Weinberg in the World

In this episode, Weinberg alum Bonnie Wong reflects on how her Northwestern education in philosophy and mathematics shaped her career in healthcare strategy by teaching her intellectual rigor, precise communication, analytical thinking, and resilience. She discusses her nonlinear path from law to business to population health, explaining how liberal arts skills helped her connect data, policy, finance, and human-centered problem-solving across roles at Humana, Oscar, and Molina Healthcare. Bonnie also shares how Northwestern taught her to work through challenges, take intellectual risks, seek support, and view setbacks as part of building a meaningful career.

In this episode of the Weinberg in the World podcast, student host Abigail Thomas '26 sits down with Northwestern alum Karen Smith '94 to explore how an early cognitive science degree shaped Karen's career and life. Karen reflects on discovering cognitive science in its early days, launching into the tech boom to design early digital learning systems, and later channeling her interdisciplinary background into writing, podcasting, and a decade-long positive‑psychology journaling practice. She shares advice for current students—embrace curiosity, explore campus and Chicago, stay open to changing paths, and trust that a Northwestern education provides adaptable, lifelong tools for whatever comes next. Transcript Abigail Welcome to the Weinberg in the World Podcast, where we explore the value of interdisciplinary liberal arts education in today's complex world. My name is Abigail, and I'm your student host of this special episode of the podcast. I'm a senior at Northwestern majoring in cognitive science and minoring in data science, and I'm looking forward to learning more about how your academic experience is connected to your professional journey and how your cognitive science background supports the work you do. Today I'm excited to be speaking with Karen Smith. Thank you, Karen, for taking the time to speak with me today. Karen Thank you for having me. Abigail To start us off today, I'm wondering if you can tell us more about your time at Northwestern as an undergraduate. What did you study? What were the impactful experiences for you that led you to your current career path? Karen I received a cognitive science degree in 1994. The lore or the legend is that we were the second graduating class. I'm not sure I haven't fact-checked that. but I know that I graduated with just two or three others with our degree. I understand that the cognitive science program has grown, so I think that's fantastic. I found cognitive science because one of those other two or three was a friend of mine, and I was complaining to him about how to choose a path when I found a lot of college classes really interesting, but I kind of had the sense that I couldn't choose just one. there wasn't one thing. I was dabbling with the idea of doing a sociology major. And my father, who was a business consultant, a technology and business consultant, asked me once as I was just exploring this at home on a break, there aren't very many sociologists out in the world. I don't see a lot of people saying, you know, hello, hi, I'm A sociologist. His point just being that if I were to be really interested in that path, I might need to have some idea of what else I wanted to do or to be planning to pursue a career in academia, which had never really occurred to me and wasn't what I found interesting. I thought sociology was interesting because we were studying people and cultures and how people do things in groups. That I found plenty interesting, but it wasn't so interesting that I was sure. And then the friend mentioned, you should think about this new interdisciplinary program 'cause it lets you do a little bit of this and a little bit of that. So I started looking into cognitive science and realized that the classes I already took were already quite applicable to the required courses for the degree. And then I looked at what else I should take. I think I was, it was first or second. quarter sophomore year. So I still had 2 1/2 years plus to look at. And everything in the list was something I wanted to take. Like it was already on my radar screen or it was new on my radar screen. I was like, are you kidding? I could take classes like this. is perfect. So that interdisciplinary sense is what appealed to me back then. I don't know if it's the same for folks today. Abigail Yeah, definitely. I find it, I also chose it because I just loved how interdisciplinary it was and how you could take classes from different fields and still be able to apply that to my major. So that definitely still holds true. Karen Yeah, wonderful. Well, what I did with my degree, I graduated into the early, early phases of the technology boom. And you know, we've been in boom and bust cycles. And so part of my career story includes both. But I graduated into an atmosphere where we were beginning to use technology to solve all kinds of problems that previously we had to do manually. We had to do in person with people, very labor and time intensive. And I worked at what is now Accenture, but was then Anderson Consulting. And my job was to build learning systems for corporate clients. So I was teaching adults how to do their job using technology to mediate it instead of having to create a course that was then led by an instructor and conducted in person on site somewhere, which was the old model of training. And that's how all corporate training had been done till then. So it was a pretty exciting time to launch out into that. But a lot of the technology tools we used were very early days. Like I remember waiting for videos to compress. and waiting for hours and hours for videos to compress and then finding that the edit had gone poorly and that we had to do it over. And things that today are kind of comical since we can use our phones to just go out and do an on the street interview with someone and have it on the internet in minutes or even live stream. These things were just not even, like we hadn't even imagined where we were going to go with this technology. So There were inconveniences, but it was also tremendously interesting because there was just so much to consider. And a lot of the times we needed to write new software to do the things we wanted to do. There now are authoring tools and platforms that you can kind of plop your training content into and sort of publish without needing a lot of technology background. Back then, we were doing things with teams of five and six. developers, plus I was on the design side, designing the learning experience and then management and content creators and things like that. I'm sure it's quite different now, but as I mentioned, the boom and bust cycle, or the bust and boom cycle, led to, it was the early 2000s, the technology, the.com bubble burst is how history tends to refer to that. And companies like mine did massive layoffs that included me. That time coincided with when my husband and I were starting our family. And so it led me to just kind of reevaluate a lot of things and choose to take a step back for a while, which has been great for myself, but it meant that I wasn't out there doing the things that I had been doing. So I don't have as good a perspective on how we're using those technology tools in these last 20 years. But for a time in the 90s, it was a fascinating and interesting way to apply my degree. And I was one of the only people I knew who did in my work what I studied in my undergrad degree. Everyone else was like a political science major who's now writing code or what else, like a anthropology major who was one of my co-designers on my team, things like that. Abigail Yeah, that's really interesting. I was just wondering, like going based off of having something you learn applied to your work experience, are there other classes or experiences specifically at Northwestern that ended up being more valuable than you realized at the time? Karen I certainly appreciate the computer science classes I took, even though my job never required me personally to write code. And I don't today choose that as a way to spend my time either. Even when I'm just like dabbling with my own personal projects, I find some of the code aspects aggravating. And it's one of the places where I'm most comfortable with the AI revolution because frankly, These are things that I feel like I should be able to get my head around, but I can't get my website designed to look the way I want it to. So if an AI bot can do it for me, that would be great. I would love that. But the underpinning of just understanding some of how technology systems work and a lot of the, I'm not sure I can put this into words very well, but the way when you're trying to write a computer program, you have to think both logically, but also you have to think divergently, right? You have to think in order. This has to happen, then that. This has to happen, then that. You have to do a lot of the dependencies and understanding what needs to come first and what needs to come later. But you also have to be prepared for things that are way outside the realm of what you might have expected. So you have to expect someone's going to use your computer system in a sideways way. And so you have to be prepared and to be able to think about those things differently. And I for sure wouldn't have had as much facility with that had I not taken, it wasn't a million, but I probably took, I don't know, four or five computer science courses in the course of getting my cognitive science degree. And I feel like each one just contributed to this ability to think in several different flexible ways and to break a problem down out into even just, planning a bake sale or, trying to do something completely, every day out in the real world, being able to know, oh, if we don't come up with a language for the flyers first, we won't have anything to put on the flyers. If we don't, we can't give it to the person to use Canva to go make the flyers for us if we don't have all the wording written, and things like that. I find it's not that these skills don't exist in others, but sometimes they're like overlooked. Folks don't maybe think through things in a process-based way. And I believe, it's been some time, but I believe that a lot of that came from some of this more technical work that I did while in undergrad. Abigail Yeah, definitely. Thank you. I saw that you worked in different industries after leaving Anderson or Accenture at that time. How has your cognitive science degree prepared you for taking on th

In this episode of the Weinberg in the World podcast, Zifan Wang '29 interviews alumnus Robert Sevim '97 about how his interdisciplinary studies and adaptability shaped his journey to a career in real estate. Sevim emphasizes emotional intelligence, exploration, and building real‑world exposure, advising students to focus on growth, stay curious, and trust that clarity about career paths will come with time.

In this episode of the Weinberg in the World podcast, Olyvia Chinchilla '18 shares how early experiences (from studying abroad in Poland to working with a Stanford-affiliated nonprofit) shaped her passion for economics, social justice, and empathy-driven research. Olyvia reflects on the challenges and rewards of creating change, emphasizing the importance of adaptability, framing conversations, and seeing people beyond statistics. Her career journey spans teaching, global research, and policy analysis. Transcript: Leonie: How did your career begin, and what were your career goals coming out of undergrad? Olyvia: Well, I believe I mentioned while I was at Northwestern, I had been in the reserve officer training course, I had been planning to go into the Navy, and that ended up not panning out because of a few athletic injuries. But earlier in my time at Northwestern, I believe it was the summer of my sophomore year, I studied abroad. And I was studying in Poland and it was my first time actually being out of the country, so it was super exciting. And I was just super excited also to explore Poland because my mom is originally from Poland. So it was just this really amazing moment. And I remember going into that program not being able to fully form sentences, to then leaving the program a few weeks later and literally just talking to my friends in the program in Polish as we tried to navigate the city. And I owed a lot of that to one of the instructors there at the program. So she spoke Polish the whole time, but she was so patient whenever we couldn't get it or we didn't understand or there's a translation error. And I think in that moment, my passion for learning was melded with my... I had this vision of perhaps using that to then also teach. So I had this idea, it stuck in the back of my mind, "Oh, maybe I could take a year off and teach or teach down the road." I did not take a year off, I went back to Northwestern, but I was at a career fair later. And one of the first people I ran into was a national teaching organization. And so that, again, kind of stoked that thought in my mind. And I had planned to actually teach for that program I got accepted, but then I took a year off actually to have a medical procedure following one of the athletic injuries. And when I took that year off, I'm like, "I'll just go to San Francisco for a few months and then Australia for the rest of that year." That was my plan to travel as I recovered. But when I got to San Francisco, I ended up getting in touch through the Northwestern network with a nonprofit based out of Stanford University, so they were sponsored by Stanford. And it was perfect because it melded my interest in teaching because they had a large educational component in the program for fifth through 12th grade students. And then there was also a significant amount of research being conducted by all of the people at the institution. So it was such, I think, a perfect blend for me because then I got to teach as well as do a lot of research for the program. And I actually ended up researching five continents, or I should say four. I didn't go to the last one, but I definitely traveled the whole world doing that research. So it was quite exciting. Leonie: Wow. What subjects were you teaching? Olyvia: So the program was structured so that people could focus on their specialties in teaching and research. So I was focused on economic and social policy, and I had colleagues that worked on immigration more specifically, more specifically on cybersecurity, technology issues. I did cover some of technology like AI issues where it met with economics. So I say I covered a lot of issues, but my specialty was always coming at it from an economic and social perspective. Leonie: And then I assume the research you were doing was related to economic policy? Olyvia: Yes, yes. Policy, but I would say also some of the societal and ethical questions that come up along with policymaking as well as just how communities work and operate. So for example, when we were studying immigration, we were also interviewing a lot of local businesses on the US-Mexico border. We talked with a lot of locals, nonprofits, immigration advocates. So it was kind of like a 360-degree look, but I was always the one who brought that economic knowledge and thought a lot about a lot of social issues too. So that's why several years later, I actually went to London to get a master's in political sociology. So that politics and society part, I think was definitely an element along with the economics. Leonie: Yeah. And you kind of touched on this earlier when you were speaking, but you can expand on it now. What was your motivation for going into this field? Olyvia: So I think I've always just been really fascinated with how people think and how people also are affected by different structures. And that's where the economics piece comes in because economics, of course, impacts different people differently, impacts different communities differently based on how the policies are structured. So I, for almost as long as I can remember, have been interested in economics. I remember as a 12-year-old, I read Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, and it was a really long book, but at that age, I was still really fascinated by it. So I've always just had that interest, how money interacts with people. But as I've went along, and definitely the role I was in really opened myself to thinking even more about a lot of the ways in which money and economics also creates wealth disparities, racial disparities, disparities for other minorities, like gender groups. So I feel like all of that, my thought and motivation has evolved quite a bit, I will say, but I think that as I've come along in my career, I've really, as I've just talked to so many people across the entire world, whether it's the communities in Colombia that are still recovering from drug trafficking or whether it's in Iceland talking to different police and then social groups or Portugal as they're working on drug decriminalization, and then seeing that in San Francisco as well in the criminal justice system, just having all of these conversations has really made me really just be motivated to see how we can create the best world for marginalized groups. Leonie: Yeah. And then along those lines, what has been the most rewarding and the most challenging aspect of your job? Olyvia: So for one, for teaching, it was incredibly rewarding to be able to work with students and to see them understand something. And I think it felt to me a little bit of a puzzle when they didn't as well, how's the best way you can communicate, what's the best way to present a topic? And what I found actually, which was interesting to me with teaching was that oftentimes the way I would structure a lesson to start would actually be the exact opposite of how I would end up teaching it. So I would perhaps structure it linearly, and then I compared it to pulling a plastic bag inside out. You would take something from the middle of that linear story and move it to the beginning and switch things around because I think the way that we actually think is often different than the way that we're tempted to explain things. So working with that jigsaw puzzle of how to best explain things was also very fascinating. And I think it's also inspired a lot of my thought process about even as I move forward with potentially moving more into policy implementation or other work and policy, definitely that experience will shape that moving forward because I find how we frame conversations around social policymaking really makes a big difference in terms of how it's understood, how it's received, even how people access the program, for example. There was a study I found very fascinating that was conducted, I believe it was by the University of Minnesota economists. And what they found was that even if they sent a letter in the mail to underprivileged students saying, "Hey, you qualify for this scholarship," but it was actually the same sort of funding they would get anyway just based on their need status, students were more likely to apply for that program. And so I think things like that are really fascinating where we're framing and conversation, thinking about how people think, not just students, but people broadly really does have a big impact on policy. So I think it was very just amazing and fulfilling to actually have that opportunity to grapple with that. But I think also even just the idea of stepping into a space where you're actively envisioning, researching, working towards creating a better world was very fulfilling. On the flip side, I think it is the same thing that's rewarding in that regards is also sometimes one of the challenges that I think definitely as someone who I really aspire to be a changemaker, and I think that that's sometimes you're constantly learning, constantly thinking. And I think sometimes it's easy to... It's challenging, I should say. It's easy to get burnt out or it's easy to perhaps work too hard maybe. But I would say, for example, even just some of the interviews that we conducted with people were challenging even to talk to unhoused people in the city or to talk to people in poverty in Aspen, Colorado when we were studying poverty there, or to interview people that had fled from Gaza and to hear their stories, all of those were definitely very emotionally challenging stories. And I think to meet people in that space, you have to give out a certain amount of empathy and understanding, even if it's for research purposes. And I think just navigating that balance was challenging in its own way. Leonie: Definitely. I think the point about balance is a really good one. I think being able to incorporate empathy into research is a very critical skill that I think someti

Cassie Petoskey: Hi, everyone. Thanks for being here. I'm Cassie Petoskey. I use she or they pronouns. And I'm the Director of the Waldron Student Alumni Connections Program, where our goal really is to help Weinberg College students explore career options through connecting with alumni. So thank you so much for our alumni for being here with us today. And we're going to spend some time. Amelia is going to take us through some prepared questions for our speakers. We'll get into it. Are you okay? I feel like I always talk at the worst time too. So no worries. And then we're going to save plenty of time for questions at the end. And Shai is going to moderate questions from you all. So please, we'll save plenty of time for that as you all are writing [inaudible 00:00:44] down throughout. And I think that's it without... And of course, thank you to Geoclub for partnering with us on this event. Very excited to have you all bring this idea forward and work with you all on this. So thank you. And without further ado, I'll pass to Amelia and Shai. Why don't you introduce yourselves first and then we'll go to our alumni speakers? [inaudible 00:01:06]. Amelia: Hi, everyone. Thank you so much for coming. I'm Amelia. I'm a second year. I'm a Bio and Earth Science... Technically, Earth Science minor, but whatever. And I'm the president of Geoclub. And I'm so grateful that you all attended this event. We really wanted to be able to show people what Earth and Environmental Sciences can do for you in the future and expand the idea of there are [inaudible 00:01:29]. Shai: Hi, guys. I'm Shai. I use he/him pronouns. I'm a senior majoring in Earth and Planetary Science. I'm education chair of Geoclub. So also very glad to see so many [inaudible 00:01:40] here, and I'm excited to hear all the wisdom that our alumni have to offer. Thank you guys. Amelia: Yeah. So to start us off with some questions, can you share with us more about your industry and current job function and introduce yourselves while you're at it? And if you could speak to the microphone, that would be wonderful. Cassie Petoskey: Yeah. We're recording it. Sorry. Seems silly. Max Jones: Sure. Yeah. My name is Max Jones. And speaking of the future of your careers, I'm the near future because I graduated in June actually. So I am a class of 2024. I'm currently a Master's student at the Chicago Botanic Garden and I'm working as a conservation biologist and wildlife biologist. And so right now I've just returned from seven months of fieldwork in Panama doing work on forest fragmentation and animal movements. And I'm super excited to talk about all that and then also how I've kind of gotten to this point, especially so fresh out of undergrad. And then moving forward, I'm also going to be moving to Germany this summer to work with some scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior to keep working there. And so I'm going to be talking mostly I guess about my time networking at Northwestern and then how Earth and Planetary Science and Environmental Science has led me to the strange position I'm in right now. Margaret Isaacson: Hey, everyone. So my name's Margaret Isaacson. I graduated in 2015. It's been a minute. I'm a graduate of the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department, and currently I am a conservation and outdoors division manager at the Parks and Rec department in Evanston. So I'm pretty local. My position title is a long way of saying that I oversee our local nature center and all the programs that we run out of that facility along with the park services team that oversees the maintenance of the public restrooms around town and the athletic fields around town and picnic areas. So happy and excited to be here and talk to you all. And I think what I'll focus on, but happy to answer any questions, is how my experience in the department brought me to maybe an unusual career path and sector of the workplace, which is parks and recreation. Amelia: Thank you. So what were some of the impactful classes or experiences for you in your undergrad at Northwestern that led you to pursue your career path? Margaret Isaacson: Max, I feel like yours is in more recent memory, but I'll dig back. Max Jones: Okay. For mine, I think I'd probably start with saying ironically Spanish. Spanish led me down a snowball into this world of Latin American conservation that I've found myself in. And it was really that triggered the start, but then also I had everyone in the Environmental Science Department urging me to branch out and try new things, which was something super interesting. And so then specifically which classes, I'd say the GIS class with Elsa Anderson that I took was incredibly impactful in my senior year. That's been a skill that I've used all the time going forward. And just knowing these different kinds of programs like that have made it really easy for me to quickly pick up new kinds of analysis or feel comfortable going into different fields that I might not have experience with at the time. There was that, and then I'd also say my community ecology class from... That one's with the Biology Department, although I think Environmental Science students often take that too. That one just exposed me to a lot of different kind of paper readings. And so at first I thought those classes were very unfocused, but then I realized the goal is to expose you to so many different kinds of scientific thought that then you can... You find that one paper that you get really, really into for some reason and then that ends up being the rabbit hole that you follow down into the career that you want. Margaret Isaacson: The first thing that I'm thinking about back 10 years ago is some of the field experiences that I went on with the various classes, everything from Earth 201, that [inaudible 00:05:45] like trip, which hopefully is still around, to doing lake sediment coring up in Wisconsin on a frozen lake in the middle of February. That's right. Maggie remembers that hopefully. It was very cold. It was very, very cold that day. A lot of dancing on the ice to keep warm. So these experiences in the outdoors, they built on my passion for camping, my passion for spending time in the outdoors, but I got to be doing important science while I was out there. And now as a parks and recreation professional, my job is primarily outdoors and the goal of our Ecology Center here in Evanston is to inspire families, young kids, adults, people of all ages to spend time outdoors, whether that's through a quick class, through a whole summer of summer camp. But really it was those experiences doing science outside that showed me what can I do to inspire other people. "My professors are inspiring me now. Is there something more local, maybe less academic that I can have an impact on a broad range of people?" So I think those experiential moments were really important for me and really didn't guide me directly to parks and rec, but reinforced my passion for the outdoors and for inspiring that in others. Amelia: Max, you mentioned a bit about how your connections and networking that you had here are important. I don't know if that's applicable to you, but if you'd share a bit more about that, I'd love to hear. Max Jones: Yeah. Sorry. Give me just a second. You guys, it really was like... It's a funny thing on how you get started in these things because it's never the path you originally take that ends up to where you end up in the end. Because I think I started with one of the professors who was teaching an introductory climate change course my freshman year. I worked with her on processing photos of trees for a while and then that slowly led me to meet the people at the Chicago Botanic Garden. And then even though my research interests don't perfectly align with them, I did a thesis with Trish, with Patricia Betos, as my undergrad thesis advisor. And Trish is a mover. She loves pushing people to go do more and more and more. So I ended up going and doing a thesis in Costa Rica for my undergrad field work. And this is what I mean by the snowballs because I started taking photos of trees and then I ended up in Costa Rica doing sea turtle work with Trish and then from there I met the people that I worked with on this project as well. So that's the number one thing that I always recommend is don't be afraid to follow a lead, even if you don't know exactly where it's going to lead you to in that moment. Margaret Isaacson: Yeah. I could add a little bit to that. Not so much networking here on campus, but just post-grad when you start out at an opportunity. My first job was a part-time... My first job after post-grad was a part-time position with the Ecology Center. It was limited hours. I was learning on the job how to lead programs, completely new in the environmental education field, but I then left and came back two times and in four different positions leading to the one that I'm in now. So I think, like you said, following a lead, even if you don't know necessarily where it's going to take you, building relationships with the folks that you work with, the folks that... Whether it's academic or professional or just a summer experience, those are connections that you're going to take with you along the way. They might be people that you meet again. They might not. But like you said, Max, it's going to take you somewhere. And I think I wouldn't be where I was now if I didn't have the Ecology Center, for example, in the back of my mind and just building back towards that in some ways once I found something that I was excited about. Amelia: That's great. Thank you. What has surprised you about what you learned or did during your school days that helped you in your work today? I hope something you learned helps today. Margaret Isaacson: I can speak to that a little bit. So when I was an und

Dora: First of all, thank you so much for your willingness to connect and speak with us today. And to start off, do you mind briefly introducing yourself? Sijh: Yes. So my name is Sijh Diagne. I am a Weinberg class of 2010, did Economics and International Studies at Northwestern. Today I work as the advisor to the CFO of the African Development Bank. It's the largest multilateral development bank in Africa. Before that, I used to be in the Senegalese government as a senior advisor to the Minister of Economy, Planning and Cooperation. So the last five years I have found myself being at the intersection of policy and finance in Africa. Really enjoy playing some of my hobbies. I enjoy playing tennis. I enjoy playing a little bit of basketball, love watching tennis as well. Had a chance to travel quite a bit. So I enjoy traveling and trying out some new foods. So that's a little bit in a nutshell about myself. Dora: Sounds great. I'm actually going to play tennis and basketball later today. Sijh: Ah, fantastic. Dora: It's very nice out. Yeah, I'm a big fan of tennis and basketball too. Sijh: Very good. Dora: Thank you so much for introducing yourself. So I think my first question is that we're wondering how did you end up working at the African Development Bank Group and being where you are right now? Sijh: Yes. So my mentor I've had since I graduated from college when I joined Oliver Wyman as a consulting, he was an investment bank at the time in Dubai, Senegalese named Amadou Hott, and he became the Minister of Economy, Planning and Cooperation of Senegal in 2019. So I sent him a text message when he became minister. At the time I was at Harvard Business School. I finished my MBA and I was working at Credit Suisse in New York. And I said, "Congratulations." And he said to me, "You should think about joining the government, you'd be good to come home and serve your country." And I said, "Yeah, yeah, it's okay. No problem. I'm enjoying banking, but I wish you the best." And long story short, he did contact me and came to New York and said, "I need you. I'm building a team. I want you to join the ministry as my advisor. You're going to be in charge of private sector development." This was at the end of 2019, had decided thinking about everything personally and professionally, that this was going to be a really cool opportunity to serve your country, contribute to policy, especially something that I've always wanted to do since my days at Northwestern. And he took me on board and I became his advisor. We did a lot of interesting things in Senegal, COVID-19 pandemic economic recovery plan, an emergency youth jobs plan, PPP law, and really put Africa on a map, at least Senegal on a map, especially when we were sharing the African Union. And subsequently, he then moved on from government, went to the African Development Bank as advisor to the president, special envoy. And when the CFO of the bank was looking for somebody, had asked him and he suggested my name as somebody who had the profile, given my investment banking background, coupled with my policy and government background. And that's how I ended up at the African Development Bank. So it's a quite combination of personal interests, luck, but also relationships given the fact that it was a mentor who had recommended me. And this is a lot of times how the world works at a certain level. It's word of mouth, its connection, its relationships. And that's how I ended up where I am today. Dora: That's really cool. I think it's really cool that you ended up contributing to your own hometown by using your interest and skills and expertise. That sounds very cool to me. And you've also mentioned that you started off as a consultant at Oliver Wyman. What led you to decide that you want to do consulting when you first graduated? Sijh: So consulting was a little bit by accident, I would say. At the beginning when I was a junior at Northwestern, I had an undergraduate research grant to do studies. I was doing a thesis on China's economic involvement in Africa because I was surprised that when I went on vacation in Senegal, I saw a lot of people from China in Senegal. And Senegal was not a resource-rich country at the time. We did subsequently find oil and gas, but that was much later. And I was just quite interested in that new phenomenon. And so while I was doing that project, I started talking to merchants and consumers about business, about trade, and I got very interested in maybe the business of giving advice on strategic advice. Instead of maybe going for a master's in international relations and doing diplomacy, I maybe thought maybe I should explore deep field in management consulting, especially in emerging markets because it was one of the fastest growing markets in the world and I wanted to get exposure to that, given my Senegalese background, the fact that I also had chance to spend also a study abroad in Egypt and wanted to also develop my Arabic. So I looked at opportunities that will place me in the Middle East where I can be focused on at the time Middle East and Africa. And Oliver Wyman was recruiting in their Dubai office, and that was my top choice. Now remind you that this was in 2009. It was at the height of the economic crisis. So it was extremely challenging to find a job, and I just remembered applying to so many jobs at the time and just feeling completely agonized that what if I don't get it? Because a lot of my classmates were not getting jobs, people were getting laid off, were not recruiting as much. And I really thought that this is the only chance I have to differentiate myself because the US market was just quite challenging. And I practiced many, many hours a day. I only took three classes when I [inaudible 00:06:37] Northwestern versus four just to give myself a chance to get to that job. And so by God's grace, I got the job and then I moved to Dubai. And that's what I ended up doing for a few years. Dora: That sounds really cool. So you've mentioned that it was really hard to find a job back in 2009. And I'm sure it got a lot better now, but it's still a little hard for us because I'm a junior, so I'm also applying for jobs. It's still hard, especially for international students to find jobs. So is there any advice or suggestion you can give to the students seeking for a job in financial service or just seeking for a job in general? Sijh: Do not underestimate the power of the alumni network and in your relationships. When I was applying for jobs at the time at Oliver Wyman, most of the people who were interviewing me were from the Chicago office, Northwestern alum. And so I really tapped into that network at the beginning. It's the only network really I'd had at the time, frankly. And so in any job you have to look at what is required of the job in terms of skill set. Does it match currently the skill sets that you've been building or working on? And then number two, just really talk to alumni, talk to your network who work in those fields. Because oftentimes what might make a difference is just a person at the right time saying, "Oh, I know this person. I've worked with this person, I've interacted with this person. I can tell this person's character. I can tell this person's work ethic. I can tell about how assiduous they are. I can tell about how much integrity, how good communicator they are, and how consistent they have been in terms of reaching out, following up, asking the right questions and really putting in the work." Because at the end of the day, that might be what differentiates one or two candidates, what you do well, what you can control, having a good GPA applying for the job, but tailoring your CV, preparing for the interviews. But at the end of the day, sometimes the decisions are being made based on other emotional quotient. What were the interactions like with the people who you've met? Have you been very consistent at reaching out at talking to them? What has been your demeanor? I found that these interactions really made a difference, and so I made it a point in my career to just continue to reach out to mentors, continue to reach out to people in my different circles. This interview that we're having today would not have been possible if it weren't for a Northwestern alum, my sister Nikki Okrah, who gave a brilliant commencement speech last year and to whom I'm being very, very grateful for to open doors. And these are the ways in which the Northwestern alumni has been used. Nikki and I have been friends for almost 17, 18 years, since freshman year of college. She's back in Ghana building Chaku Foods, which is a startup in the agricultural space. And so my point is just leverage the network, build genuine relationships with people, your colleagues, your peers, and these things will pay dividends over time. Dora: I definitely agree because I've been doing networking and coffee chats with a lot of alumni as well, and I know that they have also been reaching out and talking to a lot of students. But I don't know if this question might be a little repetitive. Do you have any advice or suggestion for students to maybe stand out in those conversations? Like you mentioned being consistent and always follow up, but is there any more things or specific strategies we could use to... Sijh: Yeah, and I think these times are very challenging times as you can see given what's happening at the global environment. Quite challenging, quite complex, but it's also a tremendous time of opportunities and growth. One way in which I differentiated myself at the time when I was graduating is that I knew I had a language differentiator. I was fortunate to speak five languages, including Arabic, which was a differentiating factor when I was applying for jobs in the Dubai office. Being from Senegal, having had good quality educ

In this episode of the Weinberg in the World podcast, Aimee Resnick '26 interviews Priscilla Vail-Caldwell '85, founder of Vail-Caldwell Projects. Priscilla shares her undergraduate experiences at Northwestern, including impactful classes and internships that shaped her career in the arts. She discusses her current role as an advisor and curator, helping clients build art collections with a focus on research and quality. Aimee: Welcome to the Weinberg in the World Podcast, where we bring you stories of interdisciplinary thinking in today's complex world. My name is Aimee Resnick and I am your student host of the special podcast episode. I'm a senior studying social policy at Northwestern University who plans to pursue public administration in my home state of Colorado. Today, I'm very excited to be speaking with Priscilla Vail-Caldwell, who is the founder of the consulting firm, Vail-Caldwell Projects. Thank you, Priscilla for taking the time to speak with me today. Priscilla: Thank you, Aimee, for having me. Aimee: Of course. To start us off today, we were wondering if you can just tell us a little bit more about your time at Northwestern as an undergraduate in terms of what did you study and what were the impactful experiences you had at Northwestern that led you to your current career? Priscilla: I think one thing to note is that I came to Northwestern following a year of study abroad in France. So, as a senior, I studied in France, and then I came to Northwestern with an idea that I wanted to be at a big university near a city. So logistics had something to do with actually my choice of university, and I think it had to do with the fact that I had this experience that had really kind of opened my mind up about the world, essentially. So there was that, and for some reason I declared an art history major very early on in my time at Northwestern. I think as a freshman, I had already decided that that was what I was going to do. So you had asked what was one of the transformative experiences that I had at school, and I was thinking that ironically, in a way, I think it may have been a studio art class that I took because it was very rigorous and I enjoyed it, and I had a lot of respect for the other students in the class who I thought were gifted than I was. And I then realized that that wasn't really what I should be doing, but I still wanted to be involved in the arts, and I wanted to be involved in art history and working with objects. I always enjoyed those big introductory courses, sort of identifying paintings, and it seemed like a game to me, really. And so I enjoyed that. And then frankly, learning about history through the lens of art. So that was always something that kind of compelled me. I think another thing that I did while I was on campus, and I do think this is something that big universities offer, especially ones like Northwestern that are near a city like Chicago, are the opportunities to work in different situations outside of the university campus. So I always worked, while I was at Northwestern, I waitressed, I did all sorts of things in order to earn extra money, and I found a job at a gallery downtown in Chicago called Frumkin & Struve. It's no longer in existence, but at the time, it was one of the big galleries downtown. And I worked there every Saturday. And then I had time in my schedule during the week, and I would work there usually one day during the week as well. And Bill and Debbie Struve were the principals of the gallery, and they gave me a lot... I mean, for a college student, they gave me a lot of responsibility, and they really brought me into the fold in a sense. So, I was included in all sorts of things, and the dinners for the artists, and I got to meet a lot of the artists that they were working with. And it was exciting and engaging, and I thought that that seemed like the kind of life I wanted to lead. I enjoyed the interaction with the artists primarily. Aimee: Oh, I totally empathize with your studio art experience, I'm taking painting right now, and there are some incredible painters in that class. But I also wanted to just say, I think that your experience having a really meaningful internship in Chicago is a good reminder to students to look outside the Northwestern bubble for opportunities as they're going through school. And I was wondering if you could tell us a little bit more about what you do at Vail-Caldwell Projects now that you're in New York. Priscilla: Well, I'm an advisor and a curator, and I've had my own advisory business now for the last... I think it's been about eight years. So I've always been in the professional... I've always been in the commercial art world, but in this iteration, I advise private people who are building collections on acquiring works of art for the collection. So, we're building things oftentimes from the ground up. Oftentimes, I will start working on a project with somebody and there will be nothing essentially, and we will work on that together and build something that is meaningful and very specific in every single case with every client that I work with. All my projects are very, very different. So there are clients that I work with who buy only the work of one artist. There are clients that I work with who focus very specifically on certain kinds of movements in, for instance, the California Light and Space Movement. There are people who are interested in collecting works by female artists. It all ends up having very different kinds of focuses. Each one of the projects allows me to apply my research skills and learn a lot alongside whoever it is that I'm advising, oftentimes about different aspects of the art world. So I see what I do, as always, very research-based and obviously sort of a search for quality and also to include different voices in any kind of project that I work on. I also have a very strong background in modern American painting. So I have this kind of hybrid experience where I oftentimes advise people on the purchase of work by contemporary and emerging artists, but I have a strong background in historic American painting. So, many of my curatorial projects have been focused on the works of some of the seminal painters of the 20th century. I've done a series of exhibitions at Paul Kasmin Gallery on the work of Stuart Davis. I worked with Kasmin on a number of projects. Another one was a exhibition of sculptures by Elie Nadelman, who is artist who came to the United States from Europe and is considered part of the canon of modern American painting or sculpture, really. He's not a painter, he is a sculptor. I've also done projects with smaller galleries where I've curated relevant shows of young, relatively unknown artists. And that's always fun. I enjoy doing that. That's really a wonderful way for me to dive in and learn about what's going on out there amongst a group of recent graduates. So that's always exciting and I enjoy that kind of work very, very much. And currently, I think one of the things that I've just started working on is a collaboration with a gallery in London called Pie Artworks and an artist who they represent, whose name is Jill Bradley. So I also advise the estate of Stuart Davis. Aimee: Yes, it does. And I have a related question, which is that you mentioned having worked with a lot of different genres and periods and different artists in this realm of art history. And while you were going through your education in your early career, was there a certain artist or movement that was particularly influential or touching to you? Priscilla: I'm going to answer that question by giving you a little bit more of my background. So, I left Northwestern, I moved to New York, and I took a job at a small gallery. And that year of working there were like three people on staff. That was an experience that taught me that I wanted to go back to school and learn to become more expert on something. I wasn't sure exactly what that was going to be, but I needed more skills actually in order to have the sort of job in the art world that I envisioned. So I was accepted at Williams, which a small... Everybody's always confused because it's a college, but it has two graduate programs, and one of them is an art history program that's associated with the Clark Art Institute. So I was one of 12 students in that following year, entering in to a two-year program. I had the good fortune of... Linda Nochlin was the visiting professor at the time who, if you're not familiar with Linda Nochlin, she was, she died a few years ago, one of the great feminist revisionist art historians of her time. And so studying with Linda, I began to look into the histories of certain artists like Ava Hess and Jackie Windsor. Ava Hess, of course, has been dead for many, many years. Jackie Windsor just died recently. So, at that moment in time, and I'm still very moved by the work and very interested in it, but I was very much focused on the work of minimalist and post-minimalist female sculptors to be extremely specific. So that experience studying with Linda and looking into the histories of these women and the difficulties that they faced in a world that discriminates against women was eye-opening for me. And it's informed everything that I've probably done since. Aimee: Well, that's very interesting. And I think it's fascinating how some of these formative pieces of art really brought your eye into the future and your current work. And I know at the Block Museum on campus, we've had several exhibits that kind of follow in line with the types of art that you've just described in terms of the revisionist view of art history, the modernism with their Arabic art exhibit not too long ago. And I'm going to transition us to that because you're currently a member of the Block Museum Advisory Committee, and I just

Preena: Welcome to the Weinberg in the World Podcast, where we bring stories of interdisciplinary thinking in today's complex world. My name is Preena Shroff and I'm your student host of this special Weinberg in the World episode. I'm a third year student majoring in neuroscience and global health studies with a minor in data center. Today I have the pleasure of speaking with Natasha Phillips, who graduated from Weinberg College in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts in sociology and biology. Natasha currently serves as chief marketing officer for GE Healthcare, leading teams that help healthcare providers design treatment plans for their patients. Natasha, thank you so much for being here with us today. Natasha: Thanks for having me, Preena. It's a pleasure. Preena: We are so excited to learn about your work in healthcare marketing, but would love to start out with how your career path was shaped by your time at Northwestern. Maybe you can tell us more about your undergraduate experience, what were some impactful classes, extracurriculars, or mentorships opportunities that you had which impacted your post-graduate career? Natasha: Yeah. You're making me think a little bit, because I got to go back in time. As an undergraduate, I was super lucky, having both a biology and a sociology major, it gave me the ability to see a very wide range of classes. I wasn't 100% sure actually what I wanted to do. I knew I was somewhat interested in the sciences. I didn't actually know I would be that interested in the social sciences, but I took a couple of classes. One in particular was the Sociology of Race and Ethnicity with Charlie Moskos, which actually made me decide to ... That was the reason I became a sociology major. I just got super lucky, I loved that class. It's funny, if I ever had a second life, I always say I would have loved to have gone back and been a sociology professor. But I didn't take that path, I went more with the actual biology side of things. I was weighing, do I want to do research? I actually was really interested in molecular biology, primarily because in the late '90s, which is a very long time ago to our students who are listening, but for me that was a time very formative because they were sequencing the human genome. There was a lot of promise in the space, not only of biology, but more specifically molecular biology and how it is linked to genetics and genomics as we think about the impact on healthcare. That really interested me to the point where I really was considering actually getting my PhD in molecular biology. Some of my favorite classes were the ones in which I had exposure to research, because I got to see the importance of just the impact that research can have. And the ability to be able to find a practical application, even if it's on a very specific question, to really contribute to the body of knowledge. Ultimately ended up being unsure what I wanted to do right after undergrad, so I went into healthcare consulting in which I wanted to be able to figure out, do I want to go towards the more business side of healthcare and thinking about commercializing healthcare and science from the industry side of things? Or to the academic side and actually get my PhD, and think about contributing to science and healthcare in that realm. I did have exposure, both in consulting as well as in research. I started in a research program at the University of Chicago in molecular biology after doing consulting so I could see both sides. And ultimately, actually, that was when I made the decision to focus much more so on the business side of it and to get my MBA, and to move into healthcare marketing. That led me into the career in which I've had today, in which I've been very lucky to have over 15 years working at very large multinational healthcare companies, primarily in sales and marketing roles, bringing innovation in healthcare to people all over the globe. Preena: Absolutely. Wow, yeah. I think your path is actually not only a common path that students seek out, but also something that students might end up finding themselves in, even if they do experience a career switch in their life. That's really interesting to hear about. I have another question for you, more specifically job-oriented. Healthcare is constantly evolving, so maybe you can tell us a little bit about how your marketing approach has changed since you began your career? Natasha: Yeah. I love that question, Preena, because what really is happening is healthcare is evolving and the function of marketing is evolving constantly. I am really lucky that, both in the subject matter that I basically have decided to focus in, which is healthcare and ultimately the innovation around healthcare, but also have a really cool and exciting function that continues to evolve. I was lucky enough during my ... Maybe I'll start with the functional part, I'll start with marketing first, and then I'll talk about healthcare. The basic function of marketing has changed significantly over the past 20 years as I've been a marketer, primarily with the advent of digital and social media. It continues now to evolve, as we think about personalized marketing and AI, and what that's going to do. I would say the main changes that I've seen over time has been from a very I would say structured, one size fits all, if you think about it like mass media type of marketing in which there was a time in which you had one singular message and one singular way of approaching individuals, and not a lot of channels to reach them. To now, moving to almost a fully personalized marketing experience, where you have the ability with technology today to be able to say, even if you have thousands of targets, how do you understand the fine differences. There's got to be some generalization amongst those targets, but there's also some fine differences in how people consume their information, care about interacting with your brand, and want to be able to either become loyal brand advocates or detractors. How do you understand what those insights are to create an ongoing personalized journey that evolves over time with the individual as their media consumption and interest in whatever product you're selling changes? That's been one of the coolest innovations to think about, as we think about the function. If I look at healthcare, I've been lucky enough to see innovation across a variety of different segments within healthcare. I'd seen the advent of biologics. If we think about innovation from a healthcare point of view, in basically the last 20 years or so, we've seen drugs like Humira, which started the biologic class and has now exploded into one of the largest categories or segments within healthcare. And the significant impact that that has had on millions of patients, and has changed diseases all the way from skin conditions to much more serious autoimmune type of conditions. I've been lucky enough to see innovation on the diagnostic side, in which I've seen the advent of brand new technologies, including things like multi-plexing. Of taking a single sample, and instead of wanting to get one answer, you can get anywhere from 25 to 30 answers of which virus of which disease somebody has. And the impact that that has had not only on just healthcare, but on infectious disease and vaccines in other parts. For me, what has actually kept me so motivated in healthcare for so long is it isn't just an idea. I get to be part of the teams, and it's a cross-functional team that includes everybody from scientists, research and developers, operations, medical affairs, clinical affairs, marketers, salespeople, finance people, and everybody, I'm sure I'm forgetting some functions. It is such a complex effort to bring innovation like this to market and sometimes can take 10 to 15 years, but when it happens you actually see significant change in healthcare. For me, that's the ability to think even 30, 40 years from now, some of the either diagnostics, devices, or drugs that I've helped to bring to market will really have an impact. Either because it continues to improve healthcare or it was the precursor of future innovation that's going to continue to come because we've paved the way for it, so it's really cool. Preena: Absolutely. That's really incredible. And the way you're able to work with people of many different fields and backgrounds, and then learn from them as well is a really incredible experience, and I hope defines a lot of students' careers in the future as well. Natasha: Yeah. I think just to add to that, the one thing to really keep in mind is I love the interdisciplinary approach that a really good college in arts and sciences like Weinberg does. Because for me, that kind of thinking, although I didn't understand it at the time because I was just a student and I had no clue what I was actually going to do, is something that to this day in my career I think back to and I leverage. It's helped to make me successful, especially in a very large matrix cross-functional organization. It's something that, as all of you who are students potentially listening to this and are thinking, "What might I do in the future?" Really leverage the opportunities that you have to do that kind of interdisciplinary type of work because it will make you much stronger in whatever field you decide to do. Preena: Yeah, absolutely. Going off of that, a bit in the other direction, but what is a common misconception about working in the healthcare marketing industry? Natasha: That is a great question. This is maybe a little controversial, but I'm going to say it. I think there is this perception of big, bad pharma and big, bad healthcare. I think it's something that is an understandable point of view and one which requires probably much more dialogue than what we can answer here. But I'll jus

April: Welcome to the Weinberg in the World Podcast where we bring stories of interdisciplinary thinking in today's complex world. My name is April and I'm your student host of this special episode of the podcast. I'm a second year student studying physics and integrated science, and I'm looking forward to learning more about our guest's career. Today, I'm excited to be speaking with Rachel Pike who graduated from Northwestern in 2006 and is now COO at Modern Treasury. Thank you, Rachel, for taking the time to speak with me today. Rachel: Nice to be here. Nice to meet you April. April: You too. To start us off today, I was wondering if you could tell us more about your time at Northwestern as an undergrad. What did you study? And how did you get to your current career path? Rachel: Oh, man, two different parts. The easy part is to say what I did at Northwestern, so I majored in chemistry, physical chemistry specifically. I had a minor in African studies through the center or program for African Studies. And I did my honors chemistry work with Franz Geiger, Professor Franz Geiger in the chemistry department. So that's sort of the what. My major extracurricular was Fusion Dance Company. That's where I spent a lot of my time. How I went from there to here is such a circuitous, crazy path. It is not direct. I left Northwestern and did a Gates scholarship, I did a PhD in chemistry at Cambridge. Loved it, but I was not meant to be a professor. You could ask John Pyle or Franz Geiger, both of whom advised me. It's just it takes a very certain wonderful mindset, but it's not me, to be a lifelong academic. So I left academics and got an amazing role in venture capital and got to learn all about startups from the investing side. Did that for just over four years. And in my last couple years, started getting really close to one of our companies and operating with them and ended up launching products for them and got the bug. Realized that that was a better calling, a better match for me, which we can talk more about what I mean by that. And moved into operating, so then I worked for a health tech healthcare software company and then I moved here into FinTech. So it sort of couldn't be more random, but also each step made sense only as one step. It's just as a sum, they lead you very far from where you were. Not normal in any sense, but in the end I just don't think anything is normal. All paths turn out to be good as you make these accumulation of small decisions. April: Yeah, okay. What are the most challenging and rewarding aspects of your current job then? Rachel: There's a lot. The hardest thing in a startup, there's so many things that are hard about startups, growing startups, but prioritization and focus is one of the hardest things. And you have to actually prioritize not doing things you want to do, which is very antithetical to what it's like to be a driven, hungry person and be in a company of 200 driven, hungry people. You want to do everything that you see that seems like a big opportunity and a challenge that we need to fix, but you can't. There just literally is not enough time in the day and there's opportunity cost to lack of focus. So I think the hardest thing is, the phrase I always use with my teams is you have to let that fire burn. You just have to pick things that you know are broken that you're not going to fix, that it's not the highest priority thing to fix or things you want to work on that you know we just can't go work on that thing right now, we have to work on this other thing. So it's very counterintuitive and I would say that's the hardest thing to learn when you enter startups, how to get through that kind of mindset. April: Yeah, prioritization is pretty hard when there's so many options. Rachel: Yeah. Yeah, when there's so many options and when you're hungry and you feel like a small startup is always up against big Goliaths, so there's a billion things you can do to go after companies that are bigger. So I would say that's the hardest in terms of not the content of what we do is the wrong word, but what Modern Treasury builds and how we bring it and sell it in the market and how we run the company. Letting fires burn and ruthless prioritization is the most unnatural part of working for a startup, I would say. On the interpersonal part, so not what we do, but how we do it, like in every stage of life and everywhere I've been, the hardest part of anything is getting really good at giving and receiving feedback. And that is a lifelong, you have to dedicate your life to it and using that to make decisions with people. April: Could you talk a little bit more about what your company does and what your role is? Rachel: Yeah, sure. So I'm chief operating officer of Modern Treasury. Modern Treasury is a payment operations software platform. So we help companies of all sizes, from other startups to huge big public companies, manage their money movement. And it sort of sounds like a back office thing, but really, we actually mostly get bought by product and engineering teams. And those product and engineering teams that are our customers want to do payment stuff. They want to build a digital wallet or embed payments in their application. Or we also serve non-tech companies, so you're buying a house and you need to pay the real estate agent or you're buying a house and you have to go through the title and escrow process on that home purchase. A lot of money moves around in those businesses. In fact, it's core to all of those products to move and manage and track money. So we build the software for that. Complex payment systems get built on top of us and complex payment products. We have an engineering database product called Ledgers, which is how you, with high performance and perfect fidelity, track balances, which is a really hard computer science problem, although it seems that it should be easy. It's a very hard computer science problem. And then you can imagine that as we grow and have more and more data and understanding, we're building more and more AI into our platform, so teams can run in a safe way with AI helping them. So anyway, yeah, it's a complicated thing that we do, but we help companies move and manage their money movement. April: Okay, cool. So how well did college prepare you for this career, do you think? Or what was the most important skill that you learned from college? Rachel: There's so many things that you learn in college as you sort of separate from home life and become your own person. I think there's soft skills and hard skills. I obviously don't use the traditional academic knowledge that I got in my undergrad and graduate experiences in chemistry, not a chemist anymore. But I don't think there's anything that can replace scientific training in how to think and pursue questions and how to separate how to go through a research process and understand and also understand the limits of your knowledge. That is a very profound experience the more advanced you get in science. I didn't even get that advanced. But in understanding the boundaries of what the community of scientists knows and what personally and how to ask questions, build a hypothesis, and go again. And I know that the hypothesis process is something you learn in like second grade or fourth grade or whatever, you go to school, but truly, that process is very hard, like holding yourself to a standard of making a rigorous, very thought out hypothesis and understanding what would prove or disprove that. In a scientific setting in a lab, sometimes it's a little easier to go through that process. Hey, if this experiment works, I'll see X. In a business environment, that's actually very hard. How do you measure? Is that metric actually counting that? What else is getting conflated into these signals and systems? And then almost everything, unless it's something like website clicks or latency or something that's directly measurable, almost all the signal that you get is mediated through people. So not only do you have to go through this process of trying to constantly get to truth, everything that you're trying to pursue is going through people. So I would say academically, that's the longest lasting impression for me. My team gets annoyed because I say things like rate-limiting step all the time, which is a chemistry phrase. So it taught me how to think. I think another very impactful part of my college, two other very impactful parts of my college experience, Fusion was just getting started, I was one of the people that helped get it started. And starting a club that is, very proud to say it's long-standing and I could never audition and get accepted today, is a lot like starting any organization. How do you run things? What is governance like? How do you navigate people? What are the expectations? How do you communicate that? How do you do things excellently? Starting and building a club is very similar to starting and building an organization, it's just we get a lot more complicated with time. So I learned a lot in that process and running rehearsals and putting on a show and what it's like to run an audition process. I have very fond memories of that. And lastly, I would say is I studied abroad for all of junior year. And I don't know if this is true, but someone along the way of me, because chemistry has so many sequential requirements, and it was very hard for me to figure out how to do those requirements and still be away for a year, someone along the way told me I was the only chemistry major who was ever away for a year then. It's probably not true now. I also don't know if that's true, speaking of rigorous hypotheses, so that's an aside. But the experience of being abroad, I was in Tanzania, was obviously profoundly eye-opening. And being in multiple cultur

April Wang, a second-year student studying physics and integrated science, hosts the “Weinberg in the World” podcast and interviews Mike Forman, a 2012 Northwestern graduate and senior managing director at Blackstone. Mike shares how his studies in MMSS and economics, along with his involvement in a fraternity and the Kellogg Certificate Program, were formative experiences. He discusses how these experiences, along with internships and networking, led him to a career in finance and his current role at Blackstone. Transcript: April: Welcome to the Weinberg in the World Podcast, where we bring stories of interdisciplinary thinking in today's complex world. My name is April and I am your student host of this special episode of the podcast. I'm a second-year student studying physics and integrated science, and I'm looking forward to learning more about our guest's career. Today I'm excited to be speaking with Mike Forman, who graduated from Northwestern in 2012 and is now senior managing director at Blackstone. Thank you, Mike, for taking the time to speak with me today. Mike Forman: Thank you so much for having me, April. Northwestern is a near-and-dear place to my heart, so I'm excited to chat with you. April: Excellent. To start us off today, I'm wondering if you could tell us more about your time at Northwestern as an undergrad. What did you study, and what were some impactful experiences for you that led to your current career path? Mike Forman: Yeah, yeah. Good question. I went to Northwestern from 2008 to 2012. I majored in MMSS and economics, and I also did the Kellogg Certificate Program. I was in a fraternity and made a bunch of lifelong friends who I'm still very close to today, so those were super impactful and formative. I would say MMSS definitely was the hardest academic experience I ever had. I think I learned a bunch of things from that. First of all, it was hard but it was also incredibly rewarding. I think maybe another reminder or one of the better lessons I've learned along the way of most things that were really difficult that I went through, I looked back on fondly and are pretty formative experiences that help you become who you are. That was definitely the case with MMSS. It gave me a really interesting framework to interpret the world. What else was impactful experiences? Well, hugely impactful in terms of how I ended up on my career path. I went to Northwestern, and I knew I wanted to work in business after school. But it was that vague, in terms of what I ... That was as crystallized as the idea was in my mind. I went to school, and some friends and friends of friends, I started to appreciate a number of the people who felt like were thoughtful and focused on the career they were going to have after school, started to see what they were interested in and what they were doing. A number of those people were going into either finance or consulting. That got me just interested in the finance world and investing, understanding what they did, they gave me a bunch of books to read, things like that. I ended up doing two internships my sophomore year for a prop trading firm in Chicago and also UBS. Then my junior year, I was planning on going into investment banking because that's what I think a lot of, I don't know, the people I respected and looked up, that's what they were going and doing after school. I think I was looking on it, it was called Career CAD at the time, which was Northwestern, where you used to find jobs, whatever. April: Okay. Mike Forman: I don't know what it's called today. I saw a posting for a job at Blackstone as an intern in their real estate group. I actually remembered one of my friends, he was a couple of years older than me who was also in the same fraternity as me, or had been, was working at Blackstone. Oh, I'll give him a call. I called my friend Dave Levine. I was like, "Hey, do you like your job? Do you think I would like your job?" He laughed and he was like, "Yeah, I think you would. You should apply." I had this vision in my mind of going and working in investment banking and this opportunity popped up with Blackstone, which is a real estate private equity role. I ended up interviewing, getting a job offer. I wasn't specifically interested in real estate, but I felt like everyone I had met really enjoyed what they were doing. They were super active, getting things done. They were good people. I decided to try it out. I was an intern in 2011. Then I ended up joining full-time since 2012. Actually, I've been here since I graduated, so I've been here for almost 13 years now. That was not exactly my plan coming out of school, but it's been a really fun adventure. It's changed a lot over time, too. April: Yeah. It's really tricky to figure out what you want to do, especially in college, but I'm glad it worked out. Mike Forman: Totally. April: Yeah. Mike Forman: Totally. April: Then you spoke a little bit about some of your biggest challenges turning out to be the most rewarding, which I think leads well into the next question. Which is what are the most challenging and rewarding aspects of your current job? Mike Forman: I'll start with maybe some of the most rewarding aspects, and maybe I'll tie it back to some of the challenging equals rewarding later. I would say the most fun part of my job, and this organization, and the people we get to work with both inside and outside of Blackstone are getting to work with really talented, smart, hard-working, but also kind and considerate people. That's why I'm still here I think and that's pretty special. That's the most rewarding aspect, call it the people element or the human element. Besides that, look, I think investing is super fun. It's a combination of, I don't know, treasure hunting and building things. It definitely scratches my curiosity itch. I love to learn, I love to read about new things, trying to understand and form a view around where the world is going. Investing definitely, definitely scratches that itch. I've always loved technology, so my career, what I focused on has evolved a little bit over time. I now oversee our digital infrastructure investing around the world on behalf of our real estate business. We're building a bunch of really large data center businesses. By getting to focus on technology and really understand it deeply is fascinating and super fun. It feels like we're building the future, building the brain if you will. Dynamics have changed a ton. Okay, let's tie it back to the challenging part. I think one thing I came to appreciate working here is to be excellent is hard. Even if you're smart and capable, and whatever, you also just have to try really hard. Not just for a year or two, for many years. That is, I don't know, just getting a little bit tougher almost. And actually embracing that and leaning into it, maybe that's the most challenging aspect is just the hard work it takes to do a good job. But it's also something I really love about this place. I feel like there's a lot of people around me, they're smart, kind people, like I said, but they also work super hard. It's invigorating but it's not easy. April: That's great. Yeah, I totally agree with that. Speaking of challenging aspects of your job, how well did college prepare you for those aspects and for your career in general? What would you say was the most important skill or lesson that you learned from undergrad? Mike Forman: I would say the most important lesson, it was the toolkit. It was learning how to learn. I guess I've come to appreciate why a liberal arts education is amazing more as time has gone on. It's funny. I told you I wanted to go into business. At a certain part I was like, "Oh, I should go to a business school," undergrad. I'm so glad I didn't because I've been in business school since I graduated in a way. I'm really happy that I had the opportunity during college to, yes, take some economics class. But also, classes like game theory and strategic interaction, a framework to think about strategic interactions. And also, classes like Russian literature that are philosophy and pull your brain in a different direction, and give you a totally different lens to look at and think about the world. I think really, just the skillset, the tools to learn, that was a really important one. Then the second one is, I would say when I first went to Northwestern ... I would say before I went to college, I had a bad habit of procrastinating. April: Me, too. Mike Forman: Which I'm sure everyone can relate to a bit. But I realized that if I wanted to do well in school, and have a social life, and be able to do a bunch of other things, I needed to get organized and not procrastinate, and make the best use of time. That was a really important skill that I learned in undergrad that I'm appreciative I got a little bit of a wake-up call there almost to really be efficient and figure out how to make the most of my minutes. April: Yeah, definitely. That Russian literature class you mentioned, it's actually still really popular here. I've heard a couple people that are in it and they really enjoy it still. Mike Forman: Oh, it's incredible. April: That's really interesting. Yeah. Mike Forman: It's incredible. It's one of my favorite classes I ever took in school. April: What was the biggest adjustment that you had to make going from college to industry? Mike Forman: It's funny. I guess I just said something similar, but I think time is probably the big one. Making the most of your time. It's funny. I say I went to school and I had to start getting a little bit more organized, not procrastinate, really get my work done, et cetera. At times, it feels like you're almost short on time, I guess especially during finals week or whatever, when you're

Aimee Resnick, a senior at Northwestern University, interviews Steven Preston, CEO of Goodwill Industries International, on the “Weinberg in the World” podcast. Steven reflects on his time at Northwestern, highlighting his major in political science and his transformative junior year in Munich. He also shares how his unexpected passion for statistics influenced his career in investment banking and leadership roles.  Transcript: Aimee Resnick: Welcome to the Weinberg in the World podcast, where we bring stories of interdisciplinary thinking in today's complex world. My name is Aimee Resnick and I'm your student host of the special podcast episode. I am a senior studying social policy at Northwestern University who plans to pursue public administration in my home state of Colorado. Today, I'm excited to be speaking with Steven Preston, who is the CEO at Goodwill Industries International. Thank you, Steven, for taking the time to speak with me today. Steven Preston: Yeah, thank you for having me. I'm looking forward to it. Aimee Resnick: Me too. To start us off today, I was wondering if you can tell us a little bit more about your time at Northwestern as an undergraduate in terms of what did you study and what were the most impactful experiences for you that led you to your current career path? Steven Preston: Yeah, so I was a political science major. And Northwestern, it was kind of a big thing for me. I kind of grown up in a medium-sized town up in Wisconsin and going to Northwestern kind of introduced me to a whole new world that I didn't even know existed of people from different places and that type of thing. I'd say there are two things, a couple of things that were really important. Number one is I was actually a poli-sci major with an international politics focus. So number one, it gave me a perspective on the world and how the world operates, which is something I didn't have as an 18-year-old coming to college. Number two, I took that further and I actually did a junior year in Munich program, and this was before the wall had come down, so east, west. International relations were what really defined kind of the global dynamic. So it was just a remarkable opportunity to study with different people in a different language right on the border of what was kind of definitional for international politics. And that year, I felt like I kind just burgeoned intellectually and academically and personally. The other thing I would say, that may not be what most people would expect, but I took a statistics class and I loved it. And I took more and I took more and I took graduate statistics classes and I became kind of like a quant poli-sci major. And that really was valuable for me because it was a way through which I could marry a topic that we think of as not being very quantitative and do a lot of research within political science using statistics, whether it was voter trends or national expenditures and how that relates to different government structures. And that became really important to me when I went into investment banking. I got an MBA in finance and [inaudible 00:02:38] Wall Street, and the ability to connect data with what felt like qualitative issues was really definitional to my path forward. Later, I became a CFO and a CEO and for the rest of my life, I really connected those two concepts in a way that was really powerful for what I was able to do professionally. Aimee Resnick: Absolutely. Thank you so much for sharing your response. And I think it's really fascinating how you were able to take a lot of the skills that you gained at Northwestern in your more non-traditional courses like statistics and apply them to a more impactful career pivot later in your life like we typically encourage at Weinberg. So thank you for sharing that experience. Steven Preston: Yeah. Well, I'll tell you, it's one of the requirements I have for my kids is they all have to have some proficiency in statistics now. So yeah, it's become multigenerational. Aimee Resnick: I'm sure they love that requirement. I say as someone who's not the biggest math person ever. But I'd love to hear a little bit more about your current career right now as well, as the CEO of Goodwill Industries. And I noted in your video introduction to the 2023 annual report for Goodwill, you mentioned that Goodwill is about possibilities of hope for the people who receive services. And in that same report, you described how over 140,000 people found new employment after receiving services through your organization in workforce development. So I was wondering if you could just tell us a little bit more about how Goodwill promotes economic opportunity across the United States and why that mission particularly resonates with you. Steven Preston: Yeah, so the people we serve are not the people that you're going to college with right now. 83% of the people we serve are people with a high school degree or less. In fact, about a third of the people never finished high school. And many of these people have other challenges in life. Some of them have gone down very difficult pathways, people coming out of incarceration, people who are experiencing poverty, even people who are experiencing homelessness. And what we often do in society is make assumptions about those people and make assumptions about what's possible. And we sort of relegate them, in many cases, into a category of, well, that's kind of who they are and that's what their life is going to be like. But the truth is that embedded in every one of those people is a massive amount of potential and talent. And in most cases, and I really say in most cases, those are people who, because of opportunities they've been given or not given, because of their circumstances in life, because of their pathways, have never been able to develop those capabilities. And in fact, have never really known how to, because they didn't have access to good education, they weren't surrounded by people who could give them advice. They didn't really know what the possibilities were. So what we do is we work with people to sit with them and say, "What are the possibilities for your life? And how do we help you get there?" So one of the most important things we do when somebody comes to us is really do an assessment of what their skills are, what their hopes are, but also what their challenges are. A lot of times, their challenges might be training or skills related, but they also may have challenges with behavioral issues. They may be, many of them don't have housing or have insecure housing. Many of them don't have core financial skills, so they know even how to get through life with a small amount of income. So if we can work with people to help them stabilize those sort of personal aspects of their life, at the same time that we can provide them with skills that are attractive to employers, we can help them move from a very difficult place to a place where they are flourishing and where they have a fundamentally different future, and a future that allows them to take care of themselves and grow and learn much more. What we often find is once we've supported somebody and they land that first job and they're successful and they see the people they work with and what the possibilities are, it's not just that their lives have changed to get to that job, it's that the trajectory of their life has changed because many of those people begin investing themselves, learning more, getting better jobs. And then the other great thing is it's often multi-generational because their kids benefit, or if they don't have kids and they had them later, they benefit. And it really breaks a cycle of poverty and brokenness that's very difficult to break. And that's why we talk about the possibilities and we talk about hope because that's really where we live. For me personally, I came from what I would call pretty humble background. So I think just in a couple of generations, I've seen what education and opportunity has done for me. But I think on a bigger scale, I've lived in a number of major cities early on, when I was in my 20s, I spent a lot of time in tough neighborhoods in New York working with kids in difficult situations and trying to help them move on. So I feel like I've seen it up front in what's possible. And then when I worked in the government, I was the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and that is really the federal agency that deals mostly with poverty issues. And seeing intergenerational poverty and seeing people unable to do something about it is a sort of a dispiriting situation, and I believe we can do something about it. And really, Goodwill I think is, well, I know Goodwill is the largest nonprofit that is trying to change the landscape for many of those people, and hundreds of thousands of people find a different opportunity because of us. Aimee Resnick: I think that's a really excellent transition because I actually do want to talk to you a little bit more about your experience with housing and urban development. So for context, in 2008, you were nominated by President George W. Bush to serve as the secretary of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. And I'd just like to hear a little bit more about how you started this large career in public service, and then a little bit potentially about how your public sector experiences under George W. Bush have shaped your approach to private sector leadership in your current career. Steven Preston: Yeah. So I think one of the important things was I spent almost 25 years in the private sector before I went into the government. So I had been an investment banker, I had been a CFO, I had been a corporate leader. And I say that because many times, young people coming out of college will say, "I want to go into nonprofit, what do I do?" And one of the f

Preena Shroff, a third-year student at Northwestern, hosts the “Weinberg in the World” podcast and interviews Joel Meek, a 2001 graduate. Joel, who recently served as VP of finance and operations at Reddit, discusses how his studies in economics and mathematical methods shaped his career. He emphasizes the value of a broad education, mentioning impactful classes in astronomy, psychology, and Japanese. Preena and Joel highlight how Northwestern’s interdisciplinary approach teaches students to think critically and approach problems creatively. Transcript: Preena Shroff: Welcome to Weinberg in the World podcast where we bring stories of interdisciplinary thinking in today's complex world. My name is Preena Shroff, and I'm your student host of this special Weinberg in the World episode. I'm a third year student majoring in neuroscience and global health with a minor in data science, and today I have the pleasure of speaking with Joel Meek, who graduated from Weinberg College in 2001 with a bachelor of arts in economics and mathematical methods in the social sciences. Joel most recently was the VP of finance and operations at Reddit, a community platform where users submit content and share advice for other members. Throughout his technology career, Joel has led functions across sales, operations, business development and finance. Joel, thank you so much for being here with us today. Joel Meek: Very excited to be here. Thanks for having me. Preena Shroff: We are so excited to learn about your work in technology, but would love to start out with how your career path was shaped by your time at Northwestern. So maybe if you can tell us more about your undergraduate experience. What were some impactful classes, extracurriculars or maybe even mentorship experiences that you had, which impacted your postgraduate career? Joel Meek: Of course. Yeah, so I think as you mentioned, my major at Northwestern was economics and mathematical methods in the social sciences. I'll start with the economics. Actually, it was really helpful for me in studying both macro and microeconomics to just get a broad view of how the economy works. How does things like the money supply affect inflation, employment, GDP growth? Why are some industries more fragmented than others like the restaurant industry or why are some products more price sensitive than others? I can't say that I use sort of economic theory directly in my day-to-day career, but it definitely shaped my perspective when thinking about different business challenges in my business career. And then with mathematical methods in social sciences, this is really a very data centric major where you're looking to apply your knowledge of math to a social science. And so actually my senior year I did a thesis that was similar to the movie Moneyball with Brad Pitt and I looked at which baseball players yielded the best bang for the buck. So really bringing that sort of background to the business world and being able to break down problems was really helpful. And then I think last, just being part of the College of Arts and Sciences, it was awesome to really just get a broad exposure to a wide array of topics. I still remember taking my astronomy class and just learning about the universe and how it was formed or taking a psychology class, which has helped me better understand the inner workings of the mind and how people work. And I took Japanese, which eventually led me to go living in Japan for a year after college. So I think in total, when I really think back about Northwestern, it was building that curiosity and that love of learning that's really helped me take on new challenges once I graduated. Preena Shroff: Wow. Yeah. Thank you. And I think something that a lot of students here at Northwestern maybe aren't able to experience just yet but kind of have an idea is that these classes are teaching students how to think as opposed to exactly what you're going to require in your career. It's more about how to approach problems and how to develop from that. So thank you for sharing that. Joel Meek: Of course. Preena Shroff: So now moving forward a little bit beyond Northwestern, what led you on your career path? So which skills would that be, interactions or experiences that you were able to build up that have been critical in your field today? Joel Meek: Yeah, so when I graduated Northwestern, I honestly didn't really know. I knew I wanted to do business, but I didn't really know what type of business I wanted to do. So I ended up choosing banking and consulting as my first two jobs out of college. And it was actually a really good first couple jobs to do out of college because you really get a 30,000-foot view of the business world. I got to work across a ton of different industries and work on a ton of different problems, and I learned a lot about myself. I learned that I really liked numbers and finance, but I wasn't really into the 80-hour weeks of the finance world. In consulting I loved the business problem solving of consulting, but I really wanted to be the decision maker actually owning the decisions. And so I ended up transitioning into technology, which was really exciting because all the innovation that was happening, and I moved into more of an operator role, which I ended up doing for the past 16, 17 years in technology. I think the skill that was probably most important that I got from Northwestern that I was able to apply to my career was really just, I mean you mentioned it, just problem solving. In the technology space in particular, things are moving very quickly and often there is not a blueprint for how to solve a problem because it maybe hasn't been solved before. I can think of a time when I was at Pinterest and we had millions of users on the site and we had a challenge with a lot of spammy content on the site, people that were trying to get click baited into clicking through the links and then trying to take advantage of people. And so we only had a small team because Pinterest was, when I joined, was still less than a hundred people, and we had to figure out how to clean up this site that had millions of users so that they didn't have a bad experience. So there was really no playbook for how to do that, and you just had to really approach the problem from first principles and break it down. And I think that building that skill set through really helped me later on in my career. Preena Shroff: Yeah, absolutely. And I think actually I wanted to ask you for a follow-up on your discussion about that pivot point from investment banking into the tech industry. I know students nowadays go in with a mindset of whichever career they're looking to get into, they want to make sure they're very well-prepared beforehand. And sometimes I guess a pivot isn't something you can always plan for. My question is, do you think a student today who might encounter this sort of pivot or maybe is trying to plan one thing and ends up might changing? Do you think it's still possible to have that kind of career switch today? Or what advice would you give to a student who's maybe unsure about that decision? Joel Meek: You can definitely make career switches. I probably made four or five career switches in my career from right out of college. I was in banking, then I went to consulting. I ended up jumping to work for Google where I worked in their Google cloud division when cloud computing was taking hold in an operational role. And then my boss gave me an opportunity to move into sales, and then I jumped into some startups. I went to Pinterest, I went to Reddit, eventually ended up running finance at Reddit, was my last job. I would say that if I think about just my path, I would do a lot of moonlighting. I would do a lot of just researching the place where I wanted to go or the new function I wanted to go into. I would meet with people, I would just try to be a sponge and soak things up as much as possible. And what I learned was that it can be difficult to make a career switch, because people will look at your background and say, "Well, how are you relevant for this job?" But what I learned is it only takes one. You only need one person to be willing to give you a chance. And I was fortunate to have a few moments in my career where someone was willing to take a chance on me, and then it's up to you to prove that you can do it. So I definitely would not hesitate if you're interested in making a career change. Just go for it. Just start learning as much as you can about that path that you want to go. Eventually, if you keep trying, you'll get there. Preena Shroff: Yeah, thank you. That's great advice. And I know you brought up Pinterest and Google. I actually wanted to ask you, having been closely involved with building up a developing company or at least a department within each of these last three companies, Google, Pinterest, and Reddit, how do you manage conflicting priorities between growth and sustainability? So by that I mean just company growth and also making sure it's economically stable, everything's on track. Joel Meek: Yeah, it's a great question. I think it's really going to be very company dependent, and it's also probably going to be dependent upon the stage of the industry in which the company operates in. I can start off with Google. I joined in 2007, and this is when cloud computing was the buzzword. Before that everyone was using Microsoft Office, Windows, Excel, PowerPoint on a desktop, and we were providing that all in the cloud at a much more affordable price. And we knew we had a critical window where we could get market share. And so really the focus was really on, at that point, growth. We had our eye on profitability and sustainability always, but really we felt like this was important enough for Google as a company that we wanted to grab market share. When I was

In this episode of the “Weinberg in the World” podcast, student host Smera Dwivedi interviews Katrina Gentile, VP and head of global strategy at Wella Company. Katrina, a Northwestern alum, shares her career journey from consulting at BCG to various roles in the beauty industry, including a long tenure at Estée Lauder and her current role at Wella. She discusses her passion for problem-solving, her transition from consulting to corporate strategy, and her interest in the emotionally driven beauty industry.  Transcript: Smera: Okay. Welcome to the Weinberg in the World Podcast, where we bring stories of interdisciplinary thinking in today's complex world. My name is Smera Dwivedi, and I'm your student host of this special episode of the podcast. I'm a second-year student studying chemistry on the pre-medical path, and today I'm excited to be speaking with Ms. Katrina Gentile who is the VP and head of global strategy at Wella Company. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me today. Katrina: Oh, it's my pleasure. Happy to be here. Smera: To start off with today, I would just like you to go ahead and introduce yourself. Katrina: So, hi. I'm Katrina Gentile. I am a proud Northwestern alum. I graduated class of 2008. I have spent my career in various business fields. I was an econ and math double major at Northwestern, and I started my career in consulting at BCG right out of undergrad. After that, I've spent the rest of my career in the beauty industry, so from consulting, went to Estée Lauder in a corporate strategy role for two years, and then after that, spent about eight years operating at Estée Lauder. In between, I got my MBA. And after Estée Lauder, spent a couple of years in startup land at a couple of indie brands in the beauty space before joining Wella at the beginning of this year as the head of strategy. So really thrilled to be a part of the Wella Company journey. It's a long history, a 140-year company, but only four years as an independent company so we're trying to figure out not just, we're grown up, but we're still trying to figure out what we want to be when we grow up, and that's a large part of my role. That's me personally. I have a mom, I have two little kids, six and three, and most of my free time is with them on whatever it is they want to do. Smera: That's adorable. So how did you end up picking Wella or end up being where you are now? Katrina: Well, where I am now is a bigger question than Wella. Maybe I'll start with the bigger question and then get to Wella. I ended up where I am now for two reasons. One, I've always loved solving problems. I remember doing word searches as a kid, math books, and it sounds corny, but it was always something like puzzles and games and crosswords and things like that was just always something that kept my mind busy. And that's actually what really led me to consulting because consulting is all about solving problems for companies. And I truly believe BCG is the best job, first job for any person. And not just BCG, but consulting in general. I had a really incredible formative experience there. I use those skills every day, not just in this role, but in every role I've had. And I ended up using that BCG platform to go to Estée Lauder and start in corporate strategy and then ultimately operate. Beauty has always been something I've been interested in personally as a consumer, but more because I find beauty to be a very emotionally driven category, and it's about making someone feel good, and I love that. I love that about what I do. And so when the opportunity arose to go to Estée Lauder, I jumped at it and I had a very long career at Estée Lauder that really brought me to Wella. And I think doing my detour in startup land, Wella is a happy medium, and that's why I joined the company. I'm excited about this role and continue to be excited about this role. We are a mid-sized, I would say, company. We're not as big as Estée Lauder, but we're not as small as a startup. We're somewhere in the middle and we're trying to establish what the future looks like for our company. Right now we're owned by a private equity firm called KKR. And KKR doesn't want to own us forever. No private equity wants to own any asset forever. So it's a really exciting journey to say, "Okay, what does our company look like in a post-KKR world? What do we want to be? How do we want to establish ourselves? What capabilities do we need to build to get there?" And from a strategy perspective, for someone like me who likes solving problems, there's a lot of them to solve. So that's been the common thread in my career, and that's ultimately what brought me to Wella company. Smera: Got you. Okay, that makes sense solving problems. How did you end up deciding on Wella, or how did you find BCG or Estée Lauder as a position or a company that you could be a part of? Katrina: So look, it was very different in my day when I went to Northwestern. I understand now that people apply for summer internships a long time before the internship happened. When I was in college, that was not a thing. So I remember going through recruiting for my BCG summer internship through campus recruiting. I think I went through it in January and my summer started in June. It was not a long gap, and I found it just by knowing that consulting was of interest and going to the campus recruiting sessions and signing up for the campus interviews and then doing a campus interview. So it was a very straightforward path for me at BCG. And from BCG, again, I am going to date myself here, but finding my first job at Estée Lauder was just a, it was a very similar process. Lauder posted a job on BCG's job board. I applied for it, and I interviewed for it. But in a lot of ways, I think things are more difficult today. I mean, I watch people going through consulting interview processes, and I hear people talking about how much farther in advance it is and how fewer spots there are, or I guess more people applying for more spots so the take rate is lower. So I fully recognize that my journey is a little bit different, but that was my path, at least to BCG and Lauder. From Lauder, it's been much more about my network. And that's one piece of advice that I really give to everybody is this concept of a network seems so theoretical, I think, and it did to me too, until you have to use it. And when I left Estée Lauder and was looking for what I wanted to do next, I was senior enough in my career that it was no longer like a job gets posted, you apply for it and you get interview and you get it. A lot of these, especially in beauty and especially in some of these industries that are a little more tight-knit, a lot of positions aren't posted. A lot of positions are done through someone who knows someone who knows someone or private equity companies who have this network of executives that they place in roles. And what I found actually is that when I left Estée Lauder, both of the startups I worked for were people I'd worked for at Estée Lauder or worked with at Estée Lauder, worked alongside at Estée Lauder who were looking for someone, and neither of the jobs I had were posted publicly. They were both word of mouth through my network that I ended up working there. And Wella was similar. So my old boss at Lauder is now at KKR who owns Wella Company, and she introduced me to my now boss at Wella. So all of that to say, I think I can't stress enough how every person you interact with may come back somewhere. Just today I was talking to our new head of HR, and it turns out she's also a Northwestern alum and we overlapped when we were there. And it's really crazy how we didn't know each other at Northwestern, but it's really crazy how small the world is and so my best advice to people is it's never too soon to start making genuine connections. It's never too soon to start engaging with people and asking them what they're interested in and talking to them about what you're interested in because you never know when it'll come back and when you'll be looking for something or someone that they might have something or someone for. Smera: Right. Okay, this makes sense. So you said your advice is to expand your network, make sure you are networking. What's the best way you can ensure you're doing that because it's nice to say, but that putting it into- Katrina: You know what? I don't actually actively network. I don't go to networking events. Well, I guess sometimes I do, but always because I'm genuinely interested in the event, not because I want to broaden my network. My network has been built by genuinely engaging with people that I meet and I work with. So I didn't go to a networking event and meet people, though I know that that is a viable way. I'm a little bit of an introvert in some ways, and I'm not very good in those situations where I don't know anyone and I'm like, it's hard for me to find my way. I actually find I do best just by talking to people in confined settings that I know. So every job, every internship I've had, I've really stayed in touch with people, even if it's just quick emails or texts or following them on Instagram and DM-ing them sometimes. And to me, that feels much more authentic. It's something that I do because I choose to, not because I have any sort of motive. And what I realized when I was looking to leave Lauder and then when I was looking for this new role at Wella about a year ago, is that even people that I hadn't done that or spoken to or texted with in the last three or four years, because I had genuinely invested them in them at the time that I worked with them, when I reached back out of the blue, they were always willing to help, always willing to answer an email, always willing to answer a call. And a couple of those people ended up helping me find really meaning

Mirabella Johnson: Welcome to the Weinberg in the World podcast, where we bring stories of interdisciplinary thinking into today's complex world. My name is Mirabella Johnson, and I am your student host of this special episode of the podcast. I recently graduated from Northwestern's undergraduate Cognitive Science and Global Health Studies programs housed in Weinberg. And I'm currently continuing my education at Northwestern in the Accelerated Public Health Program to obtain a Master of Public Health degree through Feinberg School of Medicine's program in public health. Today, I am very excited to be speaking with Shruti Mehta, who is a Dr. Charles Armstrong Chair in epidemiology, and professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Thank you so much, Shruti, for taking the time to speak with me today. Shruti Mehta: Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to be here. Mirabella Johnson: Likewise. All right. So to start us off today, I'm wondering if you could tell us a bit more about your time at Northwestern as an undergraduate, what you studied, and what were the impactful experiences for you that kind of led you to your current career path? Shruti Mehta: Yeah, so first, I guess I would start by saying that I absolutely loved my time at Northwestern. They were some of the best years of my life, from not just the training that I got, but to the friends that I made, to spending time on that beautiful campus that I still miss. So when I started at Northwestern, I think the only thing that I really knew or I thought was that I was going to go into medicine. So I started with the pre-med curriculum. My father was a physician, and so I had this really strong desire, I think, instilled in me by him to serve. And honestly, other than that, I didn't know very much. I liked biology, I liked math, and so I got kind of started in the pre-med curriculum. I started in chemistry and a really advanced calculus class. And interestingly, my RA my freshman year was also pre-med. But one day I remember going to see her in her room to ask her a question, and she was painting. And she was actually an Art Theory & Practice major. And I had loved art in high school. I was always painting or drawing or creating, but I never thought of it as a major option for me. But it was really meeting her and so many others that were doing really diverse things at the time that I was at Northwestern, that led me to declare Art Theory & Practice as my major in my sophomore year. And I would just say that I'm forever grateful for that. It definitely changed my life. I didn't end up being a physician, and I'm not a practicing artist, but I would say that both of those things play a huge role in how I approach my work. Other things at Northwestern that were impactful. I think one of the great things was just the diversity that I was surrounded by, and it's not just the diversity and who people were or where they came from, but it was what they were doing and what they were interested in. I had friends that were in the engineering school. I spent a lot of time in the Tech building, but I also had my pre-med friends. I had a lot of friends who were artists from my major, and then I had friends in Radio/TV/Film in Communications. And it just exposed me to so many different perspectives, and I think also made me realize that anything was possible. Mirabella Johnson: I love that. Yeah, that is so interesting. I have some similar experiences where there was a time where I really thought I was going to pursue medicine, and then everything gets really stressful at Northwestern as I'm sure you're familiar. Shruti Mehta: Yes, yes. Mirabella Johnson: And there are so many other ways to be involved in the field, and art is something I'm also passionate about. I loved painting, loved drawing, grew up performing. So that's not what I did for my majors, but I stayed involved with it through activities. And Northwestern is just such a great place, in my opinion, for exploring so many different paths. So thank you so much for sharing that. That's awesome. Kind of going off of that, with that all in mind, can you share a bit more on how you ended up landing in public health, and knew eventually that this was the field for you? Shruti Mehta: Yeah, no, and I think you said it well, right? There are so many different ways to be engaged in the field of health and medicine. And I think when I was an undergrad, there wasn't really public health as a major. Well, there certainly wasn't at Northwestern. There wasn't the major that you were, that the minor that you have. And most schools, I think it was probably very rare. I think many people found their way to public health much like I did, going through the medicine route. I don't think I knew what public health was. In undergrad, I don't think I knew what epidemiology was. Like I said, I chose pre-med because that's what I knew, and many people in my generation chose that if you were kind of interested in science and math, and you had that desire, you were medical school bound. So when I graduated, I did apply to medical school. I didn't get into the schools that I wanted to go to, and honestly I wasn't sure because I had this art side. I found myself applying to medical school, but also looking at advertising jobs. And I was a first-generation Indian American, and kids didn't take time off after undergraduate, you went straight into a serious career or you went into a graduate school program, but I really just needed some time. And the way for me to get that time was to find a job and live in Chicago. And so I was pretty scrappy, knocked on doors, the medical school, because I wanted to stay in Chicago. And I thought that the way to do that and the way to kind of figure out if medical school was for me was to do research. And so I didn't find a posted physician, so I literally knocked on doors. I knocked on doors, and I made phone calls because that's what you did at that time. And I met this assistant professor named Mary McDermott, who took a chance on me. She didn't have a job, she didn't really have an opportunity listed, but I think she saw some potential in me, and she hired me to be her research assistant. And I eventually became her research coordinator, I worked for her for two years. I think I started making 850 an hour. And she was doing studies in congestive heart failure and peripheral vascular disease. And I started off just seeing study participants and conducting assessments on them. But I was just hungry to learn and to go beyond just kind of recruiting and seeing participants. So I found myself looking at the data, asking questions. She kind of taught me how to ask those questions, how to answer those questions. I started learning how to do analyses, design research protocols, and then I just wanted to be better at my job. So I asked her about courses, and I found a clinical epidemiology course at the School of Medicine, and I took it. And at the same time as I took that class, another faculty member that I worked for, Joe Feinglass lent me his copy of And the Band Played On. And that is a book that chronicles essentially the early days of the AIDS pandemic, the HIV pandemic. And I'd say it was those two things that kind of together led me to public health and epidemiology. So the clinical EPI course, it just bit. You know when you take a class, and you're just like, "Oh, this makes sense. I get this." It kind of brought together everything that I liked and everything that I was good at, elements of problem-solving, asking questions and answering them. It still had that quantitative side, but in many ways, EPIs, we live in the gray. So it's a little bit of an art as well as a science. And then I was working cardiovascular disease research with Mary, but the And the Band Played On kind of got me interested in HIV. And it was really that it was not just the biology of the virus and all the questions that were unknown at that time, but it was the social issues, the structural issues, and the kind of interplay between those different factors. And so with that, I found myself applying to master's in public health programs, and that's landed where I am today. Mirabella Johnson: That is amazing. And I will say Dr. Feinglass is actually one of my professors. Shruti Mehta: [inaudible 00:07:48] Mirabella Johnson: So him and I are working together on some research potentially for the impact of reforming policing and gun violence prevention, since that's my past. And I also work in behavioral health as a behavioral support specialist. So talking about trauma-informed approaches rather than this tactical approach that really can blow things out of proportion when you're doing mental health and wellness visits. Or even just intervening in a crisis. Shruti Mehta: Absolutely. Mirabella Johnson: Which is awesome. Shruti Mehta: Oh, I love that. Yeah. Mirabella Johnson: Yeah, he's really, he's great. Shruti Mehta: Small world. Mirabella Johnson: Yeah, it is a small world. And I was going to say, I also just worked on a project for one of my classes on congestive heart failure and the low-sodium diet. Because there's surprisingly a small amount of research for how effective the low-sodium diet actually is for congestive heart failure management in terms of symptoms, and morbidity, and mortality. So we were working on that paper literally last quarter. Shruti Mehta: Oh, that's great. Were you collaborating with folks at the School of Medicine as well? Mirabella Johnson: Yeah, yeah. Actually, the majority of my professors in that class were through Feinberg, but then they- Shruti Mehta: Feinberg, okay. Mirabella Johnson: ... in ISGMH, so the Sexual and Gender Minority Institute. Shruti Mehta:

In this episode of the Weinberg in the World Podcast, host Preena Shroff, a third-year student at Northwestern University, interviews Peter Waitzman, the CEO of Expedition Money and a 1999 graduate of Weinberg College with a degree in Economics.   Transcript: Preena: Welcome to Weinberg in the World Podcast, where we bring stories of interdisciplinary thinking in today's complex world. My name is Preena Shroff and I'm your student host of this special Weinberg in the World episode. I'm a third-year student majoring in neuroscience and global health with a minor in data science, and today I have the pleasure of speaking with Peter Waitzman, who graduated from Weinberg College in 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts and Economics. Peter is now the CEO of Expedition Money, a financial wellness program aiming to provide educational content and coaching to help individuals and families achieve financial independence. Peter, thank you so much for being here with us today. Peter: Well, thank you very much. It is a pleasure to be here. Preena: Yeah. We are so excited to learn about your work in finance, but would love to start out with maybe how your career path was shaped by your time at Northwestern. So if you can tell us more about your undergraduate experience, what were some impactful classes, extracurriculars or mentorship experiences that you had which impacted your postgraduate career? Peter: Yeah. So as you mentioned, I came to Northwestern for economics and got immersed in that student body. So a lot of my friends were economics majors. And something similar that you and I share is that I lived in Ayers CCI at the time, which also had a lot of economics people, especially with its commerce theme. So from classwork to just the living experience on campus and even my social life were really surrounding me with people that were like-minded. And economics encompasses a lot of different things, but one of the things that I really liked that is a little bit outside the coursework right now is that it connected me with some of my really good friends who are really good friends today, but we were able to do stuff together, whether it was in classes or starting businesses on campus or doing projects together or researching or just sitting around in the lobby and kicking around ideas or reading the Harvard Business Review or whatever, just having people that share some of the same ideas. And a lot of that was some entrepreneurship. I think it was a little too early to think about that at the time. We didn't really think about starting businesses kind of that freshman, sophomore year, but it was just nice to be in that culture. And then when I started taking classes, people would turn you on to certain things. So one of the classes that I surprisingly liked, it wasn't necessarily in economics, but was the public speaking class. And I remember one of the exercises there was to take a controversial topic and take one side of it and defend it. And I really liked that because what it made you realize is that not everything is going to be a win-win-win situation for everyone. So sometimes you're going to have to take something and you're going to have to do some convincing with it. And it really impressed upon me that you're going to have to be, one, a good communicator when you get out into the real world, make the case for what you're doing, be succinct, get your point across, those types of things, and that's going to be really helpful. And then all of the economics classes that came on top of that, just to help you understand how the world works and incentives and the market dynamics and all of those types of things really was a nice way to put that puzzle together so that when you came out of school, you had a good perspective, a good base for developing what you wanted to work on or go into your career. And obviously, ultimately, I went that entrepreneurial route. Preena: Absolutely. Yeah. It's pretty cool that the residential college system was where you found a lot of those connections right off the bat starting in college. So go Ayers. My unbiased opinion is Ayers is the best residential college. Peter: One thing, it's funny you call it Ayers, because Ayers wasn't added on until I was there. So at that time, Mr. Ayers was getting involved and so we put the name on there. So to me, and for people of my vintage, it's still CCI, but I like how some people now know it as Ayers, so very cool. Preena: Yeah. So let's talk more about beyond Northwestern and what led you on the career path. So I know you talked about different econ classes that kind shaped your experience. What skills were you able to build upon that have been critical in your field today? Peter: Yeah. So one of the things that Northwestern directly led to was going in the economics world, a lot of people come out of college and go into consulting and it can kind of be a natural transition into the real world for people. And I did that for a couple years. So I did two years in consulting before I went into banking and then investment management, and then financial planning. And so the dots, the path there is actually not super uncommon. I don't know that it's a super common path, but it makes a lot of sense, I think, being naturally born out of the economics seed from Northwestern, and a lot of people who go into consulting maybe kind of branch off into different things. But I kind of still follow that financial path. And what that did for me at the time was just give me a lot of exposure to how things work. So one of the things that I realized from economics is that you get a lot of macro picture, kind of big picture, even if you're doing microeconomics, it's kind of very generalized. But when you get out into the workforce and you start working as a consultant, you kind of understand how business works and the business requirements and those things that go into big projects. But then when I went to the bank as an analyst, you really start seeing real-world stuff. You're looking at data that is moving the needle on the products or services that you provide. And then when I went into financial planning and investment management, you're starting to paint that side of the picture as well. How does this impact individuals and what are the motivations there and the incentives and what are people using, and how does the top level of banking and financial services providers fit into what the consumer needs on the front lines? And so having that broader picture really helped me then continue to move forward, and that's when I started moving away from the products and services side of things into what is generally more financial wellness. So how do we make people healthier, happier, more fulfilled, maybe chase retirement early, balance life and work better, raise a family, kind of have your cake and eat it too. Just generally be able to live and exist in life, which is very difficult. I've even said the game is kind of rigged these days. It's really hard to make the amount of money, and you may not feel it now, but we kind of live in a high inflation environment, and there's so many challenges for people. It's either earning enough money or finding a place that's cheap enough to live or having a job that's secure. The myriad of things that really plague people and things that people struggle with. And so that's why then I started to step back and actually worked... I was working for a large financial services company at the time and they wanted to launch a financial wellness project, something a little bit more encompassing, a little more general. And so I went into the home office and then we started building that and I spent a few years doing that. And then I continued the path of financial wellness and building financial wellness programs for a couple other companies after that. So ended up helping develop financial wellness companies or financial wellness programs for three companies following that, and then went off on my own and built the financial wellness program that I really wanted to build. So that's how I ended up getting there. So kind of a lot of different steps. It's not necessarily A, B, C, D, but it didn't really deviate as far away as I think a lot of career paths can or they can really pivot. And I certainly embrace that too. And for the people that kind of want to go off and do something that's very different from what they got trained in, there's never maybe the perfect opportunity to do that, so you just want to do it. Preena: Yeah. Yeah, it makes sense that you said you had a couple different jobs working in the industry before building upon your own program. So I guess I kind of wanted to ask, maybe the mentorship aspect of that, do you know if there's anyone who specifically provided a particular mentorship experience for you? Or what advice do you have for students who are looking for support along their career paths? Peter: Yeah. Mentorship has been one of those things that I think has really evolved over the last couple of years. Not even the last couple of years, but over the last couple of decades. And so when I was a student and then even when I went and left school and actually participated in the mentorship program to Northwestern students at the time, so at that time I was meeting a couple students, and this was fairly early on in my career, there's a lot of value to that. I feel a little bit like mentorship has changed in a way that on one hand, people who can be and should be mentors and have that life experience and maybe are an expert in their industry or subject matter experts are almost gun-shy about becoming mentors because they're worried about the time commitment, they're worried about, hey, the imposter syndrome of it, even though maybe they shouldn't be. And so it's harder these days I think to have formal men

In this special student-hosted episode of the “Weinberg in the World” podcast, student host Ashley Guo interviews JJ, a 1997 Northwestern graduate in psychology who now works at Microsoft. JJ shares his journey from initially pursuing a pre-med path to discovering his passion for psychology through an Intro to Psych class with Professor David Uttal. He discusses his struggles with organic chemistry and how psychology felt more natural to him. JJ also talks about his diverse coursework, including Russian and Eastern literature, history, and art classes, which enriched his undergraduate experience and allowed him to explore various interests. https://www.linkedin.com/in/jjguajardo/ Transcript: Ashley: Today, I have the pleasure of speaking with JJ who graduated from Northwestern in 1997 with a major in psychology. He is currently at Microsoft. Thank you so much for being here with us today. JJ: Well, I'm happy to be here. Thanks. Ashley: We're excited to hear that about your work at Microsoft. Before we do that, we'd love to hear more about your time at Northwestern and what drew you to study psychology initially. JJ: Yeah, good question. I kind of have a funny journey through Northwestern, although probably not super atypical given what I've heard. When I got to Northwestern as a bright-eyed freshman, I was pre-med. I was going to be a medical doctor. That was my path, so I was very excited about going that way. I was trying to figure out what major that I would want to take on it because I didn't think I wanted to do a straight biology major, physics, or something like that, so I was just playing around a little bit. One of my friends, upperclassmen, suggested... He was pre-med, and he was taking psychology classes. He's like, "It's actually a pretty cool major for pre-meds." That's interesting. So I took an Intro to Psych class with David Uttal, and I loved it. I was fascinated by the subject matter. It was one of those moments in time when you're like, "I'm actually kind of okay at this." I was definitely struggling in the pre-med classes, especially when I got to organic chemistry, which absolutely crushed me. I just couldn't quite grasp that kind of subject matter. Whereas, the psychology classes I was taking, between Intro, I took a developmental psychology class with David Uttal as well, and then other ones, it just sort of clicked. It just worked well, and it felt like I didn't have to try super hard. It sounds weird, but I didn't have to try super hard to do well. That's not because it's easy. It's just because it was kind of coming easy to me, which is weird. So I thought that was a good sign. As I continued to struggle in organic chemistry and continued to really fall in love with the subject matter in the psychology courses I was taking, it just felt like a natural thing to stop doing the pre-med track and pursue psychology from there. Then, yeah, I just jumped in head first and took a bunch of different courses. Obviously majored in it. I worked in a lab with Dr. Uttal for a couple years doing hands-on research with the kiddos in the lab in developmental psychology. Yes, that's how I got into it, and was very, very happy to do so. Ashley: Wow, that's amazing to hear. I also took Intro to Psych and really loved the class because I'm a cognitive science major, so that resonates a lot. JJ: That's awesome. Yeah, it's a lot of fun. It just felt natural, and it just worked. Ashley: Is there any other classes that you took or extracurriculars that you felt like gave you even more chance to explore psychology? JJ: Oh, interesting. It was funny. I actually took a bunch of, this is kind of weird, Russian, Eastern lit classes- Ashley: Cool. JJ: ... and history, sort of random because one of my friends was taking one, and I'm like, "Yeah, that sounds like fun." I had a couple different professors, I can't remember the one's name, but they were just absolutely fascinating. It's one of those kind of situations where, while the subject matter is interesting in and of itself, when somebody is passionate about teaching it and they have so much more to add, it just makes you more excited and interested. So I took way more classes in that subject than I thought I would've normally, which is kind of cool. Then I was also able to take a few art classes, which was really cool. I took some drawing classes later on in my time at Northwestern. That was really fun, and it let me explore the more creative side. I just loved taking a wide variety of things at Northwestern. I think the way that our curriculum was set up and the opportunities that it afforded were awesome, just to be able to explore various topics that I might not have done otherwise. Ashley: Oh, I see. I noticed that you also continued to pursue PhD. Can you share with us what led you to that decision? JJ: Yeah, yeah. Like I said before, I was doing research in the lab, so I was doing hands-on work, and I really found it fascinating. Then one summer, the summer between my junior and senior year, I got some grant to continue doing research over the summer, which was great, as part of this program and had a really great time doing that. I could run my own research and stuff. Ashley: Wow. JJ: Really, again, it just felt like a natural fit. I was already okay at it, and I liked it. So going into my senior year, I was not sure what I was going to do, to be honest with you. I figured I'd go get a job somewhere and not knowing what I was going to. But talking to Dr. Uttal, he was very encouraging of looking at grad schools. At the time, I was pretty ignorant about them. I didn't know what that would entail. I didn't know how much it would cost and if it was feasible for me and everything. But he reassured me that there were certainly grants and fellowships available and that maybe I was a pretty good candidate for some schools. So I went ahead and applied to various programs that were doing some really interesting developmental work, developmental psychology work, a few around the Midwest. Then eventually the University of Chicago, I got into there and just fell in love with the school and the program. It looked awesome. They gave me a full fellowship to go there with a stipend, so it was a no-brainer. So I just jumped straight in from undergrad to grad school. I studied there for five years and got my PhD in developmental psych, studying small children and infants. My eventual thesis was on nine-month old babies, so a very different subject matter than I'm dealing with now. But it was a great time. I'm really happy to have pursued that and finish the degree. Ashley: Wow. I see. How did you found your first job after PhD? JJ: That was kind lucky. It was probably my late third, early fourth year of grad school when I realized that I didn't want to pursue academia as a career. I really liked what I was doing, but I didn't think I would love it enough to do it for my life. In complete transparency, the University of Chicago is a great program, and there were some really amazing people coming out of the program. Folks who were older than me, were a couple years ahead of me, were on the job market with amazing CVs and really a great list of publications and just fantastic candidates, and they were having a hard time getting jobs. They were getting jobs, academic jobs, in places that I just couldn't ever see myself going to or being happy living in some of these places. I want to have a little more agency about where I ended up. I figured that academia was not going to let me have that agency. It was going to dictate where I go, so I decided it wasn't going to be the route I pursued. So I started thinking about non-academic jobs, but I again didn't have a whole lot of... not support, it's not fair, but just a lot of people around me didn't really know that world because they were all academics. At the time, the University of Chicago didn't have a very good system for helping people like me looking at non-academic stuff, although they've done a great job now, and that's a whole other subject. I was looking at jobs. I had something lined up through a friend in Chicago doing some market research. But then happened to look at a job on this old website called Monster.com. It's where you'd find jobs back in the day. I saw something about, "Do you like video games, and do you like working with kids?" I was like, "Yes, and yes. That's awesome." Love video games because I was playing a lot of PlayStation at the time. So I applied. It was with the group who I currently work with now, Xbox Research. I think back in the day we were called Games User Research. This was back in 2002, so a long time ago. I was very excited to get an interview, phone interviews, and I ended up getting the job. It was just a vendor role, which means that I was not working for Microsoft. I was a contractor contracting to Microsoft, but I was happy to do that. I figured I'd come out to Seattle for a year and try it out, and then maybe ended up back in Chicago where my family was. But on a personal note, I came to Seattle, and I met my future now-wife six months after being here, and I was never going back. So I've stayed 22 years now. So that's how I got that role back in the day. Ashley: Wow, wow. So you didn't really decide to, I guess, officially move to Seattle when you first left? JJ: Yeah, it was just on a whim. "Yeah, I'm going to go out there." I took a flight with a backpack and my golf clubs. Then my parents drove out in a van with a bunch of my stuff. Again, I figured it'd be about a year or so and had to move it back, but never went back. Ashley: Never went back, never went back. Oh, I see. I'm curious, your previous, I guess, time either in Northwestern or UChicago, how does what you learned in school or maybe outside of school apply or not

In this special student-hosted episode of the “Weinberg in the World” podcast, student host Preena Shroff, a third-year neuroscience and global health major, interviews Carla Karijolich, a 2008 Weinberg College graduate in political science and history. Carla, now a senior manager in customer care training at a medical device and digital health company, shares her undergraduate experiences, including studying abroad in Paris, participating in Peer Health Exchange, and being a DJ at WNUR. She emphasizes the importance of trying new things and how her diverse experiences have shaped her career path and skills, particularly in public speaking and empathy. https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlakarijolich/ Transcript: Preena Shroff: Welcome to Weinberg in the World podcast where we bring stories of interdisciplinary thinking in today's complex world. My name is Preena Shroff, and I'm your student host of this special episode of Weinberg in the World. I'm a third year student majoring in neuroscience and global health, and today I have the pleasure of speaking with Carla Karijolich who graduated from Weinberg College in 2008 with a major in political science and a minor in history. Carla is working as a senior manager in customer care training at a medical device and digital health company. Carla, thank you so much for being here with us today. Carla Karijolich: Thank you for having me. Preena Shroff: We are so excited to learn about your managerial role in learning and development, but of course would love to start out with your time at Northwestern and how that shaped your path. So maybe you could tell us a little bit more about your undergraduate experience. What were some impactful classes, extracurriculars or conversations that you had which impacted your postgraduate career? Carla Karijolich: Thanks for asking that. Like you said, I majored in political science and minored in history, so I'm just very passionate about understanding what's going on in the world and why and what has happened prior to that to create the reality that we live in today. That was something that I just really enjoyed studying and it opened up my world so much. Some of the memorable things that I did in college was studying abroad in Paris, France. That was a really eye-opening and meaningful experience, very humbling to go to another country and learn a new language. That did a lot for me culturally and as a person. I also was involved with Peer Health Exchange, so that's a program where we would go to some local high schools and teach high school freshmen about health. My topic was rape and sexual assault. As you can imagine, getting up early on Fridays to get in front of high school freshmen and talk about a serious topic did a lot for me as a public speaker. I don't think I've ever had such a tough audience and such a difficult topic. I also was a DJ at WNUR and I was on the Rock show specifically, and that was just a tremendous amount of fun discovering new music, artists. Of course, when you're constantly thinking about music and what you want to play on your show, you're going to concerts. So just really great time, really expanded my world. All of those interests, I think still show up in my current life and career. Preena Shroff: Yeah, wow, that's actually so awesome. It's really cool that you're able to try your hand at a lot of different things that are so different from each other and probably building relationships within all those different communities as well. That's awesome. Carla Karijolich: Yeah, I definitely like to try new things. That is something that I encourage students, you can try something, you may not like it, and that's okay. That's giving you information about maybe the things that you want to move away from. Then sometimes you'll try something and you really like it and it can put you on a path. All of these skills absolutely add up and pay off. Preena Shroff: Yeah, for sure. Speaking of path, beyond Northwestern what do you think led you on your career path or what skills were you able to build up specifically that had been critical in your field today? Carla Karijolich: It's really interesting to me how when I look at my career path really starting from freshman year, it's paid off. The summer after my freshman year, I volunteered at a legal clinic for survivors of domestic violence, and I transcribed and translated survivor testimonies from Spanish to English to be used as legal evidence. That was very, very eye-opening, gave me a lot of empathy, a lot of appreciation for what attorneys do and what people go through when they suffer domestic violence. From there, with that experience, I actually was able to then get a work study job as a research assistant at a local hospital. Because I had that transcription experience and experience with sensitive topics, I worked with some researchers who were studying postpartum depression. Another very interesting rich topic, a tremendous amount of empathy that you get. Then eventually when I became a mother, I was able to really understand those experiences even more. That kind of got me on this research mindset. My first job out of college was in public policy research, so I was able to learn a lot. I was working in public finance research at the time of the 2008 recession, so that was a really interesting time to be in that field. I learned a lot about local government, state government, how it works. Totally tapped into my interest with political science and history. The economy was still in rough shape when that program was up, so I was really thinking about, do I want to continue in public policy? Should I go to grad school? Should I continue to work? I knew I wanted to continue my education, I just didn't know exactly when and how. I ended up in my first corporate job as an HR research analyst, and specifically I was working in corporate recruiting. All of those dots eventually connected and put me into the corporate world where I am today. Preena Shroff: I'm sure all those skills you gained through communicating with different types of people coming from all kinds of situations really helped with that too. Carla Karijolich: Yes. Just when you think about the different populations that I've worked with, yeah, I guess I've never shied away from tough topics. Now in the work that I do, I'm a training manager, so I have to be able to interact with people really from all over the world because in my current company, I work with people in different countries, from different cultures. We talk about sensitive topics and also very tactical topics. I absolutely love getting to know new people and new cultures. I'm sure that started even before Northwestern, but all my experiences at Northwestern really teed me up to be successful at that. Preena Shroff: Yeah, for sure. I know you mentioned a little bit about what you're doing now, which is primarily in learning and development. When did this interest in learning and development come up and how has it impacted your path? Carla Karijolich: I got into learning and development over 10 years ago. I was working in sales and customer service, and I wanted to move up into a managerial role. At the time in my mind, that was the next step. You go from an individual contributor to a manager. I thought about how do I do that? My supervisor, who was a really awesome mentor, suggested that I take on opportunities to train other employees because that's a really good way to demonstrate your leadership skills. As I was doing that, I really got to develop my public speaking, my writing skills, solving operational problems, implementing solutions, and change management. It really became my path. Instead of using training as a stepping stone into another career, it became my career. I applied to a master's program at Northwestern in Learning and Organizational Change, and I completed that, and so I have two degrees from Northwestern. I think that that says a lot about the university, that so many people go back. Preena Shroff: They're Wildcats. Carla Karijolich: Exactly. Double. Double Wildcat. I teach here too now, so we can talk about that later. Preena Shroff: Oh, cool. Carla Karijolich: But yes, I've been on that path ever since. Preena Shroff: Wow. Okay. Yeah. So I guess coming back to Northwestern a little bit, just looking in the past and looking towards the future, how did you seek mentorship at Northwestern? What advice do you have for students who are looking for support along their career paths today? Carla Karijolich: That's such a good question. I think that especially for students where they're the first in their family to go to a four-year college or university, it is really important to get mentorship because your family has a lot of love and support for you, but you're going to encounter things that maybe they haven't had to navigate in the same way. It is important to have those mentors. I did have a formal mentor through the Northwestern Public Interest Program. That was a part of the first job that I had out of college, and I was assigned a really awesome mentor who made such a big impact on my life. He teaches in the graduate school at CESB, and I'd say, "Oh yeah, tell me about your program," and we would talk about things that I was doing at work and the things that he teaches about, and he gave me so much insight into some of the things that I was working on. Then however many years later, I ended up applying to that program, and I took his class. I did get an A in his class, but it wasn't because of any inside advantage that I had. The advice and the takeaway from that is that if there's a program that offers formal mentorship, whether it's through school or something in the community, apply and take it. It's just an opportunity to meet someone that you ot

In this special student-hosted episode of the “Weinberg in the World” podcast, student host Seora Kim, a junior majoring in economics, interviews Keith Haan, the senior vice president at Roivant Sciences. Keith graduated with a major in Biological Studies. Keith shares his journey from studying biology and playing baseball at Northwestern University to working in a lab at the medical school, which influenced his career path. He discusses his research on B cell signaling and Epstein-Barr virus, and how his interest in biotechnology led him to the finance industry. Keith explains his transition from equity research to venture capital and portfolio management, highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of his career! https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-haan-9886a069/ Transcript: Seora Kim: Welcome to the Weinberg in the World podcast where we bring stories of interdisciplinary thinking in today's complex world. My name is Seora Kim, and I am your student host of this special episode of the podcast. I am a junior majoring in economics and minoring in data science and global health studies. Today, I am excited to be speaking with Keith Haan, who is the senior vice president at Roivant Sciences. Thank you, Keith, for taking the time to speak with me today. Keith Haan: Thank you, Seora. I'm happy to be here. Seora Kim: Awesome. To start us off today, I'm wondering if you can tell us a little bit more about your time at Northwestern as an undergraduate. What did you study? What were the impactful experiences for you that led to your current career path? Keith Haan: I was an undergraduate major in biology sort of focusing on cell and molecular biology, but my experience at Northwestern was also shaped a lot by the fact that I played baseball for Northwestern. And as part of trying to figure out what to do for the summers, the athletic department does have reach out, and certainly when I was going there, had reach out to sort of help place students with internships that would be interesting. And I ended up working doing research in a lab at the medical school a couple of summers. And I think that really influenced sort of where I wanted to go, and I ended up going and getting my PhD at the grad school down at the medical school campus. Seora Kim: Awesome. That is amazing. Can I ask a little bit more about what kind of research you did at the medical school that helped you pivot? Keith Haan: Yeah, so I worked in a lab that had two focuses. One was on B cell signaling and one was on the cellular factors that allowed Epstein-Barr virus to enter cells. So the two were sort of related. Epstein-Barr virus encodes some proteins that sort of co-opt B cell signaling, and so part of the group focused on that. And then another group of which I was part of really studied the host cell proteins that were involved in mediating entry of the virus to the cell. Seora Kim: Amazing. That sounds super cool. And I was also wondering, were there any pivotal moments for your decisions that shaped your different parts of your journey in your career path? Because I know that you had several experiences before coming to Roivant Sciences. Keith Haan: Yeah, so I would say during grad school, viral entry was a hot topic and was actually very topical for HIV entry and HIV treatments. And so, because some of those newer drugs were being studied in the clinic at that point in time, it sort of got me interested in the biotechnology field in general. But I was also looking at the company and saying, "Hey, this is a company that I think I know well because I understand viral entry well. It's a publicly traded company. That is also interesting." And so, I think given the pace of where the biotech field, where it was going and looking at equities as a way to really be exposed to a lot of what the industry was doing, not just from a single company standpoint, but from an industry-wide standpoint, I got interested in biotech stocks. Which led me into the finance industry starting in equity research, and then moving on in my career to being a partner at a venture firm, and then portfolio manager at a hedge fund. Seora Kim: Awesome. That is super cool because I know that there's a lot of students at Northwestern interested in like economics or finance, but then also the bio side of things. So it's super cool to learn about your experience and how you combined biology as well as finance-related careers in your path and how you did biotech-related stocks equity research. So can you share a little bit more about what you think was the most attractive elements in each part of those roles, like was the more interesting parts in equity research or venture capital's portfolio management, so the students can understand what are differences between those jobs? Keith Haan: Sure. So I can start with the equity research first. It was my foray into finance, and that time was really sort of spent leveraging what I knew and what I had gained just in either biological insights and then translating that to how I thought value could be created from companies. And obviously, at that point in time, there was a pretty big backfill for me in learning the financial building models. I mean, that was something that I had not done at Northwestern. So that was a very good learning experience to be able to combine both as well as to learn how stocks move independent of what you might consider to be an intrinsic value. So that whole learning experience I thought was very valuable. And ultimately, I wanted to be able to, instead of being on the analytical side in equity research, I wanted to move on to being in a place where I could be deploying capital against those ideas. And where my initial interest was, it was sort of the earlier stage, probably earlier in the clinic or preclinical, which was more attuned to what I had learned in my background in my PhD, but also in the small company and the company formation. And so, I chose to go to a venture capital firm where I thought I could really build on the skills that I had already developed in equity research. Seora Kim: Definitely. So I think something that is really interesting is that you're focusing on biotech stocks or biology related financials. So can you share a little bit more about what is different between regular stocks or health tech stocks with biotech stocks? Keith Haan: I think one thing that is different about the biotech sector in general is it is something that is, first of all, highly volatile. There can be very large price swings depending on whether the results from a clinical trial allows a company to move forward to the next step of the clinical studies or to get approved. And when you are putting things in the human body, sometimes you get the results you are expecting and sometimes you don't. So there is a lot of volatility around just those stocks in general. And because of that, it is not something that a lot of funds will necessarily allocate a lot of time or people to, unless they have people that have deep experience doing it. So it is, as opposed to funds that may have a lot of their portfolio invested in tech or other industries that are a little bit better understood, healthcare is a little bit [inaudible 00:08:22], and biotech in particular is a little bit different. Seora Kim: Totally. That makes a lot of sense. And since you mentioned it requires a lot of knowledge and also because of the clinical trial stages, do you think that it's important for students who want to focus on biotech related finance roles to do bio majors or PhD? Or what kind of level of education would be required for these kind of roles? Keith Haan: I think it is helpful, but I have sat next to incredibly intelligent and very, very good people from all different backgrounds. So I have sat next to people that have finance or econ majors and have sort of picked up the biology, the clinical aspects, or the regulatory overlay over time. And then, there are many people that I've worked alongside that have a biology or have a medical background that sort of supplement and backfill with the financial overlay. Seora Kim: Definitely. So it's not necessary to have a bio background, but it can be a very diverse background and anyone who is interested can have a shot at this role? Keith Haan: Yeah, I mean, if you are sort of interested in that nexus, you can come into it from various backgrounds. Seora Kim: Perfect. That's amazing. That's great news for our students. And I guess going on with that, I wanted to learn a little bit more about your current company, Roivant Sciences. So can you maybe elaborate a little bit more on what are some of the current day-to-day in the job right now? Keith Haan: Sure. So in my role, I lead the group that is responsible for the licensing and acquisitions at Roivant. So Roivant is a little bit unique in that the licensing and acquisition plays a very large role in our strategy. So we look really industry-wide and where the innovation is, and a big part of where we find the innovation is external. And so, what we do is try to find collaborators and partner with those assets, and then found very nimble small companies that are really charged with bringing those forward in developing and commercializing them. Seora Kim: Well received. So regarding this kind of business model, would you say your investment strategy or how you find these smaller companies be based on certain criterias or standards? Keith Haan: Yeah, I mean, I think what we ultimately want to do is have something that we believe sort of meets our bar for having a reasonable likelihood of clinical and commercial success. And that can be we can get comfort with that in

This special student-hosted episode of the Weinberg in the World Podcast features a conversation with Sonia Punjabi '21 who graduated from Northwestern with a Biological Studies Major and a Art Theory & Practice Minor.  Student host Smera Dwivedi, a rising sophomore majoring in chemistry, interviews Sonia Punjabi, a third-year Doctorate of Physical Therapy student at the University of Miami. Sonia shares her journey from Northwestern University, where she explored various fields before finding her passion in physical therapy. She highlights the impact of being a peer advisor on her personal and professional development, emphasizing the importance of interpersonal skills and diversity training. Sonia also discusses her current clinical rotations and the challenges she faced along the way. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonia-punjabi/ Transcript: Smera Dwivedi: Welcome to the Weinberg in the World Podcast, featuring stories of interdisciplinary thinking in today's environment. My name is Smera, and I'm your student host of this special episode of this podcast. I'm a rising sophomore and I have an intended major in chemistry on the premedical path, although I'm not that sure about that, but I'm very excited to learn about physical therapy and your career. Today, I'm excited to be speaking with Ms. Sonia Punjabi, who is, I'm not sure I asked you where you're working or the title of company or anything. Sonia Punjabi: Totally fine. We can get to that when we start. Smera Dwivedi: Okay. Well, good to know. If you'd like to introduce yourself, thank you so much for speaking with me. Sonia Punjabi: Yeah, of course. So I'm Sonia, she/her/hers pronouns, and I'm currently in Miami, Florida. I am in the third year, third and final year of the Doctorate of Physical Therapy program at the University of Miami, which I never thought I would be doing for multiple reasons. It's really cool. We'll get into that. But because I'm in the final year of the doctorate, we have clinical rotations, which means I'll be at different places until I am fully licensed and practicing on my own. So for now, just UMPT, but I love it here, and when there's a job opportunity, I'll let you know. Smera Dwivedi: Oh, good to know, good to know. So how was your Northwestern undergrad shaped how where you are now? Sonia Punjabi: Oh, I loved Northwestern. I adored it there. I came in not knowing what was going on, which I think is normal. I came in thinking maybe I would do math because I had done well in my math classes in high school. I had excelled in the APs. They offered me the MENU course. I don't know if it's so called MENU. So I was like, "Oh, this is kind of neat." It wasn't quite what I was looking for because I didn't know what I was looking for, so I thought, "Oh, architecture, I like art and math. Maybe journalism. Maybe I should switch to McCormick or potentially SESP." I kid you not, I looked at so many things when I was in Northwestern, but the things that stood out to me and made me who I am were being a peer advisor for two years. I was a peer advisor for the class of 2023 and the class of 2024, which is happy tears since they've graduated, if they stuck with that graduation year, and the fact that I took advantage of Weinberg because it's arts and sciences, I took a bajillion English courses, some short of a minor. I probably could have done a minor in English literature, and I did a minor in art theory and practice, and those highly influenced how I am as a person today, both personally and professionally, but we'll get into that. I don't want to talk your ear off immediately. Smera Dwivedi: You're so good. You're completely good. So what about being specifically a peer advisor made you realize something about yourself or something about your interests or something along those lines? Sonia Punjabi: I think the peer advisor course, the way that they prepare students to be peer advisors is phenomenal. It's so well done. I'm still hoping to encourage my current institution and future institutions to utilize some of the same training techniques where we learn about diversity in ourselves, we learn about identity in ourselves, we learn about how to dialogue, and those are essential skills for humans that interact with other humans, but also for healthcare providers that support other humans in health. So that was huge. That was my 101 and how to talk to people and also who am I. I loved it. I loved it. I gained so many incredible interpersonal skills from being a peer advisor that I probably still use at this moment to this day. They've just been honed as I've entered the doctorate program. Smera Dwivedi: Okay. Good. So what was the hardest part about where you are now? What was the hardest part, whether it was undergrad or something else? Sonia Punjabi: Good question. I think not to be too pithy here, there are ebbs and flows in every stage of life. In undergrad, maybe early undergrad, it was that I didn't know. I was confused about my path, which is the way it's supposed to be. I didn't know if I was even in the right school, right major. I had no idea. So I was a biological sciences major, inevitably, confusingly, begrudgingly pre-med, not that that's not a wonderful track, but it didn't quite fit and I wasn't sure why. And I kid you not, I was thinking about preparing for the MCAT and preparing for applying to medical school until the last quarter I was at Northwestern, the final one. I changed my mind. I think it must've been February 2021 and I graduated in June 2021. So I decided really late that I wanted to go into PT school. So maybe in the beginning it was that uncertainty and that feeling that I hadn't found quite the right fit. I knew what I liked, I loved the art theory and practice classes, I loved being a peer advisor, I loved writing and talking, but I didn't know how that would translate. Smera Dwivedi: So I kind of relate to ... I'm in the pre-med path, but I'm not sure if that's something I want to do. So what made you realize that physical therapy was what you wanted to do or what made you finally decide to get off the medical school path? Sonia Punjabi: Sure, and again, I do want to emphasize that I have some lovely friends in the pre-med, well, now medical school world. They're deep in medical school now, and it's a great path. It's amazing. I don't want anyone to feel like, "Oh, this is wrong," because it's a great path. It just wasn't my path. For me, it was that I had a history of my own PT journey as a patient with dance. I danced at Northwestern. I was one of the first years who auditioned for Ahana when it was formed in 2017. So I was on Ahana, I had auditioned for the Bhangra team, and I realized I couldn't do everything I wanted to do, and that was tough. I hadn't found the right kind of PT for myself either. I didn't know what I was looking for. Finally, we get to February 2021, and in my brain, I've already kind of thought about and entertained physical medicine and rehabilitation. It's called PM&R for short, you may have heard of it, and it is a specialty in medicine in which physicians intervene pain management with rehabilitation, either mildly invasively, moderately invasively, noninvasively. There are a ton of ways that physicians can intervene in PM&R, but I thought that was really attractive to me. I was like, "Oh, there's a physician at Shirley Ryan that takes care of performing artists," and I met her. This was right before the pandemic. I kid you not, it was maybe the week or the week of, week before or week of. I go downtown. I have a meeting with one of these physicians who was nice enough to greet me, and we chat about the differences between the physician track and the physical therapy track because they work closely together for rehab. And she was very honest about it. She said, "Yeah, well, I think as a physician, you get to make decisions about medications if that's applicable, about surgical interventions if that's applicable, but you spend less time with your patients compared to a clinician in physical therapy who might see someone two to three times a week for an hour each, depending on the setting they're in. So you have different relationships with your patients and you accomplish different things together." And I was like, "That's interesting," Smera Dwivedi: Absolutely. Sonia Punjabi: I started entertaining that track during the pandemic when everyone was making sourdough and banana bread. We made a lot of banana bread. I was also- Smera Dwivedi: I forget the [inaudible 00:07:43] Sonia Punjabi: A lot of banana bread and a lot of podcasts. I was listening to podcasts by dance trainers working in the rehab world. I was listening to podcasts and looking at online resources from PTs who did a different kind of PT than I'd ever seen. They did strength-based PT. So I started educating myself and applying some of these skills and I was like, "Well, this is pretty cool." Finally, when I was juggling PM&R, PT, PM&R, PT, I made the decision to do PT because the lifestyle of the educational trajectory made sense to me. I got to be a clinician earlier and for longer time with patients, and that's what I really liked. Smera Dwivedi: Okay. Very nice. A podcast, so I need to start listening to podcasts. Got it. Got it. Sonia Punjabi: You don't have to. It just happened to be- Smera Dwivedi: It's like another avenue to explore to see what I want to do. It's very nice because- Sonia Punjabi: I was exploring on Instagram. There are clinicians that show you how they treat knee pain with certain exercises. Again, be careful, it's the internet. They might be like, "Hang upside down from a tree," and that's obviously not going to ... Well, it

This special episode features the most recent edition of Weinberg College’s faculty speaker series “Conversation with the Dean.” This event series is designed to deliver insights into cutting-edge research and teaching from faculty experts around the College. The events are offered live to Weinberg College Leadership Society donors with a real-time Q&A. In this conversation, Professor of English Chris Abani and Dean Adrian Randolph discuss “ubuntu,” a concept that recognizes our interconnectedness, the importance of an English major in today’s world, and the Program in African Studies, which holds the largest collection of African and Africana books and artifacts outside of Africa.  Weinberg College Leadership Giving Society: https://giving.northwestern.edu/s/1479/282-giving/21/interior3.aspx?pgid=7407&gid=282   Explore more "Conversations with the Dean": https://weinberg.northwestern.edu/after-graduation/for-alumni/conversations-with-the-dean/

This special episode features the most recent edition of Weinberg College’s faculty speaker series “Conversation with the Dean.” This event series is designed to deliver insights into cutting-edge research and teaching from faculty experts around the College. The events are offered live to Weinberg College Leadership Society donors with a real-time Q&A. In this conversation, Professor of Chemistry Shana Kelley and Dean Adrian Randolph discuss creating new tools to diagnose and treat diseases, the importance of interdisciplinary and translational research at Weinberg College, and the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub: a new and cutting edge collaboration between Northwestern, UChicago, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Weinberg College Leadership Giving Society: https://giving.northwestern.edu/s/1479/282-giving/21/interior3.aspx?pgid=7407&gid=282   Explore more "Conversations with the Dean:" Conversations with the Dean: Weinberg College - Northwestern University

This special episode features the most recent edition of Weinberg College’s faculty speaker series “Conversation with the Dean.” This event series is designed to deliver insights into cutting-edge research and teaching from faculty experts around the College. The events are offered live to Weinberg College Leadership Society donors with a real-time Q&A. In this conversation, Professor of English Susie Phillips and Dean Adrian Randolph discuss why teaching matters, how asking bold questions can open entire worlds of “speculative possibility” in scholarship, and the power of gossip.   Weinberg College Leadership Giving Society Explore more "Conversations with the Dean"

This episode features clips from this year’s Weinberg College Career Summit alumni panels where a few alumni share stories about some of their most impactful classes and how those classes helped them in their future careers. Alumni from our Energy & Sustainability and Startups & Entrepreneurship alumni panels talked about an array of classes that helped them form arguments and think differently about their industries. ·         Timestamps: 0:00: Introduction 0:45: Impactful Sustainability Classes with Ariel Drehobl ’12 and Mark Silberg ’14 3:55: Impactful Entrepreneurship Classes with Jin Hwang ‘01 5:55: Outro https://weinberg.northwestern.edu/after-graduation/student-alumni-connections/whats-new/2023-2024/career-summit-2023-final.html   

This special episode features the most recent edition of Weinberg College’s faculty speaker series “Conversation with the Dean.” This event series is designed to deliver insights into cutting-edge research and teaching from faculty experts around the College. The events are offered live to Weinberg College Leadership Society donors with a real-time Q&A. In this conversation, Professor of History and Director of the Latina and Latino Studies Program, Gerry Cadava and Dean Adrian Randolph discuss the meaning of diversity in the United States through the lens of Latino identity, as our nation approaches its 250th anniversary.   Weinberg College Leadership Giving Society: https://giving.northwestern.edu/s/1479/282-giving/21/interior3.aspx?pgid=7407&gid=282   Explore more “Conversations with the Dean”: https://weinberg.northwestern.edu/after-graduation/for-alumni/conversations-with-the-dean/ 

This episode features highlights from the career summit focusing on the changing landscapes in these industries. Speakers from all three fields discuss topics such as hybrid work, work-life balance, travel expectations, and more. Timestamps: ·         0:00: Introduction ·         0:45: Trends in Marketing ·         2:45: Trends in Consulting ·         5:20: Trends in Healthcare ·         8:30: Outro

This episode, brought to you by the Waldron Student-Alumni Connections Program and Northwestern Career Advancement, features an in-depth discussion with Tracie Thomas from NCA about the difference between job function and industry, narrowing down career options, and how to approach an event like the Career Summit. This is a great overview of career exploration in general, so feel free to listen to this episode to prepare for any future alumni event you register for as well as the career summit. Timestamps: ·0:00: Introductions   1:40: Job Function vs Industry   6:00: The Process of Narrowing Down Career Options   10:15: How to Approach the Career Summit   14:00: Closing Advice for Students

This episode features a few clips previous alumni conversations highlighting their memorable experiences relating to their majors in the humanities and how those experiences helped in their future careers. First is a closing remark from our conversation with David Gefsky ‘92, where he speaks on the value of curiosity and the other skills you develop through an Arts & Sciences education at Northwestern that can help you in a field like finance. Next is a quote from our “What Can You Do with a Language Major” Panel from last year with Khiabett Osuna ‘11, who talks about the core skills she uses every day as an Immigration Attorney: “Read, Think, Write.” Khiabett shares stories and examples of how her work can change rapidly in topic and focus, and how those core skills can help adjust to those changing conditions. Our last clip comes from a previous podcast episode focusing on Chicago Field Studies with Charlie Vasbinder ’19. Charlie discusses the value of his history major for working in real estate in teaching him how to develop relationships, communicate with a wide variety of people, and form arguments on sales pitches. Links to the full conversations: https://weinberg.northwestern.edu/after-graduation/student-alumni-connections/whats-new/2022-2023/featured-conversation-david-gefsky.html https://weinberg.northwestern.edu/after-graduation/student-alumni-connections/whats-new/2021-2022/winter-languages-video.html https://open.spotify.com/episode/15U2p8EOJ2fuhEsb0eOo6n

This episode features a few clips previous alumni conversations highlighting their memorable experiences relating to their majors in the sciences and how those experiences helped in their future careers.  First are a few selections from our interview with Danny Ginzburg ’13, where he talks about the impact of his Environmental Sciences Major and Environmental Policy & Culture minor. He also talks about impactful classes and how those classes impacted his worldview and direction toward a career path. Next is a quote from our panel on Nontraditional Paths in Science and Medicine with Yujia Ding ’14. Yujia goes into detail about how her background colored her time at Northwestern, and how those experiences allow her to connect with students and be a better teacher. Our last clip comes from a previous panel on Women in Science with Amy Yarrington ’11. Amy speaks on the value of an interdisciplinary education and how a wide background can help you communicate effectively through writing and conversation. Check out the full conversations here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3JQOF1KXEQHyzRyCyeAbku?si=d65bd22001884fc0 https://weinberg.northwestern.edu/after-graduation/student-alumni-connections/whats-new/2022-2023/nontraditional-career-paths-science-medicine.html https://weinberg.northwestern.edu/after-graduation/student-alumni-connections/whats-new/2021-2022/winter-women-in-science-video.html  

This episode features a few clips previous alumni conversations highlighting their memorable experiences relating to their majors in social sciences and how those experiences helped in their future careers.  First are a few selections from our interview with Khoury Cooper ’08 JD’13, where he talks of some memorable Political Science and African American Studies classes and then speaks on how an Arts & Sciences background impacts him as a lawyer today. Our second clip is a quote from our conversation with Kathy Lin ‘08 PhD, who shares stories about finding the MMSS major and Sociology classes. Kathy goes into detail about how these classes and the professors that taught them helped her support new ways of thinking and find career paths she didn’t know of beforehand. Lastly, we featured a conversation with Austin Waldron ’78, who many of you may recognize from the name of our program! Austin talks about how Northwestern’s Arts & Sciences education helped him learn to understand people from a variety of different backgrounds, and how that understanding helped him perform better while working in Operations.   Check out the full conversations here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3EtI2E4YlV6y0OL6QsjdOb?si=8bb3f9fe84984f95  https://open.spotify.com/episode/3U1oH6kOcEQ1qPTScuSpe4?si=5dc708a4470e4f5e  https://open.spotify.com/episode/41kucgY9msAdUyLQvIbDf6?si=74bc8381466848fd   

This episode of the Weinberg in the World Podcast features a conversation with William Paik ’20, who graduated from Northwestern with English and American Studies Majors and a Asian-American Studies Minor. William shares insights on the Asian American Studies Program, Law school decisions, Comedy at Northwestern, Fulbright Research in Korea, how an Interdisciplinary education has helped him! ·       Timestamps: 0:40: Student Experience 3:30: Moving away from Law school 6:25: Starting Comedy at Northwestern 10:15: First Job During the Pandemic 13:05: Experience During Research 15:00: Fulbright in Korea (here) 20:40: The Value of an Interdisciplinary Education

This episode of the Weinberg in the World Podcast features a conversation with Mai Sistla ‘14, who is currently a Deputy Director at the Aspen Tech Policy Hub after Graduating from Northwestern with an Economics Major and a Global Health Studies Minor. Mai shares insights on Important Classes, Extracurriculars, Connections, Grad School, Working in Tech Policy, Good Fellowships, and the Arts & Sciences Background. For more information about the fellowship discussed by Mai during the podcast, click below: http://www.corofellowship.org/ Timestamps: 0:40: Student Experience and Pivoting Majors 4:30: Extracurriculars and Important Connections 8:15: Path to Grad School 14:15: Working in Tech Policy 19:00: Projects in Tech Policy 22:40: Good Opportunities out of Undergrad 24:05: Arts & Sciences Background

This episode of the Weinberg in the World Podcast features a conversation Khoury Cooper ’08 JD’13, who is currently a Corporate Counsel in the Youtube Division of Google after Graduating from Northwestern with a Political Science Major and a JD in Law. Khoury shares stories about Impactful Classes, Fraternity Life, Going Back to Law School, Choosing a Career Path, Working in Music at Amazon, Work-Life Priorities, and Networking! Timestamps: 1:00: Impactful Northwestern Courses and Programs 3:55: Impactful Extracurriculars 6:10: Deciding to Go to Law School 8:15 First Job After School 9:55: How Did You Pick Your Career Path 11:55: Working Before Grad School 13:45: Working in Music 18:00: Working in Chicago and Priorities 21:05: Networking Advice 23:30: Arts & Sciences Background

This episode of the Weinberg in the World Podcast features a conversation with Kian Gohar ‘98, who is currently the Founder and CEO of Geo-Lab and a best-selling author of “Competing in the New World of Work” after Graduating from Northwestern with Majors in History and Political Science. Kian shares stories about a Great Teacher, Working During College, Choir, Learning Skills, His First Job After Graduating, Participating in Fellowships, Deciding Between Different Post-Grad Options, Working at a Development Firm, His Book, Working During the Pandemic, Focusing on Key Tasks, and more! Timestamps: 00:45: Studies and Student Experience at Northwestern 3:30: Skills Learned from Extracurriculars 5:55: First Job After Graduation 8:05: Experience With Fellowships 11:30: Working at Geo-Lab 14:15: The Hybrid World of Work 17:45: How to Thrive in a World of Uncertainty 21:35: Teaching, Training, and Writing 27:00: Future Challenges and Goals 28:30: Networking

This episode of the Weinberg in the World Podcast features a conversation with Liz Ott’ 00, who is currently the President of Threespot after Graduating from Northwestern with a Psychology Major and an Economics Minor. Liz shares stories about her student experience, Learning and Developing Skills Through Work-Study, Her First Job and Career Path, Growing Within a Company, Finding the Right Space in an Industry, Advice for Getting into a Similar Field, the Value of her Northwestern Network, and the Value of Arts & Sciences Education! Timestamps: 00:45: Student Experience and Work-Study 4:10: Previous Jobs 8:45: Working at Threespot and Growing Your Career 15:00: Finding Threespot and the Company Vision 19:00: Advice for Students looking for Activist Work 21:00: Liz’s Northwestern Network 24:35: The Value of Arts & Sciences Education

This episode of the Weinberg in the World Podcast features a conversation with Kathy Lin ‘08 PhD, who is currently a Product Insights Manager at Spotify after Graduating from Northwestern with Sociology and MMSS Majors and a Global Health Studies Minor. Kathy shares stories about the MMSS Major, Internships, the PhD Process, Working after Grad School, Work-Life Balance, Finding a Career Path, and Working at Spotify. Timestamps: 0:40: The MMSS Major and Memorable Classes 4:15: Rarity of MMSS 6:20: Extracurriculars and Internships 9:30: Deciding to go to Grad School 14:40: the PhD Process 20:20: First Job After Grad School and Work-Life Balance, and Finding a Career Path 30:30: Working at Spotify

This episode of the Weinberg in the World Podcast features a conversation with Veronica Berns ’09 and Robin Stark ’98, who are both currently working at the Chemistry Department at Northwestern. Veronica is currently an Assistant Professor of Instruction after graduating from Northwestern with a Chemistry Major and a Mathematics Minor. Robin is currently an Undergraduate Program Coordinator after graduating with a Major in Environmental Science. Veronica and Robin share insights on influential classes, internships, first jobs, figuring out your next step, working in higher education, teaching, making a comic book, learning to communicate with different people, and how to Network. Timestamps: 1:10: Northwestern Student Experience 4:45: Extracurriculars and Internships 8:20: First Jobs and Next Steps 14:15: Working in Higher Education 18:50: Arts & Sciences Education 21:00: Making a Comic Book 25:55: Networking

This episode of the Weinberg in the World Podcast features a conversation with Charlie Vasbinder ’19 and Thanas Kountroubis ’19, who both participated in the Chicago Field Studies Program interning at Barnett Capital and currently work there today after Graduating from Northwestern. Charlie and Thanas share stories about the Northwestern Experience, the value of different majors, changing majors, Chicago Field Studies, working at Barnett Capital, and the value of an Arts & Sciences Education! Timestamps: 1:00: Charlie’s Northwestern Experience 5:20: Pivoting From Econ to History 7:40: Thanas’ Student Experience 14:15: Struggling through Northwestern Coursework 16:10: Chicago Field Studies 20:00: The Value of CFS as an Extracurricular 26:00: Arts & Sciences at work Today and Not Being Afraid to Fail

This episode of the Weinberg in the World Podcast features a conversation with Prashant Bhayani '91, who is currently the Chief Investment Officer at BNP Paribas after Graduating from Northwestern with an Economics Major. Prashant shares insights on the value of a diverse education, business internships, his first job after a recession, developing a career abroad, his role as a Chief Investment Officer, his small town background, learning to communicate effectively! Timestamps: 1:00: The breadth of options at Weinberg College 4:05: Internships 5:30: First Job 7:10: Transitioning to working overseas 10:30: Working in Asset Management 13:05: Adjusting from a small town and the considerations of a global career 18:10: The Value of Arts & Sciences in Finance 22:50: The Northwestern Network

This episode of the Weinberg in the World Podcast features a conversation with Danny Ginzburg ’14, who is currently starting a PhD in plant sciences at the University of Cambridge through the Gates-Cambridge Scholarship after Graduating from Northwestern with an Earth and Planetary Sciences Major and an Environmental Policy & Culture Minor. Danny shares insights on his Northwestern experience, Greek life, undergraduate research opportunities, his first job in data analysis, Academia, Scholarships and Grants, and the value of an Arts & Sciences education! Timestamps: 0:45: Northwestern Experience 4:25: Finding the right major 6:45: Research at Northwestern 11:05: First job after graduation 14:30: Academia and the Gates-Cambridge Scholarship 17:30: The value of Commercial Hydroponics 22:10: Scholarship Program at Cambridge 26:20: Future plans after Cambridge 28:05: The value of an Arts & Sciences education

This episode of the Weinberg in the World Podcast features a conversation with Chandana Sooranahalli ‘20, who is currently a Management Consultant after Graduating from Northwestern with an Economics Major and a Cognitive Science Minor. Chandana shares insights on great classes and extracurriculars to consider as an undergrad, the unique challenges and opportunities she had as a transfer student, her experience doing undergraduate research, and her plans of heading to med school through a nontraditional route! Timestamps: 1:00: Northwestern Experience 3:00: Advice as a Transfer Student 4:10: The Value of Extracurriculars 6:10: Changing Career Plans 8:00: Undergraduate Research 10:45: Recruiting for Consulting 14:20: What is Consulting? 16:30: Nontraditional path to Med School 18:10: The Value an Arts & Sciences Education 21:55: Networking at Northwestern 24:40: Challenges as a Transfer Student

This episode of the Weinberg in the World Podcast features a conversation with David Ngene ’08 who is currently an Innovation Design Director at the NXT Space Kitchen at Nike after Graduating from Northwestern with an Art Theory & Practice Major. David Ngene shares tories about changing majors at Northwestern, the Art Theory & Practice Major, his first job after graduating, heading back to school, working at Nike, the value of an Arts & Sciences Degree, and the experience and memory of being a student athlete! Timestamps: 0:00: Insight Unpacked 2:30: Weinberg College Experience 4:30: Plans Heading into Northwestern 6:25: Changing Majors to Art Theory 11:55: Art Theory and Practice 16:50: After Graduation and First Job 20:20: Deciding to go to Grad School 23:55: Working at Nike 26:45: Learning Design at Weinberg College 30:05: The Impact of being a Student Athlete 33:10: Closing Advice for Students

This episode of the Weinberg in the World Podcast features stories from Alumni from the Career Summit and previous alumni conversations focusing on lessons related to networking. Alumni speakers share their thoughts on how to network with your peers in college and the lessons it provides, developing relationships by networking with those who interest you, and the value of networking in person at large events! Timestamps: 0:45: Anthony Ward ’06 (Psychology) 3:35: Machel Mills-Miles ‘98 (Cognitive Science), Marc Tetel ‘86 (Biological Sciences), and JJ Guajardo ‘97 (Psychology) 10:40: Kelly Choi ‘94, ‘98 MD (English) and Mark Stovsky ‘86, ‘91 MD (Sociology)

This episode of the Weinberg in the World Podcast features a conversation with Professor Sandy Waxman and Jackie Cantu, who are working together with the Posner Research Program. Professor Waxman is a Weinberg College Faculty member in the Department of Psychology and the Director of Northwestern’s Infant and Child Development Center. Jackie Cantu is a rising sophomore majoring in Psychology and Global Health Studies. Sandy and Jackie share insights on their research in child development at Northwestern, participating in the Posner Research Program, what goes on inside a lab, how their research has affected their career path, and advice for those interested in pursuing research! Timestamps: 1:15: Introductions 6:20: The Posner Research Program 10:05: What do you do in the lab 14:20: Paths after Northwestern and the value of research 23:15: Advice for students about research

This episode of the Weinberg in the World Podcast features quotes from Alumni from the Career Summit and previous alumni conversations focusing on lessons learned through first jobs. Alumni speakers share their thoughts on jobs that change constantly over time, how to succeed in a transforming job field, gaining skills during your first job, and seizing new opportunities! 0:50 - Samir Patel ’94 (Biological Sciences)  2:35 - Juna Nakai ‘04 (Economics, International Studies) 6:40 - Michelle Wantuch ’15 (Psychology with Global Studies minor) 10:35 - Liz McMath ’09 (Biological Sciences)  For more details on the panels featured in this episode, click the links below: https://weinberg.northwestern.edu/after-graduation/student-alumni-connections/podcast/index.html   https://weinberg.northwestern.edu/after-graduation/student-alumni-connections/whats-new/2021-2022/career-summit-2022-final.html   https://weinberg.northwestern.edu/after-graduation/student-alumni-connections/whats-new/2020-2021/video-emerging-careers.html   https://weinberg.northwestern.edu/after-graduation/student-alumni-connections/whats-new/2021-2022/winter-women-in-science-video.html 

We are excited to feature a few clips from this year’s Career Summit panels and a previous alumni conversation focusing on how extracurricular activities during their student experience helped alumni in their future careers. First is a quote from the Politics and Policy Alumni Panel at the Career Summit. Tara Corrigan ’08 (History) talks about her experience as the Co-chair of Dance Marathon and how much she learned from her time managing such a big endeavor! The next quote is from the Research and Education Alumni Panel at the Career Summit, where Marc Tetel ’86 (Biological Sciences) talks about his greatest teaching inspiration from where else: the Northwestern Karate club. Also from the Research and Education Alumni Panel, Machel Mills-Miles ’98 (Cognitive Science) continues on the topic from the previous quote and delves into an impressive list of extracurricular activities from her time at Northwestern including the Asian-American Hunger Strike! Our last quote comes from a previous alumni conversation with Jeanne Sparrow ’91, ’15 MSC (Psychology) who happened to be the 2022 Weinberg College Convocation Speaker. In this clip, Jeanne talks about how she gained experience in radio by joining clubs and trying out new things at Northwestern. Jeanne gives great insight on how developing skills outside of the classroom can help you explore and find your career path! Recordings of the Career Summit will be uploaded at a later date. If you are interested in hearing more from Jeanne Sparrow, you can find the whole podcast episode here: https://weinberg.northwestern.edu/after-graduation/student-alumni-connections/podcast/index.html

This episode, brought to you by the Waldron Student-Alumni Connections Program and Northwestern Career Advancement, features a prep session for the Weinberg College Career Summit. Whether you are coming to the Career Summit to build your network because you already have a job or maybe you want to just come to listen to alumni from different fields share their stories because you are still undecided in what you want to do after graduation, this episode will help you prepare for the event.   Networking is a key skill to learn as part of your career exploration and internship/job search. In this episode, you will learn: 1) how to prepare before the Career Summit networking event (or any upcoming alumni events), 2) what do you do during the networking event, and 3) how to follow-up after the networking event.   This is a great overview of networking in general, so feel free to listen to this episode to prepare for any future alumni event you register for as well.

We are excited to feature a few clips from previous Waldron Student-Alumni Connections Program conversations and panels focusing on finding a career path and following your passions. First is a conversation with Rachel Kimber ’03 (Cognitive Science) and her experience working her first few jobs after graduation. Rachel’s insights might be particularly helpful for those of you who are anxious about finding the perfect first job after graduation. Up second is an excerpt from a conversation with Steve Greenspon ’91, ’09 MBA (Political Science), who talks about using your passions and interests to help you pursue a career that is right for you. If you are overwhelmed looking out into the job market and don’t know where to start, Steve’s words can provide guidance! For more insights from Rachel Kimber '03, watch the recording of this alumni panel on Exploring Your Career Options: Majors Without a Direct Path. https://weinberg.northwestern.edu/after-graduation/student-alumni-connections/whats-new/2020-2021/video-no-direct-path.html For more insights from Steve Greenspon ’91, ’09 MBA, listen to our interview with him on the Weinberg in the World Podcast. https://weinberg.northwestern.edu/after-graduation/student-alumni-connections/podcast/index.html