Ready for a change?

Before joining UW Tacoma, I’ve experienced a lot of changes. I’ve been a coder, cook, pilot, waiter, tour guide, night auditor, hotel manager, oceanographer, graduate student, bartender, researcher, teacher, product developer, entrepreneur, business leader, advisor and now program manager in the Milgard Center for Business Analytics.  And honestly, this new experience at UW Tacoma is the highlight of my career to date, both personally and professionally, simply because of the students.

I grew up in Seattle and wrote code for a Bellevue-based startup while waiting tables on the side to put myself through UW as a first-gen student.  I studied biological oceanography after realizing computer science just wasn’t my passion.  After graduation, I worked for N.O.A.A. as an Oceanographer on the Miller Freeman research ship in the Gulf of Alaska.  After one too many winter storms at sea, I was ready for a change.

I left N.O.A.A. to attend graduate school at Cornell University in Ithaca NY where I earned my Ph.D. in Food Chemistry.  My research focused on the role of fruit and vegetable intake on the prevention of gastric cancer in human clinical trial interventions.  No need to read the publications…just eat your fruits and vegetables.  After earning my doctorate, I was ready for a change, so I decided to get industry experience before returning to academia.

I landed a position at General Mills in Minneapolis MN as a product developer where I created and launched new product innovations for a few years on brands such as Lucky Charms, Cheerios and Gushers.

Ready for a change, I left General Mills to co-found and launch a science-based nutritional food and supplement business called Square Roots.  Myself and my two business partners from General Mills and McKinsey quit our jobs on the same day.  That afternoon, we signed a lease on our warehouse, started pitching to investors and in time raised enough capital to build and launch over 100 products in just 6 months.  But when the dot.com bubble burst, our next round of funding evaporated overnight.  And so it goes as an entrepreneur.  I wasn’t ready for that change.  And it was tough to manage.  But in the end, greater opportunities came to light and I’m thankful for the experience.  I strongly encourage our MSBA students to leverage CoMotion at UW if you have the spirit and passion to be an entrepreneur.  It will change your life in unexpected ways, and in my experience, for the better.

My experience in a health startup was put to good use at General Mills where I was brought in to lead in the newly-founded Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition.  My team created brand-specific health strategies, funded multiple external research programs and delivered health-related marketing messages for advertising on Cheerios, Yoplait and Nature Valley.

Ready for a change, I asked for an international leadership position and got half of what I wanted.  I was put on the senior leadership team reporting to the president of General Mills Canada Corporation in Toronto Canada.  Not exactly what I hoped for with regard to an international experience, but a terrific opportunity to lead a business at that level.

Ready for a change, I asked to return to Minneapolis to join the Strategy & Innovation team to create and leverage an open innovation mindset at General Mills.  In that role, I led global partner development for the General Mills Worldwide Innovation Network (G-WIN).  Two million miles later and countless times circling the globe, I led the creation of high value win-win innovation partnerships with startups, corporations, SMEs, universities and research institutes in Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, Australia and New Zealand.  Ten years of intense global travel takes its toll.

Ready for a change, we packed up, quit our jobs and moved from Minneapolis to Gig Harbor to figure it out when we got here.  Best move ever.  And here I am at UW Tacoma and I couldn’t be happier to be back in higher education.  I’m inspired daily by the students at UW Tacoma.  I firmly believe in UW Tacoma’s mission.  And I admire my staff colleagues in the Milgard School of Business, deeply.  Each and everyone of them are higher education professionals who have been so generous in their time and encouragement to help me navigate this wonderful institution.

And now Covid-19 is upon us and everything has changed, again.  Except I wasn’t ready for a change like this.  And like all of you, I’m trying to figure this out in real time the best that I can.

So while I’ve grown by embracing change on my own terms, this change is the trickiest one yet.  While I’m encouraged that disruptive change can drive innovation and can open up new and better possibilities, I’m discouraged by the division in our society in how to approach it.

I’m surrounded by bright, talented, industrious and remarkable students at UW Tacoma.  I have a lot to learn from your perspective at this time.  I’d love to hear your thoughts on how you believe disruptive change like this will shape our futures, together.