Northwestern Intersections

Nicole Gibbons moved her way up from being the PR Assistant to become the Global Director within her ten years of tenure at Victoria’s Secret. What makes her story even more impressive is that she was managing a side hustle at the same time to pursue her passion for design. Gibbons is the founder of Clare, a company designed to make paint shopping easier, accessible, and more inspiring. She has been sought out by top media outlets and appears as a design expert on Home Made Simple, a home improvement reality show on the Oprah Winfrey Network. Gibbons sheds light on the reality of building your own start-up, transitioning into becoming an entrepreneur, and managing up at your company.

Scott Shay didn’t think he would be where he is today as the Chairman of Signature Bank when he started his freshmen year at Northwestern as a chemistry major. Shay, a Chicago native, moved to New York shortly after graduating to join the Salomon Brothers Group. Despite the first six months of his tenure at Salomon Brothers being some of the hardest times in his career both intellectually and physically, he grabbed every opportunity to pursue new projects. His dedication led him to meet some of the most notable mentors, including Lewis Ranieri, and opened up new forks down the road in his career path. Shay, who is also the author of In Good Faith: Questioning Religion and Atheism, reflects on his father’s experience as a Holocaust survivor and to continue his legacy of resiliency.  

As the CEO and Co-Founder of Moringa School, a multi-disciplinary learning accelerator to provide young students with digital and professional skills training in Nairobi, Kenya, Audrey Cheng quickly rose to be selected as one of the 2016 Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs. But Cheng shares that this journey also came with battling unforeseen life hindrances and burnouts. The key to her success? Being rooted in happiness. Tune into Cheng’s story to hear how she led her team to prioritize their well-being, even through difficult situations.

It was during his undergraduate years that Brian Mustanski knew he wanted to combine the perspectives of biology and psychology in the world of human sexuality research. He now serves as the Director of the Institute for Sexual and Gender Minority Health and Wellbeing, the Co-Director of the Third Coast Center for AIDS Research, and he is a tenured Professor at Northwestern. In this episode, Mustanski enlightens us with how his identity has impacted his career as well as his passion for influencing local policy makers on public health. Tune in as Mustanski talks us through fighting for equality, how to be allies to show solidarity with the LGBT community, and how to form collaborative partnerships.

Earlier this spring, the NAA hosted Campus to City, an event where four recent alumni returned to campus from San Francisco,Washington, D.C., New York City, and Chicago to share advice with the Class of 2019 to help prepare them for the transition from campus to post-graduate life. They candidly chatted about staying in touch with Northwestern after graduation, managing work, life, relationships, and more after leaving campus. Whether you are graduating this month or you graduated years ago, we hope you enjoy this conversation moderated by Andrew Harlan ’19 featuring panelists, Fenit Nirappil ’12, Zoe Goodman ’13, Xiomara Contreras ’17, and Rodney Orr ’18.

Mallory Thompson graduated from the Bienen School of Music in 1980 and is now only the third person in the university’s history to hold the director of bands position. Beloved by the Northwestern music community, Thompson shared stories about helping students and alumni network with each other, but even more importantly, make lasting connections with one another in informal settings. She talked us through the challenges and opportunities that she faced in her career as well as issues like burnout, and the importance of getting to know oneself, that musicians face throughout their lifetime.   Mallory Thompson will also be conducting for the Symphonic Wind Ensemble 50th Anniversary Celebration on Sunday, June 9 at 7:30 p.m. Central. SWE alumni from virtually every major orchestra and military ensemble will perform a program of ensemble favorites and wind masterworks to commemorate the 50th anniversary of SWE's founding. Visit music.northwestern.edu/events/live after 7:20 p.m. Central to view the live stream.

In honor of one year of incredible alumni stories on this show, the Northwestern Alumni Association hosted a live panel of recent alumni who shared stories about what it takes to make a major transition early in their careers. You won’t want to miss what our panelists, Victor Shao '13, Brittany Croone '13, Colette Ghunim '14, and Michael San Gabino '13, had to share about taking feedback and making tough decisions in their careers. Discover What's Next in your career by listening to the recording of our first ever live podcast experience.

Sometimes, taking one step in the right direction is all you need to go from feeling stalled to having momentum in your career journey. Carol Ross ’83, ’87 MS hosted a webinar for the NAA in April 2019 where she coached three volunteers, with three common career challenges, to get back on track with their careers. After the webinar, Carol had a conversation with Northwestern Intersections host Cassie Petoskey about major themes that came up in the coaching, the emotions behind career changes, and what was surprising from the session. Tune in for validation that you are not alone if you are feeling confused about, or stalled in, your career journey. You'll walk away with hope, inspiration, and new perspectives. 

To celebrate the podcast turning one on April 12, 2019, we wanted to share what resonated with our alumni through their voices. We asked alumni to share their name, class year, and what stuck with them from a Northwestern Intersections episode thus far. Tune in to hear what career stories have inspired alumni over the last year.

Take a tour through Northwestern University’s Evanston campus with this specially curated audio guide by the University Archivist and alumnus Kevin Leonard ’77, ’82 MS. Leonard shares stories of what campus life was like after worldwide historic events as well as perceptions of spaces on campus over the years all while talking you through the history behind the buildings that make up this great campus. Listen while you walk around campus or tune in to reminisce about your time in Evanston, you won’t want to miss this audio tour! We also hope you enjoy the music throughout the tour, all of which are recordings of the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra (NUSO) conducted by Victor Yampolsky in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall.

After being let go from his first job after college, Tony Wilkins ’79 learned to always plan for the next step even before knowing what that next step would be. This perspective on how to prepare and his drive to be financially independent have led to a successful journey from one role and industry to the next. Wilkins started in engineering, transitioned into finance after earning an MBA, and is now investing in early-stage ventures. You won’t want to miss his insights on prioritizing authenticity and coachability above everything else.

At graduation, she didn’t know if she would find a job she would enjoy that allowed her to use her communications degree, but Deena Beach ’03 was able to do just that. Though she didn’t start out on a traditional career path, Beach quickly found her way into a media agency and on her way to leadership positions: she is currently the Vice President of Marketing Strategy at Disney ABC Television Group–Freeform. We talked about some of the challenges of management, got real about motherhood, and left the interview inspired by her insight that you are not in competition with the world.

Founding Mariachi Northwestern while he was a student at Northwestern was just one of the many ways that Daniel Flores is leaving a legacy within his communities. Flores is heavily involved with QuestBridge, the organization he earned a scholarship from to come to Northwestern, and has touched many lives through his work with this program. Flores has now found a role where he is aligning his career goals with his personal goals as the Growth Projects Associate for The Chicago Public Education Fund. Tune in for practical career transition insights from a recent alumnus who has already made several successful moves in his journey.

She came to Northwestern’s law school to start her successful legal career. What Celeste Vogel '94 JD didn’t know was that she would also meet her husband and decide to move to Switzerland shortly after graduation. This was the first leap of faith Vogel made in her life, but it wasn’t the last. Vogel has taken on different functions each time she transitioned from one job to the next, learning new skills and impacting new communities along the way. You won’t want to miss her insights on authenticity, challenging perceptions, and playing a part in changing the narrative.

In his first role after graduating from Northwestern, John MacFarlane ’00, was working three jobs simultaneously – as a performer, concertmaster, and teacher – but he didn’t stop there. MacFarlane continued down a long and successful career in music doing a variety of things, most recently of which is at the Chicago Lyric Opera Orchestra as the Assistant Principal Second Violin. Don’t miss this fascinating conversation about how the music industry brings out unique challenges in one’s career as well as the overall changing landscape of music today. You can learn more about John and his work at https://johnfostermacfarlane.com/. You can learn more about the Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Farley.northwestern.edu.

She never received a poor performance evaluation throughout her successful career in the legal industry, even through years of alcohol and drug addiction. Lisa Smith later had a panic attack and checked herself into rehab. She found herself writing to her family about her situation and recently published her book “Girl Walks Out of a Bar: A Memoir,” about her descent into and recovery from addiction. Tune in for insights from Smith’s experiences in overcoming adversity as well as from her two successful careers as a lawyer and as an author.

She always knew that she would tell her mother’s story. Maudlyne Ihejirika ’87 MSJ moved to the United States with her mother and siblings as refugees from the Nigerian civil war because her father was studying at Northwestern. Ihejirika earned her Master’s in Journalism from Medill and has been a reporter for the Chicago Sun Times for 25 years. She recently published her first book, Escape from Nigeria: A Memoir of Faith, Love and War, about her mother’s childhood in Nigeria and later her miraculous escape to the United States.

Though he found himself to be older than his classmates, he knew he came to Northwestern for a reason, to become a marriage and family therapist after a long career in consulting. Neil Venketramen ’16 MS has made many transitions throughout his life from growing up in South Africa under apartheid to moving to the United States consulting for Deloitte to getting a degree from and later working at Northwestern in The Family Institute as a therapist.

Kathy Khang ‘92 knew when she left print journalism to pursue a career at InterVarsity that she would come back to her Medill roots and continue writing down the road. Khang is the author of “Raise Your Voice,” which encourages people to speak up and make decisions based on their own set of values, and she is currently the Director of Campus Access Initiatives at InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA.

He stepped out onto the stage and had to tell the student body that the Beach Boys weren’t able to play that day…though this might not have been the exact moment, David Friendly learned about his passion for producing while a student at Northwestern. Friendly has been a journalist, a movie executive, the producer of films like Little Miss Sunshine, and now he is the President of Friendly Films.