Today we have the honor to chat with Kris Liacopoulos, who obtained both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Utah's David Eccles School of Business. She has since retired from her role as General Manager of Fidelity Investments.

Her involvement in the community reflects her passions around democracy, equality, and education and has included co-founding the Salt Lake Film Society and participating on the Advisory Board at the Eccles school, the Film Society, and Equality Utah.

In this episode, Kris shares her early life growing up in a Greek immigrant family, the struggles of being a first-gen student, and what inspired her to take that leap to pursue higher education.

Finally, she opens up about the biggest obstacles in her life and how perseverance and resilience helped her conquer them all.

The importance of building relationships and maintaining them:

“Being a first-time college-goer, I always thought you have to do it all on your own, and that's how you're successful. But, don't get me wrong; it is so much about both your commitment to just getting through it as well as your commitment to excellence.

I have been a hard worker, but I finally figured out this is the way the world works; you create relationships. You don't get there on your own, alone. You get there because of circles of people and connections that are willing to help you.”

Kris' piece of advice to first-generation students:

“I would say try really hard to build your vision of why you want to be at college. 

So for me, I knew that financial independence was really what I was striving for, ultimately. And I valued education, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to achieve that long-term goal without the actual degree. And so, the degree was an achievement. Absolutely. And it was something that made everybody proud. But keeping a focus on why I was there to keep me through the tough times was really important.”

One of the strongest mindsets you could ever have:

“It's particularly great when you are going through a hard patch, to remember, this too shall pass. And often, even that grounding helps you understand, Oh, and what's one step that I could take right now just to make it a little better? Cause I'm also a big believer in that. How do you get to the top of the mountain? One step at a time. You can't get there any other way.”

On persevering in the face of difficulties:

“I would wake up and think I'm alive. And my heart is beating. And most importantly, I'm not doing a thing to control that. Your heart beats outside of your control; your heart most often stops beating outside of your control. That's not what you have control over. What you have control over is, oh, I've awakened, I'm alive. And my heart is beating. And now my choice starts, my decision-making starts. How will this day help me or hinder me in terms of my long-term aspiration of where I'm going and who I want to be, and the type of person I aspire to be.”

On feeling like you didn't belong:

“I like to remind people - you belong. A lot of times, it feels like you may not belong, right? Because you find yourself in this wilderness, you find yourself doing things that no one has done before you. You find yourself being the minority person in the room, whatever that means. But believe in serendipity for lack of a better term. You are there for a reason. And so that says in and of itself, you belong there. So take some advantage of that. Don't shrink; step into it.”

• The Journey by Mary Oliver 
• Rising Strong by Brené Brown
• Dare to Lead by Brené Brown
• Untamed by Glennon Doyle
• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

How can perseverance and self-sustainability help overcome the biggest obstacles in a business? It is what Blake Murray, Founder & CEO at Divvy, shared with us on this week's episode.

Blake talked about how he bounced around different career opportunities before ultimately cutting his teeth in the tech community and eventually launching his own company, Divvy, one of the fastest-growing financial technology companies in the country.

He let us in on Divvy's early beginnings, what exactly led the company to where it is today, and its future once the acquisition is complete.

Finally, Blake touched on perseverance when faced with a setback in your business and the importance of self-sustainability during difficult times. Listen and learn how these traits kept Divvy from survivability to thriving, where they became one of the fastest-growing companies in the entire United States through the pandemic.

On going through different career paths:

"When you sit down with people that have figured out how to build successful careers, the meandering path is by and large what you encounter. It's very rare that it's linear, that it's what you expected it to be. It's more of, how do I find opportunities, learn what I don't like, and then learn what I'm good at, and build from there and grow from there?"

How to have an impact on what you choose to do:

"I am a firm believer that if you're going to have an impact on everything, you have to throw yourself, dedicating time, energy, capital. It doesn't even have to be a material amount of capital."

On having self-confidence when faced with problems:

"I've had almost an irrational belief in myself or confidence that I can solve problems, like come hell or high water. When confronted with a problem, I'm going to find a way to figure it out no matter what."

His take on perseverance:

"So, perseverance means, to me, again, no one is coming; it's up to us, looking inward, having incredible confidence that you have the talents, the faculties, and the skills, to solve whatever you're up against, and just continuing to work and continuing to grind. And knowing that good fruits will come from that. It may not be the outcome that you expected, but good fruits will come from that."

On taking control of your future:

"I found that if you ask for what you need and what you want, you will be blown away at what people are willing to give you. And if you don't ask for it, you cannot be surprised when it's not given to you." 

• LinkedIn Profile
• Divvy
• On the acquisition 

What does it mean to be an All-star, All-American awardee? It's about understanding what's required of you, knowing how much time and effort you have to devote, and making decisions based on your trade-offs. This week's Business Buzz Podcast features multi-awarded lecturer Bonita Austin.

Bonita shares how she persevered in a male-dominated industry by focusing on the job and what it required from her. She gives advice to young audiences about achieving success and balancing trade-offs. We discussed how success is defined differently by each generation as well as how external factors, such as the pandemic, affect this.

In this episode, you’ll hear how she adapted to the extremely competitive life on Wall Street. Tune in till the end to find out about the work that they’ve been doing at the Goff Strategic Leadership Center.

What’s your definition of perseverance?

"When I think about perseverance, I think that equals in my own head, not quitting. But in addition to not quitting, it means figuring out how to achieve whatever it is you're trying to achieve. I think that's a really important component to persevering because if you just want to use a basic analogy, you could keep beating your head against the wall and you’ll just keep getting a headache if you keep doing that."

Thoughts on being a woman in a male-dominated field:

"You know what? I don't want to be like a man. I don't want to be, I want to be my own self. I want to be my own authentic person. I don't want to have to copy what men do to be successful and nothing against them.  People have different paths to success, but I don't want to be required to do anything just because of my gender. This may not be in line with what other career women tell you, but I also strongly believe that the women's liberation movement is about me doing what I want to do, not what you tell me to do."

What success means across generations:

"I don't think success means the same thing to the current generation of students. My generation when I was in school we had a totally different way of looking at things. I don't think my generation looked at everything correctly.  I think we've all worked very hard and we're getting towards the end of our careers. Some people look at millennials and say, oh they're lazy. Or you could look at it as maybe they're really onto something because all the job satisfaction in the world is not the same thing as getting satisfaction outside of at work. And if that's what's important to you, then you should work on having that work-life balance rather than just following what your parents did or what your grandparents did."

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Bonita Austin’s Faculty Profile

Bonita Austin On LinkedIn

Learn more about the Goff Strategic Leadership Center 

The Goff Strategic Leadership Center believes that strategic leaders come from all backgrounds and all levels of experience. Wherever you are, and wherever you’re going, we’re here to help.

Follow Goff on social media, @GoffSLC on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Visit our website for more details, eccles.utah.edu/goff. Email us to learn more, [email protected].

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Jumping in, taking everything, and working hard to explore your limits. In today's episode, Chad Anselmo shares the first lesson he learned. Chad is an alumnus of the David Eccles School of Business. He is the CEO and founder of F1 Payments, an enterprise focused on accelerating business velocity for all parties in the payments ecosystem.

Chad begins the episode by discussing perseverance through his experience as a fresh graduate during the financial crisis and recession. Right after he graduated from the Eccles school, he had to change his plans and direction. Having tried his hand at employment in a venture capital that failed, he got his restart as a credit and collections officer at Universal Studios. Discover how he innovated and automated systems to achieve success at Universal. 

He discusses the role hope plays in reaching one's goals. Listen to what he has to say about handling growth, the surge of clients, and massive changes in the workplace. Find out how they became one of Texas Monthly's Best Companies to Work For. Don't miss his discussion of the culture of integrity and accountability his team built.

This week's show is all about persevering through obstacles, building and maintaining tools to be able to contribute to our relationships. Take a step back, examine your goal's guideposts, and keep going!

On how they manage work from home during the pandemic:

“We determined that productivity was just fine from working from home versus working in the office. We've had a very flexible policy since then, if you feel comfortable coming into the office, come into the office, we'd love to see you. If you feel more comfortable working at home and not having to brave commute then stay at home do that. Now having said that, we have accountability. No one gets a free pass on making sure they get their job done, but really we want people to feel comfortable and be able to feel like they have the best opportunity to be able to be successful.”

His thoughts on perseverance:

“We're all persevering through something and as we think about the obstacles in front of us, we ask, “How do we build and maintain tools to be able to look at how effective and efficient we are?” As well as how much we're contributing to our relationships in our lives? That to me is what perseverance is. Taking a step back, looking at your guideposts, making sure that you're between them, and then continuing on that journey of trying to get to your goals.”

What does he think of having hope as one of the school’s core values?

“Hope is, I think, germane to everything we're trying to accomplish. Like we hope for a good outcome. We hope to be able to make it. We hope to be able to have success. We hope for all these things. Now we put in place, good things to be able to allow us to be able to accomplish those things. Either process, people, relationships, or whatever to be able to accomplish it. But in the end, I think it's hope that drives humanity.”

• How to Become CEO by Jeffrey Fox
• Necromancer

• Get Seeded: Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute

Eccles Business Buzz is a podcast that is created by Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. This podcast features alumni and tackles different topics and issues around the globe and within our community. Stay connected with both the school and other alumni through updates on what's happening at Eccles and what's going on in the world of business.

Today, Leentje chats with two incredible guests and Eccles community members, Heidi Woodbury and Robert "Bob" McDonald.

Heidi joined the University of Utah’s senior leadership team as the new Vice President for Institutional Advancement. Previously, she served as the Assistant Dean for External Relations at the David Eccles School of Business.

Bob McDonald graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in the top 2 percent of the Class of 1975 and earned his MBA from the University of Utah in 1978. Before joining VA, he was Chairman, President, and Chief Executive Officer of The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G). He was confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate to serve as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs under President Obama.

Bob and Heidi narrate a little bit about their backgrounds. They share their connection to the Eccles school, how they came to know each other, and the projects they have worked on together.

They share their views on empathy and how they applied it throughout their career. They also explained the role empathy plays in leadership development.

Finally, Bob and Heidi offer their advice to people on finding and discovering their life purpose and Bob shares his infamous leadership tenants that have guided Heidi throughout her career.

What is empathy?

Bob - "(Empathy) to me is an incredibly important leadership trait. (You) really have to be able to put yourself in the other person's position and understand that, not just logically, but viscerally, to be able to provide the proper leadership."

Heidi - "As far as putting somebody else before you or putting yourself in their shoes, the golden rule is to treat others as you would like to be treated. And the platinum rule is to treat others as they would like to be treated. And I think we miss that so often. Sometimes we're not listening to what it is they're trying to tell us. And sometimes, it's just the little things that go a long way."

Empathy on leadership development

Bob - "I can train you in all the behaviors of leadership, their technical behaviors. We can give you the judgment to decide to use them. What I can't train you in is the love you have to have for the people you work with. And it's that love that makes your behaviors authentic. It's that love that leads to empathy. I believe the very best leaders have that love, and that love shows up as empathy."

Heidi - "Most people don't want to fail. We have a hard time accepting failure. I feel empathy is a great way to help people recover. They've got to figure out how to get back out there, and you can't just tuck in and go away; you've got to brush off and figure out how you're going to go back out and try it again."

Heidi on her life purpose - "This university is my purpose. It has been a transformative experience for me. Every day that I come to work, this is a calling for me, and I'm blessed to have that. How many people can say they have a job that has so much meaning to them?"

Bob's advice on finding life's purpose - "Sometimes it takes time, but my suggestion is to look back across your life and look for threads of continuity in your life. As you try to connect those various activities in your life and get in touch with your passion, you try to articulate how that may ladder up to a bigger purpose."

In this third episode of Eccles Business Buzz, we welcome Greg Kennedy, who graduated from the Eccles School in 1987 and is one of our most dedicated Eccles advisory board members. Greg recently retired as Senior Vice President of Airport Operations at Delta Airlines where he was responsible for some of the busiest airports in the world including our very own Salt Lake International.

Greg walks us through his family story and his experiences growing up, wrestling to go to college, and how he ended up at the University of Utah and eventually, the Eccles School.

He narrates his extensive experience working in the airline industry, some of the ups and downs, dealing with major crises like 9/11 and COVID-19, and the importance of leadership through it all.

Greg shares his definition of empathy and how his perspective has changed thought his career. He also talks about the great attributes of a leader/mentor and the importance of having the right people to guide you in your journey.

Greg's definition of empathy - "It's the glue that holds relationships together. When I think about empathy, it is the ability to detect others' emotions and understand the perspective. And when people feel accepted and valued, it really builds trust."

If his perspective on empathy changed over the years - "It has definitely changed. As you take on more responsibility, your ability to have empathy or your need to have empathy increases dramatically. I believe it's one of the most important skills or attributes for leaders today."

On servant leadership as one of his core values - "When your corporate values align with your personal values, it makes for a very enjoyable and harmonized career. And that's really what I had. I think my colleagues if they were to define me in one word, I think they would use the word and the term servant leader. From day one and over the years, regardless of my title or responsibility, I stayed very connected to the frontline employees."

Attributes of a good mentor - "Mentoring is really important to me. I told my team and have always taught my leaders that your number one responsibility is developing and preparing leaders to take your place and finding and developing those who are smarter and ready to take on those responsibilities. I was serious about that because I think it's very important that you help develop others to give back. It's really a way of giving back as a leader."

Key ingredients in life - "Opportunities are often disguised as hard work. And that's why many people miss out on them because they're not willing to work hard. The second part was being nice. The rest of the universe was literally taught to be nice to people. You just got to get out there and take care of them. Work hard and be nice. To me, those are the two most important key ingredients; very simple terms, but very important."

In this week’s episode of the Eccles Business Buzz, we are honored to have Crystal Maggelet, current CEO and Chairman of the Board at FJ Management Inc. She is a former Eccles School Advisory Board member, current Board of Higher Education for Utah board member, and one of our generous donors.

Crystal shares a little bit of her background growing up in a family-owned business, pursuing an education, and eventually venturing into entrepreneurship herself. She talks about her experience quickly moving from a stay-at-home mom to becoming the CEO of FJ Management for the past 12 years. She also narrates how the pandemic impacted their businesses and how they learned to navigate this new normal while supporting both employees and customers with empathy.

Crystal shares her definition of empathy, why she is passionate about education, and why women shouldn’t feel intimidated in their careers, even if they are the only woman in the room!

On being a mother and a CEO - "It was a very different transition. So, as a mom, it was really hard when I had my mom hat on. As an executive or as an individual, it was very stimulating intellectually. I was always trying to do the best I could. In general, I found the situation extremely intellectually challenging, and it made me realize that really, for me, working was a part of who I was, and having a career would always likely need to be a part of what I do."

On having an entrepreneurial spirit - "I view an entrepreneur as someone who can come up with an idea and execute it. I have never really had to do that. I've had to execute on someone else's idea. If I am given something and I need to make decisions and I've given facts around that, I can do quite a good job usually of collaborating people in ideas and making decisions, whether that's entrepreneurial or not."

On investing in employees and their families - "I believe that if you treat people right, they will have your back. I do take pride in treating our employees with respect. And usually, I get it back. The three guiding principles of our overall company are integrity, mutual respect, and excellence. And even though they're basic and many companies could say that, I try to live by those things and have our employees live by those things. I think that they're key to being successful and longevity for business."

On coping up with a global pandemic - "I believe that if we could all come together, we would get through anything. Even an economic downturn would not be as bad if people would work together to get through all of what's going on."

Her definition of empathy - "I have felt so blessed my entire life since when I was a small child. I have looked around the world, and I have seen the opportunities that have come my way, and I took them. I could have made a choice not to take them, but I had them; they came my way. And I think for me, I feel because I've had those opportunities, it is my obligation to have empathy for others to do the best I can to have their lives be as good as mine or create opportunities for them like I've had."

"I want all people to be in good places and to be happy. I hope to be able to impact not the masses, but I hope to impact several people along the way. And I think my contribution will be, and that all comes really from my empathy about just how fortunate I've been and that not everybody is as fortunate. How can I take optimistic and hardworking people and help them a little bit along the way? And to me, that's my definition of empathy."

Why education stands out for her - "In general, I feel like there are a lot of people out there who don't get cut a break, and if they can get an education, they can help the rest of their family with the other basic needs. And if I can find those out there who have worked hard in school and help them get to a better place, to be making a better living for their future generations and families, I think that multiplies more than other things that I could do. I think that can make a big difference over a long period."

Her advice to women to avoid feeling intimidated - "Believe in yourself, and don't let people intimidate you. Be yourself. People always respect people who are confident and who are honest and have integrity. You can't get through life without confidence. You've got to be who you are, and you've got to admit when you make mistakes. You've got to learn from those mistakes. You can't be perfect in life. You've got to be confident enough to pick yourself up and move on to your next battle."

• LinkedIn
• FJ Management

In this pilot episode of Eccles Business Buzz, we are pleased to have our beloved Dean Taylor Randall. He has led The University of Utah David Eccles School of Business since 2009. Since then he has elevated the school’s national reputation as a place of innovation, garnering top 10 entrepreneurship rankings for both undergraduate and graduate programs in addition to numerous other accolades.

Dean Randall talks about being the most enthusiastic Utah fan, growing up and around the university as a student here before becoming a faculty member and, eventually, the dean.

He shares his experiences as Dean of the Eccles School, working within our community, navigating difficult discussions, and how the school has transformed him into a leader.

We discuss the notion of empathy, how our Eccles Alumni rise up to take the message of being an empathetic global citizen to heart, and his future hopes for the community.

The lesson he learned from leading the Eccles school - "You learn a lot about how you have to rely on good people in your organization. You can't do it all as a leader; you have to pick where you think you can have the most impact and then find individuals that can help you manage through that. I learned to rely on others to give them the freedom they need to operate and to also create a shared vision with them."

Empathetic Global Citizenship as one of the key strategic pillars of the school - "As we reflected further on the notion of empathy, we realized that empathy was probably a key. We thought that empathy would be the key to opening up an individual's understanding of different cultures and viewpoints on the same problems. The hope was that would be an enduring quality that our students would need to have. I think that's the beauty of a characteristic or a virtue that's enduring. When a new circumstance arises, you can see how it can be applied and how those same traits can be useful to navigate difficult circumstances."

On the changes he hopes to see within the Eccles community - "We are on our rapid path of acts of increasing excellence. And as we become a better school on all metrics, I hope we continue to realize the obligation we have to serve our community and serve the businesses in our community. We want to impact our world because we see great Utahns making a big difference in what they do in their community."

• LinkedIn
• School Profile
• Hit Refresh by Satya Nadella
• Taylor Talks
• U Giving Day

Eccles Business Buzz is a podcast that is created by Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah. This podcast features alumni and tackles different topics and issues around the globe and within our community. Stay connected with both the school and other alumni through updates on what's happening at Eccles and what's going on in the world of business.