In this UC Santa Barbara Innovator Stories program, Tony Rodoni, a former Global Sales Leader at Salesforce, talks about how he went from being an engineer to sales by focusing on customers, their needs and how he could help solve their problems. Series: "Innovator Stories: Creating Something from Nothing" [Business] [Show ID: 38309]

Making sure your client is happy is the number one priority for any business leader. As the first-ever Chief Client Officer of Baker Botts, a global law firm, Catherine Zinn is laser-focused on servicing the client. Referring to the Net Promoter Score, Zinn says it’s important to ask your client how likely they are the recommend your business to someone else on a scale from 1-10 (10 being certain). Anything less than a 9 or 10 means the relationship is in jeopardy your business has a vulnerability that needs to be explored. To be successful, you must be proactive and relentless in your focus on client satisfaction and in its growth in key markets. Zinn was recognized as a "Woman of Influence" by the "Silicon Valley Business Journal," as a "Woman of Achievement" by "Legal Momentum" and a "Top 100 Woman in Law" by "Women Who Lead" in 2021. Series: "Innovator Stories: Creating Something from Nothing" [Business] [Show ID: 38307]

Bianca Valenti is a professional big-wave surfer, business innovator, and environmental activist. Valenti is leading movements focused on pay equity and growth opportunity in sport. Series: "Innovator Stories: Creating Something from Nothing" [Business] [Show ID: 36440]

Anna Fraser has served as Sonos' Chief People Officer since January 2017. She leads the company's recruitment, development, engagement, and retention strategies in addition to cultivating the Sonos culture across 15 offices globally. Before joining Sonos, Anna served as Director and Chief of Staff for Google's People Operations function, responsible for people strategy and employee experience for over 70,000 global employees. Series: "Innovator Stories: Creating Something from Nothing" [Business] [Show ID: 36442]

Matt Beane is an Assistant Professor in the Technology Management Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Research Affiliate with MIT's Institute for the Digital Economy. Matt studies deviance in work involving machine intelligence - and specifically robotics. He asks questions like "How do workers, organizations and even AI engage in deviance, and what happens when they do?" Matt has done extensive field research on robotic surgery, robotic materials transport, and robotic telepresence in healthcare, elder care and knowledge work. Series: "Innovator Stories: Creating Something from Nothing" [Business] [Show ID: 36438]

Heather Hochrein is founder and CEO of EVmatch, a nationwide network for sharing and renting private EV charging stations. The goal is to increase the adoption of electric vehicles, thereby decreasing carbon emissions from the transportation sector. She is well versed in clean technology and previously spent five years in leadership roles at Rising Sun Energy Center. She holds a BS from UC Berkeley and a master's in Energy and Climate from UC Santa Barbara. Series: "Innovator Stories: Creating Something from Nothing" [Public Affairs] [Business] [Show ID: 36308]

McCormick PR specializes in brand building through high impact media and analyst relations. Laura McCormick has represented many high-profile brands in Tech, eCommerce, Retail, Hospitality, Lifestyle, Travel and Arts and Culture. She works independently, with a distributed team of engagement-specific experts. Series: "Innovator Stories: Creating Something from Nothing" [Business] [Show ID: 35467]

Craig Harris, former Peace Corps worker, turned his passion for non-profits into a multi-hundred million dollar data company. Craig has nearly 20-years of successful entrepreneurial leadership experiences. Prior to launching HG Insights, Craig served as the Founder and CEO of NOZA, which he led through a successful acquisition by Blackbaud in 2010. Series: "Innovator Stories: Creating Something from Nothing" [Business] [Show ID: 35562]

In 2015, Emma Rose Cohen and several friends launched Save The Mermaids, a nonprofit focused on educating young (and old) people about the dangers of ocean pollution and how each of us can do our part to combat it. Thus, it’s not surprising that Emma’s passion to clean up our oceans resulted in her Co-founding FinalStraw - the world’s first collapsible, reusable straw, which sports the tagline, #SuckResponsibly. Series: "Innovator Stories: Creating Something from Nothing" [Business] [Show ID: 35563]

Kevin Zhang looks for interdisciplinary entrepreneurs solving big problems in healthcare and the life sciences. He's also a passionate gamer and invests in interactive media platforms, tools and content. Prior to joining Upfront in 2012, Kevin was at The Boston Consulting Group, where he advised on strategy, M&A and operations for technology, healthcare, and industrial goods clients in the US and Asia. Previously, Kevin worked at Verscend Technologies, a healthcare software startup in Boston, focusing on data analytics product development selling into payers and providers. Kevin studied Biology at Harvard College. Series: "Innovator Stories: Creating Something from Nothing" [Business] [Show ID: 35468]