- Sri Josyula, MBA 25 – Investing in Yourself To Invest in Your Family
On this episode of the OneHaas Alumni Podcast, meet Sri Josyula, an EWMBA 25 and Product Management Leader for Seller Experience at Max Retail.
Growing up in Hyderabad, India, Sri was surrounded by books and academia. Both her parents hold PhDs and spent their careers as Professors which gave her early exposure to a lifelong learning mindset. After moving to the U.S. and earning a master's degree from the University of Southern California, Sri built a career in tech, but never wanted to stop challenging herself.
Sri joins host Sean Li to dig into what it really takes to pursue an MBA as a working parent. They also explore the support systems that made it all possible, how she built that community of support, and is now giving back to it through her substack, “Raising The Bar (And Kids)”, a place for parents who are navigating ambitious career moves alongside family life.
*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*
Episode Quotes:
On carving her own pathways in her career
“ I always want to find myself in an uncomfortable place, meaning, "Hey, if this is too comfortable for me, that's really not something I want to continue doing," because learning always comes when you are stretching yourself, you are finding yourself in a place that you don't find comfort in.”
On growing up in a home with professors
“Regardless of the time of day, my house was always full of books — both my parents poring through them, their lecture notes, all of it. So I think this was my very early start of "student always," without even realizing I was absorbing all of this, just constantly seeing my parents read, reread, and revise their lecture notes to make them better year after year.”
On the importance of creating community and support systems
“ I grew up believing that you help people just because you have to help them.
You don't help people expecting something in return. And when you genuinely do something, it does come back to you…When you are there for somebody, they really want to be there for you when you need it the most. And I think this is how a genuine relationship is cultivated.”
On why the MBA was worth it
“My biggest takeaway as a parent going through the program was this essential shift in mindset that the time you invest in yourself is not time taken away from your family. You're expanding the pie for everybody in your family because they're all growing with you.”
Show Links:
32m - Jul 30, 2026 - Lucas Chagas Vital, MBA 18 – Finding Inclusion and Community
In honor of Pride Month, the OneHaas Alumni Podcast is pleased to welcome Lucas Chagas Vital to the show. Lucas is a graduate of the full-time MBA program and a principal in corporate strategy and development for Intuit.
For Lucas, growing up gay in Sao Paolo, Brazil wasn’t always easy. He knew he was gay from a young age, but between attending conservative catholic schools and starting his career in the conservative banking world of Brazil from over a decade ago, he worried he wouldn’t be accepted if he came out at work. So he set out to find a more welcoming and accepting culture for LGBTQ people, and found one at Berkeley Haas.
On this episode, Lucas joins host Sean Li to talk about his childhood in Sao Paolo, his fulfilling experience with Q@Haas as co-president, and how he’s continued that advocacy work since then through inclusion programs at Intuit and other workplaces.
*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*
Episode Quotes:
On his decision to leave Brazil for the U.S.
”So I was not out in the work place. I grew up attending a Catholic school and a Catholic university. And even though I was out earlier than many back then, because I came out in junior high school, I was gay-bashed with my two lesbians friends, so there were a lot of stories of coming out and being back in the closet and getting discriminated against and working through that. And when I learned more about the difference of the reality here, at least 10 years ago, that was one of the things that motivated me a lot, right?”
On the work that still needs to be done for LGBTQ rights
”Our rights should never be taken for granted, right? Because the LGBTQ+ rights and any other minority rights, they can be lost at any time… Definitely as a cisgender gay man, I acknowledge the better privilege that we have when we compare with the transgender population, right? They are in the front. They are the ones who have so much more attacks and hate and we're hearing more and more right now. So how can we be an ally for that?”
On celebrating Pride
“ Thinking about the Pride month ahead of us, I feel that Pride Month, it's not only for fun and parties. I think Pride Month, it's how we got here, right? …I remember when I got here in the US and I was so excited with all the Pride initiatives, and I used to hear a lot of complaints of people saying, "Oh, but there is so much corporate all around."
And I said, "Yeah, but the first Prides, most of the early Prides actually that I went to in Brazil, we didn't have any corporate support, and we did not have that much visibility. We didn't have that much support, and we had to hide a lot" So there are positive things that we can think about how far we got here”
On his time with Q@Haas
“ I spent most of my time at Haas, apart from recruiting, at Q@Haas. So we had a very active group of people…So we organized many events…one event was called Not Your Gay Best Friend, to help break all the stereotypes of just being “the gay best friend”, which for me was very interesting as well because it was also a very American culture thing to learn.
And then of course, the Coming Out Week, which was a big event. The Coming Out Monologues was actually my first time telling my coming out story to a big audience, and in English.”
Show Links:
29m - Jun 4, 2026 - Brittany Jacob, MBA 25 – From Telling Stories to Shaping Them
On this episode of the OneHaas Alumni Podcast, meet Brittany Jacob, a former news anchor turned senior consultant at Deloitte thanks to her career-transforming experience at Berkeley Haas.
Growing up in Texas, Brittany fell in love with theater and the arts, a passion that propelled her to a career in journalism. For Brittany, community is at the heart of everything she does – a passion that shone through while she was at Haas when she decided to create the podcast, Belonging@Haas.
Brittany joins host Sean Li to chat about her upbringing in Texas, what she learned during her time as a news anchor and reporter, what brought her to Haas, how she’s now using her MBA to shape stories, and how she built community through Belonging@Haas.
*OneHaas Alumni Podcast is a production of Haas School of Business and is produced by University FM.*
Episode Quotes:
On her time in the news biz
“Imagine, I was lugging around a tripod, a camera, setting up my own interviews, doing my interviews, going back, editing them, writing them, and then setting up my live unit so that I can go live. And I did all of that by myself at the beginning of my career. So when you think about reporting… It was nothing fancy or pretty. It was work and you got into the industry because you loved what you did.”
One of her fond memories from her time at Haas
“ It felt like we were like 17 years old again – we were in the car on our commute to Berkeley for our accounting quiz, and we're like going through our flashcards and I took a moment to realize, I was like, how crazy is this? We're all in our thirties and we're running through flashcards on our way to class for accounting.”
On her pivot from journalism to consulting
“ I didn't wanna just tell stories. I wanted to shape them. And so that curiosity led me to Berkeley Haas and just really expanding my storytelling into strategy while still rooted in community and impact.”
On the creation of the podcast, Belonging@Haas
“A big part of it was like, how do we leave a legacy that lives beyond this year … and we ran a survey of all of our peers, like, what do you want? Do you feel like you belong? What do you wanna see from the classroom? What are your needs? And we really went through that survey to understand our classmates, like we had two years on this campus to make an impact. And so, we heard them loud and clear. They wanted to hear from their peers. And what better way than a podcast being able to listen on the go while you're cooking, while you're working out, when you're on the flight. Everyone messaged me like, we're downloading this before the winter break to listen. But really it was about giving a voice to students.”
Show Links:
32m - Apr 16, 2026 - Ann Hsu, MBA 98 – Helping Students Thrive Through Bicultural Education
On this episode of OneHaas, learn about the incredible, globe-spanning career journey of alumna Ann Hsu, Founder and Head of School at Bert Hsu Academy. From high tech to yogurt to revolutionizing the approach to public education, this double bear’s story is not one to miss!
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:
53m - Feb 26, 2026 - Dean Jennifer Chatman, PhD 88 – Leading the Haas School of Business Into a Bright Future
On this special episode of OneHaas, Dr. Jennifer Chatman, Dean of the Haas School of Business, shares her career journey and her hopes for the future of Haas.
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:
41m - Dec 4, 2025 - Cory Boatwright, MBA 21 – Finding Jobs That Matter For Our Vets
In honor of Veterans Month, the OneHaas Alumni Podcast is pleased to welcome Cory Boatwright to the show. Cory is a Senior Advisor of Workforce Development, Strategies, and Programs for Hiring Our Heroes.
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
37m - Nov 13, 2025 - Bryce Gilleland, MBA 20 – Coaching Founders & Creating Social Impact
On this episode of the OneHaas Alumni Podcast, meet Bryce Gilleland, a general partner at the Cal Innovation Fund, who is helping tomorrow’s most-innovative founders change the world.
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:
36m - Oct 23, 2025 - Richard Velazquez, MBA 03 — Relentless Personal Growth
For Hispanic Heritage Month, the OneHaas Alumni Podcast is honored to share the story of Richard Velazquez, a mission-driven executive who is using his decades of experience in a variety of industries to help other Latinx MBA students and alumni succeed.
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:
41m - Oct 2, 2025 - Joshua Ahazie, BS 18 – Putting African Music on The World Stage
This month, the OneHaas Alumni Podcast is excited to share the story of Joshua Ahazie, founder and CEO of ATIDE and marketing lead at Warner Music Africa.
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:
38m - Aug 28, 2025 - Liz Castelli, EMBA 24 – Designing Experiences with Impact
On this episode of the OneHaas Alumni Podcast, learn how alum Liz Castelli went from a middle school science teacher to co-founder and CEO of Tinsel Experiential Design.
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:
39m - Jul 17, 2025 - Christina Cairns, EMBA 22 — Creating Positive Change on a Global Scale
On this episode of the OneHaas Alumni Podcast, meet Christina Cairns, an international development professional who spent over 10 years at USAID and now helps expand financial access to under-capitalized business owners and entrepreneurs through the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).
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:
38m - Jul 3, 2025 - Shinghi Detlefsen, BS 13 – Finding Million Dollar Ideas Everywhere
On this episode of the OneHaas Alumni Podcast, meet alum Shinghi Detlefsen, president of Wholesome Story and CEO of ExpandFi.
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:
39m - Jun 19, 2025 - Laurie Reemeyer, MBA 10 – Mining For Inclusivity
In celebration of Pride Month, the OneHaas Alumni Podcast is honored to have Laurie Reemeyer, a sustainable mining consultant, share his journey.
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:
41m - Jun 5, 2025 - Keith & Kenneth Tsang, BS 2010 – Staying Curious Always
The OneHaas Alumni Podcast is pleased to welcome Keith and Kenneth Tsang, who are not only identical twins, but also had identical triple majors at UC Berkeley – political science, psychology, and business.
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:
46m - May 13, 2025 - Jeremy Guttenplan, MBA 09 — Coaching Others To Live Their Best Lives
On this episode of the OneHaas Alumni Podcast, meet leadership coach Jeremy Guttenplan, a double bear with an MBA and a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Haas.
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:
39m - Apr 24, 2025 - Olivia Chen, BS 98 – Revolutionizing The Boba Tea Game
For women’s history month, the OneHaas Alumni Podcast is pleased to welcome Olivia Chen, a Haas undergrad alumna and the co-founder of Twrl Milk Tea.
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:
37m - Apr 10, 2025 - Yael Zheng, MBA 92 – The Art & Science of Marketing
OneHaas is pleased to welcome Yael Zheng, class of 1992, who is a seasoned marketing executive with two decades of experience in the tech industry. She’s served as the Chief Marketing Officer for companies like Bill.com and VMware, and has sat on seven different boards including MeridianLink and UC Berkeley’s Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology.
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
41m - Mar 27, 2025 - Heather Rascher, MBA 04 – Giving Back to Public Education
The OneHaas alumni podcast is pleased to welcome to the show Heather Rascher, the Senior Manager of Global Strategic Partnerships and Business Development at Abbott.
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:
40m - Mar 13, 2025 - Chuck Gibbs, MBA 73 – Paving The Way For Future Generations
On this episode, OneHaas is honored to welcome Chuck Gibbs, class of 1973, to the podcast. As one of the first Black MBA graduates at UC Berkeley, Chuck has spent his life and career paving the way for younger generations to follow their dreams.
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.”
36m - Feb 27, 2025 - D’Juan Wilcher, EMBA 22 – Strengthening Support and Service for Veterans
Today’s guest on the OneHaas Alumni Podcast is D’Juan Wilcher, the Deputy Director of the George W. Bush Presidential Center and a 2022 graduate of the executive MBA program at Haas.
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:
30m - Nov 21, 2024
