OneSky

Kevin Ortiz is a dreamer: He's a DREAMer, but he's also driven by a sense of purpose to inspire other and build better communities. In this episode of One Sky, Kevin discusses his sueñitos (little dreams), as well as how he strives to live in the moment – which includes 9 a.m. soccer games and the late night salsa dancing with his MBA classmates.

While most first-years are juggling the academic rigor of the Core and the networking and prep of recruiting, Claire Barnett also navigates the challenges of starting a new club: the Carolina Disability Alliance. As Founder and President, she serves as not only a self-advocate but an activist. In this episode of OneSky, Claire proves that it's never too early to think about leaving your heelprint.

A former Army Infantry Officer, Brady Powell knew he wanted to get an MBA after he decommissioned. But first – he spent 18 months traveling through Central and South America in a self converted 1995 Ford E-150 van. In this episode of One Sky, Brady shares how he's leveraging his time in business school to explore new paths while remaining true to his mission-oriented values.

The class of 2021 is about to embark on the next chapter of their lives. In this final episode of season 1, hosts Rhian Carreker-Ford and Meredith Tozzer interview fellow members of the class of 2021 to hear their greatest accomplishments, favorite moments and other reflections on their time at Kenan-Flagler.

Stay tuned for season 2 launching this Fall! 

Terrified of being on her death wondering why she didn't start her company, Becca Jordan Wright turned down a full time offer and launched Piedmont Pennies. In this episode of One Sky, Becca discusses the support she received from her classmates, professors and alumni in her personal venture, as well as in her role leading Carolina Women in Business – all while navigating a global pandemic. 

Robert Ejupi hasn't had a typical MBA experience. Knowing he wanted to return to scale his family business, he forwent the traditional recruiting path, and when COVID-19 shut down the borders, he swapped his ticket to Mexico for his home in Prishtina, Kosovo. In this episode of One Sky, Robert shares how he takes classes at night and applies them the next morning, enabling him to grow his retail sportswear company and diversify with Black Bird Marketing.

One of the first faculty new students meet, Adam Mersereau discusses how he blends statistics, dad jokes and surprises to keep students engaged. In this episode, he also shared his research using big data on brick and mortar retail, his secrets to teaching and his (irrational) fear he may get replaced by the animated Adam used in his async videos.

With a background in linguistics and working as an interpreter, Sally Rattanaburee decided to pursue an MBA after realizing she didn't want to be a mouthpiece for other people's ideas. In this episode, Sally shares her journey from Thailand to Chapel Hill and how she learned about herself while navigating on-campus recruiting. 

Originally from Trinidad and Tobago (by way of Washington, DC), Je’nique Harewood came to Kenan-Flagler to pivot from wealth management into product marketing. In this episode, Je’nique shares how her desire to have formalized space for Black students led her to start a Black Business Student Association on campus.

A North Carolina native, Jordan Centry decided to return to business school to transition from finance into marketing and entrepreneurship. In this episode of OneSky, Jordan shares what being MBA Student Association President actually entails and how he moonlighted as a stand-up comic.