Explore "tepperschoolofbusiness" with insightful episodes like "Tepper Reads Fall 2022 Podcast #2 - Confessions of Two Recovering Marks", "Tepper Reads Fall 2022 Podcast #1 - Cogs and Cars", "S3E3 - Entrepreneurship at Tepper", "Tepper Reads Spring 2022 Podcast #3 - The Ghosts of History" and "Tepper Reads Spring 2022 Podcast #2 - America: Metonymy for More" from podcasts like ""Tepper Reads", "Tepper Reads", "Humans of Tepper", "Tepper Reads" and "Tepper Reads"" and more!
In this episode of the Tepper Reads podcast, Accelerate Leadership Center Academic Program Managers Matthew Stewart and Michelle Stoner discuss the character of Mark in Weike Wang's Joan is Okay. Topics covered include: how exposure to diversity and different cultures increases self-awareness and helps you grow as a person, the Golden Rule v. the Platinum Rule, and more.
In the first of two podcasts this fall about Weike Wang's Joan is Okay, Academic Program Managers in the Accelerate Leadership Center, Matthew Stewart and Michelle Stoner, discuss how people don't always lead or influence in the same way, learning to empathize with characters you don't like, and the paradox of what makes an American.
Welcome back to the Humans of Tepper Podcast. This week hosts Nikita and Ayush are joined by Chris and Chrissy, both first-year, full-time students at Tepper, to discuss entrepreneurship at Tepper.
Chrissy is from China and came to the US at 16. She triple-majored in Accounting, Marketing, and Information Systems in her undergrad University of Chicago at Urbana Champaign. After graduating, she worked in marketing for a Thai start-up company which started her thinking about entrepreneurship and business development. On the other hand, Chris grew up in the Detroit area of Michigan and has a background in corporate finance for the automotive industry. As he worked in various finance positions, he noticed how many of his higher-ups and mentors had MBAs, which ultimately led him to apply to Tepper.
Tepper is very focused on innovations and analytical aspects, which was a huge draw for Chrissy, who works a lot in the ever-changing marketing landscape. Finding a school with solid entrepreneurship programs was also significant to Chris and Chrissy. Tepper strives to create a safe environment for entrepreneurs because it can be a very scary journey.
The Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship is the heart of the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Tepper and is open to current students and alumni to pursue an entrepreneurial journey. It’s a great way to meet others with similar mindsets and goals from many different backgrounds. Additionally, 99 Tartans is an angel investment syndicate of Carnegie Mellon Alumni looking to invest in Carnegie Mellon-founded organizations. The group holds pitch meetings and works to connect start-ups and investors and bring them down the fundraising path.
Many CMU start-ups are tech-based, and Chrissy’s start-up is in supplements. So at first, she was a little skeptical about how much Tepper could really do for her and her business. However, there’s so much to branding, strategy, and more that cross over in the business world, so having that network of knowledgeable people proved integral. In addition, there are so many programs available that provide a critical environment to entrepreneurs that help you succeed regardless of the industry you’re building in.
What You Will Learn:
In the final podcast of the Spring 2022 Tepper Reads project, Academic Program Managers in Tepper's Accelerate Leadership Center, Matthew Stewart and Michelle Stoner, continue their conversation about Sanjena Sathian's Gold Diggers. In this episode they talk about history and the importance of knowing where you come from, whose stories are told and whose are erased and why, and the first rule of leadership: "It's not about you."
Our discussion of Sanjena Sathian's Gold Diggers continues in the second podcast of the Spring 2022 season. Academic Program Managers in the Tepper School of Business' Accelerate Leadership Center, Matthew Stewart and Michelle Stoner, talk about metonymy, how it's different from metaphor, and how it helps us make sense of the world around us. Also discussed is America's penchant for quantity over quality, how gold functions in the novel and in real life, and different ways of being.
In the first episode of the spring 2022 podcast season, academic program managers in the Accelerate Leadership Center, Matthew Stewart and Michelle Stoner, discuss why Gold Diggers is the Tepper Reads pick for this spring. In the discusssion they touch upon how the novel helps one understand the motivations of others, relatability vs. empathy, upending stereotypes, the joy of reading the novel, and much more.
Welcome back to the Humans of Tepper Podcast. Joining hosts Ben and Kara this week Pete Park and Alejandra Rovirosa to talk about the Ninety-Nine Tartans. Pete is originally from New Jersey. Like Ben, he received his undergraduate degree from Syracuse University. He started in healthcare consulting before coming to Tepper for his MBA. Alejandra was born in Miami, Florida, and attended Boston University for undergrad. She started in insurance, focusing on equity-backed businesses.
Ninety-Nine Tartans was founded in 2017 by Rob Myer. Their mission is to find CMU-founded startups and connect them to alumni for mentorship, and, to date, there are over 240 alumni who are part of the group. Kara compares it to Tepper's version of Shark Tank! Companies looking to connect can fill out an application on the group's website and meet with an MBA partner to discuss their work and timeline. The minimum requirement is that there's a full-time CMU affiliate on the team. There is an investor application as well. The group looks at industries from across the board and has unique investors from many different backgrounds.
What really attracted Pete to Ninety-Nine Tartans is the amount of autonomy you have as a member in interacting with alumni and mentors interested in the group. MBA is known for its ability to establish a network, and Ninety-Nine Tartans is just another way to do that. The exposure to different industries is really unparalleled, and the avenues to different career options are opened. Alejandra came in a little later, in her second year, and was really drawn to the opportunity the group offered.
The whole concept of MBA students running Ninety-Nine Tartans is actually fairly new and operated a lot like a startup company in itself. It took problem-solving and thinking proactively to figure out how to operate optimally. Moving forward, Pete is very excited to see what they're able to build upon the foundation they've established. Alejandra is also excited to hone in on how to better meet their investors' needs and actively look for startups instead of relying on applications.
The diversity within the group is a fantastic aspect. Alejandra advises to come in with an open mind and go for it in terms of advice for incoming students. When she first started her MBA, she didn't realize how many opportunities were out there that she would have missed had she not been open to exploring them. Try out different activities, see what you like, and see what works. Pete also advises prospective students to check out the club fairs held at many colleges to explore what's out there and what might interest them.
What You Will Learn:
Welcome back to the Humans of Tepper Podcast. Joining hosts Ben(He/Him) and Kara(She/Her) this week is Kovi Shlomchik (They/Them), full-time MBA candidate at Tepper School of Business. Kovi is from Connecticut originally, studied in Chicago, and has a background in the medical field. They really wanted to pursue outside of pharmaceuticals, which ultimately led them to Tepper.
Kovi has a big interest in health tech. They already lived in Pittsburgh when they applied to Tepper and the idea of staying local in their "goldilocks city" was a huge draw for Them. They're on the leadership team for the graduate business associate and acts as the diversity, equity, and inclusion officer. GBA is an elected student body government and is the bridge between students and administration. Their role is to help the student body and connect them to as many resources as possible. Kovi's role as diversity inclusion officer means being a support system for students of all backgrounds and takes part in mixers and dinners.
They believe that it's important for ally clubs to come to the forefront because it's a huge deciding factor for many people. Knowing that genuine people are looking to connect is one of the biggest reasons Kovi decided on Tepper. They are very active in LGBTQ+ clubs where people can ask genuine questions and can get genuine responses. The support and sense of community found at Tepper are very special, and Kovi is looking forward to in-person events.
Kovi advises prospective students to follow their gut when choosing a business program. They love the support they can offer and the support they can get from their classmates. Doing your search and knowing what's important to you while looking at schools will help pick a school that's the best fit for you.
What You Will Learn:
Welcome to another episode of Humans of Tepper with your hosts, Ben and Kara. Today, joining us is Justin VanNoy, a full-time MBA candidate. Justin is from Atlanta and has a background in healthcare. He studied business for his undergrad. After graduating, he went to New York City to focus on marketing and advertising. After several years of working, Justin decided to broaden his horizons and decided to look to Tepper to get him there.
Growing up, Justin’s parents were very into traveling, and so throughout his teenage and college years, his family vacations took him all over the world. Justin talks about the scholarship program at Tepper that was born from alumni at his previous college. Another big part of coming to Tepper was the MLT program, which links students to fellow, like-minded individuals.
The commitment to diversity at Tepper and to continue to improve upon that diversity is very impressive. The amount of not only support but the importance of having allies. The clubs focus on bringing in those allies and not just sectioning themselves off into one group. Justin’s program works a lot with other schools, such as Harvard’s African Business School and Forum, to put on various cultural fairs. Black History Month is another opportunity to highlight current students at Tepper and host various mixers.
Justin reflects on how crucial it is to spend time with your second-year student while they’re here because people come in and out at different intervals, whether to graduate or to study abroad. You never know who you’ll meet or the wealth of knowledge they have to offer. He also encourages prospective students choosing a business school to look at the school rankings and see why they’re at the rank they are. It can be a very lonely ride, so taking the initiative to connect with like-minded individuals will help immensely. When you come to business school, you should already have a list of your focus. It’d all about the mindset you have while you’re there.
What You Will Learn:
Welcome to another episode of Humans of Tepper with your hosts, Ben and Kara. Today, joining us is Catarina Oberlander, a full-time MBA candidate finishing up her first year at Tepper. Catarina did her first semester remotely in Brazil before moving to Pittsburgh to finish her second semester. For the last six years, Catarina has worked in the tech industry in Brazil, mostly as a data scientist. She also has some background in social and digital marketing. She always knew she wanted to pursue an MBA, and while working in Brazil, she always felt like she wanted to do something bigger and better.
She was looking for a program that would help her grow more in her industry and knew Tepper would be a perfect fit. What drew her to Tepper was the dual focus on analytics and leadership development. She also is a big fan of the food in Pittsburgh. Catarina talks to a lot of prospective students looking to study internationally. She always advises them to first look at their long-term goals and how attending business school will fit them. It’s important to look at the schools individually, their focuses, where their strengths and values lie and see if it aligns with those goals.
One thing that drew Catarina to Tepper was the smaller class sizes. Looking at the statistics of each school, surveying each school’s website, and reaching out to past or current students can give you a good idea of what the school is like. She knew from the very beginning that she wanted to get very involved with the clubs on campus. She is president of TWIP (Tepper Women in Business) and very involved in the Marketing Club. In terms of club events, Catarina highly recommends the leadership conference held by TWIB, which is a full-day event with a ton of alumni that come to speak. She’s also a big fan of the smaller, more intimate events.
All the clubs offer some form of internships, so it’s helpful to get a mentor or point of contact to help walk you through the more nuanced aspects of the school and get you on the track you want to be on. Catarina moved from Brazil with her husband and is also involved in the Tepper Partner’s Club, which is a great resource to anyone coming to Tepper both domestically and internationally to help connect your partner with others who have been in similar situations. They’re great for connecting you with almost any resource you need, even for simple things like finding a dentist, since the experience can be quite difficult for both partners.
What You Will Learn:
Welcome to a new season of the Humans of Tepper Podcast with cohosts Ben Fontana and Kara Buggy. Ben and Kara are MBA class of 2022 students, and our guest is Chris Szymanski. Chris is a part-time MBA student at Tepper as well as on active duty in the Navy. Chris graduated from United States Naval Academy in 2015. His undergraduate degree is in engineering, but he couldn't see himself doing that for the rest of his life. He changed paths to learning about nuclear power before working on nuclear reactors worldwide during his deployment. After deployment, he decided to pursue his MBA.
What really stood out about Tepper to Chris was the part-time program being the same as the online program, which offered him flexibility. The staff and faculty are also very willing to work with students to meet their needs. Chris found the access weekends and camaraderie it opened with other students very surprising and not something he was expecting. The courses give a great base knowledge, despite how much work they can be. The courses are scheduled for different times at night, which allows for flexibility no matter where students are located. Faculty is very accommodating, whether it be for time changes or extensions for assignments.
Chris attributes his work in the military to giving him the ability to work with people from different backgrounds. It gives a unique ability to "speak another person's language" because many of these peers are international. Working in the Navy has also done wonders for Chris's time management. The more senior you get in the military, the more you become a teacher to those coming in.
The Tepper Veteran's Association provides a unique mix of veterans from different backgrounds. It's a great place to network, exploring new ideas, and overall creating camaraderie that is much needed after transitioning out of the military. They will help translate your military skills into business and civilians skills in your resume and interviews. Business school is a great way to transfer out of the military because it helps translate and build your leadership skills to a new environment. Business school also opens up so many doors later on. Chris invites anyone looking to transition to business school to reach out to them through their Tepper Veteran's Association website.
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Welcome back to the Humans of Tepper Podcast, a show about the MBA experience at Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business. Cynthia and Rohit will be transitioning the show over to two new co-hosts, Ben and Kara. Kara is a Pittsburgh native. She studied business management and, from there, started working in market research and healthcare companies. Ben is originally from Upstate New York and studied broadcast journalism at Syracuse University with dreams of breaking into sports broadcasting. Eventually, he transitioned into digital marketing before moving on to study at Tepper.
Kara wasn't entirely sure how or when she'd pursue her MBA, and Cynthia asks what inspired her to finally make the jump. Kara explains there's so much experience to obtain from working in the real world, and she wanted to ensure she was getting the most out of her MBA. It mostly came down to when she felt ready.
Tepper's community really jumped out to Ben and the exposure to diversity and different backgrounds it offered. He really appreciates the ability to form a community, despite the hybrid experience of online and in-person classes. The amount of support he's received from peers and staff has been phenomenal. Kara agrees, stating that it played a surprisingly massive role in her recruiting journey. Kara is also looking forward to working with the marketing and healthcare club boards. Community and club involvement form the backbone of Temper and provide excellent opportunities for networking and experience.
Ben will be taking over as marketing club president. He plans to continue exposing the club to companies that use marketing as a core function. Many of those companies are local, so there are many opportunities to go to those businesses and show classmates how marketing works on a ground level. In-person events are something he's looking forward to next year, and he is excited to impact the next class coming in.
Cynthia asks Ben and Kara what brought them over as co-hosts to the Humans of Tepper Podcast. There might be instances where students can't be in-person, and Kara has experienced many challenges with experiencing the culture of Temper without being there firsthand. This podcast allows her to bridge that gap and do a deep dive into that culture. For Ben, it stems from his radio background and that it's something he can have fun with. He also wants to encourage other students with his story and remind them that every path is unique.
What You Will Learn:
Welcome back to Humans of Tepper, the student-run podcast focusing on real stories from students and alumni of the Tepper MBA program. Today, hosts Cynthia and Rohit talk with second-year MBA student Blaine Dunham. Blaine is a student who comes from a career in electrical distribution wholesales but who chose to pursue an MBA in order to get into a more technically advanced career field. He explains that not only was he looking for that next career accelerant but that he was also inspired by the birth of his goddaughter to pursue his own dreams so that one day he can encourage her to do the same.
Blaine shares with listeners that he chose to attend Tepper’s program because of the program’s strong reputation and emphasis regarding the connection between business, data, and technology. He also cites the city of Pittsburgh as being a large draw, as he found the city to be the perfect balance of feeling at home while still pushing himself outside of his comfort zone.
After sharing why he was interested in Tepper’s program, Blaine then goes on to discuss his experience with applying to Tepper. As someone who applied late to the program, Blaine explains that there is no perfect way to go about the application process. Instead, he stresses that what’s important is knowing what your goals are and dedicating yourself to those.
Finally, Blaine transitions into talking about Tepper’s orientation program and his involvement and leadership in Tepper’s Business and Technology Club and Tepper’s Basketball Club. Regarding orientation, Blaine advises that all new students need to breathe, allow themselves to make mistakes, and say yes to every opportunity. However, what he encourages most is for students to invest in their relationships, asserting that those are the single most valuable thing they can take away from the program. Blaine found this to be true not only during orientation but still today with his involvement in Tepper’s clubs and the opportunities they offer him to connect with not only Tepper students and alumni but also MBA students at other universities.
What You’ll Learn in This Podcast Episode:
Helpful Links:
Check out Tepper’s Business Technologies page for more information about the program: https://www.cmu.edu/tepper/faculty-and-research/academic-areas/business-technologies/index.html
Learn more about Tepper’s Business and Technology Club at: https://sites.google.com/view/tepperbnt/home?authuser=0
Learn more about Tepper’s Basketball Club at: https://tepper.campusgroups.com/basketball/home/
Welcome back to Humans of Tepper, the student-run podcast focusing on real stories from students and alumni of the Tepper MBA program. Today, hosts Cynthia and Rohit talk with MBA candidate Elliott Hasenkopf. Elliott has a background in chemistry and material science and spent five years working in the paints, coatings, and plastics industry before deciding to pursue an MBA. Despite spending six years in Nashville and applying to a number of different MBA programs across the country, Elliott chose Tepper’s program because of how easily he clicked with the other students during his time visiting the school. He advises that when choosing a program, it’s important to find a good fit personality-wise, as this both helps to make classes better as well as helps with networking.
Elliott then moves on to discussing what surprised him most about Tepper’s program when beginning his first year in the program. Because he is originally from the Pittsburgh region, Elliott always knew that Carnegie Mellon was a top university, but since starting the program, he’s realized how much Tepper contributes to the Pittsburgh community, a relationship that became especially highlighted by the school’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Elliott also stresses that one of the best parts of Tepper is that it brings in people with unique backgrounds, drawing from the global community.
As someone aiming to go into healthcare, Elliott also shares with listeners his involvement with healthcare at Tepper. He talks about Tepper’s Healthcare Club and how it has provided him the means to learn more about the industry and how to succeed and advance within it. He also talks about the future of healthcare at Tepper and how he foresees the school continuing to develop a strong curriculum around healthcare.
Finally, Elliott ends his interview today by sharing with us some of his experiences as a member of the MBA Soccer Club at Tepper. He explains that the club has been both a source of relaxation and a way to not only meet other MBA students across the program but also connect with Tepper alumni and other MBA programs across the country.
What You’ll Learn in This Podcast Episode:
Helpful Links:
Check out Tepper’s Healthcare Club here: http://tepper.campusgroups.com/healthcare/about/
Check out some of Tepper’s other MBA Student Clubs here: https://www.cmu.edu/tepper/programs/mba/life-at-tepper/student-clubs-and-organizations.html
Welcome to Humans of Tepper, a podcast that gives an insider view on the Tepper MBA student experience. We’re back with our hosts Rohit and Cynthia, who are chatting with Eleanore Marsh about her experience. Eleanore moved to New York City shortly after finishing her undergrad degree in finance. There, she worked for Wells Fargo for roughly 5 years, during which time she thoroughly studied MBA programs to evaluate the best next step for her career. Today, she’s a second year Tepper student. As a Pittsburgh native, she’s enjoying being back in the city of her childhood.
Eleanore chose Tepper because she wanted something that would stretch her beyond her comfort zone and diversify her experience. She loves how the program examines modern tech and its influence on the business landscape, and the way that a smaller student body (roughly 200 students per graduating class versus some programs’ 1000) gives her a true community experience with fellow students and alumni. From the beginning of her time at Tepper, Eleanore has been closely involved in the Graduate Finance Association (or GFA) which focuses on disciplines such as investment banking, corporate finance, and corporate or business development. Their goal is primarily to prepare finance students for the interview and recruitment process. In addition, they foster supplemental finance education, open to all students. This involves practicums and discussions of interest to everyone such as a recent forum on the GameStop incident, thus dissolving the barriers that make finance feel inaccessible to many of us.
As the current president of the GFA, Eleanore’s goal is to further the accessibility of financial education to the student body, preparing them with the vocabulary to truly understand key concepts. She’s passionate about the idea that a greater understanding of finance principles will help students become more effective leaders no matter what their position or emphasis.
Eleanore also discusses the employment and recruitment pipeline in the finance landscape for Tepper students and alumni. While Tepper has been historically strong in placing finance students, there has been a recent shift in where specifically these students are placed, including a targeted focus on the ever-developing FLDPs (Finance Leadership Development Programs) within major corporations, which give participants rotating positions so they can understand different elements within an organization.
Before we finished, we asked Eleanore for some insider info about her native city. Growing up, Eleanore’s father often told her that Pittsburgh has everything that a big city has to offer. While she felt skeptical of his words as a child, having lived in New York for 5 years, she can now attest to its truthfulness. Historic powerhouse investors such as Carnegie and Mellon ensured legacy arts programs (not to mention educational programs such as ours), and the up-and-coming nightlife and social scenes have even earned neighborhoods such as Lawrenceville the title of “the new Brooklyn.” Eleanore offers a few recommended highlights of the city, from the best views in town to the Cathedral of Learning’s Nationality Rooms.
Things You Will Learn
Links
Welcome back to Humans of Tepper, the student-run podcast focusing on real stories from students and alumni of the Tepper MBA program. Today, our hosts Cynthia and Rohit are talking with Becca Kilburg, a fellow second year student, about student clubs, moving to Pittsburgh, and living with a partner during business school.
Before starting at Tepper, Becca worked in software sales and account management in the Boston area. She loved working with clients and helping them problem-solve, but wanted to be able to do it on a higher level. Drawn to Tepper’s academic rigour, she and her partner moved to Pittsburgh to start her MBA program. As a woman in a majority-male program, Becca observes that the open and welcoming atmosphere of Tepper helps her to never feel like the odd-woman-out. While the program has yet to achieve gender-parity, the culture is very conscious and supportive.
Consulting recruiting was extremely strenuous… especially as Becca was concurrently planning her wedding. Becca shares that it was an opportunity to learn from failures and be comfortable with discomfort. She had to lean on her advisors, classmates, and partner at home to stay motivated and focused. Consulting recruiting was also supported by her involvement in TCC - the Tepper Consulting Club. During the first year, she had the opportunity to learn from alumni working in various consulting firms through one-on-one meetings, in order to understand more about the work culture and unique strengths of all of her options before she actually began the recruiting process. Later, the club helped her to practice interviewing technique, polishing and workshopping the way that she talked about herself and her goals.
In addition to her participation in TCC, Becca was a member (and will soon be president) of PBC, or Pro Bono Consulting. This club works together with the Net Impact Club to pair Tepper consulting students with local Pittsburgh businesses. For Becca, this was a chance not only to practice the skills she’d been learning in class, but also to step into the city of Pittsburgh. Her first year, she worked with an organization called Tree Pittsburgh, which sells native saplings to the community in order to promote urban forestation.
A unique part of Becca’s experience was moving to Pittsburgh and starting the program with a partner. In her case, she was fortunate enough to have a partner who was able to easily transfer his work to Pittsburgh. However, there were still challenges with balancing school and her relationship. In Becca’s case, she made it a priority from the beginning to block out Sundays for time at home. Overall, Becca recommends that anyone starting an MBA program carefully evaluates their goals and priorities. It will be different for everyone, whether you want to focus on recruiting, networking, club work, or other things going on in your life. Be intentional about what you want to get from your time with the program.
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Links:
Welcome back to the Humans of Tepper Podcast, a show about the MBA experience at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business. Today, our hosts Cynthia and Rohit are chatting with Melissa Bizzari. She’s sharing why she chose Tepper, what’s surprised her most as a grad student, and how she went from Division 1 Hockey player and hopeful coach to finding a passion in data analytics and becoming a community leader.
Melissa’s journey to Tepper started when she discovered a passion for analytics while working with the Women’s Hockey Team at Boston College. During her time there, she pivoted from a career path towards a head coaching job, to a more rigorous analytics environment.
When she came to Tepper, she expected the typical MBA experience--classes, an occasional event, and things of that nature. What surprised her was the amount of collaboration and community that has found a home here in Pittsburgh. Even outside of the school, alumni are willing to lend a hand and share their experiences. The size of the program at Tepper allows that to happen--everyone knows everyone, and conversations become easy to have.
The MBA track tends to lean towards a male population. The experience that you have on campus though, Melissa says, doesn’t necessarily reflect that. Leadership in the program is female, club leadership has promoted female figures, and though the numbers may be slightly lower, the presence is not lacking. Peers see the strengths women bring to the program, including the Tepper Women in Business Club. Melissa also was elected President of the GBA, further demonstrating her philosophy.
A driving force to running for GBA president for Melissa was her passion to get involved and contribute in a meaningful way to her program. As she got more exposure to clubs and built relationships, she wanted to seize the opportunity to help her peers get what they need. The impact that she could have in the position became reason enough to run. Of course, with the pandemic, leadership has to pivot. Without the ability to interact in person, Melissa had to get creative and build online programming. Through working to overcome challenges, opportunities to connect continue to come to fruition.
Melissa is a Schwartz Fellow, which is part of an entrepreneurship program in the Schwartz Center that is available to students of all disciplines. The cohort of 12 students from across campus host a seminar where prominent figures in entrepreneurship speak in fireside conversations with students. They share their successes and failures and speak on their experiences and lessons learned. (Yes, Mark Cuban).
Tune in to hear what Melissa is working on now, and more!
Welcome to the Humans of Tepper Podcast, a show about the MBA experience at Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business. Today, our hosts Cynthia and Rohit are sitting down with Frank Avino, a 2nd year MBA student and Chair of the Graduate Business Association Wellness committee. He’s here to share his journey to Tepper, and his experience so far.
Tepper is a school at the intersection of business and technology, which fit perfectly into Frank’s passion areas. Coming out of Northwestern, Frank helped Pepsico save huge amounts of money from IT outages. When he wanted to shift from the operations side to the strategic side, he found a home at Tepper.
But, Frank’s involvement at Tepper goes beyond that, as he sits as the Chair of the GBA Wellness Committee, where organizes and hosts wellness events, such as snacks during reading periods and therapy dogs during exam weeks. From his perspective, supporting student's wellbeing is paramount. His passion for wellness is seated in his experience as an undergrad, feeling down as his college experience wrapped up. He spoke with a counselor on campus where he discovered that you don’t need to travel to the Himalayas to experience mindfulness. Now, he shares that understanding with his peers through events and educational opportunities.
Frank’s experience this summer with his internship looked a little different because of the pandemic. He worked with, and is returning to Deloitte Consulting. This summer was fully virtual, which left him with free time which he spent getting involved with his community. He joined a group called the MBA Response. They have a program where they work with small businesses, offering consultation regarding the US Government providing funds to pay employees. This effort scaled into consultation for digital marketing and partnerships throughout the US to support these same businesses in as many ways as possible.
Frank shares with us his philosophy for his own success and his advice for current and prospective students. Be sure to tune in to listen to Frank’s personal experience throughout the pandemic and his favorite areas, moments, and conversations he has at Tepper and in the broader Pittsburgh community.
In the final podcast of the Tepper Reads Fall 2020 project, we talk with Leanne Meyer, Executive Director of the Accelerate Leadership Center in Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business. Leanne talks about how she ended up at Tepper, hope and pragmatism, empathy vs. sympathy, having an Elwood and Turner on each shoulder, chains of inspiration, and surrounding yourself with what inspires you.
It's a topic on the mind of many business owners, what to do when family members are not interested or not able to run the company going forward. Listen in as Laurie Barkman speaks with Jamie Van Buren, Managing Director at Generational Transfer Entrepreneurs about his search fund that acquires legacy businesses and places energetic operators as CEOs. Jamie shares his strategies for successful transitions and managing in uncertain times. GTE business transitions typically unfold with minimal changes in the first year. But this has been a time when strategic plans last just a few days and managing unforeseen challenges is the new normal. Jamie’s mantra that hope is inspirational, but it is not a strategy, and that fuels them forward.
Show Notes:
Generational Transfer Entrepreneurs (GTE) website
8th US President Martin Van Buren
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