Stern Chats : Amazing Stories Of The Nyu Stern Community

This week, Kathleen and Melanie had a chance to talk with NYU Stern Associate Professor Lisa Leslie. They spoke about her research on diversity in the workplace and how to implement diversity initiatives in the most effective and impactful way possible, including how to deliver an effective message to your organization. Professor Leslie also suggests a surprising place where the money on diversity initiatives may be best spent. Hosted by: Melanie Gonzalez and Kathleen Dillon Produced by: Hayley Wilcox, Bar Tenenbaum, and Daniel Yellin Edited by: PJ Wyderka and Marcin Skok

Maria Velissaris is the founder and managing partner at SteelSky Ventures, which focuses on access, care, and outcomes for women's healthcare. This week, Lauren and Melanie got the chance to speak with Maria to learn more about how she went from selling her first business to U-Haul to starting her own venture capital fund and the years of purposeful skill-building that came in between. Maria also talks about how the power of the Stern network helped her get where she is today. Hosted by: Lauren Marinaro and Melanie Gonzalez Produced by: Daniel Yellin Edited by: Su Hawn Chung

Amanda Villarreal is a first year in the Langone part-time MBA program at NYU Stern. This week, Tiffany and Melanie talked with Amanda about the long and winding path she took to discover that NYU was the right place to continue her education. We at Stern Chats hope that Amanda's non-traditional route, which included stints in politics, non-profit work, admissions consulting, human-centered design, and more, will show that there's no one correct way to get into business school. Hosted by: Tiffany Lin and Melanie Gonzalez Produced by: Daniel Yellin Edited by: PJ Wyderka

This week, Melanie and Daniel spoke with Nyagaka Ongeri, founder and CEO of Ubora Advisors. Nyagaka talked about his passion for sustainable finance, his work delivering innovative financial solutions to companies in Africa and the Americas, as well as his philosophy on career trajectory, mentorship, and hiring. It was a wonderful conversation that will take listeners around the world, from Israel to New York to Kenya to South Africa. They also talked about Nyagaka's partnership with NYU Stern, including developing a Stern Signature Project as an experiential learning opportunity for current Sternies and hiring Sternies to work at Ubora. Hosted by: Melanie Gonzalez and Daniel Yellin Produced by: Bar Tenenbaum and Daniel Yellin Edited by: PJ Wyderka

Caroline O'Connor has what many MBA graduates would say is a dream job. She's the Chief Operating Officer of an MLB team, working to grow an organization alongside some of the biggest, most exciting names in baseball. This week, Kathleen and Daniel sat down with Caroline to talk about her journey from investment banking to the Marlins, why she chose to pursue her MBA part-time at Stern, and how the Marlins have been helping the Miami community throughout the pandemic. We also find out Caroline's answer to the always important baseball question: what would your walk-up song be? Hosted by: Kathleen Dillon and Daniel Yellin Produced by: Daniel Yellin Edited by: PJ Wyderka

Have you ever wondered what it's like to work on Stern Chats? In our first ever "Behind the Scenes" episode, Daniel had a chance to sit down with the first-year MBAs on the Stern Chats marketing team, Ariana Dial, Jenny Evensen, and Allison Bradley. Ariana, Jenny, and Allison talked about what drew them to working on the show, the awesome things their team has planned, as well as their vision for what Stern Chats can become. We hope this conversation reveals more about what it's like to work on an MBA podcast and highlights the passion all the people on the team have for the show (we're much more than just the people you hear each week!). Plus, you'll get to hear how many different podcasts are on soon-to-be Stern Chats President Jenny's list for 2021 (hint: your best guess is too low). Hosted by: Daniel Yellin Produced by: Daniel Yellin Edited by: Su Hawn Chung

For Stern Chats' 100th episode, Tiffany and Daniel spoke with Stern Professor Rob Seamans, an expert in robotics, artificial intelligence, and the future of work. Rob talked about whether we should be afraid of AI, what the future of technology could mean for our jobs, and shares the policy he believes is most important for the Biden administration to focus on. From 2015-2016, Rob served as the Senior Economist for technology and innovation on President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers. He is currently the Director for the Center for the Future of Management. We also want to say a special thank you to our listeners for supporting Stern Chats through 100 episodes! We couldn't do it without you. Hosted by: Tiffany Lin and Daniel Yellin Produced by: Ashley Jefferson and Daniel Yellin Edited by: Frank Varrichio

This week, full time MBA Gal Benron joined Melanie and Lauren to talk about her journey to Stern, how she merged her love of dance and body positivity to start a twerking studio in Israel, and how her fight with cancer inspired her to pursue her passions. Gal is a serial entrepreneur whose most recent business involves consulting for other female entrepreneurs. Hosted by: Melanie Gonzalez and Lauren Marinaro Produced by: Bar Tenenbaum and Daniel Yellin Edited by: Marcin Skok

We are so excited to have world-renowned social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt on the show this week. Daniel and Tiffany talked to Professor Haidt about how a social psychologist wound up teaching at a business school, how we can better engage with the other side of the political aisle, and what we can do to reduce online hate and maybe save Gen Z from their generational mental health crisis. Jonathan Haidt is the author of The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom (2006), The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion (2012), and The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure (2018). Hosted by: Tiffany Lin and Daniel Yellin Produced by: Daniel Yellin Edited by: Su Hawn Chung

This week on Stern Chats, Daniel and Mahum spoke with current full-time MBA student Isabel Sheinman. Prior to her MBA, Isabel founded and ran NABU, a non-profit that's working to eradicate global illiteracy. Isabel talked about her experience as a first-generation American, what it's like running an organization right out of college, and how keeping an open mind during recruiting helped her find an incredible job for after graduation. Hosted by: Mahum Jamal and Daniel Yellin Produced by: Daniel Yellin Edited by: Marcin Skok

Did you know that 10% of Sternies marry other Sternies??? In honor of Valentine's Day, this week's episode features three wonderful Stern Couples. Get to know Sanjana Padmanabhan and Krithik Tirupapuliyur, Claire Park and Kidae Hong, and Mariel O'Connell and Sohail Mathur. In the Stern version of the Newlywed Game, we test just how well these couples know each other! Hosted by: Daniel Yellin, Kathleen Dillon and Lauren Marinaro Produced by: Hayley Wilcox and Daniel Yellin Edited by: Su Hawn Chung

For our Season Nine kickoff, New York Times journalist Jeanna Smialek speaks with Lauren and Melanie about her work covering the Federal Reserve and what its been like writing her upcoming book on the new era of the central bank. She also talks about why she chose to get her MBA part-time at NYU Stern and just how close we came to economic disaster in March of 2020. Jeanna has a knack for making complex monetary policy simple and we are so glad she joined us to kick off the season! Hosted by: Lauren Marinaro and Melanie Gonzalez Produced by: Daniel Yellin Edited by: PJ Wyderka

In another special "From the Vault" episode, 2020 MBA graduates Andrea Sease and Nica Langinger talk with Fran Gormley. Professor Gormley is an adjunct professor of marketing at NYU Stern and a serial entrepreneur in branding and innovation. In this conversation, Professor Gormley shares how she got her start in branding, the fundamentals today's marketing experts need to know when thinking about brands, and real life examples of how she brings her expertise to the classroom. Hosted by: Andrea Sease and Nica Langinger Produced by: Daniel Yellin, Ashley Jefferson, and Maria Chavez-Hoenes Edited by: Su Hawn Chung

In this special "From the Vault" episode, 2020 MBA graduates Andrea Sease and Nica Langinger sat down with Kirat Anand. Kirat is a Stern undergraduate alum and sits on the advisory board for the NYU Stern Fashion & Luxury MBA program. Kirat shares his journey into fashion from investment banking, what he believes it takes for a fashion brand to resonate, and how to win over new customers as a young company. This episode was recorded during the 2019-2020 academic year and we're excited to share it with you now. Hosted by: Andrea Sease and Nica Langinger Produced by: Daniel Yellin, Bar Tenenbaum, and Maria Chavez-Hoenes Edited by: Su Hawn Chung

Francine Mends is an NYU alumna who left a 13-year career in medicine to found Evolving Conversations, a consultancy where she coaches business leaders on how to have better, deeper conversations. This week, Kathleen and Lauren talk with Francine to talk about her decision to leave her career in medicine and how we can all use a scientific approach to improve the quality of the conversations we have every day. With interviews around the corner, we thought hearing from Francine could help many of our listeners as they prepare for important conversations of their own. Francine has provided resources specifically for Stern Chats listeners available at: onevolving.com/nyusternchats Hosted by: Kathleen Dillon & Lauren Marinaro Produced by: Daniel Yellin & Kathleen Dillon Edited by: PJ Wyderka

Tara Hankinson is an NYU Stern alumna and the co-founder of TALEA Beer Co., a woman and veteran-owned beer company based in NYC. This week on Stern Chats, Tiffany and Melanie sit down with Tara to discuss what it's like breaking the glass ceiling in the beer industry, creating a brand name, and how a non-linear career trajectory can help you find your passions. Hosts: Tiffany Lin & Melanie Gonzalez Produced by: Daniel Yellin & Hayley Wilcox Edited by: PJ Wyderka

Professor Michael Posner is currently the Co-Director of the Center of Business and Human Rights at NYU Stern. Previously, he served in the Obama administration as the Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Daniel and Tiffany sat down with Professor Posner to talk about his illustrious career as a lawyer, advocate, and statesman, why he thinks human rights should be a central tenet of a business education, and what to do about Facebook. Hosted by: Daniel Yellin & Tiffany Lin Produced by: Daniel Yellin & Galila Gray Edited by: PJ Wyderka

In this special Veterans Day edition of Stern Chats, Kathleen Dillon talks with three of her fellow Stern MBA veterans, Bennett Adams, Natalie Ashbridge, and Asher Eddy. Kathleen, Bennett, Natalie, and Asher have a wide-ranging conversation about their experiences in the military, mental health, civilian support for veterans, and what it's like making the transition to business school. Kathleen, Bennett, Natalie, and Asher are all part of the Fertitta Veterans Program at NYU Stern. Hosted by: Kathleen Dillon Produced by: Daniel Yellin & Kathleen Dillon Edited by: PJ Wyderka

Megan Fairchild is a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, spent a year on Broadway, and is also pursuing her MBA part-time at NYU Stern. This week on Stern Chats, Melanie and Mahum spoke with Megan to discuss the intensely competitive world of professional ballet, balancing academics and motherhood while being at the top of her field, and the power of setting small goals. Hosted by: Melanie Gonzalez & Mahum Jamal Produced by: Daniel Yellin Edited by: PJ Wyderka

Amy Nelson is the CEO of Venture for America, a non-profit mobilizing the next generation of entrepreneurs. This week, Kathleen and Daniel (a Venture for America Fellow himself) speak with Amy about the barriers to entrepreneurship, what it's like to take on the CEO role, and choosing a career that indicates your values. Amy also talks about what it was like being the only single mother in her Stern full-time MBA class and why we should push our institutions to be more equitable and inclusive. Hosted by: Daniel Yellin & Kathleen Dillon Produced by: Daniel Yellin Edited by: PJ Wyderka