BCLC Stamford Fireside Chats

In this episode, we learn valuable life lessons from UConn alumni, Sara Atehortua. Working as an investment analyst at Northern Trust Asset Management, Sara has had plenty of professional and networking experience in the field, much of which she gladly shared with us. We were very fortunate to be able to talk to Sara about her personal experiences and gain knowledge about how she overcame the struggles that life gave her. Host: Dominic Zaleski Music by David Hilowitz and Rony Friedman

In this episode, I get to sit down with Zack Gould, founder of G&N Insurance. We discuss how to network and really find what it is you want to pursue. Zack first started out thinking he knew what he wanted...before he received some guidance along the way. He shares his story in a very realistic and relatable way.Host: Dominic ZaleskiMusic by David Hilowitz and Rony Friedman

Alumni Melinda Brown discusses what it's like working in a highly competitive environment and how to stand out in the corporate world. Melinda has years of experience in such an environment from when she served as Senior Vice President of Global Financial Shared Services at PepsiCo, one of the world’s largest food and beverage companies. She later moved on to be named Senior Vice President and Corporate Controller for Coach. Her experiences really show what it takes to make it.Host: Dominic ZaleskiMusic by David Hilowitz and Rony Friedman 

BCLC student Ahmed Diakhate owns his own clothing brand and during this time of quarantine, he has made over 250 masks for local hospitals. We discuss why he decided to do this as well as what challenges he has faced with his business during this pandemic. Ahmed leaves us with some advice to any prospective student entrepreneurs.Hosts: Ryan Stone and Priya Chelladurai Music by David Hilowitz and Rony Friedman

Alumni Chris Lafond spends some time telling us what it's like to be CEO of one of the largest property and casualty insurance technology and service providers. Chris is not new to executive roles. Prior to becoming CEO of Insurity, he spent close to 20 years with Gartner, with the majority of that time spent as CFO. In this episode, we hear what a day in the life of a CEO entails as well as what Chris sees as crucial skills to know before entering the workforce. Hosts: Ryan Stone and Dominic Zaleski Music by David Hilowitz and Rony Friedman

Alumni Neema Vaheb tells us a little bit about what he does at PwC as well as how the firm is structured as a whole. He explains how PwC helps companies who would like to go public via an IPO as well what ESG is and how PwC consults their clients with this in mind. He leaves us with some advice to students who aspire to work for one of The Big Four one day. Hosts: Dominic Zaleski Music by David Hilowitz and Rony Friedman

Alumni Steve Yellen meets with us over winter break to discuss his unique career path. From graduating with a degree in Electrical Engineering to research assistant at IBM to his present role as Vice President of product strategy at Aventri in Norwalk, CT. In this interview, Steve tells us his interesting family history at UConn as well as what he looks for in candidates during an interview. Hosts: Ryan Stone and Dominic Zaleski Music by David Hilowitz and Rony Friedman

UConn Stamford Campus Director Terrence Cheng fills us in on what he does during his day-to-day. While doing so, he squashes some long time rumors. We also hear a little about what we should expect for the Stamford campus in the years to come.More information on UConn Stamford: https://stamford.uconn.edu/Host: Dominic ZaleskiMusic by David Hilowitz and Rony Friedman

05' alumni Josh Cohen walks us through his adventure as an entrepreneur. He explains some of the challenges he has faced when he grew his small junk removal company to a successful countrywide franchise. He leaves us with some advice to students who might want to follow a similar entrepreneurial path. More information on Junkluggers: https://www.junkluggers.com/Host: Ryan Stone and Dominic ZaleskiMusic by David Hilowitz and Rony Friedman

96' alumni Ed Switter gives us insight into the world of accounting through the perspective of his own career path. He takes us through everything from his time at Deloitte to his current position as Vice President of Treasurer and Tax at Crane Co. He shares with us the unseemly diverse fields of accounting, as well as the evolution that the accounting field has seen over the past 50 years. He leaves us with advice to students on how to approach the internship process. More information on Crane Co. : https://www.craneco.com/Host: Ryan Stone Music by David Hilowitz and Rony Friedman

10' alumni Julian Tirsu tells us an interesting story about how he got started at his current company Gartner. We hear a little bit about what his role is at Gartner along with some services they provide to their clients. In addition to this, he gives us some insight into how students should approach the internship process.More information on Gartner: https://www.gartner.com/enHost: Ryan Stone Music by David Hilowitz and Rony Friedman

Wonder what it was like to be in the BCLC last year? Learn what it was like to go on the international business immersion trip to Portugal with Tyler Barrett, take part in the case competition sponsored by McLagan with Priya Chelladurai, go on exclusive corporate field trips throughout Fairfield County and NYC with May Fung, as well as sit in on a BCLC specific business fundamentals class with Catherine Lainas. More information: https://bclc.business.uconn.edu/bclc-stamford/Host: Ryan Stone Music by David Hilowitz and Rony Friedman