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.
38 Episodes
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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.
That college degree is just the start of your learning, says Bo Patel, principal at Axion US and a 1998 Harbert graduate. It’s an ongoing process in the business world. And that process won’t be “lollipops and unicorns” all the time, he says. There’ll be fear and failure along the way, but it’s important to keep that in perspective: “Fear is a great motivator. It can stop you, but it also can keep you going because you don’t want to fail.”
Meghan Michel, a real estate manager for Whataburger, says algorithms and other forms of technology are helpful, but there’s no substitute for seeing a property firsthand. In this podcast, she discusses the complex business of finding and acquiring commercial restaurant property. Michel is a 2016 graduate of Harbert’s Master of Real Estate Development program and co-chair of the MRED Alumni Council.
Kella Farris, who has a degree in finance and an MBA from Harbert, sees the creative and the financial sides of the music business. In this podcast, she discusses how her company helps recording artists and songwriters deal with the business side of music as their streams of creativity lead to streams of income.
As chief commercial officer of Play Monster Group, Scott Flynn has serious responsibilities, but he also enjoys his title of Chief Fun Monster at the toy company. The 1985 Harbert management graduate discusses the intersection of sales and marketing and the healthy development that toys can provide for children.
Before founding the craft brewer Wild Heaven Beer, Nick Purdy was founding publisher of Paste, a music magazine nominated four times for a National Magazine Award. The 1993 Harbert marketing graduate made his move into the craft beer business and has seen the industry grow significantly, despite the competition from major national brewers. It’s a long-term business model that requires investors to be patient.
The data-driven approach Andy Garlington followed in the for-profit sector still applies in his new job as CFO of Centerstone, a not-for-profit behavioral health care system. Because “what gets measured gets done,” he said, it’s important to consider data even in a not-for-profit organization that uses its revenue to sustain and further its mission rather than to generate profits paid to individuals. Garlington holds dual bachelor’s degrees in accounting and finance from Harbert.
An emphasis on “work, workers, workplace” helps Steelcase focus on the business office of the future, says Ron Martere, vice president and leader of the company’s North Business Group. The 1987 Harbert graduate expects a hybrid model – work in the office and at home – to become even more common as businesses transition from pandemic operations into a changed marketplace.
As vice president and chief medical officer of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare in Memphis, Dr. Latonya Washington has gone from helping “the patient in front of me” to helping improve care for hundreds of patients served by the system. Her Harbert MBA prepared her to move from the clinic to the executive level, caring for people through the business side of medicine.
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