Northwestern Intersections

Alexis Alexanian '85 started her career in advertising before quickly moving into the entertainment space where her career took off. She is currently an independent feature film and television producer, production executive and consultant. She has accomplished a lot in her career from working on major feature films to becoming the Board Chair of New York Women in Film & Television, where she has enjoyed her work in mentoring the next generation of women in her industry. Alexis is excited to build on her mentorship of future women leaders through her new appointment on the Council of 100, a group of executive Northwestern alumnae formed to connect successful Northwestern women with recent alumnae to help launch their careers after graduation.

Peter Schoenke started his career in financial journalism in New York and has long since moved back to the Midwest after making a career shift. He launched a website in 1997 in the tech boom that later became a successful business, RotoWire.com, in an industry he didn't originally know much about. RotoWire.com is the largest independently-owned fantasy sports website that syndicates content to espn.com, Sports Illustrated, and so on. In this episode, Peter shares advice for not only fantasy sports fans but also insights for alumni who are entrepreneurial in their own careers.

Amanda Litman went into politics right after graduating from Northwestern, starting out her career in the Obama Campaign. She may not be working in campaigns now, but her passion for politics has grown even stronger. After working for Hillary Clinton's campaign in 2016 as the Email Director (the other emails, as she would say) she went on to start her own organization (runforsomething.net). Her mission is to help young people run for office and she even wrote a book about it, "Run for Something: A Real-Talk Guide to Fixing the System Yourself" where people can learn more about how to become a political candidate. Litman shares some great stories of mentorship throughout her work on high level political campaigns, and you won't want to miss these candid career insights!

Dr. Don Martin '94 PhD cherished his six years earning his doctorate at Northwestern, which played into him pursuing his passion for helping others find their personal fit in a grad school. But, before Martin discovered his passion for helping people through the grad school process, he became an expert in the fields of enrollment management, student affairs, and higher education administration at some of the top Universities in the United States. Whether you're applying for a new job or to go back to grad school, throughout his twenty years in higher education and ten years in coaching prospective students, Martin has been able to evaluate some of the key characteristics that make students and professionals successful: don't make assumptions, be persistent, and practice gratitude.

Natasha Lindor '09 MS, the daughter of parents who immigrated to the United States from Haiti for a better life, grew up believing that a world class education and her unrelenting work ethic would be the keys to her success. Lindor climbed the corporate ladder for years before coming to campus for her Masters in Integrated Marketing and Communications. She wanted to be a global brand manager but realized a few years after finishing her program that she was passionate about helping others through career and lifestyle coaching. As you can imagine, Lindor has a plethora of career insights for the Northwestern Network in this episode as we discuss advice for career changers and how success is built one decision at a time.

For the award-winning journalist and author, Jonathan Eig '86, his first job delivering newspapers on his bike throughout his neighborhood was only the beginning of his long career in journalism. From his junior high and high school newspapers to his most recent book, Ali: A Life, Eig has been writing for his entire career, including three New York Time's bestsellers. He spoke with us about moving from reporting to writing autobiographical books and the skills that are transferable from one to the other. Eig shared advice for budding journalists as well as stories from his reporting and writing days. He spoke about meeting Muhammad Ali himself and the emotional experience that turned out to be. Tune in for the career insights and thoughtful stories from Eig's personal career journey through printed media.

Apryl Schlueter started her career in IT consulting but later learned that her calling was in a completely different industry. Schlueter is now the Chief Energy! Officer of The Cheerful Mind, Inc. -- a happiness and productivity coach, speaker, and the author of Finding Success in Balance: My Journey to The Cheerful Mind. After years of working in various industries, Schlueter realized her true passion for helping people streamline their lives to make more time for more joy, balance, and ease. Listen in to our conversation about the importance of self-reflection in finding the work life balance that makes sense for you and learn from Schlueter how a positive mindset can help you tackle some of your personal career challenges.

Carlos Paret came to Northwestern for his MBA and soon moved from Chicago to Southern California. He quickly got involved in Northwestern Alumni Association activities; Paret is the current president for both the Kellogg Alumni Club of Orange County and the NU Club of Orange County. He has been successful in a variety of leadership roles from early on in his career. Paret is fortunate enough to be working for a company that is transforming something that is very personal to him. Not only does Paret lead a successful career at Edwards Lifesciences, he is also a regular practioner of yoga, volunteers at his church, and hopes to organize a mission trip to Ecuador. You won't want to miss this episode packed with insights that will help you be both happier and more productive.

Daniel H. Pink graduated from Northwestern in 1986 and later became a New York Times bestselling author. Pink is the author of Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, To Sell is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving Others, and most recently, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing. In this episode, Pink talks to the NAA not only about his research on timing and motivation and how that has an impact on our day to day lives, but also about his career more broadly. You will learn tips to improve your efficiency throughout the day, different ways you can motivate people depending on the task at hand, and even lessons learned along Pink's personal career journey.

Dr. Alexandra Solomon started out in pre-med as an undergraduate but she went on to become a different type of doctor than she initially intended. Dr. Solomon came to Northwestern for her Masters and PhD programs in clinical psychology and she never left. Solomon is a licensed clinical psychologist at The Family Institute at Northwestern and she is the professor for one of the most popular courses at Northwestern: Marriage 101. Her classes may have a waitlist but you can tune into this interview with her right now to learn more about her advice for developing loving relationships, her insights on transforming family patterns without rejecting one's family, and her career path more broadly as a psychologist, speaker, professor, and author.