Faces of Leeds

Erick Mueller (MBA’99)

Jane Majkiewicz — Wed, 26 Mar 2025 15:00:00 +0000

Erick Mueller (MBA’99) Jane Majkiewicz Wed, 03/26/2025 - 09:00

Jane Majkiewicz

Executive Director, Deming Center for Entrepreneurship

When Leeds spoke with Erick Mueller in 2022 (see previous article below), he was recalibrating after returning from solo teaching a weekend entrepreneurship workshop in Hayden, Colorado.

Fast-forward three years, and the Deming Center is still thriving under Mueller’s leadership. The Rural Colorado Workshop Series is now in its 11th year and has helped more than 800 rural and Native American entrepreneurs start and grow ventures. In 2024, the program earned the Excellence in Specialty Entrepreneurship Education award—the Deming Center’s third honor from the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers (GCEC).

Despite Mueller’s unfaltering pace, his office remains a calming, welcoming space, with his therapy dogs, Khaya and Auggie, greeting guests. The center’s “mighty team” of three staff members organizes programs, events, speakers, workshops and mentorships that have a far-reaching impact on entrepreneurship at Leeds, CU ��Vlog�ƽ��, Colorado and beyond.

The influence of programs like Entrepreneurship and Empowerment in South Africa (EESA), which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, continues to amaze Mueller.

One of many success stories is Peter Wanberg, who drew inspiration from EESA to create Jubilee Roasting Company and City Park Farmers Market. “He was inspired in South Africa to see how a company can be mission-driven,” Mueller said. “Peter worked extra hard to find sustainable resources—going to South America—and he has really built a purpose-driven coffee business.”

Strengthening entrepreneurial leadership

With a strong startup culture at CU, the Deming Center has positioned Leeds as a leader in entrepreneurship and innovation. This year, Mueller joined the GCEC board, a role he believes will benefit CU ��Vlog�ƽ��, Colorado and the broader global entrepreneurial ecosystem.

“It really is a ‘high tide raises all boats organization,’” he explained. “We’re in the business of changing lives,” he emphasized, noting that it’s about collaboration more than competition. A prime example is Deming’s Buffs with a Brand, a first-of-its-kind program for student-athletes, a model that Mueller has shared with other colleges, including Eastern Michigan University and UCLA, to create similar initiatives.

“We’re in the business of changing lives.”

Erick Mueller (MBA’99)

Applied learning

Mueller brings real-world experience to the center, having been an angel investor, business entrepreneur, and co-founder of Funovation, a company specializing in interactive attractions with over 600 locations in 33 countries. Though no longer in an operational role, he is still engaged in strategy and relationship building.

“I have always appreciated how lucky our students are,” he said. “They have faculty in entrepreneurship with a mix of thought leaders focused on research and practitioners who have been there, done that, had successes and failures, and everything in between.”

Sharing this knowledge, he added, is “really, really, really fun.”

Pioneering new programs

This year, the Deming Center introduced the Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) program, responding to student demand—particularly among MBA students—and to address the upcoming transition of millions of Baby Boomer-owned businesses, what’s being referred to as the “silver tsunami."

“We want to help society transition these businesses well,” Mueller said, emphasizing the risk of losing jobs and services. The ETA program, the first of its kind in the Rocky Mountain region, launched with a course and speaker series, with a conference in the works.

Additionally, the Founders Program, launching this September, will provide recent Leeds alumni with continued support to scale their ventures post-graduation.

Embracing change and opportunity

Mueller champions resilience in entrepreneurship. “We are one of the best countries that can put failure into context,” he believes, as the very foundation of America is based on experimentation.

For him, the entrepreneurial mindset is the best mindset to be able to navigate these turbulent times. “You know how to adjust to change, problem solve, and look at solutions innovatively … If everyone is looking at doom and gloom, who is looking at the opportunities that can emerge because of all this change?”

Entrepreneurs.

As the father of two teenagers, Mueller shares his optimism at home as he marvels watching his children’s lives unfold.

“You just love them, support them, high-five them and say, ‘I’ve got your back.’”

Just like what he does every day at Leeds—with students, colleagues and the entire entrepreneurial community. As the center continues its forward trajectory, Mueller’s steadfast dedication remains—to be of service.

Faces of Leeds: Erick Mueller (published December 2022)

Even Erick Mueller’s therapy dogs seem able to sense how tired he is this Monday afternoon.

Mueller has just returned from solo teaching a rural entrepreneurship workshop in Hayden all weekend—one way he volunteers to help budding founders—and is about to attend a reception for Buffs With a Brand, the initiative the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship created to help student-athletes market themselves in the age of NIL.

Perhaps out of respect, or just being tired themselves, his two English retrievers, Khaya and Auggie, are resting quietly under his desk.

But once he starts talking about his favorite subject, Mueller quickly gets his second wind.

“Entrepreneurship is an amazing platform,” he said. “It’s pretty special to know you’ve helped change the trajectory of someone’s life in a positive way, whether it’s employing someone in a business or giving a student the tools and knowledge to help them on their journey. It keeps me coming back for more.”

Mueller has been with Leeds since joining as an adjunct professor in 2003, but even as he rose through the ranks of the Deming Center, he remained a founder. He’s created five businesses and remains co-founder and chairman of Funovation, which specializes in developing fun attractions that, as he put it, remind the world to play.

“I’m a firm believer that our faculty should be doing what they teach,” he said. “I get to teach what I do and do what I teach. That delivers that much more of an impactful, practical, tangible learning experience.”

Entrepreneurship for all

Something he emphasizes in his teaching is that entrepreneurship is not just for people who want to start a company.

“Entrepreneurship is not starting a business—it’s a way of thinking that you can use at a big or small company,” he said. “We help people by giving them the tools, programming and classes to go as far down the path as they want.”

The opportunity to help create impact is what excites Mueller about his work.

“The word I use a lot is unleash—our work at the center unleashes the entrepreneurial excitement in everybody,” Mueller said. “It’s amazing to see the light bulb go on for someone who starts by saying, ‘I can’t do it,’ and then they leave by saying ‘I can do this, I have the tools to do it and I’m inspired to do it.’”

You won’t hear him use the word “unleashed” when he talks about his other avenue to create impact. After his mother died while he was young, Mueller and his siblings got a puppy, Tippy Tail, “and to an extent, she saved my life,” he said. “Having the unconditional love of a puppy when you’re a teenager, dealing with angst—it was a tough time.”

“It’s pretty special to know you’ve helped change the trajectory of someone’s life in a positive way, whether it’s employing someone in a business or giving a student the tools and knowledge to help them on their journey.”

Erick Mueller (MBA’99)

That firsthand experience with an animal’s power to heal left a deep impression. In his early 30s, he adopted a pair of dogs, Max and Pula, who became mainstays in children’s hospitals and, especially, retirement homes. He’s continuing that tradition with Auggie and Khaya, both recently certified as therapy animals.

“For me, it all comes back to impact,” Mueller said. “My journey has been about being of service—whether with puppies, as teacher, a founder, a dad or a community member. I feel very blessed to give back to others.”

As executive director of the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship, Erick Mueller is a champion of an entrepreneurial mindset and driving innovation on the global business stage.

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Liu Liu

Jane Majkiewicz — Thu, 13 Mar 2025 16:21:01 +0000

Liu Liu Jane Majkiewicz Thu, 03/13/2025 - 10:21

Jane Majkiewicz

When Assistant Professor of Marketing Liu Liu began teaching Modern Artificial Intelligence: Introduction to AI for Business in the spring of 2022, she didn’t anticipate having to update the curriculum almost immediately. But with the whirlwind of advances in Generative AI, large language models and deep learning (see “The Vocabulary of AI”), course adaptations are a regular requirement.

Despite those “big technological jumps,” as Liu describes them, her love of teaching and mentoring remains constant. She finds the ability to make an impact on students’ lives at a critical stage of their growth—when they are curious and exploring opportunities and possibilities—incredibly rewarding.

“I am also very passionate about sharing the knowledge that I have in the most intuitive way,” she said.

Liu also values the continuous learning and intellectual freedom afforded by academic research. It allows her to “choose what topics to pursue and really dive deep into them.”

Connecting AI to business strategy

Liu was the first faculty member at Leeds to have a course fully dedicated to bridging AI and business—a program so impactful that even non-Leeds students at CU reach out expressing interest in enrolling. Today, Leeds offers more than 45 AI-infused courses. Liu also teaches an undergraduate marketing course on pricing and channels of distribution.

Her teaching philosophy extends beyond theory.

“I don’t just teach the theories of deep learning—like this model or that model. I also do case studies with students where we discuss research papers that really apply AI to solve a business problem.”

“I don’t just teach the theories of deep learning ... I also do case studies with students where we discuss research papers that really apply AI to solve a business problem.”

Liu Liu, Assistant Professor of Marketing

Through her “end-to-end pipeline” approach, students in her AI course tackle every stage of problem-solving—from defining business challenges to selecting models, interpreting results and exploring implications. Students even engage in hands-on coding exercises to replicate results, reinforcing both technical and strategic understanding.

“In my opinion, this is the strength of business analytics compared to pure data science or a computer science program.” By applying the data to specific domains, such as behavior marketing, students connect the right questions to the right problem and then find the right tool for the solution, she said. “That is my goal—to prepare students for that.”

From Google to the classroom

After completing her undergraduate and master’s degrees in computer science, Liu headed to Google Pittsburgh, where she worked for three years as a software engineer.

“I feel very fortunate that was my first job,” she said. Her work predicted consumer ad click-through rates for what is now called the Google Display Network. She applies that experience all the time in the classroom, she said, as she teaches about using large-scale machine learning in relation to consumer behavior.

In the research realm, Liu specializes in empirical marketing. Her research straddles the intersection of marketing and machine learning in such areas as visual marketing, branding, consumer preference measurement, product design and social media. These insights feed into her teaching, connecting the worlds of computer science and business in an interdisciplinary way.

“I am just fascinated by consumer preferences and consumer behavior,” she said, explaining that the technology allows companies to measure consumer preferences to predict their choices and accommodate them with better designed products and branding.

Keeping pace with AI

“AI is a high-speed train that will not stop, so we better think about how to get on the train and figure out how to drive it,” said Liu.

“My perspective has always been that you have to be able to use AI correctly and responsibly.” She shared a metaphor: “If you don’t know how to operate, don’t be a doctor.”

“AI is a high-speed train that will not stop, so we better think about how to get on the train and figure out how to drive it."

Liu Liu, Assistant Professor of Marketing

To use AI effectively, her courses emphasize the correct use of the technology. “You have to be able to understand the method, the tool and the model to apply the right numbers, do the math correctly, and supply the right implications,” she said. That’s part one, she explained.

Part two relates to the ethical use of AI and the idea that technology does not exist in isolation. Technology is always associated with human decision-making and its consequences, she said.

A journey from China to Colorado

Originally from Tianjin, a city near Beijing, Liu has been in the United States since 2008, what she considers a defining stage in her life during which she truly became an adult (earning her own money and paying taxes, she laughed).

That life experience helps Liu relate to her students as they navigate similar transitions into adulthood and professional careers.

Outside the classroom, Liu added another milestone to her adult life—one that requires just as much energy as any AI model and comes with its own form of deep learning—raising twins, a son and a daughter.

Looking ahead

What’s next? Keeping up with her research and teaching continue to excite Liu as she remains committed to helping students thrive and push boundaries in an AI-driven world.

Figuring out how to balance that with her family life is part of the quest and another exciting challenge entirely. She joked, “That may be an unsolvable problem.”

The Vocabulary of AI

Artificial Intelligence
Traditional AI uses algorithms and data to enable computers to perform tasks that mimic human intelligence. It can be narrow (specific tasks) or general (broad capabilities).

Generative AI
GenAI is a subset of AI that creates original content like text, images, music or videos based on natural language prompts.

Machine Learning
A subfield of artificial intelligence that allows computers to learn from data by identifying patterns, requiring minimal human intervention.

Deep Learning
A more mathematically complex evolution of machine learning that teaches computers to learn by example using artificial neural networks modeled on the human brain.

Large Language Models
Large language models (or LLMs) process vast amounts of data to mimic the way humans communicate.

Sources

University of Colorado, AI Resources
Microsoft, 10 AI terms everyone should know
MIT Management, Glossary of Terms: Generative AI Basics
Stanford University, Artificial Intelligence Definitions
USC, Glossary: AI and Computing

Assistant Professor of Marketing Liu Liu is committed to helping students thrive, using AI responsibly to solve business problems.

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Jake Davis (MBA’16)

Jane Majkiewicz — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 20:40:51 +0000

Jake Davis (MBA’16) Jane Majkiewicz Wed, 02/26/2025 - 13:40

Anna Bedell (Mktg’25)

Jake Davis’ journey to sustainability has been anything but traditional. While his original life goal was to write for a ski magazine, he ultimately landed in impact investing for The Nature Conservancy, where he has now worked for almost a decade.

Davis followed his aspirations to become a writer by majoring in writing as an undergraduate at Northern Michigan University. Besides his passion for writing, that choice also stemmed from his knowledge that he would be going into active duty in the military after graduation.

“Being in the military had always been a tradition in my family, and it also helped pay for school,” he said. “I was able to choose to study something that I enjoyed—and I had always loved writing growing up.”

A change of perspective

Davis served in the military for the next nine years, working in intelligence operations and spending a few years deployed in Afghanistan. While the experience was invaluable in sharpening his leadership and strategic thinking skills, he was excited for a change. After leaving active duty, he pursued his dream of working for a ski magazine and became an editor in ��Vlog�ƽ��. But to his surprise, he found it was no longer his passion.

“If I had started sports writing right out of college, I would probably still be doing something like that,” he said. “But having spent a couple of years in Afghanistan and doing other things in the military, writing about ski helmets seemed much less exciting after having been in a war.”

In 2012, Davis joined CU ��Vlog�ƽ�� as a program manager for the Presidents Leadership Class. He came to Leeds because he had been looking for his next move professionally and believed that graduate school could set him up for a successful transition. He completed his MBA in 2016 and John Helmers, Leeds director of Graduate Career Management, helped Davis get his position at The Nature Conservancy.

A new career path

At The Nature Conservancy, Davis runs the NatureVest department, which is responsible for using private capital to help advance conservation efforts. The department sources, structures, funds and closes innovative investment deals that aim to generate environmental, social and financial returns. His previous experiences have helped him excel in this position, he said, equipping him with the ability to set clear objectives, develop strategic plans and lead teams effectively.

“I think the experiences I’ve had—both in leading teams and knowing how to put together a coherent strategy for getting things done—have been pretty impactful for being able to succeed in life and business,” he said.

For Davis, being in a leadership position means empowering others and supporting them to be the best versions of themselves. He initially faced some challenges transitioning from a military communication style to a corporate setting. He had to learn how to balance different communication styles within the workplace while continuing to prevent conflict and streamline collaboration.

“I’m still working on the skills to be an effective coach for my team,” he said. “I like to have a fun time with people. Sometimes leading means engaging a team, or it requires tough conversations and feedback.”

The evolving role of sustainability

Davis understands that the sustainability industry is highly competitive and not easy to get into. As a fellow MBA student when Davis was at Leeds, Julie Waggoner, who is now the director of operations at the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility, remembers Davis as a club leader who helped to organize events related to sustainability, and they did an entrepreneurial class project related to sustainability and social impact.

That was all part of the learning experience, leading to what Davis believes is simple advice for students looking to follow a career path similar to his: "The core skill sets required to do a job that focuses on evolving environmental, social and governance (ESG) requirements are the same as what’s involved in any other business function. Working in a different field right out of college will not hinder one’s chances of working in the sustainability industry later—as long as you’re continuing to hone your business skills."

“Understanding financial analysis and how value is created through channels are core components that those interested in sustainability still need to know,” he said. “Building up those skills while using your dream job for a road map can help set you up for a future career.”

"Understanding financial analysis and how value is created through channels are core components that those interested in sustainability still need to know. Building up those skills while using your dream job for a road map can help set you up for a future career."

Jake Davis (MBA’16)

The path isn’t always linear

Davis’ career is a testament to the value of being a lifelong learner. By having a spirit of curiosity and being open to opportunities, he embraces new experiences that allow him to follow his passions. While landing in his role involved a winding path and some redirection, that was part of the adventure and journey.

From the military to journalism to sustainability, Davis looks ahead with optimism for continuing to create positive change within his community and in the environment. He knows how to find the confidence to innovate and constantly takes steps toward the future he believes in.

Davis has been a guest speaker at events hosted by Leeds' Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility (CESR) and is an engaged alumnus who helps students with mock interviews and networking initiatives. Learn more about how CESR is empowering current and future business leaders to solve social and environmental challenges.

Jake Davis took an unconventional career path to sustainability—starting in the military, transitioning into journalism and ultimately finding his passion in impact investing with The Nature Conservancy.

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Ryan Heckman (Bus, Fin’98)

Jane Majkiewicz — Wed, 12 Feb 2025 18:16:13 +0000

Ryan Heckman (Bus, Fin’98) Jane Majkiewicz Wed, 02/12/2025 - 11:16

Jane Majkiewicz

By all appearances, by the time he was 40, Ryan Heckman was at the top of his game. He had been a two-time Olympic skier, earned his college degree despite setbacks and built an impressive career in private equity. But an industry conference triggered an epiphany—he realized he needed to do something with more heart. Heckman shared his story in a conversation with Leeds. Comments have been edited for length.

How did your Olympic training have an impact on your life and business?

It’s a big part of who I am. At 10, I wrote for a school paper that I wanted to be an Olympic skier and it was only six years later that I was in my first Olympics. I wasn’t very good at school or other sports, so I doubled down and leaned into something that I was good at. I went to my second Olympics when I was 18 and was ranked ninth in the world a year later. I learned to set big goals and accept small steps and required failures to attain them.

You mentioned on The Conscious Entrepreneur podcast that it was a challenge to catch up academically in college.

It was a major challenge. I was older than most of the students, and I was woefully behind academically. And I kind of lost my identity that was so attached to skiing.

Naively, I had applied to Stanford, with no GPA, no ACT, no SAT, and I got like a “cease-and- desist” order from those guys! Then I applied to CU and got denied. I was scared I had messed up my whole future in the pursuit of my Olympic dream, but my librarian advocated for me to a CU admissions director who allowed me in but on probation. While it was hard and I felt beneath the other students academically, I felt a huge sense of privilege that I even got to go to college.

Those first couple of classes I took were so discouraging. I walked past the phone booth outside of my first classroom near Varsity Pond every day, and I was so tempted to call my coach and say, ‘College is not for me; I should go back to skiing.'

What kept you going? I imagine you have a built-in spirit of perseverance.

I did, and I still do today, but that would understate how emotionally challenging that situation was. Those first two years I was in general ed classes, and it seemed so far afield of my business goals that I chose over skiing. Imagine me going from being an Olympic athlete on television to being one of 500 students in a big auditorium and one of the dumbest kids in the class. I would say a little bit of fear motivated me; I didn’t want to fail.

Once I got into Leeds, I flourished. We had an accounting professor named Mad Dog MacFee, and it was a difficult class, but I got 100%. It was my first moment of victory. Then I graduated with a 3.98 GPA. I was summa cum laude. I was really proud of that and it gave me confidence outside of athletics.

I learned your first job offer came from a chance encounter on an airplane.

I was 16, and I rode on a flight to Zurich with a private equity investor named George Gillett. He owned Vail Resorts and other high-profile assets around the country. I talked to him the entire flight. When we got off the plane, he said, ‘If you graduate from college, give me a call.’

I called him my senior year and he invited me to a Broncos game. He asked me how much I wanted to make. I recalled my parents saying the most they had ever made was $40,000, so I said, ‘I’d like to make $40,000.’ George stuck his hand out and said, ‘How’s 37,500?’

And you went to work for him?

Yes. I thought I had really won the lottery because I was going to make all this money and live in Vail. It turned out that the job was with his M&A group in Atlanta.

I talk with a lot of young people who have grown up in Colorado, and I advise them to leave so they can come home and stay forever. When you’re first starting out, the geography of your job should be like number 20 on your list of criteria. You should look for where you’re going to get the most responsibility and coaching.

Interview your interviewer with a keen eye toward, ‘Do I respect the character of this person? Does it appear that this person really wants to invest in my development?’ Do well in school so that you can choose your boss vs. the other way around.

What was your career trajectory to get to Rallyday?

I was with George Gillett for five years, six years at a private equity firm in Denver and then eight years at a firm I co-founded with some of my former colleagues.

Then something funny happened when I turned 40. I was at an industry conference in Orlando, Florida. I just had my daughter. I was in this room with 2,000 white males with blue blazers, loafers and a lanyard around their neck, and I thought: I don’t know if this is who I want to be long-term. I don’t know if I want my daughter to see me in this industry. It was not the clothes but the soulless feeling that sort of felt suffocating to me. I thought there was something more noble out there for me.

Ultimately, I bought a small healthcare business in Denver with 11 employees and I applied my deal-making expertise. I had done a lot of healthcare investing, so I knew something about it. I hired an executive coach to help me with leading people, which I deployed across the whole organization. We all went on that journey together. I grew the business to 450 employees over five years.

I found the nobility I was looking for in leading people, which is the ultimate privilege. That is something very sacred. I felt like I had found my calling.

That was a bold move to buy a company.

It was a huge move. I raised no outside capital. Building a business of that size without any outside capital is very difficult. We almost missed payroll about a dozen times, but the business ended up having $14 million in profit, and I sold it for a big number and several of my direct reports became millionaires.

In retrospect, it was probably the last thing I should have done after having a daughter! But I’m very proud of it, and it inspired me to imagine Rallyday as an alternative to traditional private equity.

By having a human-centered focus, Rallyday is taking a radically different approach in the private equity industry.

We raised $150 million within six months. We had 97 meetings, and at the end, only five investors. Which means 92 people thought we were absolutely nuts.

How did you keep your spirits up?

I believed in the mission and had total confidence in the outcome. I figured it was just a matter of when, not if. Our first investment was a research organization for the pharmaceutical industry. We put $20 million into it, and we returned the entire $150 million fund we had raised in two years with that one investment.

My three partners and I have all built companies as a CEO and founder. It gives us a distinct advantage to connect with CEOs and founders on an emotional level. When things get hard, we can be a thought partner.

When you run a company and you-know-what hits the fan, for most investors that’s a moment of fear. For us, it’s a moment to rally.

How do business schools play a role in teaching these ideals?

It’s not just a business school’s responsibility to teach these things. It’s the school’s responsibility to encourage students that they need to invest in themselves.

At Rallyday, we expect our employees to invest in their heart, mind and soul, and we have a leadership program that teaches what we call ‘super skills’—common skills performed at an elite level. For example, we have a curriculum to help teach people how to listen better, lead with empathy and other ‘soft’ skills that make the difference in the real world. Most of those skills are learned from challenging experiences that take you out of your comfort zone.

Growth happens in proportion to the discomfort you’re willing to endure.

It sounds like you’re doing remarkable things at Rallyday.

We talk a lot about what makes a company legendary. Typically, there’s scope and there’s scale. But there’s a third way to become legendary, and that’s through the quality of your craft—to do something so special that people are attached to your purpose and way of doing things at an emotional level. Hermès handmade products in France come to mind. They are probably a thirtieth the size of Louis Vuitton, but they command 10 times the price for the same product. It's not the brand per se, it's the craftsman identity that creates more meaning to the product.

At Rallyday, our purpose is to empower leaders to create the most value for the most people and to share in the experience of a lifetime.

We pay attention to stakeholder capitalism as opposed to shareholder capitalism—serving customers, employees, communities, suppliers and shareholders—no one group is necessarily more important than another. They work in harmony.

What are your thoughts on the rapid adoption of AI?

I highly recommend that students read the book Empire of Wealth by John Steele Gordon. It does a great job of illuminating the dozens of economic transformational periods in our history.

We're at one of those times right now. The profundity of AI is that 5-10 times the amount of capital that went into the last wave of technology is now being applied to a technology that could triple our productivity as a society.

So how do we shape the future of business in positive ways?

In some ways you could argue it's sort of ‘back to the future.’ What happens when everybody in America can answer the same question in a matter of seconds that used to take 10 years? That levels the playing field of knowledge, so you have to differentiate yourself.

Becoming a better human in service to making other humans better off is always going to win.

Ryan Heckman was among the panelists on the Funding Innovation Panel on Private Capital Markets hosted by the Burridge Center for Finance.

Two-time Olympic skier Ryan Heckman had an epiphany that ultimately led to the creation of Rallyday, a nontraditional private equity firm that invests in people and purpose, not just profit.

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Aloukika Patro (Fin, Mgmt’27)

Jane Majkiewicz — Wed, 29 Jan 2025 17:22:25 +0000

Aloukika Patro (Fin, Mgmt’27) Jane Majkiewicz Wed, 01/29/2025 - 10:22

Jane Majkiewicz

There are a few things you notice when you meet sophomore Aloukika Patro. Her radiant smile exudes warmth and enthusiasm. She speaks with a genuine sincerity that puts you at ease. And while she navigates life in a wheelchair, it’s hardly a focus. She’s far more interested in life’s opportunities than its obstacles.

Patro’s LinkedIn profile reflects this philosophy. It’s packed with accomplishments and awards—a remarkable portfolio for a college sophomore.

Transforming fear through kindness

Patro also prefers to focus on what she considers to be the antidote to the pervasive problem of fear: kindness.

She became a kindness crusader in 2015 when her family moved from Bangalore, India, to Colorado for her father’s job. At 10, she started a new life in a new country, an experience she can only describe as “surreal.”

Not surprisingly, Patro was nervous about being in a different environment with a whole new group of peers. Her mother offered a solution: Why don’t you initiate conversations?

Guided by her parents’ encouragement to do things even when they’re uncomfortable, Patro discovered the more she reached out with kindness, the more it was returned. And she has been following the practice ever since—knowing that every experience offers something of value.

Launching the KIKA Project

Patro’s experiences led to her 2019 launch of the KIKA Project—an acronym for “Kindness Inspires Kind Acts.” She created “KIKA Coins” for people to give to each other as tokens of appreciation for doing a kind act. As the coins are passed along, it demonstrates a powerful chain of kindness, Patro explained.

Her mission gained urgency after the 2019 STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting, a heartbreaking tragedy Patro discussed in her 2023 TEDx Talk, ”Strengthening Your Mental Health Through Kindness.“

“Nobody really talks to us about mental health when we’re young,” she said.

After researching, Patro realized that kindness has an important connection to mental health, and that addressing mental health should start at an early age, prior to the transition to teen years. That’s when she believes her KIKA Coins can work most effectively, and she hopes to bring the project to elementary schools.

To approach a younger audience, Patro published a children’s book in 2022 called Nisha and the Magic Coin. It features a young girl named Nisha from India (Patro quipped it’s her in a parallel universe). The story highlights diverse students and addresses feelings of isolation and being bullied—fortunately not what Patro experienced, but something she—and many kids in school—witness. In the book, finding the magic KIKA Coin empowers the kids to come together and overcome those challenges.

“I want to put a seed into young kids’ subconscious minds to understand what kindness is,” she said. That can cement a powerful foundation for future well-being and thriving relationships, she believes.

Miss Amazing

Through the years, Patro’s efforts haven’t gone unnoticed. Her participation in the Miss Amazing pageant, in which she won both the state and national titles, led her to meet a woman from the organization who was so impressed with Patro that she sponsored her to produce 2,000 KIKA Coins, which enabled her to kickstart the KIKA journey.

She has been passing out the coins ever since (six years and counting).

In the meantime, other impressive awards have come along, among them the Douglas County Youth Initiative Award, the Prudential Spirit of Community Award and the Freedom Foundation Award.

“I sometimes forget how much value and substance this project holds, and how it truly impacts people’s lives,” said Patro. “So that's what keeps me going.”

Building momentum

It can be challenging juggling so many initiatives with a full-time college workload, but nothing deters Patro. As she discovered early on, people can accomplish extraordinary things in a variety of ways. She eschews the word “disability” and would instead favor “diff-ability,” as in “differently abled.”

Her to-do list is evidence of her determination. She’s a Dalai Lama Fellow at the Renée Crown Wellness Institute at CU ��Vlog�ƽ��; she belongs to several organizations; she hosted a podcast called The College Lens to spread awareness about college isolation; and she has pursued internships.

Although Patro is still exploring her options, she’s building her leadership skills and leaning toward finance and information management as majors. She wants to gain experience in the corporate business world, enabling her to ultimately run her own business one day. She also hopes to see the KIKA Project flourish as a nonprofit.

Aloukika’s Words of Wisdom

Know that failure is just an event. Failure sharpens you but never defines you.
Recognize that the smallest things make the biggest difference in people’s lives.
Kindness is a free gift we give to others, but the reward is rich.

The kindness factor at Leeds

Patro considered college options across the U.S., but she was drawn to Leeds’ environment. “I came to visit this place and saw that the people were excited to be here.”

Relying on her intuition—one of her best tools—was all she needed to know she belonged. “I feel like everybody at Leeds has something to give,” she said.

“I like taking advantage of opportunities, and I think everybody here is an opportunity for me to get to know and connect with.”

Aloukika Patro is on a mission to spread kindness and recognize people for doing kind acts. She created an inspiring program and is building her leadership skills at Leeds to share her ideas. Meet Aloukika.

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Mia Scara (Bus, Mktg’26)

Jane Majkiewicz — Thu, 16 Jan 2025 17:47:12 +0000

Mia Scara (Bus, Mktg’26) Jane Majkiewicz Thu, 01/16/2025 - 10:47

Anna Bedell (Mktg’25)

Mia Scara believes that everyone is the sum of their parts, which has proven true through all her life experiences. From joining the Boy Scouts to advocating for feminine products in CU campus bathrooms, she isn’t afraid to follow her passions and push past boundaries.

A natural leader

Scara embodies a leadership attitude, and she has steadily built her skills from a young age, sharpening her confidence and persistence along the way. Her sense of determination was tested in high school when she took a leap of faith and was the first girl to join her Boy Scout troop. She moved forward despite sharp criticism from parents and other members.

As more girls joined, Scara realized she needed to take on additional responsibility so those who came after her felt more accepted. As a result, she was the first girl to get her Eagle Scout, the highest rank attainable in Boy Scouts. Seeing strong girls being empowered set the stage for Scara to embrace more leadership roles in the future.

Scara believes key qualities of successful leaders are to listen, to think big and to embrace uncomfortable situations.

“Uncomfortable situations lead to the most growth,” she said. “Once something starts to become familiar, that’s when you know it’s time to move on to the next new thing.”

The CU difference

Scara grew up in Denver. CU wasn’t her first choice for college, but in-state tuition and her admittance into the Leeds Scholars Program eventually won her over. While she had always been passionate about film, she ultimately chose to major in business, seeing it as a steppingstone for doing anything one wants to do.

Thinking strategically, Scara knew an in-state school would give her the advantage of being debt-free after college. “I also realized I’m a homebody and like being closer to my parents,” she said.

”Uncomfortable situations lead to the most growth.”

Mia Scara (Bus, Mktg’26)

Scara knew she could shine at Leeds both academically and as a creative initiator. Inspired by her early experiences of activism and leadership, she joined Leeds Student Government and was accepted into the Leeds Consulting Group. Through these organizations, she knew she could find opportunities to advocate for change in the community.

Taking action

As a CU Student Government (CUSG) Senator, Scara has written and enacted bills affecting the entire CU student body. Her first priority came from noticing that access to menstrual products in the CU bathrooms was problematic: There was inequitable distribution around campus, no set place for storage, and an overall poor quality of products.

This inspired Scara to develop a CUSG bill to get free and better-quality menstrual products in all the bathrooms across campus. She gained further ideas about how to take on such a daunting project after attending a business leadership conference in Michigan, where she met students from other schools who described their accessibility to better products for women.

“We’re in school to learn, not to worry about whether or not we have a pad or tampon handy,” said Scara.

”We shouldn’t be hindered by what makes us a woman.”

Mia Scara (Bus, Mktg’26)

Studies such as a World Health Organization report demonstrate that challenges connected with menstrual health, including lack of access to products, can hamper women’s education.

“Better menstrual accessibility should be implemented into every aspect of our lives. We shouldn’t be hindered by what makes us a woman,” said Scara.

While the bill is still in progress, Scara hasn’t stopped there. She’s simultaneously working on a bill that will let students donate cans and aluminum to pay off CU parking tickets—an option that was available before COVID—and she’s determined to bring it back.

Making a real-world impact

Within the Leeds Consulting Group, Scara had the opportunity to work on a project with the U.S. Olympic Committee. The committee evaluates “important global factors” to focus on between games to stay relevant during their downtime. Scara’s group was tasked with finding a new system for discovering pressing global factors and determining how they could be implemented into the committee’s marketing and revenue-building strategies. She focused on films and viewer perceptions of the Olympics.

"We were able to give the committee a lot of ideas on what they should be focusing on for future Olympic games,” she said. “I’m excited to see what they end up implementing into their strategic ventures for the future.”

Embracing the unknowns

With a minor in film, Scara hopes to find a future in the film industry, specifically in film acquisition. Her favorite movies include "Silence of the Lambs" and the original "Indiana Jones"—a testimony to her take-charge, action-oriented attitude.

This semester, Scara is pushing herself into her discomfort zone by studying abroad in Madrid, where she will complete classes for her Certificate in Global Business.

“The best way to leave the Leeds bubble and meet new people is to leave the country,” she laughed. Scara also enjoyed a previous travel experience on an FGX program in Tokyo, which she attended through the Leeds Scholars Program.

As a trailblazer and changemaker within the CU community, Scara’s leadership has already made a lasting impact on campus. As she immerses herself in a global business environment, her story isn’t over yet. With her ambitious mindset and innovative spirit, she’s poised to lead wherever her passions take her next.

With a love for action movies and a penchant for standing up for women’s rights, Mia Scara (Bus, Mktg’26) is a leader who isn't afraid to push past boundaries and advocate for change.

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Emily Campbell (Fin, Acct’24)

Jane Majkiewicz — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 23:38:00 +0000

Emily Campbell (Fin, Acct’24) Jane Majkiewicz Fri, 12/13/2024 - 16:38

Anneli Gray

The crisp mountain air has always been Emily Campbell's compass. Growing up in Montana, she learned early on that the mountains were more than just a playground—they were a classroom of life lessons, resilience and possibility.

In early December, with a one-way ticket to Asia and a dual degree in finance and accounting, plus a certificate in social responsibility from Leeds School of Business, Campbell embarked on her most adventurous chapter yet.

She hopped on a plane to Japan, trading the familiar peaks of the Rocky Mountains for the country’s ”notorious powder.” She intends to stay for ski season while actively looking for roles in sustainable finance “for when I come back to the U.S. or head somewhere else abroad,” she said.

“I am open and excited to see what opportunities arise in the ESG [environmental, social and governance] world. Thanks to some incredible professors at CU, I have been able to build connections in the ESG world through an internship and guest lectures. In my future, I hope to work toward a cleaner earth and environmental justice.”

A fortuitous beginning

Campbell chose Leeds School of Business so she could combine academic rigor with her passion for the great outdoors. It wasn't long before she found a second home at the business school—and stumbled across a second family in the ��Vlog�ƽ�� Freeride Club, the largest ski and snowboard club in the nation and the largest student-run organization on campus, with 1,500 active members.

Her involvement with ��Vlog�ƽ�� Freeride became the unexpected catalyst for her personal and professional growth. As a freshman, she applied for a seat on the board and became the organization’s sponsorship director. She wasn’t just networking with companies, she was building bridges.

“I was excited about the position and how it allowed me to make connections with people across the outdoor industry, which in turn, helped me build an inclusive and accessible club where anyone at CU could participate in winter sports, no matter their skill level or background,” she explained.

“I hope to protect the natural playgrounds I love for future generations and ensure everyone has access to enjoy them.”

Emily Campbell (Fin, Acct’24)

Campbell intends to take her mission further. “I hope to continue to open the doors and lower the barrier to entry into the outdoor community throughout the rest of my life. I hope to protect the natural playgrounds I love for future generations and ensure everyone has access to enjoy them.”

Unexpected takeaways

Her involvement with ��Vlog�ƽ�� Freeride not only aligned with her values but also became a crucial learning ground. "After hosting meetings in front of over 500 students or running around at events ranging from 20 to 1,000 attendees, presenting and participating in class became a lot less intimidating," she shared. The experience taught her more than event management. "It gave me the opportunity to practice public speaking, conflict resolution, time management, creative thinking and networking."

Most profoundly, the club shaped her understanding of leadership. “��Vlog�ƽ�� Freeride taught me how to not only be a good leader, but also a good follower and team member. It gave me the confidence to envision big goals and taught me how to achieve them. It gave me an opportunity to help CU students enjoy the incredible Rocky Mountains I was fortunate to grow up in.”

As she prepares for her imminent adventure, one thing is clear: Campbell is not just pursuing powder and a career. She’s crafting a life of purpose, one peak at a time—committed to environmental justice, outdoor accessibility, and making meaningful connections across cultures and communities.

Emily Campbell (Fin, Acct’24) is actively seeking a role in sustainable finance. She's committed to a life of purpose, one peak at a time.

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Laura Vogel (Mktg, Fin’20)

Jane Majkiewicz — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 22:08:03 +0000

Laura Vogel (Mktg, Fin’20) Jane Majkiewicz Fri, 11/22/2024 - 15:08

Anna Sheffer

Today, Laura Vogel (Mktg, Fin’20) has earned nationwide recognition for her collection of Italian leather handbags, Vogelle. SUCCESS Magazine recently named her No. 1 on its list of top 10 aspirational entrepreneurs, and she has been featured in other publications including “5280.” To get to where she is now, Vogel had to adapt to the unexpected—including the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unprecedented times

In 2020, Vogel was in her last semester at Leeds and preparing to launch Vogelle. She traveled to Milan that January to pick up the first products, then organized a trunk show at her sorority house to sell the chic leather shoulder bags.

But in March, the world stopped.

"Honestly, thank God I [launched] it when I did because if I hadn’t launched before COVID, I don’t know if I would have made the investment,” Vogel said.

She quickly pivoted her marketing plan away from on-the-ground retail. In-person classes were canceled, and her part-time job at Nordstrom was on pause, so she threw her energy into messaging influencers about Vogelle, most of whom did not respond.

Then she reached out to Caelynn Bell (née Miller-Keyes), a contestant on Season 23 of “The Bachelor.”

"She had about 1.3 million followers, and she responded right away,” Vogel remembered. “It was so crazy. I don’t know how she saw my message, but she responded and said, ‘This is so amazing. This is such a cool story. I would love the black bag.’”

The bag, one of Vogelle’s first designs, became Miller-Keyes' go-to. The influencer recommended it to her followers in a YouTube video, and Vogelle’s sales immediately started to pick up.

“Not only did her followers start buying it, but in my community, it legitimized it for people that this [bag] was a good product, and she was wearing it,” Vogel said. “It wasn’t just this thing I was doing.”

Thank God I [launched] it when I did because if I hadn’t launched before COVID, I don’t know if I would have made the investment.

Laura Vogel, Founder and Designer of Vogelle

Humble beginnings

Selling handbags was not Vogel’s first foray into the fashion world. It all started at a Walgreens in Highlands Ranch.

The then-13-year-old was shopping for a birthday card when a modeling agent approached her. This chance encounter led Vogel to work on fashion shoots through high school, even graduating a semester early to spend a few months modeling in Mexico City.

Modeling allowed Vogel to be a “fly on the wall” during high-level business meetings, which sparked her interest in entrepreneurship.

“I was listening to all this language and jargon and strategy,” she said. “Being at fashion shows and photo shoots and seeing how different people from around the world weren't in nine-to-fives but were freelancers running their own businesses or fashion designers exposed me to a lot of different ways of working.”

The skills to succeed

At first, Vogel didn’t think her modeling experience would translate to a resume. But when she came to Leeds, a career advisor encouraged her to embrace the self-promotion, branding and interviewing skills she had developed as a model.

“It was really validating to have a Leeds career advisor tell me that [modeling] was more than just taking pictures,” she said.

Vogel credits her Leeds education—especially the finance classes—with giving her the tools necessary to start her own business. Her time at Leeds gave her important connections, too. Through the Leeds Professional Mentorship Program, she met Danielle Reagin, a buyer for Nordstrom who recommended that she work at the department store.

“I think that helped me see how certain brands appeal to every customer and that less really is more,” she said. “That was a big eye-opening experience for me.”

Made in Italy

A First-Year Global Experience trip to Milan changed the trajectory of Vogel’s career. It was Vogel’s first time in Europe, and the class focused on “made in Italy” brands. Although she “wasn’t obsessed” with handbags beforehand, she took note of the shoulder bags Milanese women wore—which later inspired Vogelle’s signature design.

“When you travel through Italy, there's a leather goods store on every block,” she said. “I found myself going in all the stores and touching everything and asking questions and looking at what the other women were wearing.”

In Vogel’s junior year, she returned to Milan for a semester abroad at Bocconi University and met a leather goods manufacturer. Now all she needed was a product.

Because Vogel had never designed a handbag before, she dissected cheap bags to draw the first Vogelle prototype. From the UPS on The Hill in ��Vlog�ƽ��, she sent her Italian manufacturer her first sketch, along with some scraps of the cut-up bags.

After revising her initial prototype, Vogel was at a crossroads: Should she wipe out her $4,000 savings to produce an order of Vogelle bags? She showed her prototype to Associate Teaching Professor Bob Donchez and asked for his advice.

“Bob said, ‘Well, you won't know if you don't try, and honestly, that's not money that's gonna ruin your life,’” she remembered. “‘You know that amount, even though it feels like it, it's not going to sink all your ships.’”

She placed the order, and Vogelle became a reality.

Looking ahead

In the future, Vogel hopes to expand Vogelle and possibly venture into other leather products. For now, she’s excited to keep growing her brand.

“It has this adventure piece to it, and this travel curiosity piece to it because for me everything that I have done in my life to grow has come from traveling solo, indulging in cultures and meeting the locals,” she said.

“I really want it to have this travel piece to it but still always remain high-quality made in Italy.”

The pandemic could have thwarted Laura Vogel’s journey to launching her handbag company, Vogelle. But thanks to a forge-ahead attitude and ability to pivot, her success is in the bag.

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Russell Jeans

Kelsey Cipolla — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 16:59:09 +0000

Russell Jeans Kelsey Cipolla Fri, 11/15/2024 - 09:59

Jane Majkiewicz , Photos by Cody Johnston

Lecturer at Leeds and Director of Accounting at CU ��Vlog�ƽ��

Curiosity has always been a key ingredient in Russell Jeans’ life.

Growing up in Hawaii, he benefitted from being surrounded by native Hawaiians as well as people from Japan, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Samoa and many other places. “It was great because I was exposed to and learned from so many cultures,” he said.

That sparked his fascination with exploring new perspectives and places. “It really shaped my mind. I thought, ‘There’s so much good out there. And I want to learn more.’”

Jeans’ desire to learn spanned careers and continents before he settled in Colorado, where he has served as the director of accounting for CU ��Vlog�ƽ�� since December 2022. Recently, he added another role to his repertoire: lecturer of financial accounting at Leeds.

From the corporate world to the classroom

When CU ��Vlog�ƽ��’s CFO asked if someone on the controller’s staff wanted to teach a course at Leeds, Jeans immediately volunteered. He loved previous teaching opportunities, including a course exploring the WorldCom scandal that he taught in New Zealand, and an auditing class he taught in Hawaii. Although those were short-term roles, they ignited Jeans’ desire to be involved in higher education.

At Leeds this fall, Jeans taught financial accounting to a class of 60 Finance graduate students from diverse disciplines, many of whom he was surprised to find had never taken an accounting course before.

“The approach was if you didn’t know anything about accounting, you were going to get a great foundation … and if you already had a foundation, this would help you refine it, bring it forward and apply it.”

Accounting is an essential skill. At a time when industry reports bemoan an aging workforce and a CPA shortage, Jeans remains optimistic about the field’s potential. He said accounting pairs well with a variety of other disciplines, allowing people to specialize. The work is more varied than people might imagine, with hundreds of types of jobs, making accounting well suited to a range of personalities, whether someone is extroverted or introverted, he said.

“Companies are not putting enough of a premium on accountants and their invaluable skills.”

Russell Jeans, Director of Accounting at CU ��Vlog�ƽ��

With AI increasingly able to handle repetitive tasks, he believes more young professionals will be attracted to the field despite the long hours and rigorous CPA certification process. Better compensation will make a difference, along with more accessible licensing.

“Companies are not putting enough of a premium on accountants and their invaluable skills,” Jeans said. “If we get that wrong, there are key, fundamental risks associated with it, such as inaccurate financial reporting, increased fraud and noncompliance with regulations.”

A self-made journey

Jeans’ career trajectory counters stereotypes of accounting as a boring profession. For starters, his college experience was far from traditional.

He put himself through his undergraduate studies in business administration and accounting while working full-time. He even survived getting shot in the neck during a drive-by shooting in California, where he was a student at Fresno City College. Through that traumatic experience he learned how precious life is and the importance of forgiveness and understanding. That fateful event prompted a move to Florida, where he completed his bachelor’s degree in accounting at the University of North Florida.

Balancing full-time work and studying was challenging (Jeans quipped he didn’t get the partying experience, but his friends told him about it), but it proved to be an asset. His jobs as a credit manager for a produce company and as a staff accountant at a public company were instrumental in connecting classroom learning with real-world professional expectations.

“I was able to really use that knowledge with my career to quickly advance,” he said. “I could more easily ask questions and find information than people who didn’t have that experience.”

He earned his MBA and CPA while rising through the ranks at KPMG, which supported his goal of part-time work while completing his master’s. His ongoing curiosity about other cultures and travel eventually took him to KPMG in New Zealand, a transformational seven years of growth.

“At the time they had New Zealand GAAP [Generally Accepted Accounting Principles], were transitioning to IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards), and they have a very complex statutory reporting structure, all of which I knew nothing about,” he explained.

Later, a move to Ernst & Young offered yet another learning opportunity, with a new network of clients, colleagues and industries. Each experience taught Jeans invaluable lessons in being adaptable, broadening his global perspective. “Now, I’m not afraid to walk into new situations,” he said.

Inspiring next-generation leaders

In his primary role as CU ��Vlog�ƽ��’s director of accounting, Jeans oversees campuswide accounting, policy compliance and operational analysis. Working with numerous departments across campus, he helps ensure that CU meets the standards set by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board and other regulatory agencies.

His curiosity continues to drive his approach to exploring improvements and innovations, asking questions that apply to both the classroom and the workplace. “How do we automate things? How do we take advantage of AI? What’s the best way to leverage what we have? What skills do we need?”

Seeing students wanting to understand and watching them realize how to apply their knowledge is one of the things Jeans loves most about teaching. “It’s really, really awesome when you see that process,” he said.

It’s like seeing Jeans’ five Green-Cheeked Conure parrots in his home office, darting in and out of the frame during a virtual meeting. Occasionally, one will perch on Jeans’ shoulder, looking at him quizzically.

It doesn’t faze Jeans in the least. Of course not. They’re just flying around, being curious.

For Russell Jeans, curiosity counts a lot. It has contributed to a meaningful journey across cultures, continents and careers.

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Mallory Decker (PhD)

Kelsey Cipolla — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 23:44:19 +0000

Mallory Decker (PhD) Kelsey Cipolla Tue, 11/12/2024 - 16:44

Anna Sheffer , Photos by Cody Johnston

Imagine trying to land a helicopter on a ship in the middle of the night. It’s dark, so you wear night-vision goggles, narrowing your field of vision as if you’re looking through a straw.

For Mallory Decker, a doctoral candidate studying organizational behavior, this was part of her reality during the 11 years she spent as a naval helicopter pilot.

“That definitely was my least favorite part, flying at night,” she said. “It’s just kind of inherently scary.”

Decker deployed for about nine months to the USS Nimitz, an aircraft carrier. Despite how harrowing her job could be, she enjoyed flying and deployment.

“It’s like if you were on a sports team, and all you ever did was practice and never had a game,” she explained. “Deployment is like, ‘All right. Finally, I'm in the game. I'm doing the things that I trained for.’”

Of course, deployment came with some drawbacks. Decker recalled that toward the end of it, food supplies started to run low. She and the others onboard had to subsist on oatmeal and pasta. Due to its rarity, vanilla creamer was like currency, she laughed.

A Navy legacy

Decker’s ties to the Navy began in childhood. Her father, who graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, inspired her to attend the school.

“I liked the idea of how challenging it would be, not just in academics, but physically, mentally,” she said. “I was drawn to that, and then I was really hoping to make the same sort of close friendships that I'd seen my dad make.”

Decker graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English and then embarked on a new venture: studying for a master’s degree in the United Kingdom. After obtaining her master’s in international and European politics from the University of Edinburgh, she owed at least five years of naval service.

When it came time to choose her discipline within the Navy, Decker was attracted not only to the prospect of flying but also to the aviation subculture, which she half-jokingly compared to Top Gun.

“Aviation, I think, is just a little bit more laid-back,” she said. “There are more rules about how much sleep you get, so you're a little bit better rested. Maybe that makes you a little bit happier. And then everybody loves to fly that goes to fly.”

“Deployment is like, ‘All right. Finally, I’m in the game. I’m doing the things that I trained for.’”

Mallory Decker (PhD candidate)

Working in a man’s world

Decker didn’t always envision herself as a researcher. By the time she left the Navy, her attitude had shifted. Expecting her first child, she knew that erratic shift schedules made staying in aviation out of the question.

In identifying a new field that would appeal to her as “a nerdy introvert who likes to read and write,” she landed on academia, realizing there was one subject she’d happily devote her life to: gender in the workplace.

While growing up, Decker never felt limited by her gender. During her naval deployment, she recalled feeling respected by the other pilots in her squadron, about a quarter of whom were also women. It was only toward the end of her military tenure, when she worked in the House of Representatives and then as a NATO aide-de-camp to a three-star British flag officer in 2017, that she first noticed gender disparity in the workplace.

“Some of my best girlfriends are also helicopter pilots,” she said. “On these lower levels, I was seeing women in these traditionally male-dominated spaces. And I'm like, ‘Yeah, women are here, what's the big deal?’ And then when I finally got up to these really high levels, it was like, ‘Oh, women are actually not here.’”

Decker stressed that she felt personally supported by her boss at NATO. But attending assemblies full of NATO leaders highlighted just how few women held high-ranking positions in the organization. Women were so outnumbered that she made a game out of counting them during assemblies. She would think to herself “There are more bald men in here than there are women,” noting that there were less than five women in a room of more than 100.

Life at Leeds

Decker’s experience in male-dominated workplaces informs her research passions. Some of her recent projects have focused on the gender pay gap, women working together in male-dominated industries and menopause’s impact on women leaders. The latter topic is the one she’s currently most excited about, partly because of the lack of knowledge about menopause and because of how much it varies from person to person.

“There are some women who have little to no symptoms,” she said. “And then there are other women who have symptoms for a decade that are debilitating or really interfere with their lives. There isn’t a standard menopause experience.”

Her next step in the doctoral program will be to propose her dissertation topic, which focuses on women’s relationships and identity in the workplace. Decker hopes her research will improve employees’ workplace experiences overall.

“We spend the majority of our lives at work, so I want to work toward making that experience better for everyone,” she said.

From landing helicopters on aircraft carriers to attending NATO assemblies as an aide-de-camp, doctoral candidate Mallory Decker’s 11 years in the Navy prepared her to rise to any challenge.

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