All Careers Considered

In this episode, we speak with Leila Alejandra (Contreras Cuervo) about her journey from IU Bloomington to her role as Analytical Biochemist II at Eurofins. She talks about her journey and her studies abroad that ultimately got her where she is today. She also speaks about the importance of making connections and not burning down bridges. Leila Alejandra is a Master Thesis Student, where she is working in the Virology lab trying to understand the evolution of myxoma virus in Spanish rabbit populations. Before her thesis, Leila had a numerous number of experiences that each impacted her journey substantially. This included being her time as a research student at IUPUI where she Performed human cancer cell culture experiments to study the relationship between hyperglycemia and cancer cell morphology through phosphoinositol signaling pathways and performed databased research on cancer patient populations to better understand the different effects from mutations on genes controlling enzymes on the phosphoinositol pathway. She also has some experience as a Particulates Biochemist at Eurofins as well. Every opportunity Leila had been faced with, she seized and went above and beyond. Opportunity does not always come right away, and Leila advises to be patient and wait because with time it will come, but in the meanwhile keep actively pursuing until somebody gives you a chance. Leila currently resides in Spain where she strives and works hard to complete her masters.

In this week's episode, we speak to Shanta Thake about her educational path and career experiences. We talk about Shanta’s journey from being an undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Theater at Indiana University Bloomington to becoming the Director of Artistic Programs at The Public Theater, where she would spend the next 10 years developing a strong passion for the field of non-profit arts. Currently, Shanta serves as the Ehrenkranz Chief Artistic Officer at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts; the world's largest center for performing arts. Nestled in New York City, the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts showcases diverse artists and their talents. From music, theater, dance, film, and so much more the Lincoln Center explores the expression of culture, emotion, and talent through various art forms. With the help of Shanta, the Lincoln Center aims to create a space where the arts are accessible to all. Listen to hear more about Shanta’s courageous move to the big city with a degree in Theater after freshly graduating from Indiana University Bloomington, how valuing your whole self overcomes feelings of imposter syndrome and more about the field of non-profit arts. Enjoy the episode!

In this episode, we speak with Kyle Benham, who graduated from IU Bloomington in 2009 with degrees in telecommunications and TV and Radio. Kyle takes us through his career path, starting with his internships during college and his time at the WIUX radio station. He went on to move to LA, where his connections with IU alumni and his hard work opened doors for him in the world of late-night shows and comedy in LA. Kyle also offers a plethora of advice and insight for students who might want to follow his career path and speaks to what he loved and sometimes struggled with in the TV industry. Kyle now works as a Retirement Plan Specialist at Benham Advisory Group in Greenwood, Indiana. Before his current role, Kyle had over 10 years of experience in production for a variety of TV shows and programs in LA, including The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien and Netflix’s Chelsea. Through his jobs in production, Kyle found opportunities to leave his creative and comedic mark on the programs he worked on, demonstrating the value of taking on unexpected roles.

In this episode, we speak with Megan Anderson about her journey from IU Bloomington to her integral role as the Sustainability Manager at the City of Raleigh, North Carolina. Megan has 15+ years of experience in sustainability and climate change, from coordinating sustainability efforts with students at a university to leading new city-wide climate initiatives and more. She also has extensive knowledge of how to center resilience, equity, and community partnerships in local government policy and in the face of some of Raleigh’s most pressing issues. On our last episode of the season, Megan tells us all about her career path, the decisions that have influenced her life and work, and how her time in the College of Arts and Sciences at IU helps her today. Enjoy the episode!

In this week's episode, we speak to Ann Marie Lewis about her educational path and career experiences. We talk with Ann Marie about her journey from being an undergraduate student at Indiana University Bloomington to pursuing a Juris Doctor degree at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. We speak to Ann Marie about how her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology degree has influenced and enhanced her career at the Senate Counsel at the Minnesota State Senate, how a steady mindset prevails, and what resilience means to her. Currently, Ann Marie serves on the Senate Counsel for the Minnesota State Senate. The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Legislative of the U.S. State of Minnesota and is the largest upper house of any U.S. state legislature. Ann Marie explains her passion is in passing bills and legislation that help all Minnesota residents. We discuss how having a balanced, positive mindset carries through her work and life. Additionally, Ann Marie speaks to how resilience ties into everyday life.

In this episode, we speak with Nathan Mensahabout his journey from IU Bloomington to his valued role at Hartford HealthCare. He talks about all his ups and downs throughout his undergraduate studies and how those challenges opened new doors in his career. He also speaks about pursuing something that attracts you, as that attraction is the determining factor for success. Nathan Mensah is a Rehab therapist at Hartford Healthcare, where his job is to provide inpatient music therapy and psychoeducational services to adolescents and adults with mental health and dual diagnosis of substance abuse disorders. Before therapy at Hartford HealthCare Nathan had numerous experiences that played a role to get him where he is today. This included being a research assistant at Indiana University School of Medicine, Choir Director at Seelyville United Methodist, Music Therapist at Cincinnati Children`s Hospital Medical Center, etc. Throughout these experiences, Nathan mentions that music therapy was not always his end goal. Nathan had always wanted to be involved in healthcare and he was determined to do so. Nathan took his love for music and his desire to help people and used it to his advantage, finding a career that would satisfy both passions. Nathan emphasized how important it is to do something that you love and are truly passionate about. He advises that joy be your top priority and to seek it as often as possible because to find joy in your workplace is one of the many secrets of life. Prior to music therapy, Nathan served as a Music and Theatre Adjunct Instructor at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, where his job was to teach music courses at the college level, including “American Music: from Jamestown to James Brown and Beyond”, with music technology, music history, music composition, and music listening components. Nathan does his best work believe it or no listening to music. Seem obvious? Well, it has to do with the brain's cognition response and its correlation to memory. Nathan currently resides in Westport, CT, where he is impacting the lives of many, using what he loves best, music.

In this episode, we speak with Amara Igboegwu about her journey from IU Bloomington to her most recent role at the Norwegian Refugee Council, where she works in the Middle East and Africa. Amara is a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion expert with more than 15 years of international work experience in a variety of positions and throughout multiple sectors. Starting as an English language teacher in Japan, Amara went on to work at global organizations, including Google, UNESCO, and more, where she has created, taught, and led training programs for new staff. Amara has even worked in academia at Heidelberg University in Germany, where she taught courses on culturally responsive teaching. Amara takes us on a journey where she tells us about her career path and how resiliency has helped her be the person she is today.

In this episode, we speak with Claudia Viloria about her journey from IU Bloomington to Mexico City, where she works as a Public Affairs and Advocacy Manager for Sanofi, a pharmaceutical company dedicated to vaccinations. Claudia has extensive knowledge and wisdom from her five years of experience working in public affairs and non-profits in Mexico, where she has helped build relationships between governmental organizations and Civil Society Organizations starting from her time as a Public Policy Analyst at Centro Eure S.C. to her time with Save the Children Mexico. Claudia tells us all about her career path, the decisions that have influenced her life, and how her time in the College of Arts and Sciences at IU helps her today. Claudia also discusses the importance of overcoming obstacles and moving forward in the face of adversity. Claudia Viloria is a Public Affairs and Advocacy Manager at Sanofi Pasteur in Mexico City. She is a public affairs professional with experiences building relationships across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. Currently, she promotes and builds alliances with Sanofi, Civil Society Organizations, and other groups in Mexico to promote access to immunizations and health. Claudia graduated from IU in 2016 with Bachelor of Arts degrees in International Studies and Psychology before moving to Mexico and completing her graduate degree in Public Policy Evaluation. Claudia discusses the invaluable transferable skills that stem from her College of Arts and Sciences degrees. We hope you find Claudia’s nuggets of wisdom applicable to your current personal and professional lives as she speaks to the importance of remembering that tomorrow is a new day and overcoming obstacles. Enjoy the episode!

In this week's episode, we speak to Jenifer Berry about their educational path and career experiences. We talk about Jenifer’s journey from being an undergraduate student at The American University in Washington D.C. to pursuing a Masters of Arts degree at IU Bloomington. We speak about Jenifer's what resilience means to them, how their college of arts and sciences degrees have influenced their perspective, and how we can better serve underrepresented students. Currently, Jenifer serves as a Lead Academic Advisor for the IU 21st Century Scholars Program. IUB21CS is a program founded in 1995 dedicated to provide financial and academic resources to support, retain, and graduate thousands of 21st Century Scholars recipients at Indiana University Bloomington. Jenifer explains that they are passionate about helping undergraduate students have a successful and enriching educational experience at IU Bloomington that will positively shape their futures as they transition out of higher education. Prior to joining IU 21st Century Scholars Program in 2011, Jenifer was one of the first Projectionists at the IU Cinema and was an Associate Instructor for the IU Department of Sociology for several years. As teaching is an additional passion of Jen's, they are an Adjunct Instructor for Sociology as often as possible. Before Jenifer began their career path, they obtained their Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from The American University in Washington, D.C., where Jenifer is originally from. They continued to pursue their interest in sociology at Indiana University Bloomington. Ultimately, achieving their Masters of Arts in the subject. Outside of their career and education, Jenifer enjoys photography and loves to take photos of Bloomington’s campus.

In this episode, we speak with Eleanor Flores about her journey from IU Bloomington to her integral role at Amtrak in Washington DC. Eleanor has 10 plus years of experience coordinating large-scale projects from the creation to implementation stages and has diverse program management experience starting from her time as an e-specialist at Indiana University Health to her time managing national and international projects with FTI Consulting. Eleanor takes us on a journey to learn more about her career trajectory and discusses how the resiliency she has cultivated over her career has transformed her into the person she is today. Additionally, Eleanor reminds us about the importance of leading with compassion and optimism. Eleanor Flores is a Program Manager at Amtrak in Washington DC. She is a solutions-driven project management professional, consistently finding innovative ways to enhance the effectiveness of programs she helps design and run. She specializes in providing project management and senior management communications best practices to her teams. Currently, Eleanor is working on a 2.5 billion dollar program acquisition of a new train set fleet and specifically working to expand services to reach more clients. She helps with the commercial integration of new equipment. Eleanor is an avid reader, writer, and researcher, which all stem back from her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism degree from IU- Bloomington. Eleanor discusses the invaluable transferable skills such as communication and research skills that stem from her College of Arts and Sciences Journalism degree as well. We hope you find Eleanor’s nuggets of wisdom applicable to your current personal and professional lives as she speaks to giving yourself and others grace. Enjoy the episode!

In this episode, we speak with Margaret Bishop Schlichter about her journey from IU Bloomington to her important role at Walter Johnson High School. She tells us about her many experiences along the way and how those experiences have molded her into the person she is today. She also speaks on how her perspective has changed since being a student at IU. Margaret Bishop Schlichter is a French teacher at Walter Johnson High School. Her mission is to train students in the vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, reading and writing of French. Additionally, she teaches students how to appreciate the culture and history of the language. Before teaching at Walter Johnson High School, Margaret had many other experiences that put her on the path to where she is today. This included joining a teaching assistant program in France, studying abroad, and INSERT. In Margaret`s time abroad she mentions that being away in a foreign country really helped her learn something about herself that she hadn`t known before. She also emphasizes how important it is to meet people, especially from a different culture or background, as it really broadens your horizon as well as theirs. It is the people we know least about that will have the biggest impact on us and our lives. She has served in various roles including: Learning and Engagement Facilitator for Credible Behavioral Health Software and as an English Language Assistant in Saverne, France. Prior to rejoining teaching, Margaret served as a Business Development Specialist for Allovue. "Allovue empowers educators at every level to allocate resources to best support the needs of students. Our user-friendly software applications allow district officials, principals, and other school administrators to visualize, analyze, and optimize the impact of spending on outcomes in education. Our flagship product, Balance, contains applications to analyze school budgets, track and forecast expenditures, identify trends over time, and plan for future capital investments.” Margaret currently resides in Rockville, MD, where she continues to teach her students about language and its culture.

In this episode, we speak with Chiara Bangor-Giorgio about her journey from IU Bloomington to her role essential role at the Indianapolis Zoo. She takes us through all the difficulties she's encountered along the way and how she was able to persevere in the end. She also speaks on her future goals and how she plans to get there. Chiara Bangor-Giorgio is  Education Interpreter at the Indianapolis Zoo. Her job is to essentially build a bridge between what people know about the animals at the zoo and what they don't know and provide engaging conversation with people to inspire them to connect with the nature around them and protect wildlife. In 2019, due to unexpected challenges that arose, Chiara had to leave the Indianapolis Zoo. Although this was hard for Chiara, she had gained many skills and experiences that would enhance her work when she returned in 2021. In her time away she served in various roles, including research assistant with a focus on global pesticide usage worldwide; assistant manager for Torrid; Environmental Justice Intern; and Geographic Information Systems Specialist at geoConvergence, LLC. Prior to rejoining the Indianapolis Zoo, Chiara served as Geographic Information Systems Specialist at geoConvergence, LLC. "GeoConvergence LLC. specializes in the design and implementation of world-class Geospatial Intelligence, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Space Management solutions by leveraging technical skills in Software Development (SecDevOps), Cloud Engineering, and Data Analytics required to create secure, effective, efficient, and resilient solutions in today’s highly connected network environment.” Chiara currently resides in Indianapolis where her passion for the environment and wildlife conservation grows each day.

Tiffany Benjamin graduated from Indiana University Bloomington in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts in both Journalism and Political Science. Tiffany currently serves as the President of the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation and Head of Social Impact. She leads the team managing Corporate Social Responsibility efforts, Environmental, Social and Governance strategy, as well as the global team facilitating Lilly Global Health Programs. Listen to this episode to learn about Tiffany’s career path from IUB to Harvard Law School, to Eli Lilly and Company Foundation, and about how she has cultivated resiliency along her journey.

This week we spoke with Julie DiCaro. Julie graduated in 1995 with a degree in Journalism. She currently works at Deadspin as a Senior Editor and recently released a book titled Sidelined: Sports, Culture, and Being a Woman in America.  In this episode, Julie shares why she chose to attend law school right after graduating from IU, how she transitioned into the sports industry, and what it was like to write and publish her own book. This is the last episode of this season of the podcast. Thanks for listening and please check back for more podcast content in the fall!

This week we speak with Stephanie Stewart, who started her own photography business after graduating from Indiana University in 2002. She shares her experience as a wedding and portrait photographer, which skills have been most helpful to her as an entrepreneur, and what surprised her the most about being her own boss.  Links Mentioned in this Episode: https://stewartimagery.com/ wcsn.indiana.edu Visit www.careers.college.indiana.edu to read the show notes and explore career services in the College of Arts + Sciences.

This week is our interview with the Mahdi Brothers and Anthony Duncan, co-founders of Mad Optimist, a sustainable customizable body care brand with a community focus based right here in Bloomington, Indiana. All three are alumni of the College of Arts & Sciences here at IU, having graduated with majors in psychology, political science, and linguistics. In this week's episode, they share their story of how they went from friends in college to business owners of a successful company, and why it's so important to do what you love. We even dive into their experience being on the hit TV show Shark Tank, and advice on navigating starting your career after graduation. Transcript: https://careers.college.indiana.edu/?p=120122 Links Mentioned in this Episode: https://www.themadoptimist.com/

Next up is my conversation with Tom Thakkar, who is comedian who does stand-up comedy and has he’s been on Conan, Comedy Central, and is the co-host of Stand by Your Band podcast. He graduated from the Media School in 2010, and In this episode, he talked about how and why he switched from his original intention of pursuing a career in medicine to pursuing comedy, which classes and experiences at IU most prepared him for his career, and of course shares a few funny stories as well. Tom was super down to earth and shared a lot of interesting insight, so I think you’ll really like this episode. Thanks everyone, enjoy! Find the transcript for this episode here.  To watch Tom's Comedy Central Stand-Up, please visit https://www.cc.com/episodes/pgkcr0/comedy-central-stand-up-presents-tom-thakkar-season-3-ep-5.

Courtney Seamon graduated from IU in 2015 with a degree in Apparel Merchandising, and since then has become a successful fashion blogger and influencer in New York City. Next up is this week’s interview with Courtney Seamon, who is a blogger & influencer who co-founded Mimosas + Manhattan, a successful fashion & lifestyle brand. Courtney was super fun to talk to and she shared what it was like going from small-town Indiana to the NYC fashion scene, how she really maximized her network at IU to help her launch her career, and how she makes a livelihood as an influencer. View the episode transcript and show notes at www.careers.college.indiana.edu.

Welcome back! Stay tuned for a new episode of All Careers Considered which will be airing this Friday, January 22.

Alex Moler graduated in 2012 and studied History, International Studies, and Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. He has years of experience as a social scientist and has worked on various projects, including those on behalf of the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation. He has lived in multiple countries including England, Somililand, Iraq, and Afganistan. In this episode he shares which student organizations helped him develop as a student, and why he decided to leave IU for a semester. He also shares what it’s been like living overseas, how he stays grounded even when doing research projects on insecure or conflict-affected environment, and what it takes to be good at his job as a research practitioner. Find the transcript for the episode here.