Owl Have You Know

By Rice BusinessSociety & Culture Business

Owl Have You Know episodes

March 26, 2025Striking the Right Chord feat. Shai Littlejohn '26
Rice Executive MBA student Shai Littlejohn is no stranger to reinvention. From law to music — and now, corporate counsel for one of the world’s most recognizable brands — she has built a career on embracing challenges and following her passions.
As director and corporate counsel for global supply chain & innovation at Starbucks, Shai recently spoke at Rice Business' annual Women in Leadership Conference about the evolving legal landscape in Texas.
After the panel, she sat down with Owl Have You Know co-host Brian Jackson ’21 to talk about her dynamic career path, the lessons she’s learned across industries, why she chose to pursue an Executive MBA at Rice and how she’s already applying insights from the program in her career.

Episode Guide:

00:51 Shai Littlejohn's Career Journey
03:14 Navigating Law and Music
04:38 Pursuing Music and Personal Fulfillment
09:36 Transition to Starbucks
11:30 Balancing an Executive MBA
15:09 Empowering Women in Business
16:35 Conclusion and Favorite Starbucks Order

Owl Have You Know is a production of Rice Business and is produced by University FM.

Episode Quotes:

On deciding what you want and going for it
[16:05] Brian Jackson: If you had a hope for one thing that the attendees today would take with them, what would that be?

[16:12] Shai Littlejohn: That they have to decide what they want and just go for it. You know, it's like—if the law doesn't... You can't look for laws necessarily to help you all the time or wait for the environment or timing to be right. We have talent that we can bring to the table. We have ideas, and nothing can stop that. We just have to keep putting them out there. You're not always going to get the reception you want, but that can't stop you from trying and going for it.

What Rice’s Women in Leadership Conference means to a woman in business
15:43: Being a woman in business is exciting, and attending this conference is truly invigorating because opportunities are all around us. No matter what’s happening in the world, we as women have immense potential and endless opportunities to pursue. This group is ready to seize them, and I’m thrilled to be a part of it.

What’s the biggest difference in working between oil and gas and coffee?
11:17: Corporate culture. Starbucks has a unique corporate culture, which I hope remains distinct because balancing culture with productivity is crucial. Many companies struggle to get that right, and striking that balance—work-life harmony alongside productivity—is very challenging.

Show Links:
Transcript
Guest Profiles:
Shai Littlejohn’s website
18 min
March 12, 2025Where Big Ideas Take Flight feat. Dr. Paul Cherukuri
A great idea is just the beginning. How do you turn it into something bigger?
Dr. Paul Cherukuri, Rice University's first vice president for innovation and chief innovation officer, works with academics and industry titans to remove roadblocks for budding entrepreneurs and help cement Houston and Rice as top hubs for innovation. Paul joins Owl Have You Know host Maya Pomroy ’22 to chat about how the Office of Innovation is paving the way for cutting-edge, world-changing ideas.
They also discuss The Ion, Rice’s Midtown hub for entrepreneurship, why Paul chose to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry at Rice, and his path to leading innovation at the university.

Episode Guide:
01:10 Dr. Cherukuri’s Journey to Rice
04:47 The Impact of Rice University
06:03 Building the Office of Innovation
08:33 Challenges and Opportunities in Innovation
12:52 Fostering Entrepreneurship at Rice
16:05 Exciting Student Projects
17:59 Small Business Innovation and Nexus Launch
18:50 The Ion: Houston's Innovation Hub
19:43 Building an Innovation Ecosystem
23:45 Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
28:42 The Exciting and Future Prospects on Rice’s Horizon

Owl Have You Know is a production of Rice Business and is produced by University FM.

Episode Quotes:

On empowering the entrepreneurial spirit and taking calculated risks
14:20: [Maya Pomroy] You've taken a lot of calculated risks in your life for things that you've done, and to translate that to others, how do you do that?
14:55:[Dr. Paul Cherukuri] There are some people who just naturally resonate with the idea of doing it, right? The entrepreneurial spirit is within them and it's active, right? Then there are some people who are sort of suppressed, repressed, who have always wanted to do it and weren't sure if that was allowed, right? Or if that was fostered for their career. And what we provide is the capability and also the inspiration that this is not only possible, it's welcomed. It's something that we actually want to promote, right?

The Ion represents Rice's ability to create a community for innovators
23:11: When you find your tribe, it's very, very different, and I think that The Ion represents that ability for us to concentrate people so they can meet each other. But then also provide resources, both with the corporates and the venture capitalists that are in the building.
And then we're bringing in government and others to really kind of subsidize things and help us grow these companies, and then not only the companies, but grow the community. And that's what The Ion represents, right? So it is, I think, a magical place in many ways. If you go in there, there is an energy. There's a buzz that has happened now.

How Houston's lack of zoning laws fuels growth and connection
21:41: One of the beautiful things I think about Houston is we get dinged for not having zoning laws, but I actually think it's a great thing. And it has allowed us to economically grow, thrive, and expand the city. The problem with the expansion of the city is people density, right? So how do you get people to be right next to each other? Because that's when things start to magically happen, right? You got to get close to others.

Show Links:
Transcript

Guest Profiles:
Paul Cherukuri | Rice Business
33 min
February 26, 2025Fixing Healthcare, One Bottleneck at a Time feat. Professor Tolga Tezcan
Have you ever wondered why the wait times in emergency rooms are so long? Or what dictates the cost of healthcare and it seems so high?
Professor Tolga Tezcan has studied healthcare systems around the globe, collaborating with hospitals and researching questions involving access and business operations. He has continued that work at Rice University and teaches courses on operations management, business analytics, and data mining.

Owl Have You Know host Maya Pomroy ’22 sits down with Tolga to chat about his course on operations management, the inefficiencies and bottlenecks healthcare systems face, and his research on innovations in healthcare delivery.

Episode Guide:
00:22 Meet Professor Tolga Tezcan
01:36 Understanding Operations Management
05:00 Journey into Healthcare Operations
08:13 Challenges in Healthcare Systems
11:43 Innovative Research and Solutions
21:28 Future of Healthcare and AI
34:24 Teaching and Student Engagement
35:46 Life at Rice University
38:03 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Owl Have You Know is a production of Rice Business and is produced by University FM.

Episode Quotes:

How Professor Tolga’s research is using financial incentives to improve healthcare
11:44 [Maya Pomroy]: So tell me about your research. What were the bigger questions? This is exciting because I want to know how it's all going to be fixed and magnificent and, you know, like, this is really—no, I mean, it's because healthcare is just crucial, and it's really integral for all parts of our society—not only the economy but for a healthy society and for everything else.
And in order to be the leader of the free world, you need a healthy society. So yes, I'm very excited to hear about your research.
15:46 [Professor Tolga Tezcan]: So, my research in general—what I try to answer is, okay, we have this best system. How do we coordinate it better? How do we make sure they're connected better? And usually, you do that, at least—I mean, from a business point of view, looking at it as a business—it's with financial incentives. So I try to figure out the best incentives to give so that everybody acts like they're doing the best for the patient.

What are the biggest opportunities for AI in healthcare innovation?
22:12: When you talk about healthcare, there are many different aspects to discuss. And when I talk about AI, it's not the business side that's going to change first; it's going to change the medical delivery side of it, just like any other business. And for us, for example, it makes a lot of things a lot easier to do: writing an email, sometimes checking or editing a document, and so on and so forth. And just like that, I think the first step would be when you're making medical decisions; it will increase the—I shouldn't say accuracy—but it will increase at least the efficiency of doctors making that decision because now you have a second opinion right there at your fingertips. I think that's what's going to change first.

What Professor Tolga Enjoys most about teaching in the Rice community
34:45: I want to believe that my course is an eye-opening experience for everybody, seeing the strategic role operations play. And I love the conversations I have. I mean, multiple times I have conversations with people who come from operations and tell me, "Oh, I've never thought about these issues this way," or people come in with no background and say, "Oh, you know, I've never thought this was something that plays such an important role." It's a challenge because a lot of things in operations change, just like anything else.

Show Links:
Transcript

Guest Profiles:
Tolga Tezcan | Rice Business
37 min
February 12, 2025Transforming Everyday Products feat. Tanu Grewal ’05
Tanu Grewal ’05 knows that you can learn a lot about a person’s buying habits based on what brands are in their cabinets at home.
Tanu is a global marketing leader. In her roles at Coca-Cola, Whirlpool, and Kohler, she helped revolutionize iconic products used by millions of consumers in their homes everyday. She has continued this work as the Vice President of Marketing at AlEn, a Proctor & Gamble-like company with products in 95% of households in Mexico.

In his debut episode as the new co-host of Owl Have You Know, Brian Jackson ’21 sits down with Tanu to chat about her early marketing days at Coca-Cola in India, the strategies she gained from Whirlpool for understanding consumer behavior, and how she’s innovating at AlEn for different markets in the U.S. and Mexico.
Episode Guide:
01:02 Early Career and First Internship at Coca-Cola
02:23 Cultural Insights and Marketing Challenges in India
05:00 Navigating Global Markets: Europe, Middle East, and Africa
07:14 Understanding the American Consumer
09:36 Revitalizing Iconic Brands: Whirlpool and Maytag
13:14 Innovative Strategies in a Crowded Market
16:26 Adapting Products for the U.S. Market
18:58 Agile Innovation at AlEn USA
20:46 The Journey of ‘Art of Green'
23:21 Navigating COVID Challenges
26:03 The Rice MBA Experience
29:30 Commitment to Community and Diversity
37:40 Future Aspirations at AlEn

Owl Have You Know is a production of Rice Business and is produced by University FM.

Episode Quotes:

How lived experiences shape true diversity
32:18: I think true diversity is from your lived experiences. You can be, you know, whatever demographic, but even within that, your lived experiences can really make you a very diverse person because you have a certain way of looking at the world that your neighbor doesn't, right?
And so, that to me is diversity, because you can then look at the same problem and think about solving it very differently. And I have seen it in action, Brian, in every continent. And it always, always amazes me how five people looking at the same slide can interpret it so differently because how they've grown up, what they've, you know, what experiences have shaped their lives.

Tanu’s approach to navigating multi-cultural markets
06:30: Back in India, my dad was in the army. We moved around a lot, so I had the opportunity to really immerse myself in different cultures and have the ability to talk to different people, so I think that's what it is. And even when I went for my expat assignment, I was managing 33 countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. And the first thing I said was, I need to understand people. So we went out and did focus groups in different cities to really understand what the brand means to someone in France, or somebody in Germany, or in Israel. And really, you know, I would recommend every marketer to really study. And once you get an understanding, don't just stop there. Keep doing this, right? Because people change, people evolve, and things around the people evolve. And I think the pace of change, if anything, has just kind of 10xed, right? So, that's kind of my secret sauce.

On gratitude, growth and giving back
35:27: I really do think I've been extremely fortunate in a lot of things. You know, I grew up in India as a girl. My dad was like a feminist, way ahead of his time. I mean, just a man... I mean, we lost him a couple of years ago, but I mean, I always think about, am I going to be able to do that for my child, right? Be that progressive and all of that. And then, you know, getting the opportunity to come here, go to Rice, work in all the fabulous companies I have, lived in all these different countries. Sometimes, when I sit and think about it, I'm like, man, yeah. I have got to be thankful for all this, and then I have to give back, right? I have to help other people because that's just what you do. And I derive a lot of joy from giving back and from helping other people.

Show Links:
Transcript

Guest Profiles:
Tanu Grewal | Rice Business
40 min
January 29, 2025Remembering Scott Gale '19
In this episode, we pay tribute to our dear friend, colleague and co-host of the Owl Have You Know podcast, Scott Gale '19.

Join us as we revisit some of Scott’s favorite episodes and hear from the Rice community about Scott’s lasting impact.

Owl Have You Know is a production of Rice Business and is produced by University FM.

Show Links:
Transcript

Episodes mentioned in the show:
Corporate Innovation feat. Scott Gale '19
Generations of Rice Grads feat. Chuck Yates '94
A Commitment to Community Brought Our Provost to Rice feat. Amy Dittmar
The Misconception of Constructive Conflict feat. Professor Daan van Knippenberg
The Tools For Strong Leadership Are Right In Front of You. feat. Ruth Oh Reitmeier and Brent Smith

Guest Profiles:
Scott Gale | Rice University
Scott Gale | Obituary
27 min
January 22, 2025Shaping The Future of Energy Infrastructure feat. Andrea Edmundson Bryan ’20
Andrea Edmundson Bryan wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted to do with her liberal arts undergrad degree. But one thing she did know? She had a strong curiosity to learn more about the business world.

To Andrea's surprise, this curiosity led her to a career in oil and gas and an MBA at Rice University. Andrea is now the Chief Administrative Officer at Race Rock, a Houston-based manufacturer of critical infrastructure products for the energy sector with a mission to provide safe passage for people and power.

Andrea joins host Maya Pomroy ’22 to chat about Race Rock's diverse work that’s shaping the future of energy infrastructure, her journey from a liberal arts degree from TCU to an MBA at Rice, her family’s deep Texas roots, and the lasting impact her MBA has had on her career and life.

Episode Guide:
00:43 Career Journey: From Oil and Gas to Infrastructure
02:07 Houston Roots and Educational Background
05:06 The Bryan Museum and Texas History
06:46 Teaching English in Malaysia
12:23 Starting Race Rock and Business Insights
15:57 The Exponential Growth of Racerock
17:22 Navigating the Pandemic and Wedding Plans
18:28 The Rice MBA Experience
21:06 Board Fellows Program and Nonprofit Involvement
24:01 Innovations in Highway Infrastructure
27:11 Advice for Aspiring MBA Students and Final Thoughts

Owl Have You Know is a production of Rice Business and is produced by University FM.

Episode Quotes:

Andrea's vision for safe passage in highway infrastructure
24:06 [Maya Pomroy]: There's definitely big shifts in energy and technology right now. And you're, sort of, at the forefront of that with Race Rock. So, tell me about the kind of work that you're doing now, and what you're the most looking forward to, and how your company is going to continue to grow.
24:25 [Andrea Edmundson Bryan]: I mean, there's so many, you know, big and exciting things going on. I think in, you know, in the highway infrastructure space and the arena that we play in, you know, steel manufacturing and galvanizing, there's just, there's always room for improvement, right? Everyone drives down the street, everyone drives on highways, and you see the structures that hold the signs on freeways, and they're just there until—and they're there until you need them, right? And the guardrails along the highway that protect you if you get into an accident. We really pride ourselves on, you know, providing safe passage for people in power. That's our, kind of, motto and what we hold on to.

Why Andrea sees an MBA as a lifelong tool for growth
27:51: People ask me, why go get an MBA? There's a lot of argument of, like, is that necessary? And to me, I think it's multifaceted, but going through something hard and challenging like that, it's always a good thing to learn something new, challenge yourself, do something difficult, and come out at the other end of that. I think that's important on a human level, on giving yourself purpose, challenging yourself, and constantly learning. I fully believe in doing that and cultivating yourself as an individual at all times. And then also, for me, the big factor is, I always wanted that tool in my toolkit. So, I can't tell you what's going to happen tomorrow. I can't tell you what's going to happen next year, what my life's going to look like, what pivots or tracks will happen, but I will always have this in my toolkit. An MBA from Rice will always be mine.

On why Andrea always recommends the Rice MBA
19:43: Just like my TCU experience, I wish that on everyone else—that when they think about doing an MBA program, they have the experience I had at Rice, which was phenomenal. It was great. Everything about it—professors, faculty, atmosphere, culture, social—everything about it was awesome. And I continue to show that to people in my kind of involvement with Rice since graduation that I feel really passionate and strongly about, and giving back. I'm always the first person if someone reaches out and says, "Hey, I have somebody that's thinking about an MBA." I'm like, "Let me talk to him. I'll talk to him. Let me talk to him."

Show Links:
Transcript

Guest Profiles:
Andrea Edmundson Bryan | Rice Business
Race Rock Group
The Bryan Museum
31 min
January 08, 2025AI Is Making Us Better Problem Solvers feat. Professor Jaeyeon Chung
How is AI enhancing our creativity and problem solving and how does that compare to other digital tools we use everyday, like search engines?
Through controlled lab experiments and field studies, William S. Mackey Jr. Distinguished Assistant Professor Jaeyeon (Jae) Chung spends her time at Rice Business researching questions just like that. Her recent work focuses on the groundbreaking innovations and psychological implications of AI’s growing role in our lives.

Jae joins host Maya Pomroy ’22 to chat about her journey from psychology to AI, her recent study on generative AI’s effectiveness in assisting human creativity, and her research that delves into how misinformation is spread through platforms like YouTube.

Episode Guide:
01:35 Journey from Psychology to AI
04:20 Academic and Professional Achievements
06:44 Why Rice University?
08:40 Teaching and Research at Rice
12:47 Exploring ChatGPT's Creativity
17:43 AI's Role in Empathy and Innovation
21:42 Concerns and Regulations Around AI
27:50 YouTube and Misinformation
34:05 Future Research and Projects

Owl Have You Know is a production of Rice Business and is produced by University FM.

Episode Quotes:

Exploring Jaeyeon's recent study on AI and creativity
13:21: [Maya] You did a recent study about ChatGPT as a powerful tool for enhancing everyday creativity and problem-solving. So can you walk me through that experiment that you ran and through your study and your findings on that?
13:59: [Jaeyeon Chung] So, my curiosity stemmed from the fact that GPT may perform better than Google or human in subjective tasks. It seemed quite obvious that it does a great role, a great, great job in solving math problems or writing code, but would it be superior when it does a very subjective test, which is perceived as completely human? And that was the creativity test that a lot of people have been saying is a unique territory of humans that no machines can replace.

14:17: [Maya] With empathy. Empathy was one of the emotions that you studied, yes?

14:21: [Jaeyeon Chung] Right, right. And I was trying to challenge that assumption, and that's how I started to run a different set of experiments.

How Rice supports junior faculty with research funding
07:06: Rice has a great opportunity that the school is providing to junior faculty members for sure. I mean, as a person who has always been looking for, like, the best, Rice offers one of the best packages that all the scholars prefer to get in terms of the research funding. It's the research budget that they're really fully supportive of. So, for me, I'm running a lot of experiments; let's say that I pay $2 for a 10-minute survey. It's a very small amount of money, but if you are getting 2,000 participants to write a paper, that becomes a whole lot of money that I can't just like get from my own pocket. And the school needs to support that, but a lot of other schools required for a high-standard research without providing the adequate support, and Rice is the school that really provides all these detailed steps, and they really protect the junior faculty members to focus on what they're interested in.

Why mastering AI tools matters more than fearing replacement
27:06: I think understanding a broader aspect of how the industry works is critical for humans to fully have control over GPT and to use it as a tool to develop their careers further rather than replacing it here or there. So you shouldn't be worried about yourself being replaced by AI, but you should be worried about losing a job because of a person who better uses AI.

Show Links:
Transcript

Guest Profiles:
Jaeyeon Chung | Rice Business
38 min
December 11, 2024Three Lessons to Live By feat. Mindy Smith ’13
It takes grit for a history major to walk into a job fair for business students and convince the rep from Kraft Foods that she’s the right person for the position. But that’s exactly what our guest, Mindy Smith '13 did.
Landing that job with Kraft spring-boarded Mindy into a marketing and sales career where she held positions with companies like Coke and now Shell. Currently, Mindy is a global strategy leader for Shell’s Mobility business, and is responsible for brand standards at more than 47,000 retail sites worldwide.
Mindy joins host Maya Pomroy ’22 to chat about her career-defining pivots, the importance of being bold, critical insights she’s learned at Shell and why she decided to get her MBA after an already successful career journey.

Episode Guide:
02:00 Career Beginnings and Early Jobs
03:22 Landing a Job at Kraft Foods
06:19 Insights from Working at Kraft
15:11 Transition to Coke
19:33 Joining Shell and Pursuing an MBA
23:57 The Steamroller Persona
24:54 Navigating Organizational Changes
27:58 New Role at Shell
29:00 Managing Global Insights
31:09 Customer Experience and Competition
35:45 Rice University’s Lasting Impact
41:58 Final Thoughts and Lessons

Owl Have You Know is a production of Rice Business and is produced by University FM.

Episode Quotes:

Networking is about learning, not just opportunities
35:31: Rice was such an important part of my life. And as I mentioned earlier, I still take a lot of the learnings and use them daily in my work. And one of the things that I really appreciated about Rice was going back to network, going back to hearing others’ perspectives and how they handle things. And when I was there, I loved hearing from people who had already graduated…[38:07] One of the things I did throughout was connect with alumni whenever I had the opportunity at different events. And even now, I love to hear people's stories, and I like to hear what people do, and I like to hear, you know, quite honestly, they’ll ask me questions sometimes that then get me thinking about things. And it's great to have that interaction. And, you know, people talk about network all the time in the sense of using your network if you're looking for a job or things like that. For me, it's really—it's the learning.

Life isn’t a straight line—embrace the curveballs
41:44: Whether it’s your life or your career, it’s not a straight line, and you can’t plan it out. I was just saying this to my sister-in-law: You can be the best planner. You can have every little detail planned out. Life is always going to throw you curveballs, and how you react to those curveballs—have the courage and overcome the fear—because some of those curveballs end up being amazing opportunities. Even though they might not have been in your original plans, that’s definitely one. Number two would be to always be curious. One of the things that I think I have benefited from is that I’m not afraid to ask a lot of questions. Sometimes that can annoy people, or sometimes I do worry that if—especially if it’s someone senior—they might see it as, you know, just, “Why is she asking so many questions?” But you know what? That’s how you learn. Be curious, though, and learn new things.

On the formula of success in a big company
26:29: I've always had a formula. Even 20 years ago, when I had an actual office, I had on my board the formula for success in a big company: 60 percent your network, 20 percent actual work, and 20 percent perception. And I’ll tell you, one of the things with what’s been going on lately, I've been telling people I might change my formula to 50 percent network and 50 percent perception because, absolutely, in a time like this—where people who might not know you are making decisions about your future with the company—not only the network, but the perception, is big. So, more important than ever in times like this, it pays off.

Show Links:
Transcript

Guest Profiles:
Mindy Smith | Rice Business
45 min
November 27, 2024Pivoting with Purpose feat. Will Eldridge '17
Owl Have You Know is pleased to welcome Twice-Rice grad Will Eldridge – a consultant at Bain & Company and the president-elect of the Rice Business Alumni Association Board.
Will earned his Bachelor of Science in Civil & Environmental Engineering at Rice in 2017. But after an unforgettable experience in MAcc program director Ben Lansford’s class, he decided to pivot to accounting. Will went on to work at Deloitte as a senior auditor for oil and gas clients, before deciding to go back to school again for his MBA at Chicago Booth.
Will chats with Owl Have You Know guest host Brian Jackson '21 about his path from accounting to strategy consulting, the importance of mentorship, and why board service has given him a way to give back to his community in fulfilling ways.

Episode Guide:
00:53 Will's Favorite Career Pivot
02:00 Impact of Ben Lansford
03:22 Choosing Rice and Career Path
05:05 Experience at Deloitte
08:11 Transition to Consulting
09:46 Volunteering and Alumni Networks
15:30 Consulting Challenges and Skills
18:10 Personal Background and French Heritage
20:39 Commitment to Rice Business
23:33 Advice for Future Business Students
25:01 Classic Cocktails and Conclusion

Owl Have You Know is a production of Rice Business and is produced by University FM.

Episode Quotes:

Ben Lansford and MAcc program’s impact in Will’s journey from engineering to accounting
01:48: [Brian Jackson]: Tell me about Ben Lansford. What type of impact did he have on you? Are there any memories from your time in the program that really stick out?
01:56: [Will Eldridge]: Yeah, of course. Ben is this amazing dad figure for a lot of us who found our way to the MAcc. I say that because he has these great dad jokes, but he also helps a lot of people find their way and is someone who has made accounting, which gets a bad rap in a lot of circles, you know, the favorite class that some people take. [02:26] And, you know, when they announced bringing this program back to Rice, there were no current or former students to speak to, but Ben Lansford had been hired. And I got coffee with him, I remember, and started talking about the program, the opportunities. And it was just a great connection that I know he's made with a lot of the students going through the program, and he really helped me understand how I could marry my current background with a master's degree in accounting and make that transition despite having not lot of accounting experience yet and gave me that confidence to make the transition.

After realizing that accounting wasn't his long-term goal, Will pivoted to strategy consulting.
I figured that I loved the client service aspect of the job I was in. I, at some point, figured out the accounting and financial reporting path wasn't what I wanted to do long term, but I wanted to stay in client service. Did some exploring, I actually circled back to the Center for Career Development at Rice, reaching out to them to talk about different paths to explore and spoke to some other alums. Figured out I wanted to go into strategy consulting, so, a bit more of results-oriented work in some ways but keeping that analysis piece that I had learned as an auditor when we're looking at trends. And with that, I figured out the best way to do that would be to go to business school to set myself up for that recruiting process and eventuality.

The power of empathy in consulting
19:10: [Brian Jackson]: What skills do you really draw upon to buy that credibility with your clients?
19:16: [Will Eldridge]: For one, approaching whatever you're presenting to them with a mindset of context reset, you're deep in the details, and it's hard to sometimes pull up and look at the work that you're presenting and remember the limited context that your client might have and how much else they have going on. So, there's definitely a level of empathizing that is really critical. And so, to put yourself in their shoes and think, you know, what are they coming at this from? What do they care about? What do they need to get out of this? And what is the one or two things they should take away from this conversation is a good frame of mind to take.

Show Links:
Transcript

Guest Profiles:
Will Eldridge | Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University
Brian Jackson | Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University
27 min
November 13, 2024Keep a Founder’s Mentality feat. Dan Tinker ’04
How do you take a business from bankruptcy to an $18 billion acquisition?
Today’s guest is Dan Tinker, CEO and President of SRS Distribution and Rice Business alum. When Dan took over SRS, the company was bankrupt. But under his steadfast and visionary leadership, SRS profits grew rapidly over 16 years, culminating in an acquisition deal with Home Depot for $18.25 billion – the largest acquisition in Home Depot’s history.

Dan joins host Maya Pomroy ’22 to chat about the major deal and how it’s turned many of his frontline employees into millionaires. The pair also discuss Dan’s decision to pursue a Rice MBA at 26, his philosophy around leadership, and his passion for philanthropy and supporting veterans.

Episode Guide:
01:24 Journey to SRS Distribution
04:02 Early Career Challenges and Successes
07:04 Leadership Philosophy and Team Building
10:14 Pursuing an MBA at Rice
13:37 Building SRS and Private Equity Insights
16:08 Acquisition by Home Depot
19:52 Navigating Culture Integration
23:23 Crucial Leadership Skills
30:09 Philanthropy and Giving Back
34:52 Future Plans and Aspirations
Owl Have You Know is a production of Rice Business and is produced by University FM.

Episode Quotes:

How redefining risk helped Dan make better business decisions
28:21: I had a great professor at Rice tell me the definition of profit is the reward a company deserves for taking risks. That’s the best definition of profit I’ve ever heard, and that stuck with me. And so, risk doesn’t mean risk in the sense of, like, I’m doing something risky. It just means doing new things, trying different things to find different ways to accelerate the growth of the company. But it’s a bias to action is what, really, it means. Let’s move forward, and let’s not get stuck in Groundhog Day and monotonous work. [28:59]: Let’s try to push and expand in different ways all the time. Growth fuels promotions and internal growth, and it has a way of building on itself and building snowballing momentum that people just get caught up with the energy, and it’s contagious, which is super powerful.

On having the ability to ignore things that don’t move the needle
24:07: The skill that I wouldn't have guessed coming out of business school, that I think I've gotten honed in, and it served me very, very well, is I think I have a really good ability to ignore the things that don't move the needle. I mean, being a CEO and being in charge of everything, the whole enterprise, you have to know what's your highest and best use of your time. And I've always been able to really stick to the strong points, that I had a good understanding of what's going to drive shareholder value creation, what's going to drive customer wins, what's going to drive supplier partnerships, what's going to drive growth.

How private equity fueled SRS's remarkable growth
12:49: Private equity gets a bad rap in a lot of worlds, and it's so unwarranted, in my opinion. Where else in the world can you just dream up an idea, build a team, go to a private equity partner if you don't have capital or come from a rich family, and go borrow the money or have them infuse your capital in your business to sell part of the company, and then they provide you enough capital to get as big as you could possibly be successfully? And we've done that. We started SRS with only 12 million dollars and bought the company SRS out of bankruptcy for 12 million dollars. The company we just sold to for $ 18.25 billion, we paid only 12 million dollars for just 16 years ago. And then made that much wealth creation because we had different great private equity sponsors for about five-year runs in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd phases. So, I'm a big proponent of private equity.

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Guest Profiles:
Dan Tinker | SRS Distribution
41 min

About Owl Have You Know

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Owl Have You Know is Rice Business’ podcast created to share the experiences of alumni, faculty, students and other members of our business community – real stories of belonging, failing, rebounding and, ultimately, succeeding. During meaningful conversations, we dive deep into how each guest has built success through troubles and triumphs before, during and after they set foot in McNair Hall.

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