Claim OwnershipHarbert Podcast
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The Harbert College of Business Podcast offers insights for advancing careers and lives. The podcasts feature Harbert’s alumni, faculty, industry experts and proven thought leaders who bring perspectives from a broad base of business experience. You’ll hear from entrepreneurs and high-level executives who share what they have learned while building successful careers.
46 Episodes
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Twenty years ago, Michael Giles wondered if his experience and education would be what employers were looking for. It was. Now Giles encourages Harbert students today to open their minds to career paths they previously thought were 'off limits.' He also suggests setting boundaries at work to make time for life at home.
Stephanie Todd knows that the value of hard work (see also: true grit) helped propel her into her role as an executive manager with Bank of America, a job that keeps her more than busy. But in this episode she also helps us understand the importance of interceding on your own behalf, learning it's okay to say no, and voicing your goals to the leaders above you-- even if you're just starting out. The 2004 Harbert Operations Management grad reminds us that a career is a journey, and it demands ...
Amy Jones is the founder and managing director of South Street Partners LLC in Elmherst, Illinois. She started her own company in order to share her passion for finance with other start ups. Prior to that, Amy spent fourteen years with the McDonalds corporation's Global Finance team with a three year assignment to Singapore. Amy is a 1996 Harbert Graduate with a BSBA in Accounting.
Kevin Sommers is a 2018 graduate of the Harbert College of Business at Auburn University. He currently serves as the Assistant Chief Financial Officer of TriStar Skyline Medical Center, part of HCA Healthcare, in Nashville, TN. He has worked at SCA Health (part of Optum and United Health) in their Financial Operations group, supporting surgery centers and surgical hospitals across multiple states. Before that, Kevin was a member of the finance team at UAB Health System in Birmingham, Alabama....
Greg Winchester is the founder and CEO of Summit Investors, a firm specializing in commercial and residential real estate investments in both North America and Europe. Along with his wife Jan, he's the founder of the Winchester Institute for Real Estate Development at the Harbert College of Business.
Mack Johnson, 2021 Harbert graduate, shares a story of tragedy to triumph. After suffering a paralyzing spinal cord injury in 2016, Mack found his home at Auburn University earning a degree in Accounting and Information Systems Management. Now, as a leader and mentor at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Mack expresses the importance of inclusion of people with disabilities in the workforce.
Brooks Fuller is the founder and CEO of Room2Room Movers, a former member of the Auburn University Baseball Program. He is a 2022 Harbert College of Business graduate in finance.
Winston C. Tucker is a Senior Manager of Lateral Partner Recruiting at Ropes and Gray, LLC in New York. He received his J.D. from Fordham University School of Law in 2002 and his M. Ed in Higher Education Administration from Auburn University in 1999.
The CEO of Allegiance Merchant Services saw opportunities to apply technology to the movement of money by developing customized transfer services for companies. A one-size-fits-all approach may not work, he noted: “My daughter is three. She’ll never write a check. My mom is in her 70s. She’ll never pay with her watch.”
Ebony Ruffin understands that life insurance is not a popular topic, especially among younger people, but in her Atlanta-based business, Ruffin Consulting Services, the 2005 Harbert finance graduate helps others understand that insurance is a significant component of sound financial planning. As she explains in this podcast, buying life insurance when young is a smart financial move.
The image of shipping containers falling off ships into the ocean intrigued Meghan Nicholas and prompted her to pursue a career in solving the complex problems of supply chain management. That led to her current position as vice president for operations transformation and innovation at “Fortune 1” – Walmart.
For entrepreneur Patrick Brown, a willingness to “jump into the unknown where you don’t know the end of the story” has guided a varied business career that includes forming a highly successful adult kickball league. Brown, a 1994 Harbert graduate and former Auburn SGA president, notes the importance of identifying the “core offering” of your proposed business.
For Jamie Garverick, a Harbert degree in finance proved to be an excellent background for a career in sales, especially for high-ticket items. Garverick, chief revenue officer at Fullstory, a digital experience analytics firm in Atlanta, says “The ability to know your way around the spreadsheet is really, really important.”
For Pavan Reddy, chief counsel at Auburn Ventures, a law degree was an ideal complement to his 2010 Harbert degree. As the commercial real estate company has grown, his dual background has allowed him to see the business from a legal perspective as well as a business viewpoint.
An early mentor’s advice to always do the right thing has stuck with Steve Fleming throughout a long career in mortgage lending and now in commercial real estate development. In this podcast, Fleming, a 1984 Harbert finance graduate, also shares his experiences as a founder of On To Victory, Auburn’s Name, Image and Likeness collective.
Christa Cotton, CEO of El Guapo, caught the entrepreneurial bug early from her family’s business endeavors. Her company’s bitters are sold across the country, but because they are non-alcoholic, she can distribute them without having to deal with varying state alcohol laws. That’s a key ingredient in her recipe for success.
Given the competition in today’s financial markets, asset management and cryptocurrency firms need strong, data-driven media solutions to reach investors and advisors. For Stephen Love, a group director at Ptarmigan Media, that requires staying on top of critical areas such as consumer trends, competitors and technology trends. Love earned an international business degree from Harbert in 2012 and an MBA in 2013.
For Airship CEO Trent Kocurek, focusing on the views of the people you’re trying to help is critical to business success. Kocurek, a 2008 Harbert graduate in management information systems, says problem-solving has to be ingrained in a company’s culture. The serial entrepreneur also urges risk-taking early in a career, when there’s more room to make mistakes.
Bill Allen, a 1980 Harbert graduate, has seen great change in the HR field over a career that includes stints as chief HR officer at Macy’s, Maersk and Atlas Air. He says today’s HR professionals have to help their companies build cultures that will attract the people needed to operate successfully.
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