could do.”

What it was like to visit the Philippines and reconnect with her family heritage

“They built up this whole community… It doesn't exist anymore today, but there's a family gas station that was called the Salcedo gas station. To see so many people in my family that I had never met before not really having a lot of things and enjoying life and just laughing with each other. That's when I think it sparked for me my appreciation for all the sacrifices that my parents had made.”

Why she was drawn to Haas over other business schools

“I remember very vividly at the first Haas info session I went to and there was a slide there that showed the career paths that people at Haas go into post graduation. And of course there was, you know, the traditional paths of banking, tech, but it was actually quite a linear graph across different industries. I felt like a lot of the other schools, it was primarily one, but that graph actually really stood out to me because I wanted a school that did that and I also wanted a school that was small enough to build a community.”

On her initial introduction to the Haas community

“I actually received a hundred percent response rate from all of the Haas alumni that I cold messaged on LinkedIn, which I thought was a telling sign of the community and people actually wanting to give back and share their experiences out of the goodness of their heart and just wanting to help.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile

Adrien’s intersectionality between being Latinx and gay gave him a certain kind of insight into the culture within corporations and the impact of those companies’ products on the consumer. 

He and host Sean Li delve into the art of consumer insights, how Adrien’s upbringing shaped his work ethic, and what it was like to watch Netflix grow into the behemoth company it is today. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

Why he was drawn to a business career from an early age 

I was very curious. And in our household, being in a multicultural household, we consumed products and services very differently than my friends. And I was always curious as to why or how does culture drive or influence us as consumers?

On how to ensure consumer insights work is inclusive 

I think finding the level of granularity is part of what leads to some of the insightful ideas. So, for example, oftentimes, a company will talk about their consumer in a monolithic way. And by not looking at some of the nuances of the different segments, the different types of consumers, you're balancing things out and missing some of the opportunities.

How the Haas Thrive Fellows program is empowering future Latinx business leaders

Latinx representation in business, particularly in the executive ranks, is a challenge…They've created this program to help educate, prepare, and motivate folks from underrepresented groups to apply and succeed in business schools, hopefully, Haas. And we want to reverse the trend in declining applications from underrepresented ethnic and racial groups. So programs and efforts like these, I think, are really important to increase representation in the executive ranks.

On what his promotions have meant to him in his career 

The fact that someone recognized my value and decided to promote me was something I wouldn't have imagined earlier in my career. Growing up in a Latino household where we're taught to be humble, to be grateful for what we're given, I think, leads to a lot of us not being good at self-advocacy. And it's something we need to work on to increase our representation in the executive ranks. So, all the promotions that I've gotten, I never take them for granted, and I'm incredibly grateful for them.

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Haas Thrive Fellows
• The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else In Business by Patrick Lencioni

Patty found her passion for finance and banking at an early age, growing up in Mexicali, Mexico, watching her father run his business. After moving to the U.S. at age 11, education became a top priority for Patty and her siblings. When it came time to apply for colleges, Patty knew Haas was the school for her. 

She and host Sean Li discuss her childhood in Mexico and how her life changed after moving to the U.S., the work she’s done at Wells Fargo to increase capital access for minority business owners, and how she got her nickname of “the people’s banker.” 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

What it was like to leave Mexico at a young age

As a sixth grader, I felt like it was the end of the world, like moving away from my birth country. Even if it was just across the border, really a few miles away, it just felt like a huge change. Of course, you know, you leave your friends behind and you start a whole new world in the U.S.

Where her passion for finance began

I always knew I wanted to be a banker. It's almost like since I was a kid, I was the bank. Monopoly, I was the bank. If we played like little store, I was always the bank. I always handled the cash. And I always had money. I would save my money from birthdays and things. I would lend my money if my grandmother was short or whatever, and then she would pay me back. And if I'd give her $20, she'd give me back $21 or $22. And she taught me about interest when I was a little girl.

On her idea to diversify commercial banking 

I just wondered how much more business we could get if we did it, right? If we actually came to clients in a culturally relevant way, if we recruited talent that looked like our client base, you know, how much more successful could we be? And that was the basis of me launching diverse segments, which really propelled my career to new heights at Wells Fargo.

How she hopes to make a difference for minority business owners 

My goal is to have no access to capital gap, right? So that any business owner can get the financing they need and there's no bias in the decisioning process that leads to them getting turned down for a loan. And that's not gonna be something that's maybe gonna be solved in my lifetime, but I'm damn gonna try really hard to help it along. 

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile

Growing up, Cassidy struggled in school. But joining the Marine Corps after high school helped him find his drive and discipline that ultimately led him to Haas.  

Cassidy and host Sean Li discuss his family roots in the kitchen, his military intelligence work for the Marines, how his education at Haas helped shape the idea for Mach 1 Hot Sauce, and why it’s the hot sauce that pairs well with anything. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

How his time in the military helped with school

Post-Marine Corps, I never found trouble in school. I learned how to study, I learned how to be disciplined. There weren't any distractions like what I used to have when I was younger. It was like, here's the work, and 50% of the job is just showing up, right? 30% of the job after that is participating in class, and then 20% is actually doing the homework and the test and the quizzes because if you do, if you show up and you ask questions, you're gonna learn and retain so much of it.

One of the things he loved most about Haas

If you made it to Haas, chances are you're curious, you're not afraid to ask questions. You're not afraid to go out on a limb and say, ‘Well, I think it's this.’ There weren't a lot of politics that got in the way. Like a lot of the time, we're just looking at brass tax…and I felt like the dumbest one in the room, and I loved it because it meant I had the most to gain, you know?

The push he gave himself towards Mach 1 Hot Sauce

Look, if you don't jump off on this hot sauce thing, you're never gonna do it. Because you've always been scared to do it. You know what I mean? Because you're married, you have kids, and if not now, when? And that's such a hard thing, I think, for a lot of entrepreneurs or people who wanna be entrepreneurs is that fear of failing. But I think I just got to a point in time where the fear of not trying was greater than the fear of failing.

What makes his hot sauce stand out

There's a dichotomy that exists between either it has flavor, but there's no heat, or it's just complete dry heat, and there's no flavor. And I really believe that we created a hot sauce that can pair with your food because it has a lot of flavor upfront. And then the heat rolls on in the back so you can still have your food and not have it be overpowered by the hot sauce.

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Mach 1 Hot Sauce
• Steve Jobs’ 2005 Commencement Speech at Stanford University

Before Spectrum Equity, Carolina spent 15 years at Deloitte working in tax services. Even as a child growing up in a Mexican immigrant family in San Francisco, she always had an affinity for numbers. That passion only grew in her accounting classes at Haas. 

Carolina and host Sean Li discuss her parents’ immigration story from Mexico, why she initially hid her college applications from her father, and how she went from taxes to now holding a top executive job at Spectrum Equity. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

On why she was drawn to a career in accounting 

Math was a strong suit of mine. You know English was harder for people like me whose parents don't speak fluent English or speak conversational fluent, but not super fluent, not a large vocabulary. So it's a lot harder. So, you know, you tend to go towards what you feel you're good at, right?

Her first impression of classes at Haas 

My high school was crazy. It's even crazy now. It's a pressure cooker place. The whole time you feel like you're not good enough. When I went to Berkeley and I took classes, I felt like I belonged. I felt like I was prepared, and it wasn't a crazy pressure cooker situation.

How her mom views her career

What makes her happy is the fact that I am an independent, self-reliant woman who is financially successful.

I think that to her as a woman that grew up in the ‘50s and ‘60s, having a daughter who isn't dependent on someone else is really important to her. The other thing she says she's very proud of is the fact that I have three children who are successful. My youngest daughter is 19. But she's successful. I mean, my mom views her as successful. And she's like the continuation. She's like, ‘You did your career and you did all that, but you were able to balance raising three daughters who in and of themselves can be independent and strong and successful women.’ She said, ‘That's not easy. And that's all you.

The advice she gives her daughters

It's a very long life after you graduate, and you need to feel like you have the tools to do something that satisfies you. Reality is you can't live without earning a paycheck, so find a way to earn a paycheck. And find a way to do it with something that makes you happy and makes you feel like you are intellectually satisfied.

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Spectrum Equity Bio

Adrienne has been a piano player her entire life, but after getting her undergraduate degree in Political Science at Stanford, she saw an opportunity to help fellow self-employed musicians build their businesses. She just needed to acquire the business skills before she could share them with her community of self-employed creatives. Getting her MBA at Haas sparked a second set of interests, and she spent the next 30 years in the for-profit and nonprofit worlds while still recording, performing and composing music. 

Adrienne and host Sean Li discuss her recent retirement from nonprofit CFO work and full-time return to music and composing, what it was like forming an LGBTQ student group at Haas in the ‘90s, and the current threat facing LGBTQ rights. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

Her tough decision to either stay in school or go on tour

My father, ever the entrepreneur and, I think, really an insightful parent, cut me a deal. He said, “You finish school. You've only got a year to go, finish your undergrad, and I will pay your rent for a year after you graduate. So you can work as a musician without worrying about where you're gonna sleep at night.”

What drew her to business school

I wanted to come back to the community of artists, of which I was a member, with wisdom, with knowledge, with resources. And over time, I have been able to do that, but not as directly as I had intended when I started at Haas.

The challenges her student group faced in the ‘90s

When we wanted to get the word out that we were having meetings, many of the other men who were gay and who wanted to be connected to this group insisted that we not put announcements about the meetings in their mailboxes, which anybody could poke into if they wanted to. So we had to fairly clandestinely post notices about our meeting times and places on bulletin boards where these guys would sneak by and get the information. 

What she hopes people will do this Pride Month

Spend half an hour reading about all of the legislation in all of the states that is designed to silence the voices of queer and trans people that is designed to deprive everybody of books and films and curricula that keep us visible, and that are already making it impossible for trans people to access the medical care that they need in order to be physically healthy as who they are. Read that stuff, and I hope you will be compelled to do something about it.

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Adrienne’s music on Spotify and Apple 
• Q@Haas

After graduating from Haas with a degree in finance and accounting, Mark spent 22 years at Apple as a finance and sales executive. But now, he runs Buchanan Advisory, where he helps diverse leaders reach their full potential. 

Mark and host Sean Li discuss Apple’s one-of-a-kind culture, how coming out helped Mark in his professional life, and what people can do to be a better ally this Pride month.

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

Why Mark decided to leave Apple and start Buchanan Advisory 

It was a journey about how to help develop people and help develop leaders and help people find a voice to be better leaders. And so that really inspired me after I left Apple to start another chapter of how can I give back and help others be successful? So that's what led me to starting Buchanan Advisory was, I think I can help other leaders be more successful and focus on diverse leaders, focus on the LGBTQ+ community and really help them be successful, and be a mentor, a confidant, an advisor, and help people reach their full potential. 

On the importance of being your full, authentic self

The more I came out and was comfortable being myself in front of everybody, the more empowered I was and the more happy I was, which actually helped me in my professional career as well.

How to support and be an ally to the LGBTQ community

I think learning and being a student of DEI and belonging is important for all allies. And I think participation, you know, with Pride Month coming up, it's an opportunity for allies to learn, celebrate, be a part of it. And I think the more people are willing to be open minded and learn about the community, the more a better ally they can be, and be self-reflective.

Why an organization like Openhouse SF is so needed 

There's still a lot of adversity for the LGBTQ+ community who become seniors. Some of them feel like they have to go back into the closet because there aren't enough elder care services or communities that are accepting of LGBTQ plus seniors, believe it or not.

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Buchanan Advisory
• Openhouse SF
• StartOut
• Gaingels

Celeste’s father grew up in American Samoa before moving to the mainland for college, and her mother, who is Mexican American, was raised by a single mom in Compton, CA. Her parents and older brother were instrumental in shaping her into the determined individual she is today.

She and host Sean Li discuss her upbringing, her father’s Samoan roots, how Pacific Islanders are a separate demographic group than Asian, and how companies can do better to support their AAPI employees. 

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

How she discovered her passion for mechanical engineering

My dad had a lot of tools and I found out how to use a screwdriver maybe when I was like six or something. And once I found that out, I was really curious on how things worked. And so I started to take things apart in my house.

I’d get a phone and take it apart or get a radio and take it apart. And I think at first it was cute, but then my mom was like, if you're gonna take something apart, put it back together.

Why she chose Berkeley over other schools

Haas is the perfect school for me because of the community. It's such a small group and such amazing, caring people … You are with people who believe in you. They're not sizing you up. They're actually interested in who you are as a person and what are your goals, and they want you to achieve your goals.

On the Pacific Islander erasure that can happen during AAPI month

Oftentimes when I see commercials or initiatives, I don't see Pacific Islanders, and that really makes me sad, makes me angry because I'm thinking this month is supposed to highlight us and even in this month, I don't see me or my people, and I just don't want people to forget the PI whenever they say AAPI or Asian and Pacific Islander.

A piece of Pacific Islander history she’s especially proud of 

My Polynesian ancestors were the best mariners in the world, in human history of sailing the Pacific Islands way before Europe or Vikings were doing what they were doing. Like I've heard the distance they've sailed is equivalent to traveling from south of Mexico to Alaska. They traveled  by using the stars, the currents, looking where birds were landing, and they were covering the Pacific Ocean way before people from Europe and covering a lot more space in the ocean than Vikings. 

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Polynesian Wayfinders And The Cosmos
• Polynesian Culture Center in Oahu, Hawaii 
• Map of Pacific Islands: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia

Her point of view reflects her practical nature and her penchant for seeing the big picture through the mess of fighting fires day to day. Inspired by identifying evolving consumer needs, Eurie seeks opportunities to leverage technology to optimize and innovate every aspect of life and to find the right entrepreneur with the vision to take on the challenge.  

Listen as Eurie and host Sean Li discuss her South Korean roots, growing up in white spaces, pivoting from consultant to venture capital, and staying cool, calm, and motivated.

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

On why she had not been vocal about her Asian roots and AAPI-related topics

My answer, very authentically, is that I don't spend all my time thinking about it. I'm just really busy living life, doing work, trying my best, and moving forward. I didn't feel like I had discrimination overtly, either for being Asian, Korean, or female, to be honest. I know it was there, but I just didn't bother with it. I just kept moving on and ignored it and considered it the exception, not the rule.

Now, with so much conversation that has happened over the years with all the AAPI hate, I felt very personally afflicted. And it's always sad that you can't really feel it until it gets that close. And I hadn't felt it until those few years. And now, it's more on my mind. And I say, representation does matter.

On the path to becoming a good venture capitalist

If you do not have an appetite for risk, you will never be a venture capitalist. Well, you'll never be a good venture capitalist.

So, for all of those listening who want to get into venture, ask yourself really, do you have the risk appetite? If you picked your next job as though that was your venture investment and your dollars was your own labor, what company would you pick? That mentality will help you get your head in the right place to speak the language.

Challenges of being a VC

I think one of the largest challenges of this job is that you don't know if you're good for over 10 years. It's not just one investment makes you a star. It's the continued ability to do this job on an ongoing basis and to have internal validation and motivation. So, it's a roller coaster industry. You need to have serious conviction in, not only the companies you invest in and the founders and the entrepreneurs you invest in, but also yourself. Because there's plenty of weeks where I'm like, I don't have a good idea. I'm not inspired. And then, there's other weeks where I can't stop myself from thinking things that are interesting. So, you have to think about it as like it's an ultramarathon, and you can't just get give yourself a pat on the back at 26.2 miles and be like, “I crushed it.” You've got 99 million miles to go.

How Eurie keeps the motivation up and going

If you can enjoy the wins of the building, when you launch a product, when you see that consumers are excited about something, when you work with a founder and you see her crush a pitch or raise that next round, those are absolutely worth celebrating, because those are the moments that I like to always say, my philosophy is all about the baby steps. The pyramids were built one brick at a time. You can't see it yet for so long, but you're building something amazing. And so, it does require you to be able to pan back.

And I don't want to say there's no validation, because there is. You have to celebrate those wins, because otherwise, I mean it's honestly too long, of a course. But the motivation comes from knowing that you took something that didn't exist and you gave it life, or you gave the founder of this idea the chance to bring it to life.

And that is amazing. That feels really, really special. 

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Forerunner Ventures
• The Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor Frankl
• Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear

Adriana grew up literally hugging trees in Bogota, Colombia, and wanted to find a way to combine her love of nature with her passion for engineering. With her  11 years in the chemical engineering field, her passion to go beyond herself volunteering for  Engineers Without Borders and creating her new path supporting deeptech startups in the Climate tech sector.

In this episode, Adriana discusses how her family’s upbringing, immigration story, and experience at Haas shaped her, what she thinks are the biggest climate change challenges today, and the exciting technological innovations that could help with some of those challenges.

*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*

Episode Quotes:

On how she has developed her love for nature and community

You can describe me as a tree hugger, backpacker, camper, because I love all of those. What I love the most is that my parents developed me in a sense of holistic sustainability viewing it as:”we don't have to only care about nature, but also care about the community that surrounds us.” And to explore that through economics. So with my dad being a mechanical engineer, tinkering of many things and my mom being an economist  drove those two components in our lives and created these building blocks that I have lived throughout my life, which are  “community, not competition and a continuous love for nature and those in need.”

On creating a better ecosystem for entrepreneurs 

There has to be a better way to create an economic system. And then from there, knowing that, for example, in Colombia or other places like what I saw in Ethiopia with Engineers Without Borders, there is so much innovation happening in the day to day that triggers and aligns with good capital to build astrong entrepreneurial ecosystem globally, like a real ecosystem of entrepreneurs, but also develop economies as a path.

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Berkeley Haas Sustainability Alumni Group
• The Sustainable Development Goals Wedding Cake

Martin is a first-generation American. His parents escaped communism in Poland in the 80s. He and his family faced adversity as they were assimilating in the United States. Martin faced some challenges that shaped where he is today. However, underneath all of it is his passion for clean energy. 

In this episode, Martin shares his early beginnings as a first-generation American, his career pivot and how his experience at Haas helped him with the transition, and what he does at PA Consulting as a Principal Consultant.

Martin also talks about the future of clean and renewable energy and the new technologies people should be excited about.

Episode Quotes:

On choosing accounting and finance as his college degree

At the time, it was essentially a safety decision because I knew no matter what was going on with the economy, no matter what happens, you're going get paid in a career in accounting. Accountants are always needed, whether the economy's doing well or not. And I also thought about it as understanding the language of business, and it opens potential new opportunities for me in the future. 

His passion for clean energy

I don't really have one of those interesting origin stories, necessarily. I didn't see my house get swept away by a rainstorm. I didn't see, you know, anything crazy happen with being in a drought. But I do remember my junior year of high school, I was in an AP environmental science class, and at this point in time, it was pretty much peak emissions for the entire globe. And I think at the time, the United States was getting 70 to 80% of their power from coal, and the big Hummer came out. Everything was bragging about that, and I just had this feeling of desperation. What are we doing to our planet? Things are getting worse, and we were still burning so much coal and driving Hummers. There's not really a clear, viable path for us to get off of fossil fuels as a society.

Show Links:

• Martin Szczepanik on LinkedIn
• BHAN-NYC LinkedIn Group
• Berkeley Haas Alumni Network NYC

Carmen was awarded the Rising Star Award from the Los Angeles Latino Chamber of Commerce. She was spotlighted by the NVCA as a Rising Star in VC and featured by LA Magazine as 1 of 13 of LA’s Powerful Women. 

Coming out of USC, Carmen was fortunate to land her first job at Dimensional Fund Advisors, where she scaled operations into LATAM, Canada, and Europe, going from $75 Billion AUM to $300 Billion AUM.

In this episode, Carmen shared her journey into venture capital, launching a fund, the challenges of women and underrepresented founders in the VC world, and what people can expect in the coming years despite the uncertainties in the industry.

Episode Quotes:

How Haas led her to venture capital

I went to Haas thinking that I'd get into social impact investing, and that was in 2011, when impact investing was a little earlier than it is today. At that time, there's a lot of talk around social impact bonds and pay for success, and that's where I was thinking my career would be headed. But, you know, one of the advantages of going to Haas was the career development group and just the support I got there and the freedom to really explore. And that exploration led me to venture.

The challenges that women and underrepresented founders face in the VC industry

As women, we don't want to think that our gender will hold us back. But there are systemic issues. There's bias that people may or may not be aware of. And I think one of the reasons women are successful when they do get funding is because they are capital constrained and do have to be more efficient. I mean, the same is true for underrepresented founders. You just don't know if there will be capital around the corner, so you are more judicious with what you have. And on the flip side, I think there need to be more capital allocators that are focused on outcomes, meaning, we want to see more women founders, we want to meet more women funders. And so, being focused on that as a primary driver to change the status quo. I think it's important to create more balance in an ecosystem. I think that should be our objective. It should be about balance. And I think we would solve a lot of these unintended consequences that we see as a result of the technology that's out there today if we were to bring more balance to the industry.

Opportunities for early-stage founders 

I think it's an epic time, both because of the reset but also the fact that we're coming out of Covid, and during Covid, people had a lot of time to evaluate how they were spending their time, where they were spending their time. And so, I think a lot of people, if they're able to, are prioritizing differently and potentially looking for areas where they can have the most impact in their careers, and where they can shift priorities to their families. I've seen or talked to a lot of startups that are able to attract talent because they have flexibility in how they're going to manage building their company. If you can offer someone with technical talent the ability to work off hours or work remotely from wherever they want, then I think you have an opportunity there as an early-stage founder.

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• 2045 Capital
• How Women Invest
• MiLA Capital (Make in LA)

Jerilyn is originally from the Philippines. She immigrated to the Bay Area with her family in the seventies when things there were getting complicated. The Bay Area was a welcoming place for Filipino immigrants to come at the time. They had to start from the beginning, however, with the support of a large extended family, her parents and grandparents decided to stay and raise their family there.

In this episode, Jerilyn talked about going to Haas, her career in finance, how she got introduced to investment banking, and her transition to a career in alternative investments. She also shared the importance of mentorship.

Jerilyn is passionate about teaching new professionals and students interested in careers in finance. She is actively involved with AltFinance: Investing in Black Futures, Girls Who Invest, and the Blomberg Buyside Women's Network. 

Episode Quotes:

Why she believes so much in the power of mentorship

I saw it transform me. If you have somebody in your life at a very early stage showing you how to do things, it helps bring so much confidence. And I know how transformative that can be for a person of color, a woman, or anyone when you didn't grow up in the same environment.

On having a growth mindset

No matter your profession or how you were raised, or what kind of life you have, we all face challenges. Every day presents challenges. And so much of it is how you look upon your life. Are you a half-glass full or half-glass empty kind of person? And when there's a road bump or something really difficult, do you look at it and say, Okay, what can I learn? What am I getting out of this? How is this going to help me grow as a person? Having that attitude that every challenge is an opportunity to learn something new, meet new people, do something you've never done before—when you have that outlook, everything is an opportunity. And it's a really great way to look at life.

Why she and her husband wrote a book about investment banking

Peter and I wrote it with the goal of helping anyone interested in the business learn with a practical lens how to do the basic types of analysis that are expected on the job. That was really born out of this interest in trying to help people. It's an industry that can be very intimidating. And we wanted to eliminate that intimidation.

What gets her up in the morning?

I love helping others who are interested in learning about this (finance) business, this wonderful industry that has been so rewarding to me in many respects. Just being able to satisfy so much intellectual curiosity. I want as many people who have an interest in it to stay for the long term because it is so intimidating on the front end that people decide to leave and tap out. I want to teach and train them to stay engaged.

How can people support other people?

Whatever industry or career you're in, find out the mentorship and early education programs that feed into your business and see what you can do. Everybody can support someone new or younger than them in their own professional journey. So much of the opportunity that I've been given is because others made that investment in me. And to turn it around, pay it forward, and support the ones that come behind you, that's how we build stronger organizations. That's how we build better communities.

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• The Practitioner’s Guide to Investment Banking, Mergers & Acquisitions, Corporate Finance
• AltFinance
• Girls Who Invest
• Bloomberg Buyside Women’s Network

As a former president of the Women in Leadership Club at Haas, Jenny shares her journey from a little girl moving to the US to be reunited with her parents, to a female consultant working with global companies, to a mother entrepreneur-student juggling family, PhD, and startup.

Jenny is passionate about helping people reach their potential - from classrooms to boardrooms. She has worked as a human capital consultant at Deloitte, a Talent & Strategy Manager at Cisco, a Montessori school director, a cognitive science researcher, and a lecturer in Emotional Intelligence.

Having taught in grade schools and colleges, she saw a lack of resources and opportunities to help students develop what we call "soft skills" in the real world. This is how she started her company which was incubated out of Harvard Innovation Labs. She developed and launched the 52 Essential card series which is used in 50+ countries in homes, schools, and workplaces.

Episode Quotes:

Advice for people who want to pursue an MBA

You have to be crystal clear in terms of what you want to get out of it and what are your purposes. What are your passions?

On why she decided to go into a Ph.D. program

Sometimes the more you know, the more you realize you don't know. And I wanted to really become an expert, in this case, in emotional intelligence, helping kids, and even adults, develop what we call soft skills in the real world. 

The biggest barrier she sees in undergraduate and graduate students and how to overcome it

I see this need to feel prepared and somehow never feeling quite prepared enough and needing to be doing other things in order to pursue what ultimately we are interested in. I think that also is related to the imposter syndrome, why should I do this? Who am I to do this? What would people say? And would I fail? Those little negative voices in our head. Honestly, just do it. Just start. We can start baby steps. You don't have to get it all right. But even one little habit you implement, one little hour you spend will make a difference.

In order to live your next thing or the thing that you've been putting off and on your wish list, is to not go into this all-or-nothing mentality. 

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Mind Brain Emotion
• 52 Essential Life Skills
• 52 Essential Critical Thinking Skills
• 52 Essential Coping Skills

Juan talked about his practical upbringing that led him to follow the most practical path in his education and career and eventually to venture capital. He also shared his experiences at Haas, what made him interested in investing and venture capital and his work at OneValley Ventures.

We also discussed why investors should break the status quo and go outside their networks and invest in underrepresented and underserved founders.

Episode Quotes:

On growing up in a hardworking and practical family

We really worked hard to make sure that we had everything that we needed and, maybe, a few of the things that we wanted. And for those other things you wanted, it was very clear that, from a very early age, you have to go make your own money to do those things.

Why he left investment banking

It's great money. It's got to be a good experience. It'd look great on my resume. But I know I'm not going to enjoy it. I know I won't love it. And so, I just decided (to leave).

I already learned that doing something that you don't enjoy was not going to be fulfilling for you or for the company that you were doing it for.

On breaking the status quo to help minorities develop pathways into VC  

During 2022 and '21, during the racial justice movement, we started to see that people were much more willing to take that chance to invest in minority founders, ones that they didn't know or came outside of their networks. We started to take that chance. But there wasn't a follow-through, necessarily, in 2022.

And so, I think you still have to just continuously remind people that that issue is still there and that it does require a little bit more work to find interesting startup opportunities to invest in outside of your small-ish network, and really develop broader top of funnel with the mindset, "Well, if I want to find these minority-led startups where they are, I have to be there, too."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn

In this episode, Lisa shared a little about her origin story, her interest in finance and entrepreneurship, and her extensive career. She is a strong professional with a demonstrated history of working in real estate development and management, investment management, and community development finance. 

She also talked about what it was like being a Black female in finance back in the 80s when she started working and what inspired her to push forward even with some roadblocks. Currently, she is supporting the Haas MBA fellowships program for Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Another passion for Lisa is helping underserved and distressed communities. She is working on how to provide the needed capital to be able to help these communities thrive.

Episode Quotes:

How Haas helped her make her way through Wharton

So much of what I learned at Haas, especially in marketing, accounting, and finance, those fundamentals were just absolutely essential in helping me go to Wharton, to be able to do other things while I was there and to really enjoy that experience.

On her experience as a Black woman in finance in the 80s

There were definitely people that discouraged me and many, many roadblocks. Lots of people telling me, "Maybe, you should focus on another discipline. This would be too challenging, too hard." 

You can't really control how people think about you. It's what you think about yourself that's really important. You have ways to really reinforce who you are and build yourself up. I always said that if I'm prepared, I know the opportunities will come. And then, I can be able to walk through them. And I know that change in time is on your side. It may take a little time, but things are changing and moving in the right direction. And you have to keep that level of optimism because there's always going to be someone to tell you, you can't do it.

Show Links:

• LinkedIn

In this episode, Orion talked a bit about his background, his experience going to Haas for the EMBA program, and his transition from being an entrepreneur to an advisor and eventually becoming a general partner.

Orion also shared about Orange Fund, the investment fund of Orange DAO that invests in crypto startups, some critical aspects of DAO, and what to expect in building, exploring, and investing in crypto.

Episode Quotes:

On getting his MBA

I looked at the MBA as a way to really focus on this other set of skills, the people skills, but also some hard technical skills in terms of finance and accounting, and to be able to get a broad picture of what it would take to start a business. Some people will say you don't need an MBA to start a startup, but for someone like me, I prefer to go at it all at once. And it was such a whirlwind of productivity, growing a dollar, and seeing different perspectives. So many things that I had always wondered about the world made a lot more sense.

On how DAOs can impact the investment world

I am excited about participating in the evolution of DAO, doing the group decision-making, and keeping it really about the people so that we can support each other and really be a community. I'm excited to see how being a DAO can be an enabler of the community rather than something that detracts from it. Because, honestly, it's not necessarily a better world by being a DAO, right? You lose some of the legal definition of how things might be treated, and we believe we're paving the way to make it possible for more folks to create DAOs, which will create more opportunities for community capital and investment.

Words of wisdom for the Haas community

Being in Berkeley Haas opens many doors, and folks should feel bold about reaching out to whomever they want to connect with. I refer back to what Dean Lyons would say during our EMBA program: Berkeley Haas takes you from saying they do things to I do things, and I guess that's the encouragement. When you see people doing amazing things, you are the people who are going to do that—now and in the future.

Show Links:

• Orion's first OneHaas episode
• LinkedIn Profile
• Orange Fund

Currently, Bruce is a Managing Director at Stout Bluepeak Asia Limited and a Partner at Rui Dian Management Consulting /The Resilience Institute.

In this episode, Bruce shared his origin story, going to UC Berkeley and studying business, and eventually going into investment banking. He also went to Harvard Business School to get his MBA and entered venture capital.

Bruce also talked about his amazing experiences in Shanghai, how the pandemic shifted the international scene, how he navigated through these changes, and how he can help companies venture into the international markets successfully.

Episode Quotes:

On his experience in investment banking early on

I really enjoyed the deals, working on transactions that you read about in the journal, having access to CEOs and CFOs of companies, and helping provide them strategic advice about how to manage their businesses in regards to raising capital or mergers and acquisitions.

How the Chinese economy has changed throughout the years

China has produced a lot of wealth, taken a lot of people out of poverty. But there's now a sense of them needing international technical skills, capital, and technology, and they're starting to have that on their own. They've got people who've trained at the best universities, they have a lot of capital, and they are starting to generate some unique technologies. So, I would say there's less of a need, in their minds, for so many foreigners and so much international influence. There's a big push for localization of talent.

On venturing into management consulting

After I left the firm that brought me to China in 2012, I decided to leverage the experience of living and managing in Asia, primarily China, in helping other executives who came to the area understand what it's like to manage in a developing market and giving them that perspective.

I found a big demand for coaching services, essentially that cross-border nexus of people coming into China or Chinese managers having to go out needing coaching services. So, I've maintained that for 10 years and actually really enjoy helping people see the light, adjusting their management style, and achieving their career objectives.

Show Links:

• LinkedIn

Seo Yeon is originally from Jeonju City, South Korea, a mid-small town that didn't have a lot of people from other countries or cultures. Her parents sent her and her sister to Canada as international students to study and be exposed to a world with many people from different ethnicities, races, and cultures. 

In this episode, Seo Yeon talked about her experiences as an international student, how she ended up in Berkeley as an undergrad, and why she chose to study Biology.

She also shared her career at Gladstone Institutes, why she pursued her MBA later in her career, and her experiences at Haas. She also shared what made her start using her Korean name once again and why it was one of her impactful decisions.

Episode Quotes:

One of the lessons she learned as an international student

I think, looking back, it was really important that I had that much exposure to this bigger world with people that just didn't really think like me or even talk like me. But they were just really kind and really good people with really good hearts. And I always kept that with me as a life lesson that, wherever I go, that's something that I do have to keep in mind that I also have to extend as a friend and as a colleague in any places that I work.

On her MBA application

I went through the application process and tried to be as authentic as possible about who I was and why I really wanted to come to Haas. And while it was stressful, it just felt relatively good. It didn't really feel like it was an extra chore, per se. It was hard, but it wasn't something I was dragging myself into because I still wasn't sure about something. It was definitely a really good process to go through. And, of course, I was very, very happy to find out that all that effort and bidding on myself like that ended up very, fortunately, being a success. It was really wonderful.

Why she started using her Korean name

I was thinking about how my parents named me. They didn't just name me just out of a whim or just out of nothing. They really had thought about it carefully about what they wanted to name their first child as. And my entire name is really, in and of itself, a form of a person, a woman my parents wanted me to be.

And so, when I started to piece all of these puzzles together, I began to realize that, am I really doing justice to myself and also to the people that I love? That I will be sticking with an English name when it doesn't make anybody comfortable? And, first and foremost, it didn't make me comfortable.

And so, I think that series of internal questioning and meditation and just, really, self-discovery process really got me to think about what is the easiest and also the most forefront thing on action can I really take to start on that discovery path. And the first thing was, really, the name.

Show Links:

• LinkedIn

Alejandra was born and raised in Chile. Her family spent some time here in the US before going back, where she reconnected with her roots.

In this episode, Alejandra shares her origin story, her career path from finance to venture capital, and why she pursued an MBA even with an already successful career.

We also hear about Alejandra's passion as an endurance athlete and how the things she has learned through her training experiences align with what she does in her current role at Bee Partners.

Episode Quotes:

On getting an MBA

It was something that I had always been thinking in the back end. And when I started having these questions of what's next and I just really hated visualizing and seeing what was coming next. It was all great, but I didn't want to have that level of certainty and have everything so figured out, being 20-something. And so, that's when I realized I want to change and I want something drastically different, not just a pivot or a tack that's similar to what I'm already doing.

On taking her MBA during the pandemic

I saw coming to business school during the pandemic as a good opportunity in the sense that a lot of things were going to change. And being a student, I felt, was the best way to experience that change and really learn about things that were going to be dramatically different, if we were able to get out of it or when we got out of it. And so, I saw it as a great opportunity to be a student rather than to be working and trying to do everything business as usual when the world was not business as usual.

Parallels between her experiences as an endurance athlete and her current role

The first thing is it's a marathon, not a sprint. And that means that you probably want things to happen now, but it's really important to just focus on what you have in front of you, have a vision of what you want the future to look like, what you want success to look like, but really hold it there, because you can't do both at the beginning. You have to focus on the present moment. And as you make progress, you start incorporating that future vision into whatever it is you're doing. But in the beginning, it's just about where am I. And what does the next short iteration cycle look like?

Alejandra's word of wisdom to the Haas community

I feel like every important decision that I've had to make, although I've done a lot of rational thinking, in the end, it comes down to intuition. And I think that's my inspiration here. 

When you have to decide between different paths, rationality doesn't really help. Being rational helps you look at pros and cons, but you can very quickly and easily trick yourself into thinking this option is right, and then two seconds later saying, "No, no, no, but this one is better because of another reason."

And so, when you're thinking about these broader scale paths or large decisions, it's really about your gut, honestly. And then rationalization is great for execution. It's great for, “I decided my path. And now, let me break this down, figure out where I want to go from here.” But listen to what you feel. I think connecting with your inner self and having that awareness — internal and external awareness — can go a really, really long way.

Show Links:

• LinkedIn

Yogesh was born in India, where he spent most of his formative years before moving to the US to pursue graduate school. Getting an MBA had always been part of his plans, and choosing Haas was a no-brainer.

In this episode, Yogesh shares his experiences from studying engineering in India, moving to the US and balancing work and school, and his career as a planning engineer before eventually going to product design and marketing and ending up in corporate development.

Episode Quotes:

On pursuing a business education

I realized that to create maximum impact, you have to be on the business side of things essentially. And so, it was sort of what stoked in me, the desire to be a business leader. And I realized that perhaps if impact is what I'm driven by, then having a business education is also something that's critical to creating impact.

Having different plans to mitigate risks

Something that has always been a part of my philosophy is to mitigate risk in such a way that the next step I take should always be something that doesn't close too many doors. 

On procrastinating and compartmentalizing

Focus on the essentials, whether it is homework or your actual job. If you just do the main important tasks and ensure that they're done well, then that'll keep you moving forward. I think it's really important to sort of compartmentalize things and making sure that you're not procrastinating and the absolute essential tasks are being taken care of so that you're not distracted when you're with family or when you're at work.

Word of wisdom to his future self

Continue the hustle and not settle. Regardless of what I end up doing in my life, I think there is this constant deal of learning that I should never let go of. So, just keep hustling and keep learning.

Show Links: 

• LinkedIn Profile

Andrew's passions include ultimate frisbee, climate, sustainability, and leveraging his technical background to drive impact and insights in his work.

In this episode, Andrew talks about how he ended up going to a service academy and his experiences as a US Navy officer. He also tells us why he decided to transition out of service, get an MBA, and pursue a career in consulting.

Words of Wisdom:

For people who would like to get into consulting

If you're intent on getting into consulting, you should know what you want to get out of it and make sure you actively work towards that. Make sure you advocate for yourself and your goals. I think that goes for life too, but especially consulting because if you're not diligent and kind of present-minded about it, it's really easy to get swept away.

For folks transitioning out of active duty or military service

Stay humble. There's going to be a lot of things you don't know. Asking for help can get you really far. Obviously, you have all the things that you have worked on to develop skill-wise, leadership-wise that are really important, but the onus is on you for articulating that to employers.

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile

Elena talks about her origin story, rich culture, what inspired her to go into finance and accounting, and her vast career experience in different tech companies. She also shares why she is deeply passionate about and committed to advancing diversity and inclusion initiatives in the workplace. 

Episode Quotes:

One reason why being a Latina and a female is important to her in her career

“I was always looking up trying to see if there was someone that looked like me. And then I realized how important it was that, in fact, I had a responsibility to kick butt in the job, because I wanted to show them that, not only am I Latina and I'm a female, but I'm going to crush the job. I want to do really well for the next generation, so people can see that. Give us an opportunity and you'll see we're going to crush it.”

On getting a job that is aligned with your values

“It really helps you every day, because you're going to spend all this time working 14-hour days, 12-hour days, etc. And so, for me, the fact that we (Toast) could be in communities and, really, our mission-driven company to help small businesses really resonated with me. So, that alignment of your values with where you work, I think, is really powerful if you can find it.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn

Today, Cristy shares her experiences growing up in a San Francisco immigrant community. She talks about going to UC Berkeley in college, eventually getting her MBA at Haas, and using it to scale her impact and advance her career. 

She also shares her involvement in community and economic development efforts, with her values aligned with building the beloved community from an equity and gender-based lens with a bias toward building solutions for the common good.

Episode Quotes:

What inspired her to focus on community and economic development efforts

"So much of what we do does stem from childhood experiences. And, for me, it was seeing this huge contrast between the neighborhood that I would commute to across town on the bus every day to go to school. At a very early age, I became very conscious of inequities. And I think that really helped to form my worldview and to question those inequities and to really try to think about how to close gaps so that other young people growing up in my community who were really smart, really talented, but just didn't have access to AP classes or arts program or after-school enrichment programs. It just seemed like it was a matter of justice and fairness. And I think that runs really deep in our family, this idea of justice."

On starting a nonprofit to support small businesses 

"I found it to be incredibly powerful to be able to help stabilize a small business owner. Because you're not just working with them, you're actually working with the entire family and the community that they employ. And I could see the power of supporting a small business owner. I worked directly with them to help them figure out how to purchase the property that their business was in, for example. And that's one pathway, is to start to stabilize and build assets and wealth, which we know is how so many folks are able to, in one or two generations, go from abject poverty to actually being homeowners and being able to affect generational transfers of wealth, which is how folks are building their family and their impact."

Why she pursued an MBA, and what she appreciates the most about the program

"My first inclination was that, maybe, I could benefit from a little more learning. There's so much that you know, but so much more that you don't know that you don't know. I'm really thankful for those folks in my community who've guided me along the way. When they see potential, they open doors. And I think that's what I appreciated most about the Haas MBA program. As soon as you're in, the whole world is open to you. It's an incredible way to just not meet people that, maybe, you wouldn't otherwise encounter, but really build relationships. It's not just about getting ahead or trying to advance your own work. It really is about getting to know folks and seeing what values you share, what aspirations you share. We have so much more in common than we don't. And so, for me, I think that was really one of the impacts of the program."

Being a student-always

"I really wanted to continue to learn. That's always been innate in my family. From a young age, my father was always instilling in us the need to pursue an education and to continue learning. Everyone says I'm a fast learner, but there's things that you really want to try to learn, like financing and marketing and great leadership. And those are the things that I just had never really had access to before."

On why she continues the fight against generations of marginalization and inequality

"In the 1980s, we saw a wave of Central American refugees who were fleeing ethnic genocide and cleansing from Central America. And here we are, 40 years later, seeing a very similar outpouring of people and these communities are here and getting adjusted to a new country, a new way of life. And that gives me hope. It means that there is an incoming generation of young people growing up in the United States seeing opportunities that they didn't have back home. It's why I work with young people. It's why I'm working in immigrant communities, because there's the ability to shape how these young people and their families are going to engage in a democratic society. It's why I'm working to make sure that they have their basic needs met, so that they can be involved in the political process. And so, that's how I stay inspired, just seeing, again, these new and growing communities across the country of folks who have the same values that we have. They believe in family. Many have a Christian or Catholic background and believe in God. And they pray. And they have this work ethic and this belief in supporting themselves and each other. They believe in education. We believe in higher education as another way to continue to build up and uplift our families and communities."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Proxima Partners

Robert broke his neck in the 2017 Collegiate Rugby National Championship, and that accident instantly changed his life. He was told he would never walk or move his hands again. However, by shifting his mindset, he could walk again, do more, and be more. 

Robert took a leap of faith by turning down an offer from Intel to go into public speaking. He has embarked on a career as an inspirational speaker and has begun writing a book with the working title, “Paralyzed and Powerful.”

Episode Quotes:

On competing for Cal's rugby team

"It was a tremendous opportunity to compete for the rugby program and go to school at a place like Cal. But it was also a significant challenge. I really had a hard time wrapping my head around not being a starter or being a mediocre or a subpar student amongst all these very bright people from all across the world. But I knew that the challenge was going to be significant. And really, in rugby, I'm not the fastest person out there on the field, by any means. And in the classroom, I'm not the brightest person. But I thought I had a good work ethic that would help me to be able to balance those scales and hopefully give me an edge."

On making one of the biggest decisions in his life

"In my mind, I was thinking that the answer was made. I couldn't believe that this had happened to me, but it did happen. And I've got one life. And I'm not going to spend the rest of my life with a victim's mindset, always thinking about what was and not what is, and what could have been, but what can I do? I couldn't stay in that mindset. I just needed to know that I was going to give absolutely everything I had to get absolutely everything I could get. I could live the rest of my life in a wheelchair or completely paralyzed, and I'll be okay with that as long as I give it everything I have. So, I decided to go into the surgery, and I said my prayers. I said goodbye to my family. I got rolled into the operating room. I closed my eyes. And that concluded May 6th, 2017."

Being optimistic despite the challenges

"Sometimes we can just have a mountain of a task in front of us, or we can just have this cataclysmic failure or drop in our lives that we just experience. And it can seem like we're just helpless, that there's nothing that we can do. We always have the ability to keep moving forward. We always have the ability to react in a positive way, with optimism."

Robert's word of wisdom

“My go-to for this is to be grateful for every day and moment. It's the advice I would give myself if I could go back and talk to myself on May 6th, 2017. This injury has shown me that life is fragile and life is a gift, and we ought to treat our life like a gift, embrace it, be grateful for it, to have the joy of receiving that gift every day. There are going to be challenges that impact us in our lives. And we don't have any control over that. But regardless, we ought to always focus on the positive things we have in our lives. There's always somebody who has it worse, and that's important for us to realize as well, to maintain that perspective, both looking through our experiences and the experiences of others, and to help us have that gratitude, just to realize the immense great things we have in our lives and just to never forget it. And when we start feeling down, to try to control our mindsets and remember that."

Show Links:

• Robert on LinkedIn
• Robert's website

John is originally from the Philippines. When he immigrated to the US, he faced plenty of challenges, including culture shock, bullying, and coping with being an undocumented student. It wasn't an easy journey, but he overcame them all.

In this episode, John shared his early beginnings, experiences as an undocumented immigrant, and attending college and pursuing an MBA. He also talked about his career in recruitment and pivoting into product management post-MBA. Finally, he shared insights on a couple of things he is passionate about - childcare shortage and women's reproductive rights.

Episode Quotes:

On standing up to bullies

"Every time they'd retort, I'd be like, so what? Whatever. And that took the power away from it. Once I didn't care, they no longer thought it was fun. If you take away the bully's power to affect you in that way, it's no longer fun for them."

On pivoting into product management

"Product management stood out to me because there is the aspect of delighting customers when solving their problems."

His biggest takeaway at Haas

"It's all about how you want to set your journey at Haas because you could do a lot of things and everything. However, it's really up to you to manage your time and what you want to get the most out of it. I wanted to work and apply what I'm learning in the startup setting and then build a community where I can focus on the few people, if not some people, that were going to add a lot of value to my Haas experience versus trying to meet everyone. And there has to be that intentionality that needs to be there to make it all work."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Q@Haas

David grew up in an undocumented immigrant Filipino family, which helped shape his relationship with change and challenges. It made him good and comfortable with rolling with the punches, dealing with ambiguity, and challenging himself.

In this episode, he talked about his experiences taking up different majors in his undergrad, early professional career, and grad school at UC Davis.

He then shared his time at a prestigious place after grad school, Berkeley Lab, going to business school right after, and eventually joining McKinsey.

Episode Quotes: 

Pivoting from wind energy to climate tech

"I want to understand why things are the way they are and how can I impact people. And I thought that, at that time, it seemed clear to me that climate change would be one of the biggest challenges of our generation. And I wanted to be there. I was already working on a climate-adjacent automotive product, but I wanted to be at the bleeding edge of the tech. And so, that's why I ended up pivoting."

During his time at The Berkeley Lab

"It was a really great time. I landed there and felt like, wow, everybody is so crazy smart, so much more than me. There's a Ph.D. from MIT sitting next to me. On the other side, there's a Harvard Ph.D. in physics. There's a Nobel Prize winner down the hall. It was a really crazy place to be. And it was great to be surrounded by folks who were so smart and focused on something that was a net positive for society. Everybody there was working on climate change when presumably a lot of these folks could have been out conquering the world and making so much more money than you make at a national lab. But they were there, I think, because they wanted to make the world a better place."

On pivoting into consulting

"I was starting to see this common thread. These people are in leadership positions, and they have X, Y, and Z skills that they're good at. And those are things that I want to be good at, essentially. And so, that's when McKinsey or the consulting space became more and more real to me. I realized the skills that you can develop in the space. And I was coming initially from a growth mindset as well. And so, it felt natural to extend the MBA. I've heard other people put it by going to a place like McKinsey, I can extend the MBA work on these skills that I want to develop. And I would actually get paid for it."

David's piece of advice for everyone

"Trust the process and follow your passion."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Berkeley Lab

Stanley was born in Hong Kong and moved to the US alone when he was only 15 to study high school in a boarding school in Missouri. Here, he learned how to be independent, and he considers this experience one of his life's pivotal moments.

In this episode, Stanley shares his journey of moving from a small town to a big city, his experiences studying in every major college in California, and his career pivots.

Stanley also tells us why he decided to pursue an MBA, commuting experience, the importance of networking, and the value of jumping out of comfort zones and challenging the status quo.

Community:

Join the community for this podcast at clever.fm/haas. Here you can ask the guest a question, connect with other listeners, and leave your thoughts.

Episode Quotes:

On moving from a small town to a big city for college

“That was challenging for me actually, just getting myself out there. Although I have everything that I learned from college, you just have to throw yourself out there, knowing that you probably don't know what you're getting yourself into, but you just have to believe in your gut feeling that this is what you want to do and where you want to be and just do it. Just that experience of jumping out of my comfort zone is something I'd take with me.”

Transitioning from being a student to a professional right after grad school

“It's definitely different. There's a lot of responsibility that, as a student, you don't have to deal with. Getting yourself situated with all the financial stuff, just one thing, and then just getting to be responsible. It's not late for homework anymore, or late for an exam. This is actual business. There's actually a business impact for you not living up to your expectations or doing what you're supposed to do. So, that's a big change. But I think, again, going back to my high school experience, just being independent, that helped me a lot in transitioning to the real world pretty quickly. Especially, getting exposed to very diverse people really early in my life helped me. It's just easy for me to get along with a lot of other people. That helped me a lot at work, honestly. Just to understand different cultures really quickly in my life is pretty good.”

A piece of advice for everyone

"Don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. You only have a finite amount of time. And everyone dies. You just got to get out of your comfort zone. You will always remember when you get out of your comfort zone. You probably won't remember when you are in the comfort zone."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• clever.fm/haas

Priya is originally from India, but she grew up in Doha, finishing high school there. She then came to the US to pursue her undergrad.

In this episode, Priya shares what it was like growing up in the Middle East, where the culture is so diverse. She also talks about going to college in the US and how she literally Googled the top schools to find the right one, ultimately ending up in Georgia Tech, where she spent most of her formative years. 

Priya also tells us why she still pursued an MBA even after accomplishing so much in her career and how she uses what she has learned in B-school in her current leadership role.

Along with engaging executive leaders in her work, Priya is also passionate about creativity and giving back to the community.

Episode Quotes:

On her experiences at Georgia Tech

"Most transformative years of my life, for sure. I think my mindset, my values, everything was challenged in those four years. I had the privilege to be meeting people from all walks of life, meet some great friends there, and learn a lot from people. It was a journey. At Georgia Tech, there were people who challenged my belief system, created awareness with respect to what's a different way of thinking about certain scenarios. And I appreciate that. I learned so much during those four years, not necessarily academically, but personally, about my hopes for life, what are the things that I like, what is the kind of life that I want to live? All of that reflection happened in those four years."

Why she pursued an MBA

"The first one, again, student always. Truly, for me, that constant learning was very important. So, getting an MBA fulfilled that part of me that wanted to learn more. The second was imposter syndrome. At Google, there are so many amazing people that I always felt, am I playing catch-up with their brilliance and their expertise? And do they know something more that I don't know? And since I knew I'm going to be in the business side of things for the rest of my journey, at least how I see it now, I wanted to make sure I, at least, understand at a one-on-one level, what are the different aspects of running a business as a leader? And what better way than to learn it in a structured manner at this school?

And the third reason was to learn from other people. I think we as human beings are meant to be social beings. We are not meant to just be put in one place. And the best learnings and reflections that I get are from conversations and idea exchange and conversations with other people. And I really felt that, at Haas, meeting people from different backgrounds, bringing different perspectives, just like how it was at Georgia Tech, helped me think through the way I'm thinking about certain things. Opened my mind to different concepts, different ways of approaching, and grew myself professionally."

On giving back to the community through mentorship

"One of the things that keeps me grounded is giving back. Every six months, I mentor two women who are either at Google or outside. And I do this in a six-month rotation to allow for me to scale my impact, but also to allow them to take the learnings and go be successful. The reason it is so important for me is because I am acutely aware of how privileged we are to be here in the Bay Area working for the best firms. I would not be where I am today without the help of other mentors who coached me and guided me, either in a formal or informal capacity. The best thing I can do is pay that forward. And mentorship is one of the best ways I find of doing that."

One piece of advice for MBA students

"The biggest thing I would say is to not get pressured by the concept of networking. I have always done what I term as selective networking, because there often are going to be people in the room who are not there at every bar, who are not there at every party, but they still manage to get a lot out of the program. And I think I am one of them. And I would still like to think I'm friends with many people in my cohort because I took out the time to do those one-on-one relationships and create those bonds that were outside of the traditional networking avenues. So, for those who are unable to participate in those traditional avenues, I would say, don't be afraid of selective networking."

Show Links:

• Priya Bajaj LinkedIn

Lance grew up in New Jersey but wanted something different when it was time to go to college. So, he went to Southern Methodist University in Texas for his undergrad and studied business, which had always been his interest.

In this episode, Lance shared his career experiences at Goldman-Sachs and Samsung Electronics, how he adapted to different company cultures, and coming to the Bay area to pursue his MBA at Haas, which has its own set of cultures.

Lance also talked about how he was introduced to search funds, why self-funded search appeals to him more than traditional search, and his journey into acquiring Ward Road Pharmacy.

Episode Quotes:

On the time he spent in Texas

“Overall, I enjoyed my time there. I think I got a really good education, learned a lot more just about the energy industry, which I never would have if I had gone elsewhere, got to experience a different perspective, and live in a different part of the country. I think that it did a good job exposing me to a lot of new things.”

On starting with a finance career as a young professional

“I was straddling between do I want to go do a career in finance, maybe go into banking and go into private equity, or did I want to do something more entrepreneurial? In the back of my mind, I probably knew the answer to that, but I thought, at the very least, starting my career in finance would be the best way to gain the core set of skills to be successful in business later in life.”

Why he got into search funds

“It's a bigger version of what I had previously done, buying my Amazon business, but stepping in. And it resonated with me because I don't think I've ever—unfortunately, just never had that spark to bring something from zero to one. I like to tell people I think I'm better suited to bring something from one to 10 than zero to one. I'm just really good at optimizing processes, improving things, efficiency, and having the resources to do big implementations or take some risks. And that's not something I necessarily get to do if I was starting from the ground up with limited resources. So, that model just resonated with me.”

One piece of advice that had a positive impact on his life

“Just not be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. And always be comfortable being uncomfortable. I think that's probably a borrowed phrase. I don't know who to attribute it to, but my previous manager told me that. It's something that stuck with me. If you're totally comfortable, you're probably not pushing yourself harder enough.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Ward Road Pharmacy

Alijah was born in Panama but didn't experience the country and culture because his family moved to the US when he was just a baby. He spent his formidable years and adult life in Texas. Alijah applied to West Point, but going there wasn't a smooth path. The admissions officer assigned to him said he wasn't West Point material. However, he didn't let it stop him. It motivated him to try harder and earned admission to the academy. 

In this episode, Alijah shares his experiences at West Point Academy and as an army leader. During this time, he also became the Diversity Outreach Admissions Officer, and his experiences in this position led him to found The Qonnection. He didn't want anyone to experience what he did, and he wanted the African-American youth to get a competitive advantage.

Lastly, Alijah talks about his reasons for pursuing an MBA, why he chose Haas, internships, his job at Zimba Technologies, and plans post-MBA.

Episode Quotes:

On being told he wasn't a “West Point material”

“I decided that no one's going to tell me what I can't do. I'm going to leave that up to the academy. And thank goodness that that was the information that I got at the time, because the only thing that that did was motivate me to try harder, to go faster. Pride is something else, because I was dead set on proving this guy wrong. And thank God I was, because I ended up earning admission to the academy. And I was really excited to go there and embark on a new opportunity.”

On his experience at the Academy

“It's definitely tough. But one thing I will say about the academy is it really forced me to grow up extremely fast. And the good thing about West Point is that everybody at the academy is just as motivated as you are. It's almost like an incubator. When you get into a room with 1,000 of your classmates and everybody's motivated, you just continue to push yourself and push yourself and push yourself.

But in full transparency, I struggled with imposter syndrome very, very, very heavy at the academy. There were some days where I just felt like the dumbest guy in the room. These kids are just so smart. But that feeling that I didn't belong in the same space and that I was not as smart as my classmates served as a motivator for me to try much harder and to push myself as hard as I can go and get the best experience out of the academy that I possibly could. I think that everybody goes through that in some form or fashion at the academy. It has a very special way of testing you mentally and physically but definitely keen on the mentally.”

On pursuing an MBA at Haas

"The more research I did, it just started to make more and more sense that that was a time to transition, and specifically, Haas. And I started to notice this arc throughout my story that Haasies always made time for me. And I would say even in my experience here as a current student, that has continued to be a consistent long line. And it doesn't even just have to be Haasies, but Haasies just make time for people. Haasies care about humans. And I just loved that so much.

During my exploratory phase when I was in a different MBA program, I was really concerned about the culture. I work best in collaborative environments. And I'm not a huge fan of the doggy dog mentality, we're all competing for a very small set of slots, billets, positions, whatever you want to call it. And every time I got on the room with a Haasie, it was just a great conversation. It was for sure the culture that got me."

A piece of advice to somebody, either personal or professional

"Don't close any doors, for whatever reason. We set deadlines arbitrarily. We get on this one track sometimes. So many things in this Haas experience and the army, just serendipitous conversations, something that may not look like an opportunity or something that just starts off as a very small conversation. It may turn into a whole non-profit. So, always keep your options open. I try to say yes to as many things as I can, just because of new opportunities and new experiences. And just keeping the doors open, truly being open to where life may take you for your next experience."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• The Qonnection

Eric grew up close to Berkeley, so it's no surprise that he is a Double Bear. In this episode, we get to know a little about his upbringing, growing up within the Berkeley ecosystem, his experiences both in undergrad and graduate school, and why going to business school is one of the best personal investments he has ever made.

Eric also shares what got him in the investment space, how portfolio management works, and the future of investing.

Episode Quotes:

On growing up within the Berkeley ecosystem, getting his undergrad, and coming back for graduate school

“I was pretty awestruck by that experience. And such a beautiful campus. I never really appreciated that growing up, but as I've come back to Berkeley again, some of my best memories are taking walks throughout the campus. And so, that's been an important part of just being immersed in this, again, just long-tenured history.

I'm fortunate to have that younger perspective and now a little bit older perspective. And I've certainly tried not to take it for granted because I think life is happening fast at 18, 19 years old. And you miss out on certain things just because things are moving so quickly. So, as I've come back, it's really trying to take the time and appreciate the experience for whatever it is.”

Transitioning from being a collegiate athlete to a hardcore student 

“It was hard. I felt steps behind, Imposter Syndrome, whatever you want to call it. Still, I'm certainly out of my league. And certainly, I have overcome some of those things. But when I came back to Haas, it was another feeling of that again because such impressive people around you have done so many awesome and interesting things, like, whoa, how do I even deserve to be in this cohort of people?

But I wouldn't lie that I certainly struggled for a period of time before I found my footing and that internal drive and belief to say, you know what? I do deserve to be right here. I can work at this level.”

On his experiences at Haas 

“You're making an investment in yourself. And ultimately, it's been one of the best personal investments that I've made in myself, both from a financial return and non-financial return perspective. I think the relationships between professors, colleagues, and alumni have been unbelievable. I think you can't put a price on this professionalization and self-confidence-building exercise that I think a lot of people go through when they go through an MBA program. You get to a point where, perhaps, before it was a little bit fake it till you make it. And then, after, you're like, ‘No, I can do this. I can learn something totally new and thrive and succeed in that.’ So, I think that's been incredibly invaluable.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn

Michelle is also CEO and co-founder of Awaken, a leading provider of interactive equity and inclusion education programs facilitated by majority BIPOC educators, where she has consulted hundreds of organizations and top executives from Fortune 500, tech giants, nonprofits, and government agencies to spark meaningful change. 

In this episode, Michelle shares her immigrant story, coming out as queer in high school, and how it began her political activism journey. 

Michelle also tells us who and what inspired her to become an activist, why she is passionate about DEI and social justice, and what led her to write her book.

Finally, we'll hear Michelle's insights on how we can be a part of the solidarity movement in more ways that are more than just changing profile photos, dealing with trade-offs and contradictions, and how we can truly incorporate racial equity and social justice in the workplace and the community.

Episode Quotes:

How people can participate authentically in social justice movements

"The most sustaining why that I talk about in the book is the one in which we can see ourselves in it. So, I don't want to see white people wanting to dismantle racism or white supremacy just because they have people of color friends in their lives. I want white people to understand that white supremacy isn't just killing people of color. It's also robbing them of their humanity. I want men to not want to dismantle misogyny or sexism or the patriarchy just because they have women in their lives that they care about. I also want men to want to do this because they understand that the same forces that are killing and hurting women in their lives are the same forces that are robbing men of their ability to be vulnerable, their ability to stay at home with their children, their ability to talk about mental health openly. So, these issues aren't just about helping marginalized people. All of these issues are connected in such a way that, if we don't dismantle all of them, they're eventually going to come for us, too.

So, I think the why question is such a fundamental way for us to begin this work in a more authentic way that puts us on the map, that sometimes we like to think of as totally unrelated to our lives. So, I want more people to feel invested in this because it's about all of us. It's about reclaiming our humanity as much as it is about supporting those who are marginalized, and therefore, that this work must be considered important and urgent for all of us."

Defining performative allyship

"Performative allyship, to me, is similar to virtue signaling, when people are so quick to claim that they are in solidarity with certain movements or certain marginalized people and groups that they are quick to claim that identity before actually having done the work or before they are actually committed to doing the work in a sustainable way. 

And so, for me, that quick, urgent desire to claim that you are a good person, that you are an ally to a certain community, can sometimes be the very barrier between you actually living the values that you want to live, because you desiring to do something but without actually having sat with the necessary introspection can sometimes lead to unintended harm that could burden more marginalized people rather than being supportive or being seen as true solidarity."

What does "The Wake Up" mean

"When I titled the work "The Wake Up," it wasn't just about us waking up to other people's struggles and the injustices that are around us in the world. It was also about our waking up to ourselves, our waking up to our capacity to change and transform, but also our capacity to wake up to our complicity in some of the systems of oppression that we're so quick to denounce.

What I want to see is all of us taking the work of self-transformation seriously even before we claim that we are out there ready to march alongside other people. So, starting with ourselves begins with our questioning the why. Why are we doing this work? Why do I feel compelled to be a part of this social justice movement? "

On trade-offs and living in contradictions

"We will all have to, at some point, be willing to give up something in order to move the movement forward, whether it is our resources, our positions of power, our privilege. So, when it comes to actually doing the things that are in alignment with our set values, what are we actually willing to trade off? 

When it comes to doing this work, there will be some trade-offs that we have to be honest about making. Or when we're not ready to or willing to make those trade-offs, then let's be honest about why and interrogate where that fear is coming from. And they could be very valid reasons.

So, these are some real decisions, real trade-offs and sacrifices sometimes that we are needing to make in order to stay in alignment with our values. We're not shooting for perfection, but we are trying to be honest throughout this process. So, I don't ask people to ever be perfect in their decision-making because I'm certainly not. And I live in contradictions all the time. But in these moments of contradictions, can we be courageous enough to be honest with ourselves and be willing to do the work in order for us to be closer in alignment with our values every single day?"

On holding onto hope and not giving in to cynicism

"I think holding onto hope is such a powerful and courageous thing for us to do, and to remember that change is indeed possible, and it's not only possible but that it's happening every single day all around us. And I think of Mariame Kaba, black abolitionist, somebody who I really admire and look up to and learn from. Her quote is, hope is a discipline. And that's the thought that I want to leave folks with because I think we need a lot of hope these days, and to remember that a better world, a more just, inclusive, safe, equitable world is possible and that it is being built right now by so many people with the same vision. So, don't lose hope. Don't give in to cynicism. Claim the corner of your life and the world that you're in charge of. And make that your frontline where you do the work to create change that you want to see."

Show Links:

• Website
• LinkedIn
• The Wake Up
• Awaken

Mikhail is originally from Belarus. His family immigrated to the US when he was 19. Coming to the US was an eye-opener. All his childhood imagination dreams about America vanished immediately. Mikhail went on to do odd jobs for a few years, including dressing up as Barney in Times Square. However, after passing the RN licensure exam, he started to practice nursing.

In this episode, Mikhail shares the unique story behind their move to the US, his early experiences after moving, fully realizing he’s gay, and the dark part of his journey into finding and accepting himself and overcoming the challenges along the way.

We also get to hear why Mikhail is passionate about healthcare, his reasons for going to business school, and how he got into education. He also talks about the mission and goals of Nightingale and its plans for the future.

Episode Quotes:

On realizing that he's gay

“I really didn't understand. It wasn't spoken at all. Growing up, I didn't know the LGBT community even existed. It's an interesting thing of identity with me finding that eventually. But I didn't fully realize that I was gay until we moved to the States. And all of a sudden, it was like something smacking you in the face. I went like, ‘Wow. Oh, wow! Oh, it makes sense.’ All of this that I've been experiencing.”

Overcoming the darkness of finding his true self

“Climbing back out of what I described as darkness, really, took a long time. And as a human being, I think the biggest fear that one might have is fear of being in your own skin, fear of yourself. And so, for me, reconciling and journeying to self-acceptance and to my humanity, essentially, and recognizing it and learning about it and doing all of that. But it was many years of hard work, and everything from just becoming much healthier—from movement to meditation to all sorts of things—and then eventually arriving at this place of just peace.”

Why he is passionate about nursing

“I ended up being one of the caregivers to mom and learning through it all, started to understand what health really is and what health brings to an individual, a family, or a community, and the opposite of health, what illness does. And so, I became very passionate about it. It became absolutely clear that nursing is what I loved and nursing is what I have passion for, because of the care that it has at the heart of it because of what nurses can do for somebody who is on their worst day and supporting them, and nurturing them and allowing them and giving them the resources and tools and everything else and the support that's needed for somebody to get better and to flourish.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Nightingale College

A native San Franciscan, Ryan was influenced early on by his father towards business and economics and was exposed to a diverse student body and international experiences and cultures. Some of those experiences shaped his youth and outlook on the world. 

In this episode, Ryan shares what it was like going to one of the most prestigious historically Black colleges, why he pursued an MBA, and his extensive professional career. 

Ryan also talks about his passion for environmental sustainability, climate change, and social justice and how those areas of interest have come into play with what he is currently doing at Keystone Strategy.

Episode Quotes: 

On the role of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the lives of Black Americans

"I think HBCU has played a pivotal role in the landscape of academic institutions and what they provide to different populations of people, that intense focus on the Black American experience, and refining their academic and campus life, programs, and how they create opportunities and make partnerships with businesses for employment and others institutions for cross-disciplinary learning, and how they're trying to create different channels and pipelines to getting access to diverse talent, specifically black Americans. So, I think the role that HBCUs play is immensely important and I’m happy and privileged to have been a part of it."

On pursuing an MBA even when he already had a successful professional career

"What I observed as a young professional joining McKinsey was pretty much almost a formula. And the formula was, do a few years as an analyst, go to a prestigious graduate program, right? Probably an MBA, maybe a public policy degree program or a law degree, and essentially, come back to McKinsey, and in a few years, you'll be a partner and you'll essentially be rich and be able to ride off into the sunset. I know now that life is not that simple and lots of things have changed, but quite frankly, I was convinced that was the formula and the path to success or at least part of what I aspire to have in terms of a career. The way people would look up to partners and admire their ideas and the power that they had and how people would automatically be quiet as soon as they spoke - that looked attractive to me. I also knew that as I was leaving my analyst time after two years at McKinsey, I felt like I would have been in the ivory tower. I'm pushing paper, I'm making slides and Excel. And it was like, let me go see what it's like, you know, get your hands dirty at the ground level. Which is what drew me to be a volunteer consultant at TechnoServe and go work at the ground level, literally, in developing countries. I really enjoyed that but then also, let's be honest. I wanted to have a good living and make a good living and earn some money. So, it was clear that I wanted to go get an MBA."

Thoughts on climate change

"From an economic standpoint, I feel like climate change is really a resource allocation challenge, right? We're not allocating the right resources to the right technologies. We have solutions to lots of the polluting challenges that we have. They're just not economic enough to deploy at scale. So, it's an economic challenge to solve many of the challenges and problems we face."

On managing his professional career and tying it with the things he is passionate about

"What comes to mind for me is, I continue to think of the double and triple bottom lines. I learned about that at Haas. First bottom line being your business bottom line, right? What's your dollar profit? Your second bottom line being your kind of social impact, right? What is the impact of the business that you do in the communities where you do it? And then your third bottom line is around the environment, right? What is the impact to the environment? I often think about how can we try to aspire to more of this circular loop economy where we don't have this linear economy where you kind of extract natural resources out of the ground, turn them into something consumable, that is then consumed and then sits in a landfill forever. How do we make this more of a circular loop so that things are sustainable perpetually?"

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Morehouse College
• TechnoServe

Ian shares his Life Moments™, such as going to different countries for a youth exchange program, finally getting accepted at Cornell after several rejections, going to investment banking, coming out of restructuring twice, and eventually going to business school.

Ian then founded a company, Maestro Market, but that business did not work out through a series of twists and turns. And it was a traumatic and very stressful experience for him. However, that particular Life Moments™ started Ian's journey to launching I M Human. Ian shares how he shifted a potentially disastrous moment into one of tremendous growth in this episode. 

Episode Quotes:

Passionate about entrepreneurship ever since he was young

Ever since I was little, I always had started small companies, nothing major. But I was just interested in seeing what I could create on my own. And I enjoyed that. I enjoyed that Rubik's cube. Instead of getting "normal jobs" like a camp counselor, I would be doing other things. 

On having different executive positions to gain knowledge about running a business

My original goal was to learn the plumbing, if you will, of the business. Or, if you think of your little learnings as a clock, I was able to go around the whole clock, get some proficiency. I had some great guidance along the way. I had some great mentors. And all along the way, mentors would drop me into particular positions because they said, if you want to go where you say you want to go, these are all valuable skill sets. You don't have to be an expert in all these areas. But you need to know just enough. So, when you're eventually managing or running a company, you have better preview on the holistic elements of the company.

On building I M Human, a “non-traditional’ business

It took many years for me to get my own voice in it to understand, and ultimately, to get confidence that, after a traditional background that I had business-wise, that I could actually be just as successful and "non-traditional." What looks very traditional now was not 10 years ago. You're trying to build a business around emotional and wellbeing was not something that was mainstream nor is talking about mental health as it relates to business. None of that was in the dialogue. And so, the benefits of that was that really forced me to come up with my own words, because if you were to read an article and you have an idea similar to that, that validates you and you can take snippets of that to make you sound better. But if there's nothing of that there, you really have to hone in. And I had a lot of support in that “hone in”. I had support from my family, my friends. I'll never forget this, I was building this, I didn't have any clue what I was doing, but I knew inside where I was going.

And so, people would say, "How are you doing? What are you doing?" I couldn't really articulate it in a confident way, which doesn't make your loved ones feel that confident in what you're doing. But they still supported me throughout.

What is I M Human

We are a trusted advisor for organizations that are at a point where they want to grow their culture to be more supportive of the mental, emotional, and spiritual being their employees. And what that entails is it really boils down to culture transformation and culture growth. 

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• I M Human

Jason has been a food and tech entrepreneur since 2011. He was the founding CEO of Caviar, a popular food delivery app that Square acquired in 2014. Before Caviar, he cofounded Munch On Me in 2011, a daily deals platform that was part of the Summer 2011 batch at Y Combinator. He’s also held various roles at Google, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Microsoft. 

Jason was born in China, but his family came to the US when he was just one year old. He grew up in Texas but moved to the Bay Area when he was eight, and this is where he spent most of his life. Although Jason studied accounting and ended up in finance and banking, he had always wanted to study business.

In this episode, Jason shares how he got into entrepreneurship, specifically in the food and tech industry, launching Caviar and selling it after two years, and becoming a franchise owner of The Halal Guys Inc.

Jason also talks about how he got into the investment space and launched Beluga Capital, a venture capital fund investing in early-stage technology companies. 

Finally, Jason let us in on his travel adventures, having been to 107 UN-recognized countries and his goal of climbing the Seven Summits.

Episode Quotes:

Selling Caviar to Square 

“The whole experience was like a whirlwind because we were the first on-demand food delivery app. We launched a week apart us and Postmates. We're the first couple of years before DoorDash and Uber Eats even existed. So, I remember there's just so much happening all the time. There's not much competition. We were getting all these restaurants and users and different markets. And it was just hard to keep up. We're drowning in our own growth week after week. We kept hitting our targets. But we were coming to a point where we're about to break because our growth just cannot keep up with human physical ability to route orders on a screen. And it started happening for all of our early markets that would become really successful. The acquisition came at a really good time.”

Why they started Beluga Capital

“Even when we were at Caviar, my co-founders and I, we just started getting a lot more inbound interest from entrepreneurs. And we thought one of the best ways we can help them is not only advice but also give them some capital. That way, we'd be more vested into their companies. So, with some of that exit liquidity we had, we decided, hey, we're not going to raise any outside capital, it's all going to be personal. And we're just going to invest in startups. It's our way of giving back. Because going through a startup is, essentially, no buy-ins in the beginning, right out of college. We had so much help. And without that help, we could never have succeeded in the way we did. And so, we wanted to do something like that for the next generation of entrepreneurs.” 

On pursuing different interests and passions

“I see it as different stages of my life. Starting out, I would not go into venture investing, I want to be more an operation role. Because that was more fun to me, like I had the best time of my life. Just looking back, while I was in it, I was like, "Wow, it's a constant stress and hard work." But looking back on it, I would only do that in my 20s. I don't want to be in my 40s or 50s and have that same—if I didn't have to go through the same thing again, so that I'm more geared towards investing. And I love it. I guess, for me, it's like different phases of my life there's different roles or areas that I enjoyed more.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Beluga Capital

John comes from a Nigerian family. He is good at Math and Science, and coupled with his passion for science fiction and technology, he went to MIT and studied Mechanical Engineering. However, John wanted to explore other industries other than tech and engineering. He worked as a Consulting Analyst in Accenture and then a Project Manager at McMaster-Carr, where he got to experience real management and leadership experience.

In this episode, John shares his reasons for pursuing the new joint master’s degree in business and engineering, joining different resources inside and outside of Haas, and taking on leadership roles to promote positive changes in the world, especially for people of color.

Episode Quotes:

On being exposed to management and leadership experience early in his career

"It offered me some really interesting and unique leadership opportunities that I was really happy to get and confirmed for me that the leadership and management aspect is where I want to be in terms of my career, in terms of how I'm contributing to the world. I think that's where my natural abilities and skills lie."

The role of MLT (Management Leadership for Tomorrow) in his business school application

“I definitely have to give a shout out here to MLT. That's another organization that helps prepare black and brown students to transition to business school. What I did was MLT MBA Prep. It's essentially a large group of people kind of going through the MBA application process. So, a lot of people have MBA application consultants. This is like a similar version of that but it's a much larger community and it's focused on uplifting black and brown students and indigenous students. And that was 100% the most impactful part of my preparation and application process. MLT was really the first intro to this world and I can't thank them enough for how the preparation process, the coaches that they give you, access to the networking with schools that they give you, is all very impactful. And on top of all of that, it just creates such an amazing community of people who are going through the same process at the same time.”

On choosing business schools

“Every business school admissions process is different for everybody. And I think, more so than any other professional school, there is a strong emphasis on prestige, rank, business school, name brand, and all those different things, and that definitely influenced my thinking a lot. But I'd say my advice to people is that everyone's business school application journey will be unique. The prestige and name brand definitely have some effect in certain areas, but you can think of other things like the school, culture, fits, geographic location, student size; all those different things will have a much larger impact on your experience.”

Why he joined different programs inside and outside of Haas

“I did this intentionally, but I really overloaded myself. I was trying to hone in my focus and my prioritization. I was like, I'm going to sample everything and put as much on my plate as I can. And then I'm going to see what sticks essentially. Because you only have so much time, and at the end of the day, you end up prioritizing the things that you find important, and the things that you don't find important will fall off the wayside.”

A piece of advice from John

“It's going to be tough, but don't be afraid to push your boundaries and get outside your comfort zone. I feel like that's a very cliche piece of advice, but the way I'd frame it is, it's a lot easier to get comfortable and stay inside your comfort zone without even realizing that you're in your comfort zone. You might think you are pushing your boundaries when in reality, you're just slightly turning to the left or slightly turning to the right. And when I say completely change everything that you thought your boundary was, if you can go to the opposite end of the spectrum and test it out to see how far you can go and how far you think the spectrum even is, you might realize there's way more in the middle than you thought or it's not as far as you thought that this thing that you thought was super radical really is not that radical. And maybe you can even go further and get closer to finding something even better for you than you thought could be possible on this side of whatever spectrum you're thinking of.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Management Leadership for Tomorrow - MBA Prep Program
• Black Business Student Association
• Haas Consortium Fellowship
• UC Berkeley's MBA/MEng program
• Haas Tech Club

We get to know more about Val as he talks about his background, growing up in Ukraine, and his reasons for coming to Haas to pursue an MBA. 

Val was also recently featured in Poets&Quants about his views and experience on the Russian aggression in Ukraine. In this episode, he shares a little bit about what started the war, what's currently going on, and the actions people can take to help Ukraine win.

Episode Quotes:

Why Haas?

"I didn't have an emotional connection to Berkeley, to be entirely honest. But I knew two things. The first one is that I felt big potential in technology, so I wanted to start in the right field, in the right market. And what's the best place to do that other than the Bay area? And the second thing, I actually could relate to the four defining principles. It's funny because, usually, you think it's just a marketing tool of some sort. But in reality, some of those are indeed what I have been trying to be as a person. My favorite one is confidence without attitude. And to me, it fits my personality really well. I believe, after my experience of working with different graduates from different schools, Berkeley and Haas is really distinguished by incredibly smart and hardworking people who are modest and have the confidence without attitude at the same time.

When I got to the school, it turned out that it was actually an amazing fit. I realized only after being at Haas how lucky I got, essentially. It was challenging, but the environment is just incredibly supportive, and starting from my classmates to the faculty, I got a lot of support in the school. And I'm glad I ended up in Berkeley and I made the right choice in the end."

On what could be the end result of the war for Ukraine

"So, by starting this war, Russia not only just blew up their economy. They not only united all the Ukrainians together. I believe, really, after the war ends, Ukraine is going to be more united than ever. And it's going to be an incredibly prosperous country because this aggression just changed our moral compass inside the country. And at the same time, it brought the attention of international organizations to the issues. I think, with international support, after the war ends, the best way to actually change something within Russia is to show that Ukraine is going to be prosperous and successful. And hopefully, after Russian people see that, they will realize that they have to do something on their own within their country."

Action items for people to help support Ukraine

"I think it's really important to talk about it. And we probably are at the point where people are just getting tired of negative news and the war. They're trying to move on. But in reality, it's important for all of us, as I mentioned. It's really a war against freedom and the war against Western values. 

There are a few action items. So, first of all, it's probably most important. Please, use your rights as citizens and appeal to elected representatives. Just move this top on their agenda, essentially. Let them know that it's important for you and let them know that, if they want to be elected for the next term, they should be helping Ukraine. I think that's a really important thing.

Secondly, Ukraine needs weapons. We have been winning. The problem is there are five Russian soldiers and one Ukrainian, and there are three tanks on one Ukrainian missile launcher. So, to really fight back, Ukraine needs weapons.

The third thing, and it's really important. I recommend donating. I've received so many donations for the Ukrainian cause. And it's like tens of thousands of dollars that were channeled through me to NGOs who are helping victims of war, who are helping soldiers now. I really appreciate that."

How can businesspeople and entrepreneurs help the cause?

"As businessmen, as graduates of Haas, we are making purchasing decisions, all of us. At some point, we either will be or we are. Don't buy Russian products, because by buying Russian products, you are paying companies who are going to pay taxes in Russia that, in turn, going to be used to finance the war. And it's a vote that we are making with our wallets. So, be mindful of that. And please, check your channels."

Show Links:

• Valentyn Zadorin LinkedIn
• Razom for Ukraine
• Lost Kingdom by Serhii Plokhy

Fleeing from Uzbekistan at a young age, Joe experienced a massive culture shock. However, it didn't stop him from adapting to his new environment and learning new things, including English. 

It wasn't an easy path, though. Because of financial issues, Joe had to work nonstop during college to support himself. He learned the value of hard work and education early, leading him to his entrepreneurial journey.

In this episode, Joe shares his experiences right after college, going to business school, and finding his passion for entrepreneurship. We also get to hear the history of Hims, a telehealth company that he co-founded in 2017, and Dutch, his current company.

Finally, Joe tells us valuable insights on entrepreneurship and the lessons he learned in his journey.

Episode Quotes:

On the challenges he faced as an immigrant

A lot of these things, later on, led me to this entrepreneurial journey by giving me a very thick skin, by making me feel comfortable with the uncomfortable because I've had to learn everything that was just so foreign entirely from scratch. I also think it made me empathetic to other immigrant experiences and other experiences where someone may feel outside of their comfort zone.

What he learned on his startup journey

I started my first failed startup right after business school and I would say that sort of created this journey where I worked in a number of other startups and all of that led me to Hims where really it started off just like other startups; it was an idea on a piece of paper. But along the way, I learned the people I need to surround myself with. I built up relationships. I built up more confidence and more strategy. And so, by the time Hims came around, I think I had a lot of battle scars that made that experience go significantly better. 

On being an investor and a mentor

I wanted to stay in health care because I think the mission aspect of it is something that resonates. One thing I was saying earlier is that realization in my twenties that there's more to life than making money. I want to have a positive impact on the world around me and I think healthcare is kind of one of those areas. And as far as advising and mentorship, I've had mentors who have had an immense impact on me, and I think, again, I’d like to give back and mentor and pay it forward. 

Advice for students

Take advantage of the multiple experiences that are available. And don't have horse blinders on in your undergrad. Use that moment to do things that feel uncomfortable.

Advice for entrepreneurs

Don't take no for an answer. And change is constant. If you're having a bad day or something's not working, that's not forever. But at the same time, you're in control of your destiny. I think another one, and this is my mantra for this year, is that I don't have to react to everything right away. You can take a moment as long as you need because again, with startups, it just seems like you have to decide right away, but know that you can take a pause and not answer everything immediately. 

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Dutch Pet, Inc.

Nick is a licensed civil engineer who developed drinking water and sanitation infrastructure in the US and internationally in Honduras and Malawi. Prior to joining Blue Forest, he worked as a consulting engineer for Brown & Caldwell, for the U.S. Peace Corps, and for Doctors Without Borders. Nick presently sits on the Board of EOS International where he continues to support communities in Honduras from his days in the Peace Corps.

In this episode. Nick tells us a little bit about his background, his professional career in the water space, the reasons he pivoted into forest conservation, and how he did it by going to business school and founding a startup.

He also talks about Blue Forest Conservation, its mission and goals, how people can help support their organization's visions, and some of the greatest successes and challenges in developing their team with a sustainability mission. 

Episode Quotes: 

Why Nick decided to go to business school and chose Haas

"I realized my heart was a little less with the pipes and the pumps and the engineering design and more wanting to think about the overall problems and root of those problems that we were trying to solve. And I thought, where might I be able to advance my passion for sustainability and technology and systems that can help drive that sustainability? And business school seemed like a logical next step for me, whether it was going to be grounded in technology development or sustainability in some fashion. I saw that Berkeley and the Haas program, especially with the Berkeley Energy Resources Collaborative (BERC) and a lot of the collaboration across the university, had a lot of opportunities around sustainability, energy, water, and technology."

How people can help support Blue Forest Conversation

"Pretty familiar, but voting is one. Elevating the opportunity with your elected officials that represent your utility board about the need for resilience of the watershed that supports your utility."

Challenges and joys in working with the Blue Forest team

"I'm so grateful for where the team is now. We're 16 people, with quite a few PhDs, some in geospatial science, some in forest hydrology modeling, communications experts, finance experts. Foresters are crucial, and we have a couple. And some of the challenges is that we come with a different set of language around how to make this very necessarily interdisciplinary solution work. It's a challenge internally unless we recognize that in credit culture for slowing downtime together. No question too simple. Because finance and forestry and hydrology have a lot of different backgrounds and domains of knowledge.

But when you recognize that interdisciplinary nature, I think, actually, it's turned into one of the joys at Blue Forest, is there's something that everyone on our team can teach everybody else that person uniquely has knowledge about. And working on a culture that celebrates that is, I think, something we're doing well, but something we want to make sure we continue to emphasize."

What Nick admires in a leader

"I love seeing a leader that waits to speak, especially, if, in their leading role, people might want to defer to their thoughts first. But if that leader instead pauses, makes sure there is room for everyone else's voice, largely because you're going to learn a lot of things, but also, because that is inclusive and makes space for people. And I probably admire that, in part, because it's something I work on, too. When I get excited about a topic, it's hard not to want to share your thoughts and your passion for that and your excitement for that, and to balance that with space and room for collaboration and contributions from new and experienced and everyone in between is the type of leader I would like to be and aspire towards."

Show Links:

• Nick Wobbrock LinkedIn
• Blue Forest Conservation
• Professor Severin Borenstein
• Sheldon Kimber

Sheldon spent five years at Calpine, working on finance and development of gas-fired power projects. He also worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, and in Accenture’s strategy consulting practice, specializing in power-price forecasting and asset valuation projects for utility clients.

In this episode, Sheldon shares his origin story, his professional career, and his time at Haas where his interest in clean energy and clean technology escalated.

We also get to hear about the company he founded, Intersect Power, what it is currently doing, its plans for the future, and how Haasies can join its vision in building a clean energy future.

Episode Quotes:

The best thing you can do as an entrepreneur

"I think the best entrepreneurs are people who do feel a sense of obligation to the people who work with them or for them. The best entrepreneurs are, first and foremost, servants to their people, because I think, at the end of the day, in this day and age, pulling together great teams of people is what builds value in almost any industry. And if you, as a leader, aren't really a servant to your people and really focused on that being the number one thing, it's pretty much the most valuable thing you can do. And I don't know, there's a lot of people that'll tell you how smart they are and how visionary they are and all of that, but I think, at the end of the day, I've found that creating an environment that is more caring and open and transparent is probably the best thing you can do as an entrepreneur."

Why he founded Intersect Power

"Intersect was actually born out of two questions. One was, it's clear that renewables are just getting cheaper and cheaper. So, what happens when renewable power, at certain times of day in certain locations, is so cheap you just either can't or shouldn't put all of it on the grid, it's just not necessary, it's not needed, you can't even get it to where it needs to go? That's one question. And the second question was, how do I never wind up having a utility between me and my customer ever again? I didn't necessarily solve that second one, but those were the two big problem statements or questions that I was most focused on."

Having a small team that is aligned with the company's vision

"When you can prove that you're able to do much, much more with less on the overhead side, people, they step back and let you get the results, which is what we want to do. I'd much rather have a small group of people who are the absolute best, the pinnacle of the industry, that are willing to work their tails off, but are expecting to get compensated pretty highly and are also, they're used to being treated in a certain way, having information shared with them, having a clear and transparent view of the company's strategy, being treated like peers and leaders and strategic thinkers. And I think I'd rather create that environment and that's what we've done here. And I think, because you remain lean and can control your overhead, your investors usually go along with that because they're seeing the results they need, because people—they're happy, they're plugged into the vision.

How can Haasies help?

"For Haas folks, it's important to understand the ties that Intersect has culturally to some of our roots at Haas. And so, when we talk about challenging the status quo and confidence without attitude, these are the types of values that are at the absolute core of Intersect. We are confident people. I do think we're the best at what we do. And that's important to believe that. But at the same time, exercising a certain level of humility to understand some of these new things you have to go in. …you know, I had a meeting with a CEO of a wind company the other day, and I started by saying, ‘We're getting into wind….I have no idea what that means, really, you know? So I first want you to know that there’s no pride here, please help me.’

So, I think, when you step back and look at the cultures of our organization versus the school, there are a lot of overlaps, a lot of similarities. And I think that makes Haas folks a really good fit for us. And we have a lot of Haas folks already that work with us and a lot of Cal folks that work with us. We're also just whip-smart. I do think we are the best. We're confident about that. And I think that also matches up really well with Haas because I think there are a lot of really talented people looking to make a difference in the world. And we're a great place to come to work if that's what you're looking to do with your life."

Show Links:

• Sheldon Kimber
• “The Nexus of Deep Decarbonization” Blog by Sheldon Kimber
• Professor Severin Borenstein
• Intersect Power
• Intersect Power Job Opportunities

Lynelle got a Master's in Environmental Policy and Management from the School of Natural Resources and Environment at Michigan which enabled her to really double down at the intersection of people and the planet further. But after reading "The Ecology of Commerce" by Paul Hawken, she became aware that business is part of the problem but also part of the solution. And to effectively drive transformative change and change the trajectory we're on, we need to work within the private sector and change how business is done. So, she literally applied to business school the following weekend. During her tenure at Haas, she led the student efforts to help establish the Center for Responsible Business.

In this episode, Lynelle shares a bit about her upbringing and how she got into sustainability, her extensive professional career that started at Hewlett-Packard, her first job right out of Haas, to Autodesk, where she stayed for 15 years, and how sustainability has changed over the years and the lessons she learned along the way.

Finally, Lynelle talks about the exciting next chapter of her career, focusing on supporting boards that share her ambition around climate, ESG and beyond.

Episode Quotes: 

Why she focused on sustainability throughout her career

"My dad always asked us about how we want to contribute to making the world a better place. I think those conversations really sunk in, and it's become a north star for me, the idea that we do get to design careers that have impact at the forefront. I got degrees in cultural anthropology and environmental science. And throughout my career, I've been focused on, essentially, working with people on environmental challenges and thinking about how we can live more sustainably on the planet. That's always been a passion."

On choosing Haas 

"I chose Haas because there were no programs focused on responsible business like there are today, but it was a school that was founded on ethics. Haas was one of the first institutions that taught ethical leadership 100 years ago. In addition, there were initiatives starting to emerge in the Bay Area around sustainable business. It turned out to be the perfect school for me because there was a significant community of classmates with an aspiration to use business to drive change and positive good. I didn't know the first thing about business. There was some cultural shock when I got to business school and started to learn a whole new language. But it proved to be super important and catalytic in my career."

How she got into Autodesk and started their first sustainability group

"I kept hearing about this relatively small company that makes design software that is used, quite literally, to design and make everything that's built on the planet - from the building you're in, electric utility grids, whole cities, even the phone in your pocket. What if we could embed the principles of sustainability into the design software so that companies in all these different industries wouldn't need to have specific expertise in energy and materials? And so, I wrote Autodesk a letter and said, 'You're sitting on this incredible opportunity. The future of these industries is about sustainable design. And I'd love to help you get this program up and running. Fast forward a couple of months, I soon became a team of one at Autodesk. That was 14 years ago."

Lessons she learned about leadership in terms of driving change

"A couple of lessons I learned along the way. One, your adversaries can become your biggest advocates if you use them wisely. That was a key learning insight, to pay attention to your adversaries so that you can learn from them and bring them along on the journey. Another is the importance of teams and building strong effective, what I call, healthy teams. I think teams that have fun together are high-performing teams."

On where her focus is now after leaving Autodesk

"I'm focused on boards. I want to support boards who have an ambition around climate and ESG, but really, going beyond ESG. ESG is a useful framework that has helped people get on board, probably because there's an E, there's an S, there's a G. It's easy for our linear brains to think along those lines. But the real opportunity is to go beyond ESG and cultivate systems thinking in the boardroom and throughout companies, identifying patterns and interconnections across ESG. 

The other focus for me is what I call regenerative businesses. Again, I think of regeneration as going beyond sustainability. If sustainability is about sustaining and doing no harm from an impact perspective, regenerative businesses are those that are truly in the business of regenerating social, human, or natural systems

And then the third area is health and resilience. And I think about health and resilience from personal to planetary. If we are at our best in terms of health and resilience, we can do better work in the world."It’s these three vectors that are my focus for this next chapter—i

On finding value and meaning in your career to prevent mental illness

"There's something interesting happening right now in the workforce with talk of the great resignation catalyzed by the pandemic. And to me, that's really exciting. It's exciting because people are starting to feel a sense of agency that they can create meaning and have purpose when they go to work, versus, I think, generations in the past. You had your work. You earn your money. And then you give back in your volunteer time or community service work. But now, you see more and more people that are really looking for that meaning and purpose every day in their work. 

It's when you don't have meaning or purpose, you have this existential vacuum, that mental illness sets in. And so, I would say, if you don't feel like you have that meaning and purpose today in your career, it’s up to you to create it. So, pay attention to what your values are and how you can live your values at work, and get paid for that. The world is shifting and we need businesses that are directly in the business of restoring health to the planet and the people on it. This is a decisive decade coming up, and I'm optimistic about what's going to unfold."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken
• Plan C Advisors
• Indigo Ag
• Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Today, we chat with Dima Okhrimchuk, CEO and Co-Founder at Organization.GG, a marketplace for online experiences in the gaming multiverse.

Dima was born and raised in Kyiv, Ukraine. He had the opportunity to become an exchange student in the US and this experience made a huge impact on his personal development. He dreamt of getting an education abroad and after visiting Stanford and UC Berkeley on a business trip to Silicon Valley, he knew he should be there, where all the innovations are coming from. So, in 2015, he started his MBA at Haas, at a time when there was an ongoing war in Ukraine. Everyone is talking and saying that the worst started on the 24th of February this year, but it actually started much earlier than that, back in 2014. This was the year when Russia started its invasion of Ukraine.

In this episode, Dima shares with us what it was like to be studying abroad at a time when his home country was almost at a war, why he went back home after graduation rather than staying in the US, and his experiences founding his tech business before and after the conflict. 

Dima also let us in on the current situation in Ukraine, the recent developments, how people are united to help Ukraine win, and what we can do to support the people of Ukraine.

Episode Quotes:

On returning back home after getting his MBA

"For me, that was never a question of whether to stay or to come back to Ukraine. That was my goal from day one. I wanted to build out the network, get the knowledge from UC Berkeley, meet a lot of talented people, but upon graduation, I always wanted to come back to Ukraine and start using and sharing that knowledge with Ukrainians because Ukraine is a young country with a lot of perspectives and a lot of opportunities."

Global awareness and spreading the word about the situation in Ukraine

"In the first couple of weeks, the whole world was buzzing about it but as time goes by… And I understand people have their own lives and they forget about what is happening in a country that could be thousands of miles away. But the war in Ukraine is not over yet. It's far from being over with that planned aggression of Eastern parts. Putin is not going to stop. His main goal is to demolish Ukraine as a nation. We need to fight back and we need to win. And for that, we need to have awareness around the globe. So, continue talking about this and continue watching the news, especially the independent news. Spread the word about what's happening."

Show Links:

• Dima Okhrimchuk on LinkedIn
• Dima Okhrimchuk on Facebook
• Dima Okhrimchuk on Instagram
• Organization GG
• Organization.GG Charity Marathon
• Universal link with various ways to support Ukraine

Spending her early years in Guatemala City and moving to the US when she was nine years old, Alejandra experienced different cultures at a young age. It might seem like a difficult transition; yet, she felt fortunate and privileged to have the best of both worlds.  

In this episode, Alejandra shares her experiences from going to a women's college, the time she spent with Teach for America, and how she ended up consulting to build up her leadership skills. She also tells us her reasons for pursuing an MBA and her experiences as Consortium & Forte Fellow.

Episode Quotes: 

On leaving Guatemala City for the US during Thanksgiving and what the holiday meant for her

“I came on what I think is the best holiday in the United States. You get to celebrate being together. It's a complicated holiday but I can't help but also recognize the beauty in coming together on a non-denominational holiday and it doesn't often happen in countries outside of the United States. So, there's sort of that beauty of opportunity of this American dream, of being in a place that it's so culturally diverse that you can sit in a table with people who look different from you. And it's such a privilege and such an awesome thing to claim that I can experience and hold dear both of those two cultures and people and experiences together.”

On going to Barnard College

“That journey of attending a women's college really helped me come out of my shell. It allowed me to be surrounded by talented and empowering women. I think college isn't just about the brand of the school; it's also about what do you get out of it and how much you're able to grow.”

On becoming a teacher

“In my mind, I thought I was going to become a humanitarian lawyer. I was thinking about what will my next two years after graduation look like? What kind of skills and experiences do I want to gain in order to get there? I met a number of Teach for America alums, fellows, and current members and I was humbled about what they did. I also knew that I could help and use my really young spirit and energy to do something good for the world. And so I ended up deciding to apply and do Teach for America for a few years, gain a lot of skills, see how I can directly help communities and be exposed to that and really absorb because, in my opinion, it's much harder to help and solve and do social impact without understanding the realities of the day to day.”

On pivoting from a school teacher to consulting

“I realized that as much as I could be helpful being a teacher, I had better ideas on how to change workforce compositions or how to drive better organizational change, or how to upskill teachers and help them be more successful in the classroom. I just had all these ideas about how to change from a systems perspective and realize that I could make a better impact by doing that type of work.

I was also doing some policy work at the Department of Education and my boss at the time had been a former consultant. And then just having those conversations about how I think I could solve public education and the gaps in the system, she recommended that I think about consulting, sort of spending some time really building my skills as a leader, as a thought provoker, and then seeing where that would take me. And so, I certainly agreed with her that it was the right direction. That road took me to consulting specifically working within the human capital sphere and thinking a lot about organizational and workforce transformation.”

On pursuing an MBA

“I was very focused on the social sciences and systems thinking and I think that is certainly where I get a lot of my intellectual energy and I love thinking that way. But I also recognize the gaps in my quantitative and more logical thinking and going back to my origin story, I've always been a huge nerd and I didn't want to leave not having really tactical quantitative skills that could propel me to any leadership position that I wanted to go to. And so, I knew that I wanted to get the core skills that I think the business degree offers and really balance that out a little bit more. And then I think a little bit of it was pride. I wanted to be the first person in my family to have a graduate degree in the US. That was really a dream I've always had. I thought that would be really just a great accomplishment.”

On what gets her excited about the future

“One thing that gets me excited is seeing the continuation of the younger generation, our generation, and future generations, being more empathetic towards the environment and towards each other, hopefully. That's certainly the kind of world I want to live in.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Teach for America
• Berkeley Haas Consortium

Cynthia has always been interested in people's thought processes and decision-making processes. So, she majored in marketing at Haas with the intent of going into advertising. She thought marketing seemed like the perfect way to get into people's minds from the consumer perspective. But after several years, she got burned out and decided to go to grad school, intending to launch a nonprofit for adults with developmental disabilities in the Asian community. 

When she got into school, she took a diversity management course and met somebody with a diversity manager job who talked about how she created access to opportunity for everyone. That's what started her 20-year career so far in the DEIB space.

In this episode, Cynthia talked about how DEI has evolved through the years, why it is important, and her personal story that made her so passionate about it. She also shared how to create a more inclusive organization, especially for women of color, and how each of us can take bite-size chunks toward a more inclusive world. Finally, Cynthia talked about her book and what the biggest takeaways are.

Episode Quotes:

On going into marketing and advertising

"I've always been interested in people and what motivates them to do the things that they do. I've always been really curious about how people make decisions. And so, for me, marketing seemed like the perfect way to get into people's minds from the consumer perspective. How do you actually persuade them to change behavior and buy something that they maybe hadn't considered?”

Driving inclusion and diversity in different cultural contexts and why it matters

"There is so much diversity even in places that you don't think about necessarily having diversity. And the definition of that and how we actually drive inclusion is going to be different in different cultural contexts. How we think about diversity here in the US, with our history of slavery and discrimination and different groups, is a very different context from China or India, right? In India, there's discrimination based on social-economic status as being a much more prevailent thing versus, as you mentioned, all those minority groups that are definitely treated differently in China. All of that is very nuanced and we have to make sure that we're not approaching it from a one size fits all kind of perspective. 

There is difference among all of us everywhere. And it's less about in-groups and out-groups necessarily and more about inclusion and exclusion in my mind. Because even if you take it down to the level of a team within an organization anywhere, if somebody is feeling excluded from that team, like they don't belong and they're not being valued for who they are and what they bring, that person's not going to be productive and not going to stay very long.

And so, if we're all driving for effective organizations and effective teams and effective and productive output and things like that, then you have to care about this. To drive that no matter what your team looked like or what cultural context you're in."

Why she is passionate about building an inclusive culture everywhere

"I've grown up always feeling like I didn't belong anywhere. I'm kind of this misfit, and it took me until high school to really find a group of friends who had similar kinds of multiculturalism elements to their backgrounds that I started to find people who I could connect with.

That, along with the fact that I have brothers who clearly have their struggles in life in ways that most of us take for granted, has always weighed on me. Why do we treat people so badly just because they look a little different or they love a little different? So, those are the things that have made me be like, if I have an opportunity to change that, then that's what I'm going to try to do."

How do we take bite-size chunks toward a more inclusive world?

"I think it is all about starting small. It doesn't take much to read an article in this space, find out about something that maybe you aren't that well versed in. Just pick one, start reading about it, start asking. I think asking questions is really good. Not to the point where you're overburdening any one person to represent their entire community because that's not what we want, but to extend your curiosity, right? Ask people about their experiences so that you can get more of a window and develop your empathy for other experiences that are very different from your own. It costs nothing to ask, and you can learn so much about people who are willing to open up. 

And then the last thing that I think is super easy for anyone to do is to just engage and practice. Oftentimes, we're afraid to open our mouths and inadvertently offend somebody, but it's really about moving through that, and just engaging in the practice on a regular basis to ask people how they want to be identified, or if you're using the correct term that they go by, or even as simple as just making an effort to pronounce somebody's name correctly. It's all those little things that I think anybody can do that will just really add up to creating connection and welcoming and belonging."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• All Are Welcome: How to Build a Real Workplace Culture of Inclusion that Delivers Results
• Breaking Glass Forums

Although Nanxi is part of class 2012, it wasn't until 2020 that she graduated after completing the American Cultures course during the pandemic. Her early exposure to entrepreneurship and founding her own businesses became her priority, and those experiences made her the leader she is today. 

In this episode, Nanxi also talked about the different companies she founded, how she built up the confidence and skills to become an amazing CEO at such a young age, and why she didn't let imposter syndrome bring her down.

Listen until the end to hear Nanxi's advice for female leaders, why it is important to be surrounded by other successful women, and how to prevent CEO burnout.

Episode Quotes:

The role of providing and accepting feedback in becoming a great CEO

“I don't know if I was a very good CEO in the early days. I definitely think I got better. My Co-founders made me a better CEO. They were always very honest and transparent; gave me a lot of feedback. I think feedback from people and being willing to accept feedback definitely helps. From a young age, I was involved in a lot of activities where you constantly had feedback, and you constantly knew if you were doing well or not.

Feedback and interactions with different people help me recognize strengths and weaknesses that I have and easily identify other people's strengths and weaknesses and how to bring them together.”

Thoughts on imposter syndrome when building a company

“I didn't really think about it. I always just focused on my strengths and advantages that I could bring to the table whenever I went into a meeting, either with somebody I was trying to hire or an investor or a potential customer. I was never afraid to make the ask. When it comes to building a company, making the ask, not being shy about it, showing what you're capable of and what your strengths are will help a lot.”

Advice to female leaders 

“As women leaders, I'm super grateful for always supporting one another and having a group of awesome other women who are rallying around you, and you're rallying around them. It makes it so much easier. And so, I'm grateful that I am always surrounded by amazing other women. It's important to find that support system.

And I think the way to do that is always stepping up to wanting to help somebody. Whenever I meet somebody new, I just want to see how I can help them be more successful and achieve what they want to do and have zero expectations from there. That approach has really helped me a lot and has been really helpful in introducing me to people that I otherwise wouldn't meet.

And so, the big piece is to find that community. And if that community is just one other awesome woman, founder, or leader, or maybe it's a whole tribe of them, it makes a huge difference and makes a lot more fun in the journey.”

How to avoid feeling burned out when giving so much of yourself in building a company and helping people

“A big part of it is not feeling guilty when you just need to take time off. I actually have a really good work-life balance. I was always like, if I need to take a day just to play piano, read, go running, go hiking, I just do it. In the early days, I felt really guilty about it, but overall, it made me much more efficient, happy, and productive. 

And even now, I do a bunch of trips, I go to places, even though I'm launching this new company. I understand the rigor of starting a new company, but at the same time, I also know if I'm not taking care of myself, it's going to hurt overall. That's how I approach it when it comes to giving and helping, not burning out. I think it's all connected to how we treat our life, time, health, and body.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Blaze
• Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don't Have All the Facts
• Almanack of Naval Ravikant
• What It Takes: Lessons in the Pursuit of Excellence

In this episode, Tiffany talks about growing up in the Bay area, her experiences in UCSD, and how she got into an industry dominated by men. She also shares her reasons for coming to Haas, one of which is learning how to approach some of the nuanced and complicated problems of bringing more equity into the gaming space. We also hear about her role in PlayStation as a brand manager.

Finally, Tiffany also talks about Girls for Gaming, a program that helps empower and educate young women on the various roles within the gaming industry. 

Episode Quotes:

On how she got into the video game industry, and other ways to get in

“I feel like internship helped me get my foot in the door. At least expose me to a lot of the entertainment industry and a lot of contacts that helped me take those first steps into the industry. This was all before I really understood video games and what that industry entailed. Internship was a great way for me to get in.

There's so many other ways for people to get into the industry these days that haven't really been as tapped. IDGA stands for International Game Developers Association and they have a great mentorship program. I’m one of the mentors of that. And it's been such an experience reaching out to not only college students but people who, in general, are interested in joining the industry. Another group that's really great too is AIAS, which is the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. They have these scholarships that go out every year to help out not only game developers, but even people of color and women enter into this industry, which is quite hard to get in.”

What her experience being in Haas has been like so far

“Getting to Haas has been very enlightening in a lot of ways, not only from kind of the basics of business but getting so many more diverse perspectives of how to approach a problem. I think the fact that Haas focuses so much on DEI really drove me to come to Haas because a lot of what I see in my industry has driven me to want to learn how to approach some of these more nuanced and complicated problems of how do we bring more equity into the space, in a field that can often have some scarcity mentalities when we think about bringing other groups up or trying to bring more diverse people into our qualified groups.”

On bringing her passion for DEI in founding Games For Girls

“Games For Girls is largely focused on normalizing gaming for gender diversity. What that really means is kind of through three facets. One is through the professional route, being able to provide information to women in the industry on how to fight for equal pay or how to have some of those critical conversations that they need to have to bring a little bit more inclusion or sense of belonging into the workplace. The second thing is really highlighting the games that do diversity well. The third thing is around trying to normalize this within the community itself. I think that one's probably the hardest, but through some of the things that I've experienced and learned through different groups at Cal, to really facilitate this inclusive community of women and try to help bring people up and encourage gaming that is fun and lighthearted. It's not always about the performance aspects of video games, but really cultivating that community that lifts people up and has something as a focus to bring people together.”

On becoming a face and an influencer in the gaming industry

“It's been really incredible. I honestly would not have imagined being in this position five to ten years ago, but really I think it comes down to the network that I've built and the people who've really helped me along the way. I experienced having a great boss who encouraged me to take calculated risks, always advocated for me, or pushed for me to have exposure. Having allyship in that way of good management has really provided me with a lot of opportunities that could have taken me a lot longer to get where I am. In addition to that, some of the people that I’ve had the opportunity and been blessed to work with have been phenomenal in terms of pointing me in the right direction of who to talk to, to make the most impact.”

Advice for people who are passionate about gaming and would like to get into the industry

“Don't be discouraged. It is a tough industry to get into but definitely follow your passion. No matter what, the unique thing about video games is that we all come from very different backgrounds, but the one thing that unifies us is what we love, games.”

Show Links: 

• LinkedIn Profile
• International Game Developers Association
• Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences
• Girls for Gaming
• Girls For Gaming Scholarship

In this episode, Alka talks about how she fell in love with technology while growing up in Silicon Valley. We also discuss her career experiences, especially her transition from a big organization like Yahoo to IGN, and her reasons for pursuing an MBA. Alka also shares how she became an investor, limited partner, and advisor for the venture fund Operator Collective.

You will also hear about how to thrive and chart your own path as a female leader in a male-dominated industry and get advice on how to move up the ladder from a member of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women community. 

Episode Quotes:

On growing up in Silicon Valley and falling in love with technology

My father came here with my mom for the American dream. There were a lot of hopes and dreams on our shoulders, but it was a great place to grow up in Silicon Valley. And that's really how I fell in love with technology. I feel like I was born in it and it's in my blood. 

On experiencing firsthand how the tech industry bloomed over the years

The attention being paid to Silicon Valley now all around the world and the true respect and appreciation of what technology can do and how it not only changes lives but is actually the bread and butter of our economy worldwide is gratifying. I just don't think people quite got it back then. 

On her decision to get an MBA

Higher education was definitely always very important in my family. It was something that I thought I was going to do, however, also having the rebellious side, I was never going to just do something. I was at a point where I was just done with banking and really decided that the next step for me was to be part of a company and its journey.

What she gained from her MBA experience

I was really looking to get a more well-rounded education around marketing, around sales, around operations, and so, that's really kind of what my goal was. I think what was interesting about it, though, is I ended up getting expertise that was equally valuable - the soft skills, the presentation skills, the ability to debate with like-minded people, which really I hadn't done as much when you were a more junior person in banking. And the chance to really sit there and really analyze different business scenarios critically and get just the varied experience from everybody in the class, especially with international students, was huge.

On the process of transitioning from a big firm to a smaller one

You have to just re-sit and really get honest with yourself. I had to get really honest about the types of things I wanted to do on a daily basis, the pace that I wanted to go, the opportunities that I wanted to do. It's just a lot of self-awareness - think about what you want to do and what you're really good at. Know what makes you light up, and really at the end of the day, I feel like everything we're doing is really just trying to figure out how to light ourselves up. And I would even say it's probably our duty to get lit up for the world. 

On moving up the corporate ladder

It's a journey. I have so many friends and family members all around the world and there's always this Silicon Valley myth that everybody comes here and then three years later they're worth a hundred million dollars. And we know that is just not the reality. I'm sure the odds are better here than in other places, a hundred percent, but the reality of it is for most people, it takes time. It takes time to really hone your craft and that's exactly what I discovered. Everyone has had ups and downs in their careers. I definitely did.

Advice for women who are advancing in their careers

I would encourage all women that are moving up the ladder to, first of all, really talk to other women. And again, know yourself. Advocate for yourself. Find your mentors, people with whom you can have that conversation, do things in an authentic way, and get advice and bounce things off of people. It's the most powerful thing you can do. Sometimes, it's ok to need help. I certainly do that for and with several people, of all genders.

Advice on finding your passion

At the end of the day, I feel like everything we're doing is really to figure out how to light ourselves up. And I would say it's our duty to get lit up for the world.

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile

Marie's perseverance shines because of the mindset she cultivated through athletics. In this episode, Marie shares her story of pursuing an MBA and choosing Haas, the relationships she formed along the way, and overcoming a life-threatening illness. She also talks about helping industries pivot to clean energy and address today's climate crisis.

Episode Quotes:

Marie’s reasons for pursuing an MBA

[00:06:42] I had two north stars that really made it clear that business school is the right step for me. One was just that personal development. I stalled out where I was. I wasn't going to get an opportunity to practice leadership or management skills or be able to connect to people in a real way. I knew I couldn't get that in my current corporate environment. The other one was very practical and functional. I was done with oil and gas. I strongly wanted to pivot industries into kind of clean energy or climate tech. 

On choosing Haas

[08:40.97] Once I finally started interacting with Haas students and learning more about the school environment and how amazing everybody is in an inspiring way and not an intimidating way, that was huge. Being in a place where I felt like I could learn from people and collaborate was so much more important than some prestige or some specific class. I got a little lucky that the Bay Area is home to where the industry I wanted to be and Haas happened to be right there.

On creating and preserving meaningful connections through BERC (Berkeley Energy and Resources Collaborative)

[00:14:23] The number one thing I got out of BERC was that experience of leadership and connecting with so many people in the industry. That facilitation, especially across different majors and departments, was really special and important and something that I think BERC did a really good job of. I'm still in touch with most of that executive team. 

Recovering from cancer with the help of her athlete mentality

[00:25:54] The athlete mentality was really helpful in some ways of just getting through it, pushing through, enduring. It really was just endurance. I thought recovery might be like a path of a mountain; as long as you walk the path and follow the rules, things will get better and easier. But it's really more like you're staring into this giant void, and nobody has some answers for you. People my age and gender typically don't get this type of cancer. There's no guidance, and you're just off in the wild to rebuild your body and rebuild your mind. That lack of structure and detachment from the athlete lifestyle that was a part of my twenties and my athletic career has been a journey every day to choose to be nice to myself and proud of myself and keep moving forward with my teeny little baby steps.

Show Links:

• Marie Thompson on LinkedIn
• Powerhouse Fund Official Website
• Berkeley Energy & Resources Collaborative (BERC) Official Website
• The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management
• Watt It Takes podcast

Having an Air Force veteran for a father, Tracy spent the early years of her life in Okinawa, Japan, and lived in different parts of the US before settling in Lompoc, California, near the Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County. Because of this experience, she fell in love with traveling (She has already been to 42 countries!). It is also why Tracy focused on international business. 

Tracy shares her experiences from college and what she did after graduating, how being a B-student landed her a job at NASA, and how she ended up in the Mayor's office, which is how she came up with her strategy with The 22 Fund.

Being an active citizen in Los Angeles, Tracy also tells us the importance of helping and supporting the community we live in, especially disadvantaged people who don't have the same privileges as we do. She also tells us why she pursued an MBA even after having years of unique professional experiences and how she started and founded The 22 Fund. It is the only one of its kind, investing in high potential women and BIPOC-owned tech-based manufacturing companies to increase their international sales (exporting), with a mission of creating the clean, quality jobs of the future in underserved communities. 

Episode Quotes: 

On having the courage to go after what she wanted to study in college

A lot of research shows that when girls don't do well, we quit, and we do something else. And I hate to be a statistic, but I quit Mechanical Engineering and went into where I was really good, Math. And that's how I landed on Applied Math, Mathematical Science as my major because I still loved engineering, and I wanted to be in Aeronautics. There's no Aeronautics at Santa Barbara, so what I did is I kind of created my own degree. And thank God there was a woman in the Math Department, a Black woman, and she let me do this - create this Mathematical Science degree with Aeronautics emphasis.

And that's how I made my decision. And so, if there's someone young trying to figure out their decision in going to school and listening, I would say, don't be afraid to do what you really want and to say what you want. If I hadn't said I wanted to do this and take this chance and create my own major almost, I would have had a whole different life path probably. But whatever gave me not being fearful about asking that was really fortunate. 

On her duty as a citizen

I just am the type of person where if I'm living someplace, I've got to be active, helping, supporting the community I live in. And it doesn't matter if it's my county or my city or my micro-neighborhood; I am going to be a citizen. I feel like all the work I've done around Los Angeles is my duty as a citizen. I don't know another way to exist in the world as a citizen if you don't support where you live and support the people who don't have all the advantages as you do. 

On pursuing an MBA

It's kind of a societal issue for women, especially Black women. I don't want to say we never think we're enough, but we never think we have enough credibility in the eyes of others that we can do the job we want to do. And so, I knew I wanted to start my own fund, but I always thought I needed as much credibility as possible and more education. That's why Black women are the most educated demographic in the country because we get all these degrees because people think we don't know enough or aren’t enough. We know we are, but we got to get it on paper. So, I wanted to get my MBA for that reason. 

On founding her nonprofit, We Are Enough

All these women were coming up to me crying over a finance talk. And that is where I saw, okay, this is a deep trauma, deep work that women need to do around our money and our power around money and our being okay with power. And so, I launched We Are Enough. The only thing we do is educate everyday women on why and how to invest in women in businesses or with a gender lens on the public markets. Because when you grow women's wealth, all those 17 SDG, sustainable development goals that you hear a lot about, the majority of them are positively impacted by women growing their wealth.

On their unique strategy in investing in manufacturing

I knew I wanted a win-win strategy with high impact and high returns. And I wanted something that had multiple impacts. And so, I landed on manufacturing. People didn't understand that the foundation of our economy literally is manufacturing and making things and selling them abroad. So, if you're a manufacturer that exports your products to another country but you're located here, you create jobs faster, you pay higher wages, and you're more likely to have healthcare. On top of that, when you export, you have higher revenues and are more resilient and more successful.

Our strategy of investing in manufacturing to increase their international sales causes our impacts. We call ourselves holistic investors, not impact investors, because we hit multiple positive impacts. It's not siloed with climate change, race, gender, economic development. We hit it all just from this one strategy in investing in manufacturing to increase their export capacity. So, our mission is to create what we call the clean, quality jobs of the future and low and moderate-income communities and increase generational wealth for women and people of color. And that all happens just by our strategy.

Thoughts on Black History Month

You've got to keep highlighting history because people want to try to erase it. And I wonder why they want to erase it. Why are they fearful? Why are they trying to protect kids from the wrongs in the world? So, I'm very informed. You can't help being a Black person and not be informed by our ancestors. It's ancestral trauma, right? It is with us all the time and it's deep. And it informs a lot of what we do. History will repeat itself if you forget what happened and we're in the middle of that right now. 

Another thing about Black History Month is it added LatinX History Month, Asian History Month. It added all that. And it allowed now with all the trauma around race in our country, every race is starting to see, you know, when people come after Black people, they start looking for another place to come after. They come after all of us that do not fit in a particular way they think we should be. And so, when I think about Black History Month and the history of Black people, it's a history of all people in this country, right? This isn't just my history. And it informs a lot of how people of color are treated. And so this year of the race and ethnic months, I feel like we need one month at the end called the multicultural month where we all come together and talk about the power and the beauty of different cultures and what it has built in this country.

Show Links:

• Tracy Gray on LinkedIn
• The 22 Fund
• We Are Enough

Bosun was born and raised in a part of London called Hackney, which is known for vibrancy and diversity. He got a Business Management degree at the University of Nottingham and went to the US to get this MBA.

His interest and passion for FinTech stemmed from a personal family experience. He aims to use tools like alternative data, web 3.0 technologies, and mobile experiences to make financial tasks simpler and more accessible for end-users.

In this episode, Bosun shares his career experiences and the responsibilities of someone working in Business Operations (BizOps). Having lived and worked in different countries, he also tells us his I-don't-know-how-to-but-I-will-find-the-solution experiences and how his plans of setting up his own startup that would help women of color in the world led him to one of the most exciting FinTech startups in the US.

Episode Quotes:

On his decision to get an MBA

“I had worked for a while at PwC. I was pretty fortunate in that I had started in London, I spent some time in Switzerland, and I spent the last few years in Mexico. I was building a team. I loved it. I really enjoyed it. It was an excellent experience. I think you also get to a point where you think, “Okay, if I look forward five or ten years, is this what I want to continue doing? Or if I were the 18-year-old version of me today with what I know now about the world, would I choose to do something different? How would I think about the world? So, that was kind of the catalyst. Let's refresh and let's start off with the version of me today, not the version of me who made the first decision [about my career] when I was 17.”

On choosing Haas

“I came, walked around the campus, and I was like, I could see myself here. And it's one of these things where there was no sophistication about the decision. [It was simply], I feel like this is where I could be for a few years. And I feel like I would be happy here versus the other places where I could have gone. And I was right. It was a really fun experience. I met, as you will know, awesome people. The fact that we're speaking is sentiment to what Haas has to offer.”

On his experience at Berkeley 

“The whole way society exists around identity, around race, around all of these topics, these are very present on campus, which was good because it made you have conversations about it. But if you are one of the affected groups who are being asked to provide way more than the experience of just the student, it changes somewhat the experience. It was slightly different at Berkeley, particularly for students of color. For example, There was a lot more of a focus from classmates on, “Bos, what do you think?” Or, “What's your view?” Which is good. I like to share my views about perspectives. Sometimes it’s also nice for a topic to be so adjacent to me that no one even wonders what my opinion is. It was an interesting introduction to US society but it was also very Berkeley, right?”

The job of someone working in BizOps

“Find problems that are preventing the company from self-actualizing and fix them by whatever means necessary. Use your toolkits, use your relationship, use your creativity, use all of the things that you have at your disposal to find the best way to solve a problem and to make everybody else better equipped to be successful in their roles.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Measure What Matters: OKRs: The Simple Idea that Drives 10x Growth
• Americanah
• The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds

Even though he is an only child, Eric grew up in a large extended family of business leaders and entrepreneurs who had a strong family identity. In fact, his grandfather and great uncle were the first Black registered architects in the US. 

Because of the influence of the family business, Eric went to MIT for architecture but ended up in Sloan to pursue his own interests in business. He started in banking but then worked many years in investment management before starting Channing with his partners. He shares his journey from that pivotal moment, getting his executive MBA while founding an investment firm, how they overcame the challenges along the way, and how one can succeed in this space. 

This episode is valuable for people who aspire to start their own investment firms or join the board of directors as Eric shares his wealth of experiences and motivations to be in the boardroom of successful organizations.

Episode Quotes:

On starting his own investment firm

“Another pivotal moment in my career, I got to a point where I felt that either I would stay where I was indefinitely, and that would be the duration of my career and be my experiences, or I could have the experience of starting a firm of my own. While I had joined Ariel early on, I was not a founder. And so, it was like a fork in the road kind of opportunity in my mind, and I took it.”

On Channing, his investment firm, surviving the great recession

“Certainly, starting a firm is challenging at any time and place. But also, the industry had changed a lot from early in my career. It wasn't long before the Great Recession hit, so there were a lot of challenges. Nevertheless, we were able to survive those. I always say that we got through that period, and Lehman and Bear Stearns didn't. So, we felt we had something to be proud of, to get through the great recession. And the firm continues on with my partners.”

On investment markets being all about human nature

“Sometimes, periods of overvaluation and undervaluation can last very long, longer than the patience of your clients. Clients may not be patient enough to recognize that there's a bubble brewing and want to go where they think the grass is greener, to another manager, or do a reallocation. Ultimately, markets are still about human nature no matter how much technology is introduced into the process. And human nature can sometimes lead to business outcomes that are not favorable even for the most talented investment managers.”

On raising capital for their first fund as a minority-owned firm

“There are always challenges raising money in any business or any investment entity. And I can't say that the challenges were strictly based on pure discrimination. But I think what often happens is that certain types of resumes get more of a path or more of a benefit of the doubt than others. That's not to say that doesn't happen for some diverse candidates, that they have the same kind of resumes, but that wasn't the background that I had.

I came out of a minority-owned firm to launch another minority firm. And while that firm had a great track or reputation, I don't think we necessarily got the same benefit of the doubt. It was more like, "Okay, well, let's see what you can do in this new environment. And then we'll give you money if we like what we see."

Who succeeds in founding their own investment firm and why

“The people who are most successful at it are those that have been able to develop track records through prior experience and have the kind of blue-chip backgrounds. But very often too, it takes a certain person to decide they want to do that because if you're at a successful firm and you have a great track record, then a lot of people are very comfortable staying there because they are very often making very high compensation. There may be golden handcuffs. There are all kinds of reasons why starting a business is something you have to be highly motivated about.”

Show Links:

• Eric on LinkedIn
• Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead 
• Isabel Wilkerson

A few months after his son Alakai was born, Alex discovered a major gap in the infant formula market: no plant-based, soy-free, and dairy-free options are available. This led him to build a business around solving his own pain point. His guiding principle is to create something that brings people life, positivity, happiness, joy, and vitality.

Alex is BA 2005 alum at Berkeley Haas. In this episode, he takes us back to his favorite college memories, his experience working at two Fortune 50 companies, launching three startups, and now working towards a sustainable future through plant-based foods and beverages.

Episode Quotes:

On having his parents as role models

[02:49.23] I had two role models and parents who really kind of shone the light on what the working world was like. I learned a lot from them about the value of hard work and commitment. What I think my parents did is they brought a lot of heart to their organizations. My parents brought their full selves to their work, always led with their hearts, and were always very compassionate and spirited. So, I get a lot of that from them.

On his experience moving from San Diego to Berkeley for college

[00:15:05] For me, this was the first time living alone. It felt empowering. It felt great just the simple stuff of making sure I had three meals a day, knowing how to do my laundry, and making sure I show up to class on time. You know, these kinds of social life skills came into play. I think half the fun and half the reason to do a four-year institution is to acquire those resilience skills and the autonomy and the sovereignty. It's a huge rite of passage. It was so nourishing, so fun, so expansive. Looking at photos of me going into Cal and looking at photos of me going out to Cal, you could see a real, much more mature, and different human. Those four years really did a lot for me, a lot of good.

On transitioning from corporate career to entrepreneurship

[00:13:52] I was about to turn 30, and I used that as my fire under my butt to become the entrepreneur I always knew I was. The first thing I did was travel to Asia solo. I gave myself a couple of months to exhale and transition from my Google career to my future entrepreneur career. I know I'm blessed and very humbled to be able to do that. It's not the same for everybody, but I took those months, and I recalibrated. I spent that time traveling alone, thinking about what I wanted to build and what the world needed. 

On his motivation for his third startup, PlantBaby

[00:22:49] PlantBaby, for me, is the first time I'm building a business around solving my own pain point, which I always wanted to do. PlantBaby is coming from the gut. It's coming from the heart. And that gives you so much more passion, motivation, and enthusiasm to see this succeed because you want to solve your own problem. It's great, and I also knew that sage advice always was out there is to solve your own problem.

Advice for people who might be interested in going to school or straight into entrepreneurship for food or sustainability 

Build it if you want to be the consumer of it. Don't build anything that's a fun or smart, profitable business. Build it up as you want to buy it. That's a good piece of advice that I think will drive you when the nights are long and cold, and you need something to drive you. Solve your own need, buy your own product. Think about the environment. Think about different stakeholders than just yourself. Don't be intimidated by the entrenched, established players. They were small at one time too. There's enough success to go around. Change the way you look at competition. We all can win. It is not a zero-sum game. 

Show Links:

• Alex Abelin on LinkedIn
• Alex Abelin on Twitter
• Alex Abelin Official Website
• PlantBaby Official Website
• Kiki Milk Official Website
• Kiki Milk IG

Oshri started his career as an analyst in his homeland, Israel, before moving to Silicon Valley— the Mecca of VCs and startups, to continue providing value as a venture capitalist. He is MBA 2013 at Berkeley Haas and a seasoned investor who later joined Munich Re Ventures as an Investment Director. 

Learn about the challenges of finding investment opportunities, the day-to-day activities of a venture capitalist, and which class at Haas helped Oshri advance in his entrepreneurial career.

Episode Quotes:

Which class at Haas influenced you the most?

[00:08:36] The most influential course I took at Haas was negotiations with Holly Schroth. I'm negotiating now every day. My job is essentially to negotiate. So with that, I don't think about any other course that I would rather take a test than the negotiation. That was eye-opening because, as an Israeli, they're teaching you tactics around negotiation, which I found very different from the tactics taught in US-based schools and definitely at Haas. That was super refreshing, and it was hard. It was hard, and it was challenging at the beginning to find myself in situations where I needed to adapt. I need to figure out a different way to approach things if I want to be successful. That's one of the classes that I've been using since then.

What does a venture capitalist’s day-to-day operation look like?

[00:16:56] In general, an investor needs to divide his time between looking and listening for new opportunities; depending on what exactly is your role, whether you are in one of those funds or principal and later, director or general partner, you need to manage your time. 

His advice to fellow Haasies or other students who want to have a successful career.

[00:24:39] I think people need to be vulnerable. They need to open themselves to the ideas of what they are going to see and learn and be open-minded about networking and the people that they're going to meet during those couple of years or three or four years at school, as those are the years that you don't really know who you're going to meet. You don't know where the next opportunity will come and how you're going to meet your next employer or a reference to a new employer. I always had a plan in my mind, and I needed to follow it, but the reality is that nothing really went according to the plan, but it was parallel, and I was open enough to expose myself to other options.  

Show Links:

• Oshri Kaplan on LinkedIn
• Oshri Kaplan on Twitter

She is passionate about driving change for industry leaders and impacting customers globally. Jamie brings her learnings from working with iconic brands Sony Electronics, Electronic Arts, Walmart, and Nike to her current role at a sustainable fashion brand, Everlane, as Head of Digital Experience.

We also delve into why Jamie decided to take her MBA when she's already being offered leadership roles in huge companies. Listen to her story to know how she managed to finish her MBA while still fulfilling her duties at work.

Episode Quotes:

On why she went to business school even when she was already working with big brands

[00:13:48] I wanted to learn from a broader set of people from very diverse backgrounds. Haas was that ideal destination for me. You have a lot of top-tier tech talent, but at the same time, you have people from all walks of life, such different people and different backgrounds. And I felt that the learning environment could challenge me as a business leader and shape the way I think differently that might not be homogenous to other very similar people in the retail e-commerce space. So that was the big draw, that diversity of thinking that could be achieved in a Haas experience and MBA.

On transitioning from Nike to Everlane

[00:31:00] I realized I've been doing the big company thing for a long time, essentially my whole career. Why not take a shot and a chance now to be a part of a high-growth organization that can still drive impact as an industry leader? Thinking about sustainable fashion, I believe Everlane has a unique position in that space, changes the conversation around radical transparency and sustainability, and starts fighting climate change. Being a part of a purpose-driven organization and a smaller business unit with really fast growth and growth potential was compelling.

Advice for students who want to build a career in consumer goods, apparel, or digital space

[00:33:37] There really isn't one true path that could lead you to success. Have a clear understanding of what you foresee your career to look like. That could be at a digital consulting agency, late-stage startup, or large enterprise. Each one is going to teach you something different. Don't be afraid to explore different routes that could teach you or give you the experiences to lead you to where you want to be in the next 5 to 10 years. Have a clear goal of what that end-game or outline looks like, and always be flexible along the way.

Show Links:

• Jamie Lee on LinkedIn
• Global Network of Advanced Management
• UC Berkeley Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC)

Laila is the Chief People Officer at Allbirds, where she is responsible for guiding and strengthening the company's unique, mission-based culture. She wrote Strong Like Water: How I Found the Courage to Lead with Love in Business and in Life at a time when she experienced the grief of losing loved ones yet gained powerful realizations as a mother and business leader. In her view, connecting to our common humanity and bringing hearts to the workplace is the key to creating exceptional organizations.

Listen to this episode as Sean and Laila exchange inspiring thoughts on recruitment and its changes from the industrial to the information age, holistic leadership, and emotional resilience.

Episode quotes

On creating the post-pandemic hybrid workplace

[00:15:05] I think a post-pandemic hybrid workplace and meeting greater flexibility in work is all about a very integrated holistic leadership style that can balance being empathetic and caring— compassionate while at the same time focusing on growing the business and holding people accountable. And while the two might seem like they're on opposite ends of the spectrum, they're really not. They're more like the DNA strands of a helix that are intertwined. I'm always drawing these two intersecting circles where I have business on one side and people on the other, and so there's an overlap, and that's the sweet spot. And for all of us, it's finding that mix, that alchemy that works for us, given our personal style, we all have it. It's just figuring out how to play in the middle. 

On treating employees as a team, rather than as a family

[00:18:24] While you may have made great friends that you think of as family, we're not a family because you can't quit your family. You can't leave your family. We're really a team, and not to denigrate the connections and relationships because being a high-performing team, when you ask people, what are the most inspirational times in their life where they have the greatest connections, it's usually when they're part of a team where they're trying to tackle a really tough challenge, whether it's in sports or business, and they came together and were able to overcome whatever this thing was. And that's beautiful.

On creating a balance between caring for people and communicating their areas for improvement

[00:19:46] The challenge is the counterbalance to being empathetic and being able to hold your boundaries. Because if you don't, then you're merging. I think there is a way that you can care for the person and keep your connection to the person while at the same time delivering a message that they're not meeting expectations or that something needs to improve. It really is as much an art as it is a science to drop into connection and show that you care.

On how she picked the title for her book

[00:24:43] I chose the title Strong Like Water after Lao Tzu's The Tao Te Ching it's verse 78, right? Be like water. Be like water is really about how water is actually very powerful, but in a gentle way. And in it, he says water is fluid, soft, and yielding, but water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield. As a rule, water is fluid, soft, and yielding, which will overcome whatever is rigid and hard. And he said that this is a paradox that what is soft is strong. And when I read that, I thought that's it. And I realized that really life, in general, is all about reconciling these dualities, where we fall into these false paradoxes where we think I'm either weak or I'm strong. But the reality is like the yin yang symbol; there is no hard, there is no soft. It just depends on your viewpoint. We are all both. 

Show Links:

• Laila Tarraf on LinkedIn
• Laila Tarraf Official Website
• Strong Like Water™ How I Found the Courage to Lead with Love in Business and in Life

Élida Bautista is the Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer at Berkeley Haas. She leads strategic initiatives for students, faculty, and staff to create an inclusive climate and equip students to lead in a diverse world.

This episode highlights the importance of diversity among the faculty and student body in a learning institution that produces global business leaders.

Episode quotes:

On why college is a big risk for students who come from low-income families

00:16:10] The expectation was to financially contribute to the family. Because I was making a choice to go to college and not be in a position to contribute financially, I also was not in a position to ask for anything. It felt like a risk because there was no choice but to succeed. Failure was not an option.

On creating programs that produce Ph.D. students and attract faculty who are rooted in diversity, equity, and inclusion

[00:34:02] Ph.D. program takes at least five years, depending on the student. So by the time somebody joins the faculty ranks and is teaching in that core course, it might take a few years to see the effects of what we put down now. But we have to start at least, you know, obviously, this is overdue, but at the very least we need to start to invest in that now, so that we see the fruits of those labors down the road, while we simultaneously make Haas a place that's appealing for faculty who want to do research that is rooted in DEI, who want to mentor students across a variety of identities that have continued to be under-represented. 

On mentoring as a way for alumni and current students to get more involved and promote DEI

[37:12:92] Mentoring is always another way that people can give back. If you don't identify as somebody from an underrepresented group and you are in a position of privilege and power in your respective organization and the leadership position - that's the opportunity to find somebody in your organization or at Haas. To mentor them and help them have access to those pathways that they wouldn't otherwise have access to.

Show Links:

• Élida Bautista on LinkedIn
• Élida Bautista on Berkeley Haas

Neeraj also shares some of his experiences growing up in the Bay Area with his immigrant parents, working at DLJ (Donaldson, Lufkin, and Jenrette), and then at TrueCar. He emphasizes how his background in investment banking and focus on tracking and measuring KPIs helped him transition from CRO to CMO and finally as CEO. Make sure to tune in until the end to find out about his 15 minutes of fame with Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant!

Episode Quotes:

How Haas Evened Out the Playing Field for Career Opportunities at Investment Banking

[00:03:26] Investment banking was like Google or Facebook, or wherever it was, five, 10 years ago from an undergraduate perspective. And to compete against the East Coast Ivy League Schools from a west coast perspective, Haas really helped level the playing field there.

On How Race Affects Access to Healthcare

[00:25:28] So, the U.S. population is about 65% white, 14% Latino, 12% black, and maybe five, or six percent Asian, something like that. But orthodontia work is like 80 to 90% white, the people who are getting it done in the communities that we all know are privileged, the higher income, and all these things. And when I realized that byte®, one of the first things I did was try to analyze. It’s literally 64% to 63% white, 15% Latino, 13% black, 5% to 6% Asians. Literally, that's our customer base. And you start to realize like, “Wow”. We as a country, we as a company, and we, as individuals, need to figure out a way more and more to break down some of these historic barriers that were created decades ago. And figure out a way to make oral healthcare more accessible and affordable to folks. 

Practical Areas in Life Where Oral Healthcare Matters

[00:29:19] I spoke to Bumble and some dating sites as well, they've done a lot of analysis on this. Women, I think it's through a survey that Bumble or Matched did, won't go on a second date with a guy if they have bad teeth. 72% of women said they wouldn't do that. Job interviewers, you probably don't want to say it out loud, but subconsciously, or consciously it makes an impression, right? If that person doesn't take care of their teeth, how are they going to take care of this job? Right?

When the Dentists Fear Became Their Pivot

[00:30:47] Before the pandemic started, I talked to a bunch of these big DSO, dental service organizations. They hated what we were doing. They said, you can't do this over, telemedicine or at home. And, and then as soon as the pandemic happened, they realized nobody could come into their offices. What were they doing? They were doing Google hangout, consults, Invisalign over zoom, all these different things because it was interfering with their monthly income.

Making Oral Healthcare More Accessible: byte®'s Moving Forward Goal

[00:35:04] We want to make oral care more accessible to consumers. At scale, we want to build technology and systems to allow that to happen. And we want to bring dentists, GPs, and orthodontist into that platform in the long run.

Show Links:

• Neeraj Gunsagar on LinkedIn
• Neeraj Gunsagar on Twitter
• byte® Official Website

In this episode, our guest discusses how entrepreneurs can make a difference in people's lives and the world as a whole.

Episode quotes:

On what prompted him to start RippleWorks

00:00:42] RippleWorks started seven years ago. I had one of those moments in life. I was having a conversation with my daughter, who was turning 13, and we talked about how to make the world a better place. And I was building a mobile shopping app, which didn't feel consistent with my purpose in life. So I made a big career change and started to explore how I might better use my time. And that's how I founded RippleWorks.

How do you help social entrepreneurs scale their companies?

[00:2:42] How we do it is that we at RippleWorks, vet for the best ventures in the world. We work with the CEO to figure out their top three challenges so we know whatever we do will have an impact on them. We staff all the project managers called Venture Growth Managers who will sweat all the details. Then we bring in a Silicon Valley expert who has solved that problem before that the CEO is facing, with scrappy resources in their career, who will volunteer two to five hours a week for the next month to four months, working on this problem. You, as the expert, get that amazing feeling of leveraging your skillset to give back. You, as a venture, have that problem solved and you probably formed a new friendship and advisor for life.

On why he decided to get an MBA

[00:08:07] I had a moment in the mirror when I was staring at myself and talking with my daughter. I did not like the path I was on. I didn't want to be a real estate broker. I didn't feel like I was adding value. So business school was a chance for me to reevaluate if I am on the right path? And that's a hundred percent why I went back. Didn't matter that I was building a career. I was heading down a path that was not gonna make me feel good. And either I subconsciously, or maybe a little consciously, knew that. And I don't believe in pursuing paths that aren't consistent with what gets you excited.

On how RippleWorks select social ventures to work with

[00:24:01] We look at the impact of a venture and there's three elements to the impact of a venture to pick who we're gonna work with. The first is the depth of impact on a human being. If we're helping a farmer in Northern Nigeria, how much are we increasing their income so they can move out of extreme poverty to poverty or poverty to lower middle class? So first is the depth of impact. The second is the breadth of impact. How many people are we impacting with that depth? And then the third is the target population. We are interested in helping people who are struggling with life. 

Show Links:

• Doug Galen on LinkedIn
• RippleWorks Official Website
• CNN Climate Change Quiz

Brett is MBA 2020 and Co-Founder and CEO of Skilful.ly, an employment platform that focuses on demonstrated in-demand job skills, science-backed cognitive strengths, and drive to hustle. Through this platform, skilled job seekers can access opportunities that are otherwise only accessible to university graduates.

Listen to this podcast to discover how Brett and his team started creating an equitable and efficient hiring process for recruiters and job-seeking candidates.

Episode quotes:

What is Skilful.ly and how does it provide an equitable opportunity to job seekers?

[00:00:33] Skillful.ly at its core is building a more equitable alternative to allow the employment platforms that are out there today. And we reached that equity by focusing on the demonstration of relevant job skills first and foremost.

[00:01:31] It is built around the premise that what really matters and what's really most representative of someone's potential in a particular job is not the match in some of those factors that have become the heuristics, that have become the metrics that those systems really based themselves off of, but rather the affirmative confirmation that you actually have the skills that are required for a particular job. 

What do you consider the most important aspect of becoming a startup founder?

[00:35:10] I think what gets lost is just how meaningful it is and how important it is to find the team that you want to work with to build those relationships, to invest in them. I think that is maybe the hardest challenge, but the most rewarding pursuit in terms of the benefits that have accrued from that is to spend a lot of time and a lot of thought on how to build that team. That is the secret to your long-term success, as opposed to any idea that's locked up between your ears.

Show Links:

• Brett Waikart on LinkedIn
• Skillful.ly Official Website

Brad is MBA 09 and the Founder and CEO of Brightside, a company that provides expert depression and anxiety treatment from home comfort.

Listen to this podcast with Brad Kittredge as he tackles the gaps in our health care systems. He impacts the digital health space by building a whole new type of mental health care delivered with telemedicine technology and data.

Episode quotes:

How did the pervasive issue of lack of quality mental health care affect you on a personal level?

[00:06:55] It hit home for me because my father has managed depression my whole life. And I saw the ups and downs that he had as he went over ten years from seeking care to finding a treatment that worked. And so, it just really set me off on this mission of how do I take these tools that I'm excited about and this trend of empowering people to drive their healthcare and apply it to really fixing mental healthcare delivery. That one event of having a personal health setback turned into a positive and set me on a track to do work that I find really interesting and rewarding. 

Did you ever doubt that putting all your time, energy, and resources into digital health would pay off? 

[00:11:58] I never felt afraid of failing. Maybe that was something I already had, or maybe that was something I learned in part at Haas, being around great people and the things we talk about that you can't do anything great without trying and failing. And so I wasn't worried about that. It didn't hold me back. I, of course, had tremendous self-doubt about whether I could do it or what are my chances of succeeding. But that allure of really trying to build something and create something from scratch, and honestly, the thing that got me over the edge was picturing the people out there that needed help and didn't have any solutions today, and the potential impact we'd have, just feeling that inspiration or even imagining that made it really easy for me to want to take the risk. And it's the thing that really keeps me motivated and going every day.

On what inspires him to continue Brightside on difficult days

[00:14:44] It always comes back to the impact. There are hard days where I go look at our reviews page because the voice of the customer and the feedback of the impact that we're having never ceases to make me feel happy and inspired, and is the reason we're doing it. 

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Brightside Official Website

After leaving the Marines at 22, he founded Vin Ambassador, a travel and events business. Growing up with an entrepreneurial father and a tourism background, he used these connections and experiences to offer something unique. But how did his Haas experience prepare him for this pivot? How did he survive the pandemic, and how did he recalibrate to a new direction? 

Discover how he forged his way to entrepreneurship and how he keeps reinventing himself to adapt to the changes, challenges, and struggles life throws at him. 

Episode Quotes:

Did your childhood dream to become part of the military live up to your expectation?

[00:18:49] The organization is, is fantastic. The pride that everyone has in wearing the uniform is palpable. The standards that the Marines hold each other are pretty high, and to feel like you're part of a lineage is just really strong. The part that I wasn't expecting was —well, let me back up and say, the U.S. Marine Corps is not just an organization it's also a tool. You know, a hammer is not inherently wrong. A hammer to build a house is a phenomenal tool—a hammer to tear down a house, something else.

How did you end up as an entrepreneur and in the tourism and F&B sector?

[00:27:04] I don't know what I want to do next, but I want to learn more about wine, and I want to keep traveling. I think somehow that evolved into this frame that entrepreneurship would be the next great hurdle. This is the next way to identify that identity I would find for myself, the next hill I would climb. I was thinking about how do I put these two things together?

How did you pivot to a nonprofit?

[01:32:26] I’m working for a nonprofit, which I was not expecting to say when I came to Haas as an entrepreneur. Or even when I was looking around at potential pivots. But this is a unique nonprofit; it’s called Connected Places Catapult. It is the accelerator for the future of mobility and smart cities in the U.K. It does a lot of things because it has the capacity to not just run startup accelerators but to do research. To do research that potentially affects policy that can create a path for not just any startups but ones that have public good associated with them. As the Design Futures team lead, designing the strategy is to understand what those paths look like and create clear visions of the future scenarios that we all want to work towards.

Despite the many changes in your career path, how were you able to pivot quickly?

[01:34:27] A great deal of balance. Without balancing your life, you will become lost. If not right away, you’ll eventually find yourself off track. If your life is unbalanced you will find yourself going down paths, not necessarily good paths, that you are not expecting to go down. When you have balance in your life you can explore. You’re able to go down different paths. But there’s intentionality around that exploration.

Show Links:

• Andrés Martell on LinkedIn
• Andrés Martell on Twitter
• Catapult Connected Places

Prior to founding Clearspeed, Alex served in the U.S. Marine Corps leading infantry, reconnaissance, and special operations units over 4 operational deployments. He also spent 2 years as a Team Leader in Nuru International, an organization that aims to end extreme poverty in remote and rural communities. 

Alex was inspired by a group of farmer entrepreneurs who bravely combat economic challenges every day through social ventures. He exited from his first venture and became the CEO and co-Founder of Clearspeed, an AI-enabled technology that identifies fraud in voice conversations. 

In this episode, we'll hear about Alex’s journey from the U.S. Marine Corps to entrepreneurship.

Episode quotes:

What led you to be a startup founder, given your US Marine Corps background?

[00:07:35] I realize I had a lot of gaps in my own knowledge and understanding and had no clue what a balance sheet was or an income statement. I didn't know what marketing was, the fundamentals of business we all learned at Haas. Entrepreneurship is really hard. It's a good thing to teach; it's really hard to practice. It can be learned. It can be done, but the first element has to be risk appetite and courage, and sometimes stupidity, but that first startup ended with a new beginning to the next thing.

What he learned from his first startup venture

[00:12:02] I realize I had a lot of gaps in my own knowledge and understanding and had no clue what a balance sheet was or an income statement. I didn't know what marketing was, the fundamentals of business we all learned at Haas. Entrepreneurship is really hard. It's a good thing to teach. It's really hard to practice. It can be learned. It can be done, but the first element has to be risk appetite and courage, and sometimes stupidity but that first startup ended with a new beginning to the next thing.

What was the inspiration behind the concept of your company, Clearspeed?

[00:19:58] The genesis of Clearspeed came about by meeting other veterans from the special operations world that were working on technology designed to help filter and clear people, and then taking that technology, working on it, enhancing it, validating it, productizing it, and bringing it to the market as a way for hiring to happen better and faster remotely.

How does Clearspeed provide value to the other businesses?

[00:21:45] Clearspeed is a technology company that identifies fraud and security risks using voice analytics. We have a very sophisticated AI-enabled software that's able to capture sound and transform energy into a model and understand when fraud is occurring, where that risk is happening, it's like a check engine light.

Show Links:

• Alex Martin on LinkedIn
• Clearspeed Official Website

Our guest, Commander Kelly Deutermann takes us back to a point in her life where she felt that no matter what skills she brings to the table, someone will always doubt her capabilities. Instead of being discouraged, she trained in the US Coast Guard and earned the respect of her colleagues when she was promoted as an Instruction Pilot. 

Kelly is MBA 2017 and currently a Program Examiner at the Office of Management and Budget. She talks about achieving things with extreme difficulties because of gender bias. Kelly shares how her time in the military led her to pursue an MBA and how she chose Berkeley-Haas because it resonates with her specific values. She also gives insight into how other women can focus on both their families and their careers.

Listen to this episode to hear an inspirational journey of perseverance, discipline, and hard work.

Episode Quotes:

What is the proudest moment in your professional career?

[00:05:52] Becoming an instructor pilot. The next step after you become an aircraft commander is becoming an instructor pilot. And that's when you're the cadre of unit instructor, pilots, and your operations officer and your commanding officers say yes, this person has not only the skill set to teach younger folks but that demeanor, like if you think of bedside manner for clinicians of any sort, like you need to be able to communicate with people, you have to be able to connect with people. You have to be able to meet them where they are so that you help those light bulbs go off. 

Why did you choose Haas?

[00:15:04] When I was looking at schools to apply to, when I went to the Haas website, I saw the defining principles and I was like, wait a minute, these seem to really describe me. And I just became more and more curious about it. And when I compare that to all of the other schools, all the other schools seemed very generic in their descriptions of the schools and the student bodies, like teamwork, collaboration, but no school had so firmly and well-defined principles that would guide their student body and the program. And so, I went all in. I was like, oh my God, I got to get to Haas. I got to get there because that seems like it's the place for me.

What tips can you give to those who are pursuing success in their careers and personal lives?

[00:30:10] At this point, to be honest, it's a big balance between what works for my family and then what works for me as a professional in the coast guard. Life doesn't get simpler as you get older, you have a family and you have a partner, who's got a career of his own, his or her own. You have to find balance with that. And so I'm doing the best I can to find that balance.

Show Links:

• Kelly Deutermann on LinkedIn
• Kelly Deutermann on Berkeley MBA Blog

Kas graduated from the EMBA program at Haas School of Business. He started as an R&D tech and now serves as the VP of Corporate Development at Fortera Corporation. By listening to this episode, find out how Kas Farsad developed an environmentally friendly and economically feasible society.

Episode quotes:

What made you pursue a career path in cement technology?

[00:03:41] I went on a couple of interviews, found a laboratory technician job, essentially running analytical equipment, which is something that material scientists tend to do. Stumbled upon a cement company that was trying to change the world, basically develop a new way to make cement that was eco-friendly. Not a lot of people have a lot of cement background. Material scientists are obviously well-equipped. So, I ended up joining. The company was called Calera. Back then I was employee number 5. And that first job actually dictated a lot of my beliefs. A lot of the industries that I eventually started tackling and a lot of the problems that I started appreciating needed solutions, needed innovation. 

On the cement industry's potential to reduce global CO2 emissions.

[00:16:45] The biggest thing we're trying to do right now is just build awareness around this cement problem, but also the cement opportunity. There's not that many industries in the world that if you do somehow reduce CO2 emissions, it's a big number. A lot of people do a lot of small things, recycling, and it's all important to do. And if we all do it, it'll add up. But this industry has the ability to successfully adopt a new chemistry that doesn't release as much CO2. We're talking 5% of the globe's CO2 emissions produced. And this industry is so good at adopting. When they adopt a new technology or a new chemistry, they can do it fast. We have all these goals to get to net zero emissions by 2030 or 2050. This is an industry that can do that.

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Fortera Official Website
• Google Scholar

Jaime served as VP of Partnership and Programs in Great Place to Work and Customer Success Regional Manager at LinkedIn. He currently helps fresh graduates land career opportunities as SVP of Customer and People Success at Hive Diversity, a virtual recruitment platform. 

Listen to this episode to know what inspired Jaime to serve the community as he runs for State Senate in California's 10th District.

Episode Quotes:

Your family has a small business in Mexico, why did you choose a very uncomfortable life as a teenager in America?

 [00:02:26] "My dad set this example for me to just always dream, always chase what you want. Hustle for what you're looking for, like work hard. And my mom, very same way, same things. But she also added this layer of always serving the community."

On the role of the community as he pursued education and career independently

[00:05:45] "I'd relied a lot on the people that were there once I got there. I relied on the family. I was going to high school during the day because I was on my own. I had a full-time job after that. So, I had a very different experience. But teachers at high school knew about that. Eventually, they knew that I was my own guardian. They would just come in and say, you know, 'Do you need some help, Jaime? I know that you got a lot. You can do that homework tomorrow.'

And it was just awesome because it was like those little moments that just taught me to appreciate the community that I had around me at all times. And I still bring that to this day. I still believe educators are amazing nation builders. My wife is an educator, and I think they're amazing, but I had some community that helped me out."

Having a lot of experience in business, what led you to enter politics?

[00:24:54] "Politics and business have always just been super fascinating for me because in politics, if you do it really well, and if you do it for the right intentions, it is to empower people. It is to move the levers of government through laws, policies, and movements so that more people get more power. To get elected is not to get power, but to give power, as I always think about it.

Business is very similar in many ways too. If business is done really well, it is to create a sustainable positive agent of change in society. And that's largely why I've only worked at organizations where I believe in what they do. Not just because it's a good paycheck, but because I believe they're actually doing good to society and are able to sustain that because of the business model they have."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Zepeda for Senate Official Website

Listen to this conversation on aligning professional experience in philanthropic work and leadership to address the barriers to equitable education.

Episode quotes:

What drives you to support fair access to quality education for students?

[00:01:59] "Growing up in Oakland, my parents always really drove home the importance of education. And I think all parents want the best for their kids. From an early age, the message was always, “Education is something that no one can ever take away.” 

On working in the public education space

[00:16:45] "I've always been very curious about Berkeley as an engine of social mobility. The California public university system is a jewel and not many other states have invested in this way. And as someone who started my non-profit career, I really hit my stride when I started to align both my professional experience in philanthropy and in leadership, but then also drawing on that personal motivation and inspiration around the opportunity that education can provide and the doors that it can open. I found myself getting more and more drawn to that space. 

The opportunity to work at this kind of scale within the public education system at the graduate school of education, where we are producing teachers and principals and researchers and policymakers, was just a really exciting opportunity to continue working in a space, but from a very different place."

Show Links: 

• LinkedIn
• Berkeley Haas

Orion Parrott innovated the mortgage industry by providing a digital solution to the arduous financial documentation process, then he went on to co-found a luxury real estate firm. Orion touches on the lessons he learned as a serial entrepreneur and EMBA 2014 alum at Haas School of Business.

In this episode, Orion reveals how he dealt with challenges in his startup ventures. Leveraging technology, he does everything in his power to make acquiring real estate possible for more people.

Episode quotes:

With a successful career as an engineer, what motivated you to start your own business?

"I feel like it was something that was always a part of me in a way. The reason changed throughout the years. Originally, probably because I saw my father starting businesses. And later, as an engineer, I noticed I wanted to have more influence and control over the way things get directed and decided. And I could see that things were happening at the business level and not at the engineering level in some cases."

Why is passion essential to entrepreneurship?

"I started this business called Lendsnap, looking for something that I could grow as a scalable startup. In the end, it was not a great fit. I had a hard time keeping my passion for that. As a startup, it's really important to find something that you're very passionate about. And I think I was probably a little challenged in that area at the time because it really comes down to mindset. And I think you need to believe that you can have it all, including being passionate about what you're working on.

I wanted to start a very practical business because I thought that I had more chance of success. But the chances of success were farmed somewhat because it wasn't something that I could stay as passionate about."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Berkeley Haas
• Shared Estates Asset Fund - Kemble Bershires Project

Eric grew up in New York but spent some time in Italy, originally where his father was from. He studied History and Legal Studies at Washington University in St. Louis.

In this episode, Eric shares his career experiences from being a contractor at Facebook, an Ops Specialist and Insights Lead at Pinterest, and now an Insights Manager at Masterclass. He tells us some fascinating details about being part of the insights team and what it's like to be on the other side of the table.

Eric also talks about what led him to get an MBA, what he's excited about in his new role in Masterclass, and his favorite masterclasses.

Episode Quotes:

His decision to get an MBA

"My primary motivation for starting the part-time MBA program was really around knowledge. I'd never really taken a marketing class or a strategy class, obviously, our core to an MBA. I just felt like those were huge gaps in knowledge myself. And it actually ended up being very helpful for transitioning on the insight side and move into a more business-focused role."

How does an Insights Team utilize data?

"We try to do a kind of a broad read of an audience or a topic to really find different insights that would be relevant to different industries. And so, that's more of an open-ended process. It takes a lot of time because you need to start with tons of unfiltered data and insights, and when you're really trying to look for those meaningful nuggets of information that are insights and not just random pieces of data, but things that tie together, things that illustrate a larger trend, are statistically significant, you get very excited when you find those and they're really compelling, but it takes a lot of time."

What's exciting about his new role at Masterclass

"What really got me excited about this role was that, in just talking to people at the company, using it myself, there was such strong overlap between what I enjoyed about Pinterest of like people using the service to explore their passions and having a positive feeling about what they're doing.

It's entertaining, but you're learning something new. You're exploring something that you're interested in. I find that very much like a compelling value proposition."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Gordon Ramsay Teaches Cooking
• Chris Voss Teaches the Art of Negotiation
• Werner Herzog Teaches Filmmaking
• Jimmy Chin Teaches Adventure Photography

Early on, Sini learned the role of adaptability to a new environment when his family fled Former Yugoslavia and found refuge in Austria. Later, he would earn an MBA at Haas School of Business and work with BMW, Lucid Motors, and Apple. He teaches how one can adapt to technology without being dictated by their devices in his book Untethered.

In this episode, Sini promotes being a responsible tech user by intentionally reframing habits to overcome distractions.

Episode quotes:

On choosing Haas for his MBA

[00:02:53] I really wanted to be in Silicon Valley and experience the culture there. I always had this passion for future technologies and how they can enhance our lives. As a young kid, I was just fascinated by what we were doing out in Silicon Valley, and that fascination just kept on going. As I was working on electric cars, it became pretty clear to me that the core business of cars was endangered to be taken over by Silicon Valley. I decided that I really wanted to be part of that movement, whatever was happening on the west coast. And so, I decided to apply to Haas. I was so welcomed by the people there I immediately had this feeling of home. And so, it was pretty clear to me that I made the right choice being there.

How do you have a healthy relationship with your digital devices?

[00:18:48] in my book, the first step is focused on awareness. The second is focused very much on yourself. And then the last part is focused on changing the device.

Over time, we're capable of developing a healthy relationship with most humans. It takes some years in many cases to get there. And I think we're in a similar situation right now with the smartphone. During the past decade, many of us had a pretty toxic relationship with our smartphones, kind of codependent. But in any toxic or codependent relationship, there is a breaking point. I think we are at that breaking point where a lot of people are gaining awareness of what's going on. We have the awareness now. The second step is working on ourselves to get to a stage where we can have a healthy relationship with a digital device. That's why the core of my book focuses on that self-development. And then the third part is very focused on the tools. What can you do to your smartphone to make it a better partner?

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Website
• Berkeley Haas
• Untethered: Overcome Distraction, Build Healthy Digital Habits, and Use Tech to Create a Life You Love

In this episode, Lo tells us more about Plexo Capital and its goals. Plexo is a Portuguese word that means intricate vascular network, which is what the company is trying to build.

He also shares a bit of his origin, a rundown of his career post-Haas, and how he became a venture capitalist.

We also hear about Plexo's initiative, the GPx program. It provides free video-based self-learning content to teach great investors a new set of skills necessary to transition into great fund managers.

Episode quotes:

On becoming a venture capitalist

"It wasn't something that was on my radar, but I immediately gravitated towards it because I think that's actually more interesting being on the front end of the process, as opposed to the back end of the process."

Giving free access to GPx

"We feel that charging for it presents yet another barrier for the type of diverse general partners that we're looking to back. So, this is our way of giving back to the community - by providing the content, training, and feedback to make that transition from being a great investor to a great fund manager."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Plexo Capital
• GPx

Andrew shares his background growing up in a military family and his time as a US Army Special Forces Officer. He also talks about why he ended up at Haas after leaving the military and how his career in the tech space took off after he graduated.

Andrew also tells us about his time in Afghanistan, where he met an Afghan Army Special Forces Soldier who eventually became his friend. Amid the current situation in the country, Andrew started a fundraiser to help his friend and his family attempt to escape Taliban persecution and land safely in the United States. 

Episode Quotes:

What a business school acceptance can do to jumpstart your career

“It's actually very hard to get someone in technology to hire you out of the military. I struggled very much trying to get an interview, and the funniest thing about it was as soon as I got the Berkeley acceptance, I popped that thing on my resume and got an interview. No one was giving me the time of day before that. It was just a testament to that. Once Berkeley's willing to sign off on you, you have the street cred. Some of my friends call it the technology stink. I was able to get into the program and hadn't learned anything really yet, but all of a sudden, everyone's taking my calls and took me seriously.”

How you can extend your help to the people of Afghanistan

“You can support in two ways. One, keep asking these questions of what's the plan? You can secure an airport all you want, but if people can't get to it, that's not a great solution. And it's not just about America. It's about tens of thousands of people that helped us along the way. And if you think about our ability to have a strong level of national security on the global scale, who's going to want to partner with us after this? Who's going to trust that they're going to be taken care of when they help us? We need to fix it. So, that's one part of it.

The second part of it is continuing to look for nonprofit organizations that are raising money to get people out of there, to support them after they land. There's a lot of opportunities out there to help these organizations.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Gofundme Mirwais
• Gofundme: Emergency Afghan Rescue Mission

Nicole has been doing DEI professionally for more than 20 years. In this episode, she shared her definition of diversity, equity, and inclusion and why creating DEI in the workplace became her passion.

This passion ultimately led Nicole to found Vaya Consulting. She started her own consulting company where she could go and do DEI on her terms and rules.

Furthermore, Nicole shared the challenges she faced when she began Vaya and gave us insights on how they carefully choose their clients. She also let us in on how they address wellness and mental health in their workplace, which is essential during this time.

Episode Quotes:

Her definition of DEI in a nutshell

"Diversity is you get a bunch of different people together, and you focus a lot on race. Equity is how we disperse resources and make decisions that ultimately are fair and point us towards outcomes we want. Inclusion is how do people feel when they're inside. It's about shaping your cultural norms around the actual shape of the people who make up your company."

Why psychological safety is currently her favorite entry point into DEI

"The most fundamental thing we need in a group is psychological safety. All people from all backgrounds want to feel safe. So, I start everything that was psychological safety. It fundamentally means that you're able to take risks without fear of repercussions, that you can say things and try things and point out problems without fear of the floor dropping out from under you. That's what it means in the workplace."

What people can do/change to create DEI in the workplace

"No matter what organization you're in and what your background is, no matter how involved or not involved you've been, there is a group of people of color in your company who is talking about this, whether it's been formalized or not. Get connected to that group and find out what's up. It's the same thing as any community organizing. Somebody else is already doing this work and has a good lay of the land and connect with them to see what they've tried, what they need support with, and what you can do to help."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Vaya Consulting

Holly tells us a little about her history and what brought her to Haas nearly three decades ago to teach Negotiations.

She also speaks about what makes a good negotiator, her research on Gen Z negotiations, and leaves listeners with some parting wisdom.

Episode Quotes:

What makes a good negotiation?

"What makes a good negotiation is that both sides walk away satisfied."

Holly's definition of negotiation

"My definition is sharing information in order to problem-solve to reach mutually satisfying agreements. I'm not here to talk you into anything, but I'm here to help you think a different way and come to the conclusion yourself that this direction may or may not be best for you."

How to influence someone in a positive way

"The best way to influence someone positively is to ask good questions to get them to think differently. You have to understand their thinking so that you can work with that and understand if that's not based on factual information or there's some other information that could be helpful for the person to understand, and then you can work through it. But if you never find out what someone is thinking or why they hold the position they do, then you really cannot influence the person."

Show Links:

• Website
• Haas Website
• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Sang opens up about his multicultural background - growing up in Australia and then coming back to Korea to attend college in a very elite university before going to the US to get his MBA at Haas and experience the Western culture.

Sang also shares his extensive career in the mobile industry. He joined Samsung right after college as a Product Planner, then transferred to SK Telecom and worked as an OEM Partnership Development, eventually moving to HTC to become Technology Program Manager.

We also hear about his company, Qeexo. Sang tells us its early beginnings, how they scaled the business and explains what machine learning is all about.

Finally, Sang tells us the good and bad in managing a company and the challenges and things he learned as a CEO. We also get a tip on how you can tell that you are hiring the right people for your team!

Episode Quotes:

His decision to get an MBA

"One thing that gave me the thirst to come to the US for MBA was not having that business education background. Going to this department where most people have a business background, and you're one of the few people with an engineering background, you get to question all the decisions you make. Are those people making those decisions because they got that education from school, or they may have learned something different from school that I never learned? You always have this question about your own decision. And I hated that.

I wanted to step up, and Haas really opened my eyes. I believe that it was worth every penny, for me at least, because I've started my own company, and I don't think I would've been able to do it without the Haas experience."

Realizing what his role is as the CEO of the company

"At first, when I was starting the company, I thought my role was going to be product management and sales and maybe strategy. But when we first started, we already knew what product we wanted to launch, so there was no strategy work that I needed to do. But as we grew, I started to learn about what the role of a CEO needs to be to make this business successful. And the thing that I learned is that I'm not a star talent in all of the roles. I'm not a star talent in sales. I'm not a star talent in strategy. I'm probably not the best star talent in product management either. My role is to make sure that I find the star talent and make sure that they perform at their best and work efficiently and effectively as possible."

On finding innovation through diversity

"We want diversity. That's one thing that I picked up from Haas. One of the class professors was talking about where the innovation comes from, or one of the ways to find innovation is when people coming from diverse backgrounds or diverse disciplines intersecting, and during that intersection, you find innovation.

And I thought that was a great way to approach finding innovation because when you're running the company, you actually have the power to find people coming from diverse disciplines and putting them in the same spot. I won't be able to, by myself, get experience in different disciplines and find innovation within myself. But I can find people with different disciplines coming together."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Qeexo

Elisse talked a little about growing up in Philadelphia, what made her take architecture in college, and then going into real estate development. She also shared the story of why she ended up at Haas and what she loves about Oakland.

Elisse also opened up about how the pandemic has taught her to re-evaluate her decisions. You're also going to love the story of how Elisse made it an opportunity to support local black businesses.

Episode Quotes:

Her biggest takeaway having gone through the pandemic:

"I think we've all just had to face our realities in a way that can be uncomfortable. It makes us reevaluate every decision we've made. For me, I've had to reevaluate why I live where I live and where I work and who was in my life, and the different relationships that I had. So, my takeaway from that is just being more selective about those things and being more appreciative and gracious to what I have, where I am, who I have in my life, what I'm doing. It's just been a real eye-opener."

On her experience as co-president of the Black Business Student Association:

"I think it showed me that there's a place in the world for people who are thinking about that whole idea of doing well and doing good. There's a place to be impactful, to think about innovation, and not just for innovation's sake but innovation for all our sakes. That was the greatest thing coming out of that experience."

On raising funds, especially from the Haas community:

"If someone is willing to do it, let's get it done. And what I think people were really responding to is the problem was bigger than just broken windows. We all know that it's a systemic problem, and let's put real dollars and energy and impact into that."

Why black businesses matter:

"When we talk about why black businesses matter and why it's important to apply resources to this, one of the most important things is about innovation and resilience. So, black people sort of lead culture and innovation in a lot of different ways that often aren't monetized, and they're not appreciated.

On the other hand, when you talk about resilience, if you look at the structural issues that black people face as entrepreneurs in terms of access to capital, in terms of credit, in terms of all these different things, it's incredible that we have any black businesses at all. Yet we do. And many of them thrive, and they grow despite all of the changes. They're still finding a way."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Oakland Black Business Fund

Episode quotes:

Why she decided to get an MBA:

"I needed to take a little space to think about what I wanted to be doing. And honestly, when I decided to go to business school, I still had no clue what I wanted to be when I grew up. I just knew that I wanted to go and learn more and continue to round out business skills so that I can think about what I wanted to do next. And I knew that business school would be a great way to do that reflection and figure out ultimately where I wanted to go."

Why Haas?

"When I visited Haas, I was just in love with it. The students were so diverse in their backgrounds and careers. I felt like I would learn a lot and get exposure to new people, careers, ideas. Everyone was so excited to meet me and wanted to tell me how amazing the school was. And so, yeah, it made it feel like home."

On following her gut instinct:

"I don't know if it's like me being competitive or just being very driven; if I know what I want, I'm going to go after it and try to get it. That's just been how I've been since I was a kid. Once I know and have it in my gut, I'm pretty clear that's the direction that I want to go, and I'll do most things within my power to make that happen. That feels pretty accurate with how my career has gone."

How she prepared herself for her new role in the digital world:

"I relied on my strengths, which I think are curiosity, strategic thinking, seeing kind of a broader picture, and relationship building, to just come in and learn as much as possible. And I've continued throughout my time to seek various opportunities to enhance my education. Being able to just kind of bring that rigor to things that I was doing was super helpful."

The importance of representing minority groups in the actual office space:

"Many people are spending so much energy and time, and brain space in the workplace hiding pieces of themselves. And it just doesn't make for, honestly, a productive or happy employee. Being able to bring your authentic self to work is so critical for both your mental health and your team."

"I've been so lucky that I've always felt like I could show up authentically as myself. I try to do that because I've just heard so many stories and so many people who have not been able to do that or have that opportunity or feel scared. And so I think that allowing people to come out of their shells and show them that it's accepted and it's okay. My goal is to show up who I am at work the same way I am outside of work."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• The GenderCool Project
• The Trevor Project
• Athlete Ally
• GLSEN
• Out Foundation
• Basic Rights Oregon

Darren tackled and shared his learnings over the years and how the willingness to put in hard work will eventually pay off. And his definition of perseverance means getting out of your comfort zone, even if you need to face your own fears. 

But does facing your fears mean saying yes to everything? Tune in until the end of the show as they talk about how his experience taught him that great leaders are authentic and how reaching deep inside to know your values will help you prioritize which things to say yes to.

Find nuggets of wisdom in this episode as they talk about self-limiting beliefs and encouraging your team to face their fears and take risks with you.

Episode Quotes:

How do you connect with your tribe better?

"People generally think of communication as voice inflection, how you frame a conversation, project, vision, but I think there's something actually more fundamental than that. It's about humility, curiosity, empathy, and being present. Accepting that other people have value to any conversation. You don't know everything. You don't know the answer to every question. There's something that can be gained from even the rank and file in your organization. I think the same thing holds true for curiosity. The intrinsic curiosity that leaders should have about the world, around them, about the people around them. I think that connects back to humility."

How do you become a great leader?

"The willingness to be introspective. So that gets to the points of being humble, being curious, being more self-aware of yourself and the people around you. You have to be willing to put in the hard work because growing and changing is definitely not easy. It requires two things, which is that desire to be great, which creates that North Star for yourself. The introspection, which allows people to get to who they are as a person. What they need to do to get better. Then they have to put in the work because we can't just think about change."

Thoughts on Surfing and Facing Fears:

"I think to me, the upside for surfing is just too valuable. It makes me think about life. We're so anchored on things we can and can't control. I think I started to have this moment, I don't know if it was lucid or the opposite of that. I realized if I can just truly let go of the things that I can't control, it's like a superpower. In the same thing, it's like when you're surfing. All you can control is what's above the surface."

Show Links:

• Darren on LinkedIn
• His Book: The Savage Leader
• His Company: Group Sixty
• Their Podcast: The Savage Leader Podcast

Episode Quotes:

On how people can get the most out of their lives:

"Get out there and hopefully create opportunities for yourself and align those to your goals. If you can, you can. Make that a positive experience for those around you as well. Be a good thing."

Alan's thoughts on having his sight back:

"I think, of course, obviously if I could have my sight, I'm going to have this completely different career. I'd love to be able to just do basic things, like ride a bike and read a book again. In some ways, I can honestly say probably if I was offered that choice now I'd probably say, “You know what, I'm going to stick with what I've done”. Because having had that experience quite early in my life, it was almost being slightly hyperbolic. I guess the worst thing that could have happened, happened. So at that point, a lot of the fear and apprehension fell away."

On eating the elephant:

“And so day by day. I know that if I can just mentally, just take it a day at a time. Which again is an overused phrase, but it's really true. Then eventually all these days are going to add up and I'll get to the other end.”

Show Links:

• Alan Lock on LinkedIn
• Icarus Originals 
• BlowLeaf 
• Sense 
• Guide Dogs for the Blind 
• Sightsavers International 

During her conversation with host Ellen Chan, Soo discusses Twitter's newest projects and developments. Make sure to tune in until the end because she’ll be sharing her experiences from studying abroad, her advice for current undergrad students, and her relatable experiences on campus!

Episode Quotes:

Do you have regrets in your career?

“When I look at my career, I don't necessarily have regrets. I do think that there are lessons that I wish I'd learned earlier. One of the biggest lessons I've learned in my career is that at the end of the day, it really comes down to relationships and building strong connections with people.”

Her advice for undergrad students on what to expect after graduation and in building their careers:

“I also think that's the beauty of a career. More so than when you're a student, because obviously, when you're a student, you're still trying to figure yourself out. In a career, as you switch teams, companies, or roles, you continue to build it and continue to change it. That's one of the best things about working.”

On how to handle big and small changes that happened during and after the pandemic?

“Celebrate the change. Don't feel tied to anything that necessarily happened during the pandemic that you don't want to take back. But if you have changes that you didn't expect, it's great to celebrate them.”

Show Links:

• Soo Song’s Profile on LinkedIn
• Twitter’s ERG Program
• Blueprint, Technology for Non-Profits

Andrew discusses how leaders are vulnerable to being dehumanized. Check out his tips on how to handle these mental health issues affecting leaders. Listen to the end of the episode as he discusses his experiences with discrimination as a leader and as a business owner. 

The episode ends with a very good discussion on the struggles Asian American leaders face in balancing their eastern influences on collectivism and western influences on individualism.

Episode Quotes:

On Discrimination and Prejudice in the Food Industry:

“I believe that there is bias and prejudice, definitely in business that people don't want to talk about. We're not perfect, but we're trying to fight the good fight. We're not gonna do that much damage in one generation. It takes multi-generational to kind of move the whole industry.”

What’s One Advice He Gives to Young People Who Want to Study Business?

“You want to study business and you want to be a great leader in business? The number one skill you're going to need to have is your people skills.”

Andrew shares tips on handling the stress and pressure of CEOs and founders:

"Every founder has got to get a therapist […] if you can afford one, get one ASAP. The number one thing that hurts[...] most founders, because it happened to me, is when people dehumanize founders and leaders[…] Especially if you get big. I'm going to tell you, people will never understand."

Show Links:

• Andrew Chau on LinkedIn
• Andrew Chau on Instagram
• The Boba Book
• Dare to Lead, Brené Brown
• The Gifts of Imperfection, Brené Brown
• Rising Strong, Brené Brown
• The Boba Guys Official Website
• The Boba Guys Official FB Page
• The Boba Guys Official Instagram Page
• The Boba Guys Official Twitter Page

In honor of AAPI month, the group tackled relevant social issues. Learn how they navigated this situation as leaders of their organization and members of the Asian-American community.

Take note of how they draw inspiration from successful Asian-American founders. They discussed their struggles as leaders in addressing social issues. Tune in until the episode’s end as they tackle how diversity helps build better business outcomes.

Episode Quotes:

On creating a diverse team: 

"On diversity, I don't look at diversity as an HR topic. I look at diversity as to how to build the best possible team that can address what our customers want [...] Diversity is a way for you to be successful, to incorporate the broadest scope of perspectives as possible in everything that you do [...] Diversity is a business imperative. Diversity is not philanthropy.”

Their views on balancing being a CEO, connecting with employees and customers amidst movements and social issues: 

"I think companies can be a very positive influence in terms of shaping, society and shaping culture [...] You can't be purely apolitical. I don't think that's possible." -Roy Ng

"People want connection. People want to understand more than ever. Even customers, your employees, those things matter[...] It's through friction, through conversation that you are able to create more understanding." -Christine Tao

Thoughts as a founder, a member of the AAPI community, and succeeding:

"There are a lot of people who kind of look like you with a similar background. Those who are immigrants, coming into a new country, who are successful entrepreneurs. I think for me, it's also validation. To me paying it forward to kind of fund that next generation of Asian entrepreneurs. That's the reason why I got involved."

Show Links:

• Roy Ng’s LinkedIn Profile
• Official Website of Bond
• Bond as Featured in Fortune.com
• Christine Tao’s LinkedIn Profile
• Christine Tao’s Profile at Sounding Board
• Sounding Board, Coaching Leaders for Business Impact

Learn why leadership development creates a direct impact on business outcomes in the episode and how she made leadership development coaching accessible to all levels of an organization.

Episode Quotes:

Her inspiration for building Sounding Board:

“I ended up seeing just the impact that coaching had on my own development. I brought coaching to the people on my team as well. I was able to build a team that was high-performing... The more people that got exposed to coaching, the better that they would operate. It's great for companies to have a well-equipped leader.”

How can start-ups have access to coaching?

“When you graduated and your start-up needs coaching, check in with your alumni office. They often have a deep network of coaches, facilitators, and folks that can help support alumni around their coaching needs”

Why do people of color and women get overlooked for opportunities?

“You get overlooked sometimes because you don't look and sound like the patterns that other people recognize as leadership, like the prototype...It also becomes easier if you have diverse people that are in leadership positions. There also need to be more women. There need to be more people of color on the other side writing checks. It starts there. Then from there what happens is you attract and impact the other people around in the ecosystem.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Christine Tao’s Profile at Sounding Board
• Lori Mazan, Co-founder and Chief Coaching Officer at Sounding Board
• Maha Ibrahim, General Partner at Canaan
• Sounding Board, Coaching Leaders for Business Impact

Michael and host Sean Li chatted about how mental well-being contributes to productivity and the importance of building a sphere of influence. Besides his professional work, Michael established the John E. Martin Memorial Fellowship and the John E. Martin Mental Healthcare Tech Challenge, a partnership with Google and Haas Healthcare Association.  He discussed how experiences in his personal life and family shaped how he became more self-aware. 

Episode Quotes:

On mental health and well-being is a continuous journey:

“Unlike certain physical issues where you go in for surgery, the issue is addressed and you're good to go thereafter. I think with mental health care, it's this constant journey and you're going through. It’s like this helix. Sometimes it looks like you're going up and sometimes it looks like you're going down, and trusting that you're proceeding forward in the right direction. It’s really one of the things that are so key to your ultimate success.”

What recent stigmas have you witnessed regarding mental health?

I think things are getting better. And I think that's because people are more comfortable sharing that, which is their full self. I bring this up because a lot of times, I’m personally concerned with what I see in social media where, what’s being presented is seemingly one's best life, perfect life. And probably in many ways, nothing to go and do with the majority of that individual's life.

On learning from the younger generation about speaking up on issues surrounding mental health:

“The faster that we go and identify that there are issues, the faster, I think we're going to come up with effective solutions. And it's a bit of like, that first step in the 12 step program where you're going. I'm admitting that I’m no longer in control of this[...]But I certainly think, to go and admit that, is something that our younger generations have a much easier time doing. I'm really appreciative of that in a strange kind of way. I think they're actually teaching folks that are much more senior, the power that you can have, by going and sharing that part of your story.”

How can writing help you build habits that help improve your mental well-being?

“By writing things down, I feel like it gives them a chance to go and have their voice documented. In a sense, be listened to. I think one of the things we always strive for, it's we just want to go and be heard. It's a really empowering thing. It's a really great way of loving oneself, not in a narcissistic way. But, in terms of showing compassion to all of those facets of you and it goes along the way up this idea of striving for perfection.”

Show Links: 

• LinkedIn
• Haas Healthcare Association and John E. Martin Mental Healthcare Challenge

Her advice for building a high-performance team? Listen to everyone within the organization, from the CEO to the newest employees. A key insight that she offers is that leaders shouldn't follow one-size-fits-all communication methods when dealing with employees.

She ends with an important message about the importance of genuine recognition, nurturing passion, and encouraging empathy as key ingredients to a truly successful global team.

Episode Quotes:

On how Haas gave her a good foundation on diversity:

“It was an amazing two years. The people that I met in terms of the types of people, the variety, both international and domestic, the industries. It's not something that I think I could have outlined, you read the glossy brochures and you say, 'Oh, okay. That's great. That's great' [...] the program was slightly smaller and it was high on the diversity factor, whether it was ethnicity or from a gender perspective. I don't think any of that, the brochures, the marketing material is wonderful, but I don't think any of that did justice to that fact.

How do you build a culture of honesty and transparency between junior and senior members of a culturally diverse team?

“It’s the market and then stocks move as they are. So sometimes you have to listen to the junior member of the team because they noticed something that you don't. And, you have to make sure that they're fully confident enough that they can speak up, and say to someone like me that, “Hey, this is wrong. You’ve got to look at this”, and so on. Building that trust amongst the team that they can say stuff to you, that maybe might feel a little bit hard, or, telling a senior person that they're wrong is important.”

Her advice on maintaining her drive for growth:

“So my view is always, you have to have passion for, and you have to be interested in, and be passionate about what it is that you do. Because otherwise it just seems like a job, then it becomes dreary. As opposed to a career and something that is upstep and forward.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Meet Goldman Sach’s 3 New Hong Kong Partners

With roots in India, Somesh Dash, the Managing Director and General Partner of IVP sits down with Sean Li to have an epic conversation around topics ranging: their shared experience of immigrating to the United States, the importance of mental health in the business space, violence against Asian Americans, the Ronald Reagan era, racism, and cultural awareness.

We gain insight as Somesh walks us through his story of coming up in Silicon Valley. He takes us to the heyday of the dotcom movement and the height of tech IPOs, what he's learned about venture capital, and how lending a quarter to a random stranger over 20 years ago led him to where he is today.

Episode Quotes:

On mental health:

"Coming out of the pandemic, I really think people are going to want to maintain some of the good that came out of this virtualized world, which is being able to slow it down, think a little bit about what's important to them or not, and get the help they need. I think the reality is we're all seeing every day in the news examples of breakdowns in our public health infrastructure that are leading to some of these massive societal issues. A lot of the stuff is related to mass shootings and violence and communities—the root of it is community health and mental health. And unfortunately, the system hasn't modernized in the way that science has or that the private sector has. So, I'm bullish that entrepreneurs and startups and growth companies can make a real difference while doing it in conjunction with local state and federal governments."

On venture capital:

"Part of venture more than ever now is storytelling. It's storytelling to the entrepreneur about who you are as an individual or as a firm and why you could be a great partner to them, especially for competitive rounds. It's telling the story of the company to outside stakeholders, whether it's trying to recruit executives or board members, trying to help with customer acquisition, trying to help with the public markets story. I mean, a lot of what you do is becoming, in a sense, an evangelist for these companies."

On cultural awareness:

"And that always stuck to me, which is, even as a kid growing up here, I grew up seeing a lot of things around—it was more of just ignorance about Indian culture as I'm sure you saw, Sean, with Chinese culture. But once you expose people to it, I mean, who doesn't want to go to like a big Indian wedding?"

"I think the stories that you have, Sean, or I had, are the things that can actually sway public opinion more than just the policy or just the talking heads on cable television. And I wish there was more discourse about that because I think once people realize how much more similar we all are than different, I think the racism we're seeing, the xenophobia, naturally begins to ebb."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• IVP
• No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention
• Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley's Bill Campbell
• The Far Field

In this episode, we sit down with Moses as he talks about how Xendit started and how he weaved its success. Leading an award-winning start-up digital infrastructure and payment gateway in Southeast Asia, he speaks about his experiences from his days at Berkeley doing 24-hour hackathons, to expanding and launching in emerging markets, and to set out to accomplish more and bigger things. 

Episode Quotes:

On starting the framework and finding the right people:

“Similar thing with the Co-founder, I said, these are certain qualities I want, most important being commitment. Someone that you can build things with; you can argue with. Who actually makes the decisions? How committed are people going to be when things go badly? So those were the dimensions I cared about. And I tried to test that through a few examples.”

On setting up a business in Southeast Asia:

“I had no idea how hard it was going to be. I didn't understand fully. I knew it in theory because there are books about it, but I had no idea what it looks like in practice. What it's turned out to be is a mix of working with the right investors who can help navigate these dynamics, building relationships. Asia is all about relationships and building the right relationships.”

On dealing with potential disappointments:

“What we said to ourselves as we tried to be really rational, I think this is the Asian side of me, but it's to get rid of your emotions. And you have to be really logical and rational and say, ‘Okay, all right, it failed. What's the next best thing that we can try?’ Iterating and believing that if we kept iterating, we would eventually find something that would find a product-market fit.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Xendit
• High Growth Handbook by Elad Gil

Currently teaching at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, his courses are aptly named “Becoming A Changemaker” and “The Berkeley Changemaker”.

In this episode, we delve into Alex’s passion behind empowering changemakers and reinventing leadership—emphasizing qualities such as humility, empathy, and how a changemaker mindset requires changemaker action.

Episode Quotes:

On the idea for founding StartSomeGood:

“For so long I had thought that change comes from one or two big organizations like the Red Cross. I realized that actually Changemakers are everywhere in the world and that all of us can lead positive change from where we are just like this. . . . So often you couldn't raise money until you can prove your impact, but usually couldn't prove your impact until you had raised money as this terrible catch-22. So we saw an opportunity to democratize the way that we fund social ventures, believing inherently that no one knows better what a community needs than the community itself.”

On being a changemaker:

“So much of change-making is rooted in critical thinking. It's the ability to identify problems, but I would argue it's not just to jump right into solving problems. It's one of the things that I really try to work with my students on—is to kind of sit in the problem, sit in the discomfort that comes with identifying something and not being sure exactly how to solve it. . . . [T]hat allows you to make sure that you're not just solving a problem, but you're solving the right problem.”

On network-based leadership:

“The best changemakers will think of themselves through networks, not just as individuals.”

On helping fellow changemakers:

“[We] rolled up our sleeves everywhere from helping them come up with the videos that they would shoot to helping them write their copy. . . . Now, we had a secret weapon, which is that all of the people we worked with were incredibly passionate. They're change-makers. They wanted to make a difference and that story was latent in them. And so in many ways, our job was just to help pull that story, pull that narrative out of them. . . . Any changemaker who wants to lead that type of positive change—they’re driven. They have a powerful why."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn

• StartSomeGood

Episode Quotes:

On Fair Trade:

“And here's the secret sauce of fair trade. We require that brands and retailers pay more money back to the farm owner or the factory owner. We're not saying be more sustainable y'all, and the cost of that is your problem. That's not what we're saying. We're saying more sustainable. Treat your workers right. And take care of your environment, and the consumer is going to help pay for that through the retailers.”

On his experience with projects funded by international aid:

“I worked on a lot of really well-intentioned projects that were funded by international aid. And I'll tell you, I got really disillusioned with it. It wasn't really very effective, in my experience, in helping farmers develop their own capacity to solve their own problems and helping them to think about markets.”

On Social Change:

“I think about social change, not in terms of years, but in terms of decades. We're definitely playing the long game.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn

• Fair Trade Certified

Show Links:

• LinkedIn

• Buy Ocho Candy

Episode Quotes:

On why building a company culture that prizes its people is important:

If they believed in the leadership and the vision, it didn't matter what they got paid. They were going to do it. I always felt that compensation, to a point, was not the main driver of that. Believing that you made a difference and that you had an impact was very valuable. Creating a culture that celebrated the people was important.

On his work commitment to OCHO Candy:

I'm not worried about failure. That's just going to happen. That's learning. You still learn, you still experience, and your life is about experiences, not stuff you get. It is more about doing something that looks interesting and has value, and there's a calling to it. There's no regret. I'm just moving forward.

If four years from now, I can go into any store and see people have a choice for better-tasting cleaner candy that's focused on what's inside counts, sustainability for workers and the planet, that's important to me like my values and purpose in life. That makes it worth doing.

Chase shares his journey from studying at Oklahoma University and starting his career in finance to his pivot to Sales in the Bay area at a company called Box. He then shares his decision to go to business school at Berkeley Haas and land a job at Segment, where he was involved in Business Development and launching a startup program. 

Throughout the course of his career, he has built a network of venture capitalists. He tells us how that network led him to pursue an earmarked career in venture capital at Vertex Ventures.

He also shares the investment focus of Vertex Ventures and his time spent on the data space, which led the conversation to the evolution of software tools and website development. Finally, Chase invites listeners to join his network and potentially build a partnership in the future.

Episode Quotes:

On venturing into Sales - "At the time, I wasn't that excited about a job in sales because, for me, sales just carried a different connotation. I was like, I'm just going to use this as my way into the company and then see what happens from there. And so they took a bet on me, and I joined the company in an entry-level sales job. And it ended up being one of the most, the best, learning experiences of my life. You learn a lot about yourself when you're told no all the time."

Why he loves his job in Silicon Valley - "Part of the thing that gives me a lot of satisfaction in my job is I get to meet people who are the ultimate form of entrepreneurship in the software-based world. They have the opportunity to build these massive companies and not do so over 50 years but do it over five. And I'm amazed by the process of zero to one because it is incredibly hard to build something from nothing. I think it takes a lot of courage to do that. To meet with these people and, in some sense, subscribe to the belief system that motivates them to take a risk and take the hard path and try to build something great, I think it's remarkable."

How to succeed in Venture Capital - "I think that people who tend to thrive are the ones who are just curious about everything. It's not so much about going incredibly deep on a specific area, but it's getting through the surface and learning enough to be dangerous in a lot of areas."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• The Innovator's Dillema

Episode Quotes:

On Recruitment: "When you get the hire in, you're changing a life. I don't know if recruiters realize it or not because sometimes, you're just turning numbers. You've got requisitions, and it's not ever fast enough for the poor hiring manager, but at the end of the day, you're changing the life of someone. And I think that's very important and special."

One of Caroline's strengths: "I've come up with my list of three to four strengths, and one of them is creating order out of chaos. Taking the large complex problems, listening to all those, bringing it in, understanding it, and then breaking it down to what guiding principles are we going to follow. And then breaking it into manageable shades of tasks that just become defined deliverables."

What's next for Caroline: "I want to continue to inspire other people to be their best. So, if someone hears my story and says, ‘Hey, that motivated me to work out’, I'm happy. If I inspired someone to switch their jobs and gain confidence to negotiate a salary, I'm happy."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• How to Shape What People Say About You When You’re Not in the Room

Emilie shares how being a "secret genius" paved the way for a finance career and how her love for mountaineering helped launch her entrepreneurial path.

She also talks about how she got into the global impact investing ecosystem when she joined Toniic, a nonprofit organization with a powerful mission aligned with her passion.

Emilie also explains the articles she co-wrote with fellow Haas alum Tracy Gray, which focused on community foundations and five action items that people can apply in their organizations, especially those focusing on gender equity or racial justice.

Episode Quotes:

"Somebody calls me the secret genius because I don't look the stereotypical image of what a smart person looks like. I like that triple threat because people have low expectations, and then I get a chance to blow them away."

"The first issue we wanted to dismantle was the misconception that women and people of color as funded managers are more risky. I have not yet seen a single study that says less diversity is better, not one. And I've never seen or heard of a study that said polished presentations equals higher returns. So, this is really in the bias land because all the data is that women and people of color are less risky and perform better."

"If your goal is to help women and people of color and you're not helping your managers who are women and people of color, it's quite hypocritical."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn

• How Foundations Fail Diverse Fund Managers and How to Fix It 

• Goldman Sachs on Women and Mixed Gender

Monica takes us back to her early years growing up in a middle-class family, her exposure to many different cultures and mindsets, and her involvement in many international activities and government, particularly in school.

She also narrates her time at the Navy, her early career path, and why she joined and quit Haas the first time before coming back years later. She then became the first African-American to win the Raymond E. Miles Alumni Service Award for her community service to Haas.

Monica shares her thoughts on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace and the community and across different cultures.

Episode Quotes: 

"When you're younger, go with what you need or what you want and not create this large, unwieldy construct of the why the how, or I'm not worthy. Just do it."

"Sometimes, women who get into the role of power opportunity forget that there are others around, behind, next, that are just like them and deserve the same opportunity."

"If we just let ourselves have that curiosity and ask from our hearts, you know, with good intentions and some education, but God, don't feel like you got to read a thousand books before you can be equity fluent."

"Do one thing different tomorrow and see how it feels. If it's uncomfortable, I would say push into that discomfort. But then, if it's comfortable and pleasing, do more of that. Either way, do more and then talk about it and see how it feels and try it on. If it doesn't feel right to you, that's okay. Decide whether you want to adopt it, but do something different, and that's outside and beyond yourself. That's what we're really asking people to do; go beyond."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Haas Alumni Diversity Council

Keitha takes us back to her background from studying accounting at Howard University to finance at Haas and why she decided to get her MBA. She also walks us through her 15 years of blended experience within financial services working with different big companies like JPMorgan and BlackRock.

Keitha also talks about the year she traveled to different places to reflect and enjoy life for a moment. Finally, she shares how she got into impact investing and co-founding WoWE.

Episode Quotes:

Why she chose Haas - "When I stepped foot on the campus, it just felt right. I'm finding my tribe. It's just that easy for me. I had paired up with a first-year who took me up into the Berkeley Hills, and there was this beautiful view. And it's so vibrant in my mind, still to this day. You can see the Bay, and you can see the mountains, which was so beautiful to me. And I was like, this is my home. It just felt right."

On finding her true purpose and making an impact - "I believe those who know that they are called for a purpose while they exist here on earth were not meant to just be consumers. We are called to do something greater. I know there's more. I want to wake up knowing that I'm having an impact. I want to wake up knowing that what I do everyday matters."

On being part of the impact investing space - "I feel like this is a full circle and what I'm supposed to do with the second half of my life. The first half was a setup. It was the training ground for my purpose-driven life."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Women of the World Endowment

Jason walks us through his career from being a sales engineer to digital marketing before pivoting into inclusion and diversity, which is his true passion.

He lets us on the challenges he met while building Black Roots in Ancestry and offers advice on how other people can create a similar group within their companies. 

Jason also shares where to find helpful resources when starting a resource group and effectively position similar initiatives within a company.

Episode Quotes:

On why he chose to go to Haas - "The positioning of the Haas program, the focus on leadership, the focus on ethical responsibility, and the pillars, all of that just really spoke to me. I think this is where I think I'm supposed to be to take me to the next level of where my journey is supposed to go. And I was right."

His advice on people who want to create a similar resource group like Black Roots - "Be clear about your mission statement and goals, what you want to do and who you are as a group. Find like-minded individuals who believe in your mission and willing to help. Finally, find at least one senior leadership person who can act as your guide or your sponsor."

On why he pivoted from marketing to diversion and inclusion - "I will always love marketing, but I had been doing it for a long time. I really wanted to help make the world a better place, and working in inclusion and diversity is my way of acting change in a positive way."

On being successful as a marketer - "I think my brief career in sales and the success I had were because I was good at relationship building. I was good at being genuine with my customers and really talking to them, trying to understand where they came from and what they needed, and not just trying to slam in a sale. It was the right thing to do."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn

Henry talks a little bit about his background from Michigan to Yale, then Harvard to Haas. 

He then explains the term "open innovation," a distributed innovation process that involves flows of knowledge into and out of organizations. He shares the three cycles that can lead open innovation to closed innovation and its risks and limitations.

Episode Quotes:

"Open innovation is an entry point into the domain of corporate innovation. The idea is that not all the smart people work for you. In fact, most smart people work somewhere else. No matter how big you are, no matter how good you are, you can't do it all alone. It's better to be open, to collaborate, to share. It can involve bringing in knowledge from the outside for your innovation activities, the outside in, or allowing things you're not using to go outside for others to use in their innovation. And that would be the inside out."

"Corporate venture capital can be a very effective tool to innovate. You've got to still have a culture inside your own organization because once you find and acquire these things to bring them in, you got to keep the people, and you got to get them to do the new things that extend beyond what they've done before. And without that, you get the form but not the substance."

"Open innovation can be a mechanism to allow you to be more agile, to move more quickly. And you don't have to do it all yourself, or rather, you seek out collaborations with startups, universities, and other sources. As long as you can move relatively fast, you could get an edge in the marketplace."

Show Links:

• Faculty Profile
• LinkedIn
• Open Innovation Results: Going Beyond the Hype and Getting Down to Business

In this episode, Marco shares his younger years growing up in an Italian family who owns a winery, packing his belongings and moving to LA, his career in the IT industry, and deciding to go to business school as a challenge.

He also narrates starting Bizal, explains what business alignment is all about, and the importance of having a business framework and clear business goals.

Episode Quotes:

On alumni engagement - "It was just so amazing to see happy people having great experiences. So, it wasn't just about the school. It wasn't just about allegiance. It was about having a good time with people that are technically your family."

On having clear business goals - "When you know where you're going, you can figure it out better, and you can put KPIs in place that are significant and meaningful."

The importance of human factor in technology and business - "People forget about people more than anybody else. They think that technology solves everything. There are phenomenal technologies out there. And then where everything fails most of the time is people using them. People not following the rules, people doing other things, people breaking what technology was. So, you also have to consider the human factor. It's absolutely important. It's probably the most important enabler out of all of that in a company."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Bizal
• Berkeley Haas Los Angeles

First, Stephanie shares the impact of COVID, professionally and personally. She talks about the most significant things she learned about herself and how stepping away from her previous life led her to have faith in herself.

She also talks about her time as the Assistant Dean and Executive Director of Admissions for the MBA program, the Haas culture and why it's essential to embody all four defining principles, and why investing in culture is vital in any organization.

Steph then shares where her passion for people and their stories came from, her dream of becoming an actor, and acting in theatres in her college days.

Finally, she offers some words of wisdom and encouragement to the Haas community.

Episode Quotes:

Lessons learned during the past year - "I'm still learning a lot, but this one, in particular, is the beauty of surrender. I think it's given us a time and a space to reflect on what's most important and how we want to show up in the world, and how we want to show up for each other. And for me to do that in a way that feels aligned with mind, body, spirit has meant I've had to let go of a lot of things. It was just about that surrender. So, I think I've learned that I have the ability to do that, that there's a beauty in it."

On walking away from her previous life - "The way that I described it at the time was leap of faith. It was opening up and trusting in the universe. And I think what this past year has taught me is it's absolutely a leap of faith, but a leap of faith in myself and trusting in myself. And man, that is something that I would love to bring to as many people as possible because I feel like it has changed everything for me. Liberation is coming through so clearly for me."

"The core of the work that I do now is that I think there is a need for us to see each other and be seen. That was such a kind of a guiding light for that work. And it was possible because of the strong culture at Haas. Culture matters because culture is a reflection of how we see the world, right? It's how we see the world around us. It's how we see our place in the world. And it provides these guidelines for how we behave and how we treat each other."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn

Rhonda shared her story from Harvard to startups and then eventually to MBA. She also narrated her consulting career in healthcare.

Next, we talked about Lean Transfer, the class she teaches at Haas, her role as the Executive Director of the Berkeley-Haas Entrepreneurship Program and the I-Corps program, and how these programs can help startups.

Finally, she shared her advice on how to build and work with school or business partners.

Episode Quotes:

On the importance of spending time with the school community - "It's important. It's not scalable, but people need to know that you care, and that's the way to build a community."

"As an entrepreneur, you need skills. You need someone to hold your feet to the fire. You need someone to hold you accountable so that you do not fall victim to confirmation bias. As entrepreneurs, the worst sin we can commit is believing what we want to believe and hearing what we hear."

"Don't feel like you have to start a company as a student. This is not the only chance you have for the rest your life. So, learn what you need to learn. And when the problem comes for you to solve it, you'll be ready."

"You want to have someone who is obsessed about the problem as you are but has a completely different skillset. Not completely different, but someone who makes up for the skills that you don't have. Those are the best kind of partnerships."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Berkeley-Haas Entrepreneurship
• National Science Foundation’s I-Corps program 

Besides being a frequent speaker on international growth, e-commerce profitability, customer intelligence, and brand narratives, he is also a certified rescue diver who occasionally surveys coral reefs around the world on marine conservation projects.

Patrick talks about his MBA experience at London Business School, his passion for traveling, and his experience with early-stage start-ups and adapting to market shifts and trends. 

He also shares some of the most pivotal moments in his life that greatly impacted his career and what he loves about Berkeley.

Episode Quotes:

"As globalized as we can become, it doesn't necessarily take away the uniqueness of each market. People don't behave the same way across the world. People do not think about things the same way. Any successful company right now that's looking to be globally-minded would need to be able to localize and think in that way."

"What I love about traveling really, and how it leads me to what I do in my career, is if I'm talking to somebody or contacts or even a prospect in some way, in a different market, from a different background, I can try to relate pretty quickly. And if not relate, at least understand because I've just been exposed to so many different types of people from different walks of life. And that, for me, is a blessing."

"I always feared not being able to meet and experience as many things as I can while I still can. I travel that much because it helps me expand myself and understand that my perspective is definitely not the only one. In fact, it's not even one out of a thousand; it's probably one out of millions."

"Whenever I give talks and discuss things in any level of exploration with people of different environments, it tends to center around the theme of just being open and understanding that the perspectives out there are equally as valid. And we should be able to consider different options even if sometimes data suggests otherwise."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Berkeley-Haas Alumni Network - Los Angeles

During her time at Haas, she also launched her start-up, TwentyEight Health, a women’s health platform to provide reproductive and sexual health care, with a focus on providing access to underserved communities.  

Amy’s experience growing up in Canada with public healthcare and her professional experience years working as a management consultant and for a start-up team providing direct consumer skincare, fostered a client centered and equity lens that she has brought to the design of TwentyEight Health.  

Listen to how she has leveraged her experiences to design and build her team with intention and lead during this challenging time.

Disclaimer: The views shared in this episode are Amy’s personal opinions and reflections and not necessarily those of her employer.

Episode Quotes:

"Haas has created this ecosystem where there's a lot of a sense of psychological safety, even from a relationship perspective."

"We want to make sure that everyone feels supported and even though we might be working on different things, at the end of the day, we're working towards a bigger goal."

"Giving people that sense of ownership over their projects makes it a lot easier for them to also think through."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• TwentyEight Health
• Forbes article about TwentyEight Health 

Trae talks about his family, which is heavily involved in sports, how he developed his interest in finance and his career path after Haas, and some of the defining moments that impacted his life.

He also shares his experience of being frequently stereotyped as an athlete and how he addressed stereotype issues when he became the Haas Undergrad Black Business Association president.

Lastly, he shares his professional experiences and some of the valuable skills and qualities to move up in an organization, his passion for music, and his favorite thing about Haas/Berkeley.

Episode Quotes:

On breaking stereotypes - "Be present and be unapologetically you to show versatility and that you can be confident in your interest. You can pursue whatever you want to pursue. You don't have to conform to the standards that have been set for you."

On innovating within a company or organization - "You want to make sure that you can set yourself apart from your peers. Everyone's going to try to produce high-quality work, and it's really important. But the ability to innovate and bring something new to the table will set you apart and help you establish yourself from the rest."

What Trae likes about Haas/Berkeley - "There's more of a free speech mentality at Berkeley than there are at some other schools. And people are encouraged to express themselves in a lot of different ways. It was cool to be a part of that type of environment."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Shortstop Management, LLC

Robert started his career in management consulting before going into performance marketing and consumer branding. He is passionate about international trade economics and for building early-stage and large-scale consumer platforms.

He shares with us how he started Monkey Bin, an online marketplace that became a multi-party trading system for B2B barter, and how he eventually landed an entrepreneurial role at eBay where he stayed for 12 years.

Roberts narrates his time at Haas, including his personal story with his best friend and co-founder, Sameer Bhatia, who was diagnosed with leukemia and needed a bone marrow transplant. It paved the way for them to launch a national marrow registration drive. He also shares the impact of this project on his life and how it brought him clarity around the power of purpose and discovering his true North.

Finally, Robert tells us how to build more resilience into our lives, especially during these turbulent times that we're all in right now.

Episode Quotes:

"I'm a big believer that the first few years of your career, or really anytime you make a pivot, it's really important to treat those as learning years because you're still in discovery mode of trying to understand what path you might go down or how you might harness your personal interests and connect that to things that you care about."

"I believe that the greatest careers are discovered, not planned. So, buckle up and embrace some of the uncertainty that comes with that. Open yourself up to the most growth opportunity."

"When I'm stuck in a decision, I catch myself to say, hold on, is this aligned with my why? There's no separation between your why and who you are and why you do it, what you do after a certain point. And I think that's when it becomes really powerful."

"Doing what you love, surrounding yourself with the right people and the right energy, and staying in good health, physically, mentally, and spiritually, help build resilience."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• The Golden Circle by Simon Sinek
• True North by Bill George
• The Pause Principle by Kevin Cashman
• Alchemist by Paulo Paolo

Brandon talks about his time in the army and all the leadership positions he had when he was there, what led him to Haas, and the impact of all the current global issues on his family and how they deal with it.

He also talks about the core values he shares with his children and how the pandemic didn't stop him from venturing into entrepreneurship. Lastly, he shares some parting words to the Haas community on fighting racism and other -isms and leaving this world a better place.

Episode Quotes:

"You're not going to love everyone you meet. You're not going to love everyone you work with. Obviously, there are going to be challenges, but generally, this is an environment where people want to see what your limit is, what's the sky for you, and try to support you in getting there with wherever you struggle."

"I like to try to help people see a different perspective or think about their lives in the future. When I feel like I can provide insights, I can always try. I like to think about it, and I think it's challenging."

"Everything is founded on honesty and truth. If you want to be someone that provides value, is respected, is looked up to, is thought of in a positive light, it starts with honesty and truth." 

"Whatever you do, you have to sow a good seed to reap the harvest. And if you're not willing to do that, then don't expect it."

"If you're at Haas or you're associated with Haas, you have lots of privileges that others do not. And I feel like if we don't continue to try to use that privilege for good, to fight racism, to fight - there's a million -isms I could throw out there - find the -ism that you're passionate about and do use your privilege to fight that, to leave this world a better place."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn

We first hear about Nandita's unique background growing up in Australia and the US. And how having lived and worked in different places around the world have impacted her internal leadership and collaborative capabilities to build high impact cross-functional teams around the world.

Disclaimer: The views shared in this episode are Nandita's personal opinions and reflections and not necessarily those of her employer.

Episode Quotes:

On growing up in two different countries – “Having spent my childhood between two countries shaped who I am as a person, how I see the world and my passion for other cultures.”

On her professional experience in Paris – “I grew a lot working in another country, in a system where you don’t have much of a support network. It helps you build grit and resilience. And it was also fun.”

On being an introverted leader – “It’s the ability to listen and truly listen, not just to what a person is saying, but to those conversations between people. Being an introvert also allows you to empathize with other introverts and help them find space to find their voice in their comfort zone.”

Her experience navigating a variety of cultures – “I learned so much about how to negotiate across cultures. Understanding how different cultures approach business sets you up to be more effective as a leader in a global business economy. It invites openness and curiosity about other people’s stories and other people’s journeys.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn

Om shares with us his definition of self-permission and how it plays into people's professional journey. He talks about the concept of substitution that is critical to the idea of permitting yourself.

He also shares his passion for education and diversity inclusion, his current role at Haas, and Teachers of Oakland.

Episode Quotes:

"Give yourself the permission to analyze. Are you still happy? Are you still on the path to the thing you want to do? And if you're not, give yourself permission to let go of that thing too."

On the concept of subsititution - "We can let go of something, but it's really hard to let go of something unless we have something else to then latch onto."

"We owe it to society to be the best version of ourselves and to be happy because then we can do the other things we want to do."

Show Notes:

• LinkedIn
• Teachers of Oakland

Hector shares his humble upbringing from Mexico to the US, immigrating with his big family to have a better life, and living in a neighborhood like Boyle Heights.

Even though the opportunities weren't so great back then, education has always been a crucial part of Hector's life. With God-given gifts and talents, he took advantage of different programs that offered support for kids like him. He was able to pursue education and even had the experience of going to college campuses when he was 11 yrs old.

Hector also narrates his purpose-driven career, his reasons for pursuing a business degree, and his experiences in Haas, including becoming the first Latino president of the EWMBA association and being selected by his classmates as the graduation speaker.

Finally, he talks about leadership and why he loves being part of Alluma, his visions and missions, and his words of encouragement for people with similar backgrounds to pursue and develop their careers.

Episode Quotes:

"Oftentimes when I'm talking to people who have a similar origin story as myself, I tell them that in many ways I'm nothing special. I like to remind them that if I did it, you could do it. And if anything, use me as a bar that is set to some heights and irrespective of where you place me, exceed that bar. Exceed what I've been able to do."

"From a leadership development standpoint, one of my biggest leaps was through humility and being humbled."

"My brand became, this is a leader. And I embrace that and I was humbled by that."

"Though I feel that I have been blessed by natural gifts and talents and drive and hunger and a passion, at the end of the day, I've seen through my walks in life people that have more talent, who are smarter, who are more gifted, who are more talented than I am, who have not had the opportunity to do what I have. So, I want to remind folks that you've got to think big. You gotta be proactive in developing your career because the world needs more people like us."

On being in the podcast - "You're giving me a platform to tell my story that reaches a community of people who are influential, who are leaders in their own rights, who are part of a global network as leaders, who are in these spaces, who have power and authority to make a huge impact in other people's lives. It's amazing for me and it's humbling."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Gentefied
• How Successful People Get Ish Done

Chris talks about her struggles and successes growing up from an immigrant family from El Salvador. She shares her experience of going to a school that was 1-5 hrs away from her home so she could join a gifted program, the people in her life that made it possible for her to get the best education she could have given her circumstances, and how much her mother's sacrifices for her and her siblings gave her the motivation to succeed and accomplish her dreams.

She also talks about her career as an astronautical engineer, why she's passionate about it, and how it was to be the only woman or Latina in an industry that's dominated by white men.

Chris is also passionate about increasing the representation of women and minorities in tech and entrepreneurship. She aims to provide more funding and create more opportunities for people of color.

Lastly, she shares her experience being a mother of three daughters and balancing her time between that and being a career woman.

Episode Quotes:

"One of the main things that I have learned and I try to teach my kids is not to be afraid, to stand up for yourself, and to pursue the passions that you have regardless of who's around you or who's not, what people are saying or what they're not."

"Find the mentors and the champions that will help you, even if they don't look like you, even if they can't relate. The people who don't look like you can also be champions for you and not being afraid to reach out to them and not being afraid to ask for help when you need it, I think that's been crucial for me."

"I want them to see the example that I saw in my mom of this hardworking woman who did not let any limitations hold her back. I want my kids to be able to see that and to see that there are no limitations for them, especially because they have so many more opportunities and advantages that I didn't have when I was growing up."

"We want them to recognize their privilege because despite being a minority, they are also privileged with having parents that are educated and having opportunities. And we want them to use that privilege for good and to be the voice for those who can't speak for themselves."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Berekely MBA Blog

In this episode, Maura talks about her research on the notion of narrow-mindedness, her passion for living a life with no regrets and how others can do the same thing, and practicing deliberateness or intentionality.

She shares the importance of knowing what you want in life - your purpose and your passion and leaving a legacy behind.

She also has some excellent advice for students graduating during this time of uncertainty about seizing and creating opportunities until ultimately finding your passion.

Episode Quotes:

"Ordinary people are capable of extraordinary things, and they're only capable of extraordinary things if they go in the direction of their unique gifts."

"Living a life of no mistakes, no regrets, is not no mistakes. We can make mistakes. The things that we regret in life, I think, are the things we do for other people. If we do it out of compassion and empathy, that's fabulous, but if we do it because we should, even though we don't want to, it isn't who we are, then that's probably the wrong reason."

"I've learned if I want to live a no regrets life to not only be generous with others, but to actually be generous with myself."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile

Dutta has more than 20 years of industry experience and has held various senior leadership roles in most key operating areas. He frequently speaks at major conferences, including TEDx, on management topics such as Change Management, Customer Success, Operations, Leadership, and Building diverse teams.

He talks about pushing yourself outside your comfort zone and creating a real need for change and innovation, especially now in a global pandemic, how to develop empathy and build relationships, and the impact of technology on empathy within teams and people.

He also shares the techniques and strategies he used or found to help build dynamics inside massive teams, particularly teams that are spanning boundaries across time and space and the globe.

Episode Quotes:

"When you're working with teams, you need to cut them up into manageable bite-size problems. You need to enable everybody to work on those problems and eventually bring it back together to deliver the outcome for the business."

"I realized a lot of success that happens in the world is not just because of the knowledge you have. It is how you can translate that knowledge into value of some sort and translate that knowledge into value. It is both a function of competency but also others believing and moving forward with it."

"So, I'd been very mindful of introducing something around failure, something around learning, in these conversations. Because without that, as a leader, you're not setting the tone from the top that it is okay to fail. Failure is part of building something, and failure should yield in learning."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile

Sallie shares how she found her calling in investment banking out of college and how that became the launchpad for her discovery of technology and Silicon Valley and the startup world.

She also narrates what led her to the venture capital and growth equity space coming from the finance world and her career at SAP where there is a blend of operator experience plus venture capital experience.

Episode Quotes:

On exploring other avenues - "I really encourage everyone who is still in school that you should explore as much as you can because college is one of the only times that you will be able to do this ever, ever again. Figure out what resonates with you and start looking at ways to pursue that."

When it comes to just career advice - "I think it is very important to step out of your comfort zone and be unafraid to explore. Be unafraid to go to that networking event, go to that happy hour, go to that conference, go to that trade show, whatever it is, because you never know who you're going to meet and the relationship and the opportunity that can come out of that."

On staying humble and coachable - "Stay humble no matter where you are in your career journey because people will respond better to someone who has that kind of trait."

Show Links:

LinkedIn Profile

He shares how the startup ecosystem has evolved throughout the year, where students and alumni can find the resources they need and what they can do in order to build their startup companies, and Haas' mission as a leader in entrepreneurship.

He discusses cross-college collaboration as one of the key resources that students and alumni can tap into and also reaching out to other startup advisors and mentors via CMG/Entrepreneurship Center.

Episode Quote:

"The goal is to get the skills while you're at Haas that even 5 years down, 10 years down, when you're ready to start a company, you know where to come, you know what resources you have."

Show Links:

LinkedIn

Berkeley Begin

Career Management Group

Skydeck

CITRIS Foundry

House VC

LAUNCH

Berkeley Entrepreneurs Association

StEP

Yifei shares why she's passionate about product development and narrates her experience and the support system at a company like Facebook, the challenges of having multiple roles, and how to navigate and work with different teams.

She also shares her initiative to launch a fund to provide capital to the underserved communities. She also provides some parting wisdom on how we can teach our children and expose them to different cultures and to love not only people but everything that we're given.

Episode Quotes:

"If people had something, if you gave people a piece of the pie a little bit, if you gave people access to home ownership, they would have a stake. They would have equity. They would be rooted in and more confident about what they can do and who they could be."

"We have this kind of society that values your social economic status more than your actual talent and capabilities. And, how do we shift that?"

"Let's raise our children to be empathetic and have understanding and not be presumptive in who or what they think people are, their capabilities, because of what they look like.... And, just teach our children to love not only people, animals, our gardens nature, like love everything that we're given."

Show Notes: 

LinkedIn Profile

https://www.linkedin.com/in/lishabell/

He shared with us why he's drawn to public markets, his ideas for diversity and inclusion in organizations, and his love of chess. He also talks about his passion for giving back not just to Haas and fellow alumni but also to the community at large.

Episode Quotes:

On self-confidence - "I think it's immensely important for children of color to believe that they can do and achieve anything."

About putting in the proverbial 10,000 hours - "They say that’s a myth but I think there's truth to it in some ways. Practice makes perfect.”

On self-teaching - "It helps if you just put in a little bit of discipline and a lot in believing in yourself."

Show Link:

LinkedIn Profile

We chat about everyone from why he chose Haas to our society at large and what he's doing with his Haas degree to make an even bigger impact.

National Urban Fellows is a rigorous, full-time graduate program comprised of two semesters of academic course work and a nine month mentorship, leading to a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the City University of New York's Bernard M. Baruch College, School of Public Affairs.

Dean Harrison talks about growing up between cultures and their influences in her career as an economist and lecturer around the world. Economics was not quite the typical background for somebody who wanted to make the world a better place, but this is where she started and continues to make her impact.

As an economist, she shares her thoughts on how we should continue opening up to global trade, while still protecting our most vulnerable. As our dean, she explains her vision for Haas, what she has been doing for the past year and a half, and her future plans.

As an African American transgender artist-activist, he has served on various community boards including mayoral appointee of the San Francisco Transgender Civil Rights Implementation Task Force, UCSF Chancellor's GLBT Advisory Committee, San Francisco LGBT Community Center Project, and former board president of Fresh Meat Productions, a leading transgender and queer performing arts nonprofit.

Stacy has since retired and is now focused on being an author, artist, and activist.

For those of you who may not understand Anti-Blackness, it was best explained in an article written by Kihana Miraya Ross, Northwestern University professor of African-American studies, as "the inability to recognize black humanity." She describes it as a "theoretical framework that illuminates society's inability to recognize our humanity - the disdain, disregard and disgust for our existence."

We hear about Marco's upbringing in East Oakland and how he wakes up every day to instill the right values in not only his children but also the youths in his community. He does so by walking his talk, serving as an active board member of the 100 Black Men of the Bay Area, and giving back to the community through his gratuitous actions.

Episode highlights:

• Studied international relations in Geneva
• Went on to King's College in London for her Master's in War Studies and Conflict
• Transitioned into a career in Environmental, Social, and Governance consulting and investing in the private sector
• Shares why she came to Haas to move from corporate impact investing to venture impact investing
• She looks back at her favorite moment with her Executive MBA class

"Identities are not exclusive, there's a lot of and's and not necessarily a lot of or's." - Claire Veuthey

Episode #38: Host Sean Li talks to current MBA student Ana Simones. They discuss the multiple careers and degrees she had before starting at Haas, how she’s making the most of her time (even with 3 teenage kids!), and what she’s up to in quarantine. 

Episode Highlights: 

• Ana speaks six languages and studied linguistics for her undergraduate and Master's degrees.
• She went on to start her Ph.D. in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP)
• She pivoted into storytelling and film because that’s what she always had a passion for
• Launched her own video production business in the US
• She moved to the Bay Area and got back into the excitement of AI and NLP
• Ana shares some examples of where AI is headed next and the potential implications
• She tells us why the Haas community is so impactful for her
• Ana shares with us all the international trips she took through the EWMBA program from Paris to Uganda, to being a Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) for Seminar in Business (SIB) Brasil

3 Key Takeaways: 

1. Fully immerse yourself into the program
2. Take advantage of all the international study abroad opportunities
3. Apply to become a graduate student instructor if you have the opportunity

Quotables:

• “It’s not just the interactions now but the people [we meet] are going to be in our lives for the rest of our lives.” - Ana Simoes
• “GSI'ing gives you an opportunity to meet people across many years and also allows you to interact with professors on a different level.” - Ana Simoes
• “Haas has so much to offer that I feel like I could be here for another five years and still be doing things that are new.” - Ana Simoes 

Episode Highlights:

• Arthur shares what brought him to Haas
• He has an affinity for Design Thinking shared with his sister who went to the D-School at Stanford
• Arthur explains what Design Thinking is, its importance, and the thought leaders at Haas in this space, including Clark Kellogg
• Haas fosters a choose-your-adventure environment
• Arthur explains how he's leveraged the MBA for networking outside of Haas
• He also shares with us the industry leaders he's exposed to on campus through the club events and speaker series
• One of his favorite clubs and one he finds most relevant for business is the Improv Club and he shares why

3 Key Points:

1. Maximize your time and network at Haas
2. Be proactive about uncovering your interests and explore all that Haas has to offer
3. Treat the MBA like a personal journey

Tweetable Quotes

• “Everybody loves learning. Everybody loves knowing things, but people hate being educated.../...but if you can mix education with entertainment it's a huge value-add.” –Arthur Tong
• “Treat this [MBA] like a personal journey. I think this would be a wasted opportunity if you walked out the same person you walked in.” –Arthur Tong

Episode Highlights:

• Finley grew up in Greenwich, CT, and had initial interest in public policy, working on a Congressional campaign immediately out of college.
• Later, Finley interned for Ecologic Solutions, a startup making ecologically-friendly cleaning products. He started in Sales and Service, became an account manager, and eventually moved into business development.
• Now Finley is a manager at Compass, a startup real estate technology company. He has been able to apply several learnings from classes at Haas in his current role. 
• Finley makes the most out of his commute by working half-day Fridays and turning LAX into his remote office for a few hours instead of rushing in LA traffic.
• Finley believes policy challenges the status quo by tackling larger problems and continuing to make things better around us
• Instead of trying to solve the problem of the influence that money and business have on politics, Finley thought he would try to influence businesses for the greater good so they influence politics in a better way.
• Finley attended the BERC Energy Summit recently to learn more about renewable energy and the sectors it affects.
• Finley is looking forward to getting to learning more about renewable energy. He would also like to get to know his classmates at a deeper level because the real value beyond education is in the community.

3 Key Points:

1. Don’t discount what you can teach others and what you can learn from others.
2. Having a business school at Berkeley embodies the Haas principle of challenging the status quo.
3. Your cohort is as much a resource as your education.

Tweetable Quotes 

• “I think the most exciting thing that I’ve realized is that there really is a place at the school for all the students to maximize their own strengths and to help teach others and learn from others based on their other strengths.”
• “Policy gives you a space to keep changing things and always to make the place, this earth, more efficient.”
• “If you leverage the Haas community, naturally all of the other goals in terms of career, understanding the material, are all going to fall in place.”

Episode Highlights:

• Jarrett also went to Berkeley for his undergrad and majored in Rhetoric. He knew from the start that he eventually wanted an MBA.
• He founded a real estate company when he was 19 and earned his first million within 30 months, ran the company for about a decade, but was wiped out in the 2008 crash.
• In his desperation to avoid financial ruin, he made choices that landed him in federal prison for 18 months.
• While living in a halfway house, he went back to school and worked with no computer, writing essays on his cell phone and graduated with a 3.98 GPA.
• Jarrett began the Umoja-UBAKA community for black students on campus at Laney College.
• Jarrett knew Haas was the right fit for him because of the empathy and values embedded in the curriculum. He is using his time at Haas to identify/fill gaps in his weaknesses, as well as articulating his strengths.
• Jarrett has been making extensive use of the CMG department (Career Management Group) to leverage the infrastructure and network at Haas.
• Jarrett founded and is currently the CEO of a company called Higher Rewards to give branded credit cards to the constituents of smaller community organizations and religious groups to compensate for the downturn in donations they’re seeing.

3 Key Points:

1. You don’t need to have it all figured out before coming in. Over 40% of incoming students classify themselves as explorers, whose goals are to find their “north star”.
2. Haas students are eager to share their knowledge and experience with each other, and this openness and generosity is reflected both inside and outside the classroom.
3. Make use of your cohort, other cohorts, and any/all resources on campus; there are over 1,500 MBA students between the different classes/programs and plenty of faculty/staff. The MBA is what you make of it.

Tweetable Quotes

• “If you ask me what’s your favorite seasoning & all I know is salt or pepper, then I’m either gonna pick salt or pepper. But what if I don’t know about sriracha or curry? I don't know to pick these things as options. That’s been my campaign all the way through.” –Jarrett Wright
• “The more you know, the more you realize you don’t know.” –Jarrett Wright

Episode Highlights:

• Steffi built and ran a digital marketing agency in DC focused on policy and advocacy back in the late 2000s when nobody but the young upstarts knew anything about digital.
• During the 2010 campaign, a big local company saw their digital political ads and it landed them their first corporate client.
• Steffi and her partners grew the firm to 25-30 people and then worked with her colleagues over 2 years on a transition plan for her to leave the company.
• Between leaving the company and starting at Haas, she traveled alone for months, biking up the coast of Thailand, and exploring Laos and other countries.
• Steffi learned to be self-directed and determine what would make her happy and fulfilled.
• You don’t have to travel to Thailand alone for three months to figure it out; each week, reflect on which experiences you had that you found meaning and value in, and adjust accordingly.
• She knew very little about business school and didn’t know anyone who had gone to business school because she worked in politics, but she doesn’t recommend going into it that uninformed.
• Steffi identified what tangible things she wanted to get out of her time at Haas and deliberately oriented her time around those things; if she’s asked to do something and she can’t see how it moves her towards one of those goals, she doesn’t do it.
• Haas could do better at prioritizing diversity and representation in the student body, in faculty, in the curriculum, and everywhere.
• Steffi interned at New Media Ventures, a partisan non-profit investor that invests in progressive civic tech and political organizing tools.
• She’s driven to help people at the biggest scale possible.

3 Key Points:

1. Business school is more demanding than Steffi anticipated; it is not a decision to take lightly.
2. Reflecting on your experiences is an important way of learning what’s important to you and how to align your life more in that direction.
3. Identifying your goals is the first step towards knowing how to spend your time.

Tweetable Quotes

• “Having all that space and time helped me learn to be really self-directed and have to look deeply inside of myself and think about what would give me meaning and joy and purpose every day.” –Steffi Decker
• “I reflected, what do I want to walk away from this institution with? And I identified those and wrote those down. And that enabled me to start organizing my time towards those.” –Steffi Decker

Episode Highlights:

• David grew up in Essex, about an hour outside of London, and began his entrepreneurial experience with a company called Folder Monkey that created custom folder systems for students, but it quickly got shut down.
• In his first year at McKinsey, he was thrown feet first into the fray, but it was also his only exposure to the business world prior to pursuing his MBA.
• David pursued his MBA in California because of its proximity to the Silicon Valley entrepreneurial ecosystem.
• David wants to be able to see the tangible impact of his work.
• The biggest pain point for freelancers that David talked to is income insecurity.
• LifeWork aims to ease payment issues that freelancers encounter and wants to provide, essentially, an HR department or back-office support for freelancers.
• LifeWork differs from other platforms like Upwork or Fiverr because it is client-focused instead of being marketplace driven.
• One of LifeWork’s core values is transparency.
• You shouldn’t be afraid to share your ideas; if someone else takes it and executes it, it just proves that you have good ideas.

3 Key Points:

1. As a freelancer in any industry, you need to have some business skills.
2. People now value autonomy and purpose in their work more than they value stability.
3. Don’t hoard your ideas, but share them for the sake of solving problems.

Tweetable Quotes

• “The entrepreneurial spark that I knew I had was starting to be squashed by these big, slow-moving companies and our role to advise them and never actually see that impact.” –David Corfield
• “There is no solution right now that enables flexibility, which is obviously why people become freelancers in the first place, and also provide security.” –David Corfield
• “I think I’d say to any student anywhere that is in close proximity to a business school, it is the perfect time to start something.” –David Corfield

Resources Mentioned: 

• Email Sean: reachsean@berkeley.edu 
• https://www.lifeworkonline.com/
• David Corfield
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/davidjcorfield
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidcorfield
• Medium: https://medium.com/@david_corfield