Despite the rise in scrutiny of bachelor’s degrees, research shows that having access to college is a key indicator of future economic and financial success as well as physical and emotional well-being. 

Studies show that people with bachelor's degrees have 57% more job opportunities than people with high school diplomas, and 60% of workers with bachelor’s degrees reported being highly satisfied at work, while only 38% of workers without college degrees reported being highly satisfied. 

If a degree can play such a pivotal role in someone’s overall future success, how can access to college be expanded so that students can not just get in but thrive while they’re in school and graduate? Tara Hardison, assistant dean for undergraduate programs at the David Eccles School of Business, works on that question every day. 

She joins host Frances Johnson to chat about the real-world impacts a college degree can have on someone’s life, the ways Eccles is helping first-generation and low-income students, and why that support doesn’t end after students have been handed a degree. 

Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University FM.

Access critical to business education

[08:32]: Access is so critical for what we do here, and when we talk about a business education, we've got a large chunk of business-specific courses, but it's nestled in a broader liberal arts education, which does a lot for our students in everything that they'll do. We are teaching them about business fundamentals and practices in a series of topical areas. Finance, accounting, operations, right? We've got a series of majors. But the liberal arts piece is incredibly helpful, too. We absolutely teach critical thinking in our business education, but they learn these valuable skills in other aspects of humanities and social sciences, as well as their business-specific curriculum.

What got Tara into academic advising?

[24:06]: This is a 100 percent why I got into student affairs and why I started in academic advising. Because when I thought about what I wanted to be or, like, what I could do and how I could make an impact, I was like, "Oh, advising. Like that is the single most important impactful thing." And so I am incredibly passionate about our students' experiences, and I'm incredibly passionate also about our staff experiences, right? Because I don't think we can have good student experiences if we don't have good staff experiences and faculty experiences, right? We really think about the ecosystem, not these sort of different groups of what makes our ecosystem in silos necessarily.

What makes David Eccles Business school unique? 

[12:48]: I think one of the things that makes us the strongest in the David Eccles School of Business is our ecosystem, in that it does not just include staff, faculty, and students; it really is a much broader ecosystem of our alum and the broader business community, which is something that makes us unique.

• Eccles Basic Needs Initiative 
• First Ascent Scholars Program
• Opportunity Scholars Program
• Tara Hardison | David Eccles School of Business 

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, small businesses employ nearly half of the American workforce and represent 43.5% of the country's GDP. However, not everyone in the American economy has the same access to the tools and resources needed to launch and sustain a new business successfully. 

The Master of Business Creation (MBC) program at the David Eccles School of Business is working to address some of these gaps by offering a degree program committed to helping entrepreneurs grow their startup companies. 

Paul Brown and Rena Vanzo will join me today to discuss the program and its impact on creating equitable opportunities for entrepreneurs. Paul Brown is Co-Director of the Master of Business Creation program at the Eccles School.  

Rena Vanzo is a graduate of the Executive MBA at the Eccles School and is currently enrolled in the Master of Business Creation program. She is the founder of The Boob Bus, which offers mobile breast imaging services.

They sit down with host Frances Johnson to explore the MBC program's unique approach to entrepreneurship education, combining aspects of an accelerator with an accredited master's degree program and focusing on practical, immediate application of business concepts. We will also hear how the MBC program helps founders from diverse backgrounds to develop successful businesses. 

Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University FM.

When people create jobs they also create value

[11:55] Paul Brown: I really am just a firm believer, Frances, that when people create businesses and create jobs, wherever they are, they're just adding to the overall productivity and wealth of a society. And it's a miracle to me, and I love it, whether it's a nonprofit dance company in Rose Park, a software company in Chicago, Rena's company here in Utah, the Boob Bus, or somebody having a food products company in Botswana. They're creating jobs; they're creating value. People are trading money for the products and services they have, and they're getting satisfaction and value out of that. So, I just want to continue to help hundreds and ultimately thousands of entrepreneurs create businesses that make our lives better. It's amazing. I love it.

Business is impactful in a positive way

[21:44]: Paul Brown: I believe business is inherently impactful in a positive way. So I'm not one of these people who believes that markets, capitalism, and free enterprise are somehow icky, and the only way they can be good is if they're explicitly pursuing a social purpose.

Running a business can not only contribute economically but also to the community

[16:45]: Rena Vanzo: The health impacts and potential health improvements of the Boob Bus, I think, are exponential, and they're really exciting. We literally launched within the last week. The bus was here. We've started seeing patients, and so far, 90 percent of my patients are women who have never had a mammogram before. They've called, and they've said, I haven't felt comfortable going, or it's been harder for me to get to the hospital. Simply the access that the mobile environment provides, and I think just the welcome atmosphere of a more outpatient facility that doesn't even feel like a clinic, you know, that isn't affiliated with a hospital, is a really big deal.

How MBA gave Rena confidence 

[23:17]: Rena Vanzo: I think my MBA gave me some confidence and maybe develop that knack for me, but it's like the MBC; I'm developing the blueprint for my business that probably would have taken me years to do on my own, frankly.

• Master of Business Creation (MBC)
• Paul Brown | David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah
• Paul Brown | LinkedIn
• Rena Vanzo | LinkedIn
• The Boob Bus
• The Boob Bus - Instagram
• The Boob Bus - facebook
• The Boob Bus | LinkedIn

In today's episode, we're focusing on the role of higher education in creating lifelong economic opportunities. Research shows that the average college graduate is 24% more likely to be employed than their peers who have only completed a high school degree. 

At the same time, college is not accessible to everyone. According to the National Center for Education statistics, over 85% of college students receive some form of financial aid. Here to talk about the role of scholarships in increasing college access and lifetime economic opportunity is Mbe Agbor.

Mbe spent his career in the consumer packaged goods industry where he worked for Unilever and Reckitt. Mbe now invests in real estate and small start-ups. He also owns and operates Sosega Nigeria FZE, a cashew farming and processing operation in Nigeria.

MBE earned his BS in marketing and business management at the David Eccles School of Business and earned an MBA from the Eccles School in 2001.

Mbe and host Frances Johnson will delve into his personal journey and how his family influenced his pursuit of higher education, the added stress of overcoming financial barriers, and Mbe’s belief that college is a great equalizer, providing students with the confidence to pursue their ambitions.

Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University FM.

The impact of meeting your scholarship donor

[11:55] When we talk about what kind of impact we could have in the lives of young people, we could all give something. It might not be money, right? It might be time and these resources, just to the fact that we just have more road miles than these college students and we've seen and maybe been through some pitfalls, that we can give a little bit of advice and be a sounding board.

That was a part that I really enjoyed, even though I got to see Jack once a year. It was great; he asked about how school was going, and it was just great to talk to somebody that is directly involved in and invested in my future and my success.

Real happiness comes from contributing

[24:05]: I think this whole thing comes down to being happy. I think we substitute education for that and substitute money for that. We substitute a whole bunch of things for that. But at the end of the day, when we get to achieve the things that we set out to achieve, yes, happiness is quantified by a certain income level, but once we reach that, we don't have to worry about food for shelter and safety and have a car that works and things like that, and we're able to be happy, and not only happy, I want to be happy, but also happiness also comes from contributing, and so if that happiness can be shared by giving of themselves, whether financially or their time to someone else that needs a boot, then no matter where they go in life, no matter how successful they are, if they're happy and are contributing, that's making it right. That's being successful in life.

Mbe’s biggest takeaway from college 

[23:17]: College gave me the confidence to know that the only limit is me, and that's probably the biggest takeaway I took from the experience.

On pulling yourself up by your bootstraps

[09:05]: I think one thing that people don't realize is that there are a lot of people who don't have boots. And everybody just assumes that everybody has boots to pull themselves up by. And really, I think what scholarships do is give everybody boots, or bootstraps, I guess. I think once we get to the playing field, people can show what they're capable of. But if we can't even make it into the stadium, right? How is somebody going to get an opportunity to perform?

• Black History Month - The David Eccles School of Business
• Mentoring Moments
• First Ascent Scholars Program | Undergraduate Advising Resources

As we continue exploring the topic of economic equality and the different factors that influence a fair and equitable economic experience, today we are tackling the topic of student loan debt. 

Americans owe $1.77 trillion in federal and private student loan debt as of the second quarter of 2023, and questions about whether and how borrowers should be required to repay that debt have become part of an ongoing national conversation.  

Here to help us unpack all of this is Adam Looney. Adam is a professor and executive director of the Mariner S. Eccles Institute for Quantitative Analysis of Markets and Organizations here at the Eccles School. He is a nationally recognized expert on student debt, having testified before Congress multiple times on the topic of student debt forgiveness.

With host Frances Johnson, Adam shares his thoughts on how we got to this place of burdensome student debt. He’ll dive into the quest for equity in higher education accessibility, repayment options, and his thoughts on student loan forgiveness.

Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University.FM.

Can we make higher education equitable and efficient?

[23:48] The reality is that college is a very good investment for a very large share of Americans. And I think the problem is identifying programs and institutions that are effective at serving disadvantaged, low-income students who historically had not enrolled in very high numbers. If we could have increased enrollment at good-quality programs and provided better guidance to steer students into programs that they can complete and that lead to good-quality jobs, then I don't think we would have a repayment crisis.

Why do we have student loan programs?

[08:36] We have a student loan program for two reasons. One is to help people pursue. a college degree and graduate programs. And second, to make access to college more equitable in the U.S. and around the world, whether you go to college, whether you complete college, whether you go to graduate school, is closely related to family income, your family background, and whether your parents went to college.

The uneven burden of student debt

[11:18] On average, college students do well because student loan borrowers, to a large degree, reflect who goes to college; the outcomes of student loan borrowers look a lot like the outcomes of typical college students. And so, it's important to remember that student loan borrowers are more likely to have a job. They earn more, they're more likely to be able to own a house, and they're more likely to become married. So, it's not a universal impediment to being able to launch a career and a life.

Why does Adam think that college is a high-quality investment?

[10:10] I think college is a very high-quality investment. It is a key way where Americans move up the economic ladder. It's a vehicle of social mobility. It's obvious that there are huge inequities in terms of who gets to go to college, who's able to persist and complete a degree, and who gets to go to graduate school. But it seems like access to financial aid alone is not able to overcome those barriers and, in fact, seems to have made many millions of these often disadvantaged students worse off.

• Adam Looney LinkedIn
• Adam Looney - The David Eccles School of Business
• Adam Looney | Brookings

When it comes to creating more equitable access to economic opportunities, like buying a house or getting a loan to start a small business, financial technology innovations are moving the needle faster than almost anything else. 

Joining us today to talk about FinTech and the role it plays in economic equality are Ryan Christiansen and Steve Smith. Ryan Christiansen is the Executive Director of the Stena Center for Financial Technology at the University of Utah. In this role, Ryan directs and coordinates the labs, venture fund, incubator, and student programs at the center.

Steve Smith is one of the co-founders and creators of the Stena Foundation and currently serves as Chief Engagement Officer, Global Open Banking for MasterCard. He believes that financial inclusion and quality education can be a catalyst for change and can break the chains of generational poverty to lift local economies.  

Steve and Ryan join host Frances Johnson to discuss how FinTech innovations can help bridge the gaps in economic inclusion, how Utah plays a role in the greater FinTech landscape, and building out the intention and future of the Stena Center. 

Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University FM.

The small and medium-sized business success in global financial inclusion

[25:24] Steve Smith: The success of the small and medium-sized business is really important in the world economy for driving economic impact and financial inclusion at a higher level. Think about this: if every small and medium-sized business, to the extent they hire employees, were more successful and able to hire just one more employee next year across the world, what level of economic impact would that have?

You start thinking in terms of that, and then you start thinking about where the center can play a meaningful role in helping individuals, families, communities, entire nations kind of lift themselves from the foundation up, rather than trying to put band-aids on problem sets that are always repeat problem sets. So, I think that's where the focus is in fintech and financial services and really democratizing financial inclusion in very meaningful ways.

The role of intention at Stena Center

[15:00] Ryan Christansen: What I think is so important about the Stena Center is intention. So we've had a lot of success, as we've both talked about in the state of Utah around FinTech, and there's some other cities around the world or areas around the country that have had some success. I think what makes it really special here in Utah is truly that intention.

Small and medium-sized businesses fuels the world economy

[25:24] Steve Smith: What's really important for the Stena Foundation is: What are the fundamental building blocks of economic success and economic mobility—let's call it—that create enduring economic empowerment? For individuals, I think that you always have to wrap in small and medium-sized businesses because they fuel so much of the world's economy. And so, I think the center is great. A great example of bringing academics together with industry together with philanthropy, right? So you've got three verticals that sometimes operate independently and a center that does best in class, bringing them all together.

On Utah as an epicenter for Fintech

[09:05] Ryan Christansen: It's a really exciting place here in Utah when you look at it from various aspects. And I'll start with maybe the universities in Utah. You've got a lot of highly educated people coming out of the university system that have been starting these businesses, whether they're technology businesses or FinTech businesses, and there's really been a long history of that in the state of Utah...So you've got a lot of kinds of startup mentality with the educational system, doing a lot of innovation as well.

• Steve Smith | LinkedIn
• Stena Foundation
• Ryan Christiansen | LinkedIn
• Stena Center for Financial Technology

We are exploring economic inclusion this season, and today we are diving into the history of banking and financial structures in the United States and how they have often excluded minority groups.

Ashley Bell is the co-founder and general counsel of the National Black Bank Foundation, which provides nonprofit expert legal, regulatory, and operational support to Black-owned banks. And Sui Ling Panoke currently serves as Senior Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for Zions Bank.

In this episode, Ashley and Sui Lang sit down with host Frances Johnson and discuss how banks were leveraged against people of color from the very beginning, finding a bank that supports your values, minority depository institutions, and some exciting developments right here in Utah, aimed at addressing and closing the racial wealth gap. 

Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University FM.

The power of risking in yourself

[14:14] Ashley Bell: There's been several studies that show there's been over a trillion-dollar impact that discrimination and lack of access to capital to underserved communities is costing us a trillion dollars annually in our economy in spending. This is spending power that communities would have more of if they had access to the capital. And when you think about it holistically, the more you stymie the economy by telling people they can't have access to capital to take a risk and start their own business, to be able to receive the right capital to own their own home and create assets that way through appreciative home value. Then you take a marginalized community, and you leave them with fewer options, many of which become the burden of the state. Many of that, which becomes welfare programs, become more government assistance, and these people have to be reliant on that to be able to survive. So if you really want to see less reliance on the government having to step in and take care of people that can't make it work, then give them the opportunity to take a risk on themselves.

There's no greater act of self-determination than entrepreneurship

[15:05] Ashley Bell: If you really want to see less of a reliance on the government having to step in and take care of people that can't make it work, then give them the opportunity to take a risk on themselves. There's no greater act of self-determination than entrepreneurship. And you have so many entrepreneurs in these marginalized communities that just need access to create businesses. And many times, these are small businesses that could easily be sustained in these small economies in their own community, but they don't get the access to do so.

On Zion’s bank commitment to close the gaps

[22:33] Sui Lang Panoke: One of our core values is equality. Equality, opportunity, and access. So, we are very committed to closing gaps. So, it could be the gender pay gap, it could be the racial wealth gap, and it could be the trust gap and opportunity gaps that still exist in our communities as well. So, it's very important to us to invest not just monetarily but through building relationships, right? Mending those trust gaps that still exist in ways in which we can build meaningful relationships, meaningful partnerships, and work towards building the world's most inclusive economy.

What is the core of redemption?

[18:54] Ashley Bell: Throughout our history, people in marginalized communities have not received any grace or mercy from our financial system. This is what redemption is about. With grace and mercy, there can always be redemption. And we think that we can give that opportunity to people who are looking for it. And we'll start in Salt Lake, but be the center of gravity for an entire nation.

The key to institutional sustainability

[24:38] Sui Lang Panoke: A critical part of building a long-term sustainable and profitable institution in our industry is staying true to who you are and focusing, honing in on what your values are, who you are as an institution, and what is going to carry you through the next generation.

• National Black Bank Foundation
• Ready Life
• Redemption Holding Company
• Ashley Bell LinkedIn
• Ashley Bell X/Twitter 
• Ashley Bell Instagram
• Zions Bank
• Sui Lang Panoke LinkedIn
• Sui Lang Panoke Instagram

We are exploring economic inclusion this season, and today we are focusing on the intersections of gender inequality and finances. 

Here to talk a little bit more about this is Jacki Zehner. Jacki refers to herself as an enthusiastic and dedicated financial feminist. In 1996, she became the youngest woman and first female trader to be made partner of Goldman Sachs. 

Today, she works to provide women with the tools to grow social capital and achieve financial freedom through her companies ShePlace and SheMoney. 

She chats with host Frances Johnson in this episode all about the false narratives many women have around money, building community through talking about money, starting active money management earlier in our careers, and what stigmas we might have attached to money that don’t belong there.

Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University FM.

Time is the biggest variable when it comes to money

[26:44] My biggest thing to remember, like a big money tip, is to know that time matters. Time is the biggest variable when it comes to money and having a healthy financial future. So the earlier we educate our kids, the earlier we take responsibility for our money. The compounding effect of that is extraordinary, and one of the things that hurts my heart the most is to be in conversation with people that are my age or older, saying, "Shoot, why didn't someone tell me to talk, think about this, do it, take care of it earlier?" It's like our health—the same thing. Don't wait for a crisis to catalyze your curiosity or necessity.

How do women experience inequality financially?

[05:16] The wage gap is one of the biggest ways that women experience inequality. Of course, we have the investing gap, which is women, in general, invest later, invest less. So what that means is in the context of the investing experience or those participating in wealth creation through investment, and we can talk about the reasons for that, there's also a big gap. There's also the wealth gap and, equally, the retirement gap. And you can imagine if you make less because they all build and interconnect with each other. If you make less and invest less, and again, these are huge averages, and talking about sort of these bigger macro things, not how that might manifest at an individual level, but that means, and women live longer, so what that means is you have less money in your later years, which means a different, perhaps, standard of living, on average, and less money to take care of your future self. And there are other gaps, too, as it relates to money, which is, again, one of the reasons I started SheMoney: is confidence gap.

Talking about money is not bragging about money

[17:27] Talking about money is not bragging about money. Talking about money is not making money; it is something bigger than it is, which is a resource, a medium of exchange, and a store of value…[17:51] And we tell a story about money too, that is especially tied up with status and achievement—that, if you were smart, you'd have a lot of money. If you were this and made good life choices, you'd have a lot of money. And that's just not true. There's a lot of luck involved.

On normalizing money talks

[18:31] I think we all have these beliefs and behaviors that came from somewhere, and to be able to debunk those myths and normalize talking about money in the context of recognizing its value around our own well-being is, I hope, going to take away from those fears that we all have that we're going to be judged either for not having enough or having too much.

• Brene Brown Money talk (Jacki references posting it in the show) 
• New York Times Article - Women in India (Frances references in show)
• SheMoney | LinkedIn
• Women Who Succeed
• SheMoney Summit Summer 2024
• Ray Arata

• Jacki Zehner
• Jacki Zehner | LinkedIn
• Jacki Zehner (@JackiZehner) / X
• Jacquelyn Zehner (@jackizehner) • Instagram photos and videos
• SheMoney
• ShePlace
• Women Moving Millions

Welcome to Season Six of the Eccles Business Buzz podcast. We are so glad to have you back as we kick off another series of great conversations with our Eccles Community. This season, we are continuing our discussion of equity, diversity, inclusion, and empathy by focusing on economic inclusion. 

A key part of building an economically inclusive experience for ourselves and others is understanding what is actually happening in the economy. We all hear economic terms and forecasts in the news, but do we really know what they mean and how they should impact our decisions? Here to help dispel some of the mystery is Yung-Yu Ma.  

Yung-Yu is Chief Investment Officer at BMO Wealth Management in the U.S. He joined the organization in 2016, bringing a dynamic combination of academic achievements and industry experience to the Investment Strategy team. Yung-Yu is also an Eccles alum, earning his PhD here in Finance.

He kicks off season six with host Frances Johnson by helping us understand the economy. He’ll touch on inflation, interest rates, navigating the job market, and how to stay informed while not becoming overwhelmed by it all.  

And if you’d like to hear even more from Yung-Yu, join us for our next Eccles Alumni Network Forum on Thursday, February 1st, from noon to 1 p.m. Yung-Yu will be here on campus in conversation with Adam Looney, executive director of the Marriner S. Eccles Institute to discuss the 2024 Market and Economic Outlook and considerations amidst global tensions, political choices, and the year ahead. 

Register to attend the event in person or via live stream today! 

Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University FM.

The value of experience

[12:31] One thing that I would always coach students about is, early on in your career, by far, what matters is the experience you get in a particular job. Whether or not you get an extra few thousand dollars or whether your salary is a little bit more or a little bit less is not going to impact your long-term trajectory. But in those early years in your career, having a good mentor, building a good foundation, and learning a lot of skills and knowledge can then benefit you later in your career when you do actually get into the higher-earning years. Having that skill set, that knowledge that you built up early in your career, is going to be tremendously valuable.

The importance of investing on yourself

[21:25] I think that daily action, or consistent action, in terms of building out one's knowledge and skill set, or reading up on topics that could be beneficial to them, or learning skills—whether it's presentation or communication skills or technical skills, any of the above, depending on what fits with their interests and career trajectory—that is, first and foremost, the investment that people should be thinking about when thinking about investments.

What’s the advantage of consistent investing?

[18:15] I think for most investors, it doesn't pay or it's not favorable to try to make short-term, small changes. What's the Fed doing this month versus what it might do in two months? The big thing is really keeping a consistent investment program and being aware of the times. When there might be bigger events taking place.

When is a good time to invest and where is a good place to invest?

[21:53] How do I look for investments or things we recommend to clients? It can take a few different flavors, but certainly investing in equity markets overall, and that refers to stocks, whether it's in the U.S. or internationally. One favorable aspect of the structure of investing in stocks is that when you take on risk, the stocks in the marketplace are priced in a way that should benefit you over time for taking on the risk of ownership. Now, that doesn't mean in any given year, stock, or investment, it can't turn out unfavorably. It certainly can. Everybody knows that there's risk involved, but the reason that people still invest in the stock market, in companies, in mutual funds, or whatever vehicles is because, over time, there's a risk premium that plays in your favor. So you should benefit over time by investing in the equity markets, or even the fixed-income markets, and investing in bonds.

• Yung-Yu Ma, Ph.D. - BMO Wealth Management
• Yung-Yu Ma LinkedIn

The countdown is on to season six of the Eccles Business Buzz podcast. In this new season, we are focused on economic and financial inclusion and how economic and financial empowerment contribute to opportunity in our personal, professional, and academic lives. I'm your host, Frances Johnson. Join me to get an Economy 101 crash course and learn what all those terms you hear on the news really mean for your economic future and decision-making.

We'll hear from one of the nation's foremost experts on student loan debt and from a self-proclaimed financial feminist. We'll learn about how innovations in financial technology are helping to even the economic playing field. And we'll hear from investors in Utah's first minority depository institution about efforts to make the country's banking system more racially diverse. And we'll be highlighting the great work happening right here at the David Eccles School of Business to create a culture of belonging for students on campus and alums out in the world.

The first episode of season six drops January 25th, with new episodes coming every Thursday. I know you won't want to miss a single one, so make sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts and invite a friend or fellow alum to listen with you too. We can't wait for you to join us again.

We’ve been talking this season about the challenges women face in the workplace, especially here in Utah. But today, we are going to pivot to talk about some solutions, and how the Eccles School is working to prepare women – and all students – for a more successful and equitable workplace experience.

With us today is Katie Abby, Special Advisor to the President of the University of Utah and Assistant Dean of Business Career Success and Corporate Outreach at the David Eccles School of Business. An experienced staffing executive, Katie graduated from the U in 1984 and, in 1990, co-founded VISTA Staffing Solutions, where she served as COO and then President. 

She transferred her skills as an entrepreneur to build a professional placement firm at the Eccles School and is now scaling this program to other colleges on the University of Utah campus.

In our last episode of season 5, Katie sits down with host Frances Johnson and chats about building confidence, becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable, practicing empathy in the workplace, and what millennials and boomers can learn from each other.

Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University FM.

Expanding company perspectives on women's skills

11:25: We encourage employers to treat women differently. The key point is, women have different skill sets. They have different things that motivate them. They bring a different set of values to the organization. So if you try to hire a group of women or individuals from underrepresented groups and then treat them as you would the white male population in your organization, you're probably not going to succeed. We encourage employers to do bias training for all of their staff, and in particular, people in management and leadership positions.

On teaching the value of speaking up

18:03: We want our female students to stop saying, "My work should speak for itself," and teach them how to speak up for themselves, know and appreciate how important they are to any employer, and know and appreciate that they have a unique skill set.

The importance of articulating your strengths and value as women in the workplace

09:24: It all starts with building that confidence, understanding what it is that you bring to the table, and then learning how to articulate that.

Why putting employees first is the key to a successful workplace

03:52: We decided to create this incredible environment where our philosophy is that the customer comes second. And by that, we felt it was very important to put our staff and our employees first.

• Katie Abby - Eccles School of Business Bio
• Katie Abby - LinkedIn
• VISTA Staffing Solutions