OneHaas

Bruce is a US executive with broad international experience in managing businesses, sourcing and making investments, and providing investment banking services, executive coaching, and leadership development services. His 17 years of experience working in Shanghai gave him an in-depth understanding of the business environment in China and developing Asia. 

Currently, Bruce is a Managing Director at Stout Bluepeak Asia Limited and a Partner at Rui Dian Management Consulting /The Resilience Institute.

In this episode, Bruce shared his origin story, going to UC Berkeley and studying business, and eventually going into investment banking. He also went to Harvard Business School to get his MBA and entered venture capital.

Bruce also talked about his amazing experiences in Shanghai, how the pandemic shifted the international scene, how he navigated through these changes, and how he can help companies venture into the international markets successfully.

Episode Quotes:

On his experience in investment banking early on

I really enjoyed the deals, working on transactions that you read about in the journal, having access to CEOs and CFOs of companies, and helping provide them strategic advice about how to manage their businesses in regards to raising capital or mergers and acquisitions.

How the Chinese economy has changed throughout the years

China has produced a lot of wealth, taken a lot of people out of poverty. But there's now a sense of them needing international technical skills, capital, and technology, and they're starting to have that on their own. They've got people who've trained at the best universities, they have a lot of capital, and they are starting to generate some unique technologies. So, I would say there's less of a need, in their minds, for so many foreigners and so much international influence. There's a big push for localization of talent.

On venturing into management consulting

After I left the firm that brought me to China in 2012, I decided to leverage the experience of living and managing in Asia, primarily China, in helping other executives who came to the area understand what it's like to manage in a developing market and giving them that perspective.

I found a big demand for coaching services, essentially that cross-border nexus of people coming into China or Chinese managers having to go out needing coaching services. So, I've maintained that for 10 years and actually really enjoy helping people see the light, adjusting their management style, and achieving their career objectives.

Show Links:

• LinkedIn

Today, we have Seo Yeon Yoon, Research Scientist at Gladstone Institutes. She is an avid researcher passionate about bringing diverse talent and ideas together to innovate solutions that overcome incurable diseases. She was also recently named to the Poets and Quants 2022 list of Best & Brightest Executive MBAs.

Seo Yeon is originally from Jeonju City, South Korea, a mid-small town that didn't have a lot of people from other countries or cultures. Her parents sent her and her sister to Canada as international students to study and be exposed to a world with many people from different ethnicities, races, and cultures. 

In this episode, Seo Yeon talked about her experiences as an international student, how she ended up in Berkeley as an undergrad, and why she chose to study Biology.

She also shared her career at Gladstone Institutes, why she pursued her MBA later in her career, and her experiences at Haas. She also shared what made her start using her Korean name once again and why it was one of her impactful decisions.

Episode Quotes:

One of the lessons she learned as an international student

I think, looking back, it was really important that I had that much exposure to this bigger world with people that just didn't really think like me or even talk like me. But they were just really kind and really good people with really good hearts. And I always kept that with me as a life lesson that, wherever I go, that's something that I do have to keep in mind that I also have to extend as a friend and as a colleague in any places that I work.

On her MBA application

I went through the application process and tried to be as authentic as possible about who I was and why I really wanted to come to Haas. And while it was stressful, it just felt relatively good. It didn't really feel like it was an extra chore, per se. It was hard, but it wasn't something I was dragging myself into because I still wasn't sure about something. It was definitely a really good process to go through. And, of course, I was very, very happy to find out that all that effort and bidding on myself like that ended up very, fortunately, being a success. It was really wonderful.

Why she started using her Korean name

I was thinking about how my parents named me. They didn't just name me just out of a whim or just out of nothing. They really had thought about it carefully about what they wanted to name their first child as. And my entire name is really, in and of itself, a form of a person, a woman my parents wanted me to be.

And so, when I started to piece all of these puzzles together, I began to realize that, am I really doing justice to myself and also to the people that I love? That I will be sticking with an English name when it doesn't make anybody comfortable? And, first and foremost, it didn't make me comfortable.

And so, I think that series of internal questioning and meditation and just, really, self-discovery process really got me to think about what is the easiest and also the most forefront thing on action can I really take to start on that discovery path. And the first thing was, really, the name.

Show Links:

• LinkedIn

Alejandra is an Associate at Bee Partners. Her infinite curiosity and strategic thinking brought her to Asset Management. Her quest for large-scale impact and a greater connection with the people she supports attracted her to Venture Capital. 

Alejandra was born and raised in Chile. Her family spent some time here in the US before going back, where she reconnected with her roots.

In this episode, Alejandra shares her origin story, her career path from finance to venture capital, and why she pursued an MBA even with an already successful career.

We also hear about Alejandra's passion as an endurance athlete and how the things she has learned through her training experiences align with what she does in her current role at Bee Partners.

Episode Quotes:

On getting an MBA

It was something that I had always been thinking in the back end. And when I started having these questions of what's next and I just really hated visualizing and seeing what was coming next. It was all great, but I didn't want to have that level of certainty and have everything so figured out, being 20-something. And so, that's when I realized I want to change and I want something drastically different, not just a pivot or a tack that's similar to what I'm already doing.

On taking her MBA during the pandemic

I saw coming to business school during the pandemic as a good opportunity in the sense that a lot of things were going to change. And being a student, I felt, was the best way to experience that change and really learn about things that were going to be dramatically different, if we were able to get out of it or when we got out of it. And so, I saw it as a great opportunity to be a student rather than to be working and trying to do everything business as usual when the world was not business as usual.

Parallels between her experiences as an endurance athlete and her current role

The first thing is it's a marathon, not a sprint. And that means that you probably want things to happen now, but it's really important to just focus on what you have in front of you, have a vision of what you want the future to look like, what you want success to look like, but really hold it there, because you can't do both at the beginning. You have to focus on the present moment. And as you make progress, you start incorporating that future vision into whatever it is you're doing. But in the beginning, it's just about where am I. And what does the next short iteration cycle look like?

Alejandra's word of wisdom to the Haas community

I feel like every important decision that I've had to make, although I've done a lot of rational thinking, in the end, it comes down to intuition. And I think that's my inspiration here. 

When you have to decide between different paths, rationality doesn't really help. Being rational helps you look at pros and cons, but you can very quickly and easily trick yourself into thinking this option is right, and then two seconds later saying, "No, no, no, but this one is better because of another reason."

And so, when you're thinking about these broader scale paths or large decisions, it's really about your gut, honestly. And then rationalization is great for execution. It's great for, “I decided my path. And now, let me break this down, figure out where I want to go from here.” But listen to what you feel. I think connecting with your inner self and having that awareness — internal and external awareness — can go a really, really long way.

Show Links:

• LinkedIn

Our guest, Yogesh Pingle, is a Corporate Development Manager at Intel. He partners with business leaders and their teams to define and execute strategic growth initiatives.

Yogesh was born in India, where he spent most of his formative years before moving to the US to pursue graduate school. Getting an MBA had always been part of his plans, and choosing Haas was a no-brainer.

In this episode, Yogesh shares his experiences from studying engineering in India, moving to the US and balancing work and school, and his career as a planning engineer before eventually going to product design and marketing and ending up in corporate development.

Episode Quotes:

On pursuing a business education

I realized that to create maximum impact, you have to be on the business side of things essentially. And so, it was sort of what stoked in me, the desire to be a business leader. And I realized that perhaps if impact is what I'm driven by, then having a business education is also something that's critical to creating impact.

Having different plans to mitigate risks

Something that has always been a part of my philosophy is to mitigate risk in such a way that the next step I take should always be something that doesn't close too many doors. 

On procrastinating and compartmentalizing

Focus on the essentials, whether it is homework or your actual job. If you just do the main important tasks and ensure that they're done well, then that'll keep you moving forward. I think it's really important to sort of compartmentalize things and making sure that you're not procrastinating and the absolute essential tasks are being taken care of so that you're not distracted when you're with family or when you're at work.

Word of wisdom to his future self

Continue the hustle and not settle. Regardless of what I end up doing in my life, I think there is this constant deal of learning that I should never let go of. So, just keep hustling and keep learning.

Show Links: 

• LinkedIn Profile

Our guest today is Andrew Zellman, an Associate at McKinsey and Company. He is a graduate of the US Naval Academy and a former officer in the US Navy.

Andrew's passions include ultimate frisbee, climate, sustainability, and leveraging his technical background to drive impact and insights in his work.

In this episode, Andrew talks about how he ended up going to a service academy and his experiences as a US Navy officer. He also tells us why he decided to transition out of service, get an MBA, and pursue a career in consulting.

Words of Wisdom:

For people who would like to get into consulting

If you're intent on getting into consulting, you should know what you want to get out of it and make sure you actively work towards that. Make sure you advocate for yourself and your goals. I think that goes for life too, but especially consulting because if you're not diligent and kind of present-minded about it, it's really easy to get swept away.

For folks transitioning out of active duty or military service

Stay humble. There's going to be a lot of things you don't know. Asking for help can get you really far. Obviously, you have all the things that you have worked on to develop skill-wise, leadership-wise that are really important, but the onus is on you for articulating that to employers.

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile

This is a special episode about the women-led Iranian uprising following the murder of Mahsa Amini. We've intentionally distorted the voice of our guests to protect their privacy and safety, as they still have friends in Iran.

For those unfamiliar with what's happening in Iran, on September 13th, 2022, Mahsa Amini was arrested by an Iranian guidance patrol, also known as morality police, for not abiding by laws relating to her dress. Three days later, on September 16th, the police informed Mahsa's family that she had experienced heart failure and had fallen into a coma for two days before dying. She was 22 years old.

Numerous eyewitness accounts, including that of her own brother and other women who were arrested that day in the van with her, made clear that she was brutally beaten during her arrest. Leaked medical scans indicate that she had experienced a brain hemorrhage and a stroke. These are trauma-induced injuries, which ultimately led to her death.

In the days since, these details revealed mass public demonstrations have broken out across Iran, decrying Mahsa's senseless death.

Listen to this episode to better understand what life is like for a woman in Iran and why this uprising is such an important moment for Iran and women all over. Learn how you can offer your support in simple yet powerful ways.

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/onehaas/donations

Today we're joined by Elena Gomez, Chief Financial Officer of Toast, a cloud-based, end-to-end technology platform purpose-built for the entire restaurant community. Before Toast, she served as the Chief Financial Officer at Zendesk, where she helped scale the company to over 1 billion in annual revenues. Currently, she serves on the board at Haas School of Business and The Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco.

Elena talks about her origin story, rich culture, what inspired her to go into finance and accounting, and her vast career experience in different tech companies. She also shares why she is deeply passionate about and committed to advancing diversity and inclusion initiatives in the workplace. 

Episode Quotes:

One reason why being a Latina and a female is important to her in her career

“I was always looking up trying to see if there was someone that looked like me. And then I realized how important it was that, in fact, I had a responsibility to kick butt in the job, because I wanted to show them that, not only am I Latina and I'm a female, but I'm going to crush the job. I want to do really well for the next generation, so people can see that. Give us an opportunity and you'll see we're going to crush it.”

On getting a job that is aligned with your values

“It really helps you every day, because you're going to spend all this time working 14-hour days, 12-hour days, etc. And so, for me, the fact that we (Toast) could be in communities and, really, our mission-driven company to help small businesses really resonated with me. So, that alignment of your values with where you work, I think, is really powerful if you can find it.”

Show Links:

• LinkedIn

This episode is to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month. We're joined by Cristy Johnston Limon, a Bay Area native and a proud "double-bear," having earned an MBA from the Haas School of Business and a BA in Political Science. She most recently served as the Executive Director of the Center for Social Sector Leadership at Haas and launched her own social impact management consultancy called Proxima Partners, where she is currently serving as a principal. 

Today, Cristy shares her experiences growing up in a San Francisco immigrant community. She talks about going to UC Berkeley in college, eventually getting her MBA at Haas, and using it to scale her impact and advance her career. 

She also shares her involvement in community and economic development efforts, with her values aligned with building the beloved community from an equity and gender-based lens with a bias toward building solutions for the common good.

Episode Quotes:

What inspired her to focus on community and economic development efforts

"So much of what we do does stem from childhood experiences. And, for me, it was seeing this huge contrast between the neighborhood that I would commute to across town on the bus every day to go to school. At a very early age, I became very conscious of inequities. And I think that really helped to form my worldview and to question those inequities and to really try to think about how to close gaps so that other young people growing up in my community who were really smart, really talented, but just didn't have access to AP classes or arts program or after-school enrichment programs. It just seemed like it was a matter of justice and fairness. And I think that runs really deep in our family, this idea of justice."

On starting a nonprofit to support small businesses 

"I found it to be incredibly powerful to be able to help stabilize a small business owner. Because you're not just working with them, you're actually working with the entire family and the community that they employ. And I could see the power of supporting a small business owner. I worked directly with them to help them figure out how to purchase the property that their business was in, for example. And that's one pathway, is to start to stabilize and build assets and wealth, which we know is how so many folks are able to, in one or two generations, go from abject poverty to actually being homeowners and being able to affect generational transfers of wealth, which is how folks are building their family and their impact."

Why she pursued an MBA, and what she appreciates the most about the program

"My first inclination was that, maybe, I could benefit from a little more learning. There's so much that you know, but so much more that you don't know that you don't know. I'm really thankful for those folks in my community who've guided me along the way. When they see potential, they open doors. And I think that's what I appreciated most about the Haas MBA program. As soon as you're in, the whole world is open to you. It's an incredible way to just not meet people that, maybe, you wouldn't otherwise encounter, but really build relationships. It's not just about getting ahead or trying to advance your own work. It really is about getting to know folks and seeing what values you share, what aspirations you share. We have so much more in common than we don't. And so, for me, I think that was really one of the impacts of the program."

Being a student-always

"I really wanted to continue to learn. That's always been innate in my family. From a young age, my father was always instilling in us the need to pursue an education and to continue learning. Everyone says I'm a fast learner, but there's things that you really want to try to learn, like financing and marketing and great leadership. And those are the things that I just had never really had access to before."

On why she continues the fight against generations of marginalization and inequality

"In the 1980s, we saw a wave of Central American refugees who were fleeing ethnic genocide and cleansing from Central America. And here we are, 40 years later, seeing a very similar outpouring of people and these communities are here and getting adjusted to a new country, a new way of life. And that gives me hope. It means that there is an incoming generation of young people growing up in the United States seeing opportunities that they didn't have back home. It's why I work with young people. It's why I'm working in immigrant communities, because there's the ability to shape how these young people and their families are going to engage in a democratic society. It's why I'm working to make sure that they have their basic needs met, so that they can be involved in the political process. And so, that's how I stay inspired, just seeing, again, these new and growing communities across the country of folks who have the same values that we have. They believe in family. Many have a Christian or Catholic background and believe in God. And they pray. And they have this work ethic and this belief in supporting themselves and each other. They believe in education. We believe in higher education as another way to continue to build up and uplift our families and communities."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn Profile
• Proxima Partners

In this episode, our guest is Robert Paylor, a public speaker, and motivational leader, with the story of defining the odds and overcoming challenges. Robert shares his passion and purpose with others, which has allowed him to battle paralysis and achieve goals, no matter how daunting they may seem. 

Robert broke his neck in the 2017 Collegiate Rugby National Championship, and that accident instantly changed his life. He was told he would never walk or move his hands again. However, by shifting his mindset, he could walk again, do more, and be more. 

Robert took a leap of faith by turning down an offer from Intel to go into public speaking. He has embarked on a career as an inspirational speaker and has begun writing a book with the working title, “Paralyzed and Powerful.”

Episode Quotes:

On competing for Cal's rugby team

"It was a tremendous opportunity to compete for the rugby program and go to school at a place like Cal. But it was also a significant challenge. I really had a hard time wrapping my head around not being a starter or being a mediocre or a subpar student amongst all these very bright people from all across the world. But I knew that the challenge was going to be significant. And really, in rugby, I'm not the fastest person out there on the field, by any means. And in the classroom, I'm not the brightest person. But I thought I had a good work ethic that would help me to be able to balance those scales and hopefully give me an edge."

On making one of the biggest decisions in his life

"In my mind, I was thinking that the answer was made. I couldn't believe that this had happened to me, but it did happen. And I've got one life. And I'm not going to spend the rest of my life with a victim's mindset, always thinking about what was and not what is, and what could have been, but what can I do? I couldn't stay in that mindset. I just needed to know that I was going to give absolutely everything I had to get absolutely everything I could get. I could live the rest of my life in a wheelchair or completely paralyzed, and I'll be okay with that as long as I give it everything I have. So, I decided to go into the surgery, and I said my prayers. I said goodbye to my family. I got rolled into the operating room. I closed my eyes. And that concluded May 6th, 2017."

Being optimistic despite the challenges

"Sometimes we can just have a mountain of a task in front of us, or we can just have this cataclysmic failure or drop in our lives that we just experience. And it can seem like we're just helpless, that there's nothing that we can do. We always have the ability to keep moving forward. We always have the ability to react in a positive way, with optimism."

Robert's word of wisdom

“My go-to for this is to be grateful for every day and moment. It's the advice I would give myself if I could go back and talk to myself on May 6th, 2017. This injury has shown me that life is fragile and life is a gift, and we ought to treat our life like a gift, embrace it, be grateful for it, to have the joy of receiving that gift every day. There are going to be challenges that impact us in our lives. And we don't have any control over that. But regardless, we ought to always focus on the positive things we have in our lives. There's always somebody who has it worse, and that's important for us to realize as well, to maintain that perspective, both looking through our experiences and the experiences of others, and to help us have that gratitude, just to realize the immense great things we have in our lives and just to never forget it. And when we start feeling down, to try to control our mindsets and remember that."

Show Links:

• Robert on LinkedIn
• Robert's website

Today's guest is another Double Bear! John Dio is a product manager and business professional with experience helping scale venture-backed EV and ed-tech startups. At Haas, John has been part of the Consortium for Graduate Study of Management, The Graduate Assembly, Haas Consulting Club, and Q@Haas. 

John is originally from the Philippines. When he immigrated to the US, he faced plenty of challenges, including culture shock, bullying, and coping with being an undocumented student. It wasn't an easy journey, but he overcame them all.

In this episode, John shared his early beginnings, experiences as an undocumented immigrant, and attending college and pursuing an MBA. He also talked about his career in recruitment and pivoting into product management post-MBA. Finally, he shared insights on a couple of things he is passionate about - childcare shortage and women's reproductive rights.

Episode Quotes:

On standing up to bullies

"Every time they'd retort, I'd be like, so what? Whatever. And that took the power away from it. Once I didn't care, they no longer thought it was fun. If you take away the bully's power to affect you in that way, it's no longer fun for them."

On pivoting into product management

"Product management stood out to me because there is the aspect of delighting customers when solving their problems."

His biggest takeaway at Haas

"It's all about how you want to set your journey at Haas because you could do a lot of things and everything. However, it's really up to you to manage your time and what you want to get the most out of it. I wanted to work and apply what I'm learning in the startup setting and then build a community where I can focus on the few people, if not some people, that were going to add a lot of value to my Haas experience versus trying to meet everyone. And there has to be that intentionality that needs to be there to make it all work."

Show Links:

• LinkedIn
• Q@Haas