Alumnus Kyle Wang '14 FIN partner at Valhalla Capital weighs in on the cryptocurrency market over the last few years along with current trends, future possibilities, and what changes decentralized finance might have on Wall Street. “If you really enjoy the way that companies, entities interact with each other and how people transfer value or in many cases even communicate value, cryptocurrency is the beating heart of that.” -Kyle Wang

Smeal Lifelong Learning Podcast

#37 A Venture Capitalist Discusses Cryptocurrency

Alumnus innovation expert and entrepreneur, Brian Ardinger ’94 MBA, Director of Innovation at Nelnet and founder of InsideOutside.io, discusses how to develop skills to innovate in any culture, handle failure of an idea, boost your productivity and how having a global perspective has contributed to his success.“Innovation is often thought about in the wrong terms..It’s taking a new idea, seeing a problem, and executing on that to create valuable outcomes. Anyone can do that!” Brian –Ardinger

#36 Innovation: The Job Skill of the Future

Tune in as Mario Tufano ’02 FIN, interviews Mark Roach, both are partners and portfolio managers at Foundry Partners, LLC. Mario wanted Mark to share his over two decades of experience managing assets in all types of markets with our audience. Listen in as they discuss inflation – how it’s defined and measured, what it has looked like over the past few decades, and what is working and not working for investing in the current market.“Recent concerns of inflation have bubbled to the surface since the start of 2021 as the global economy emerges from the COVID pandemic of 2020.” Mario Tufano ’02 FIN“Wages, with the shortage of employees,…are already showing growth and this will continue if the administration passes a unified basic income standard. This could perpetuate a longer inflation cycle.” –Mark Roach, Managing Director, Foundry Partners, LLC

#35 Ask an Expert: Inflation – Past, Present and Future

Alumnus trade expert and avid Smeal volunteer, William (Bill) C. Lane ’75 ACCT, ’79 M A was recently the Executive Director of the free trade advocacy coalition, Trade For America. Prior, Bill led Caterpillar’s global governmental affairs team retiring after a 40-year career which included being a top lobbyist in Washington D.C. In this episode, Bill discusses the changes in trade due to the pandemic and the future of globalization as well as the value of his Penn State education. #WeAre"The lessons learned during this period of time are going to be studied and restudied.”– William (Bill) C. Lane

#34 The Trade Debate: Looking Back & Moving Forward

Smeal alumna entrepreneur Becky Savikas ’99 MKTG is the Vice President, HR Business Partner, Talent Strategy and Enterprise Change at Highmark Health. In this episode, Becky discusses what is going on in the healthcare industry, the pandemic job market, attractive transferable business skills, virtual on boarding best practices, the future of work from home and how this can open your company up to a diverse pool of talent!"You may have the best business plan and the best products, but if you don’t have the best workforce, you’re going to fall short.” –Becky Savikas

#33 The Healthcare Industry: Employers, Job Seekers and the Pandemic

Tune in as Vinay Dattu '09 EMBA, Director of Legislative Information Systems for TN General Assembly, interviews his longtime business acquaintance and retired FBI cybercrime agent, Scott Augenbaum about the changes in cybersecurity over the years, ransomware, best practices for remote access, and current cybercrimes as well as providing free resources to help protect your business and family. "Part or most of cybersecurity is attributed to human error." Vinay Dattu"So many organizations are looking at cybersecurity as a cost and not an investment." –Scott Augenbaum, Cybercrime Prevention Trainer, Author & Keynote Speaker

#32 Ask An Expert: The Truths about Cybersecurity

Smeal alumnus, Andy Mowery ’88 QBA is recently retired and rewiring after serving as the Senior Vice President and Chief Product Supply Officer of The Clorox Company. In this episode, Andy discusses the importance and process of developing young talent through internships, co-ops and entry level rotational programs. During his time at The Clorox Company, Andy helped many young professionals, getting his company to buy into the strategic importance of this talent pool. After eight years, the supply chain organization is seeded with more than 70 future leaders from those programs who grew up in the Clorox culture."It’s a long game…Yes you will get short-term benefits, but building an organization is something you have to think about over decades.“ –Andy Mowery

#31 The Long Game: Successful Development of Students and Young Professionals

Smeal alumna entrepreneur Renee Fry ’94 OPMGT is the founder of Gentreo, a startup company listed as the best in it’s category by U.S. News and World Report, Kiplinger’s and AARP! In this webinar, Renee discusses how she transitioned into her encore career, the company’s vision, roadblocks/accomplishments, and suggestions for people looking to find their encore career. You are your best salesman! "If you can help other people be excited about you, you can be excited about you too!"–Renee Fry

#30 Smeal Entrepreneur: Gentreo, Building an Encore Career

Smeal alumnus JD Donley '16 MKTG is a Customer Success Specialist III, Supervisor at connectRN Inc. while working on his side gig, The BeantownBoys, with Penn State College of Engineering alumnus, Joe Roberto, '16 BME! In this episode, JD discusses his and Joe’s side gig and how this passion has helped him be successful in his day job, as well as their roadblocks, accomplishments, motivational tactics and why teamwork makes for dream work with the right partner!"How I keep myself busy outside of work helps me bring a positive mindset to my day job.”–JD Donley

#29 Smeal Entrepreneur: The BeantownBoys DJ-Duo, Building a Successful ‘Side Gig’

Smeal alumna entrepreneur Kathryn Dougherty '09 ECON/FIN is the founder and CEO of Spritz Beverages Co. a company dedicated to bringing healthy beverages to market and building a brand that inspires and empowers women. In this episode, Kathryn discusses why she became an entrepreneur, speed bumps in her journey, lessons from the corporate world that have helped her as an entrepreneur, the challenges she faces as a female entrepreneur along with her advice and how she gives back to others even with her busy schedule. It's all about paying it forward!"Go for it! You'll make mistakes, nothing will go exactly as expected, but every day, you'll take a step closer to that goal. Go build your legacy! –Kathryn Dougherty

#28 Smeal Entrepreneur: Spritz Beverages Co - What Will My Legacy Be?

Smeal Alum Executive Recruiter: Scott Noga at Lyneer Search GroupSmeal alumnus and executive recruiter, Scott Noga '00 ACCT is the Vice President at Lyneer Search Group which is an employee-owned firm dedicated to providing talent acquisition and talent management solutions tailored to each individual client. In this episode, Scott discusses his firm, the future job market, how his company partners with startups, finding the right executive recruiter, what recruiters look for on LinkedIn and what he enjoys about executive recruiting – using his creativity while leveraging his accounting education!“Treat an online interview like an in person one - dress professionally, create a professional setting, and eliminate distractions, you don’t want anything that will detract the interviewer from what you are saying.” –Scott Noga

#27 Smeal Alum Executive Recruiter: Scott Noga at Lyneer Search Group

In this episode, alumnus Josh Dolan ’13 MBA, Vice President of Global Logistics at Cardinal Health, discusses what makes supply chain an interesting career path, the many supply chain career opportunities, skills needed to be successful and grow, the importance in working with diverse teams, how to pivot into a supply chain career, and tips on how to continue to advance professionally. Make sure to tune in and find out Josh’s favorite professor and his JoPa story!“Never stop learning, and never lower the bar. Stasis, or complacency is the great killer of personal and professional growth.” –Josh Dolan

#26 An Expert View: Forging A Career in Supply Chain

Smeal alumna and executive coach, Makeda Brown ’95 MGMT is the founder of PVR Coaching & Consulting, a company focused on helping organizations align people strategy to business strategy to maximize business results. In this episode, Makeda discusses best practices for aligning people and business strategy, the 5 generations in the workforce and what makes them unique and similar, leadership and motivational tips for this type of workforce, and finally, ideas on how to navigate, innovate, mentor and work together in a multigenerational workforce.“From a diversity standpoint, we all want to be seen and heard for who we are.”–Makeda Brown

#25 Navigating Your Career from a Multigenerational Standpoint

In this episode, popular communications professor, Dr. Andy Gustafson shares information on why it’s hard to motivate people to vote, TV ads and the election, campaign strategies and mottos, the importance of staying in touch with elected officials and WHY YOU SHOULD VOTE!“I’ve seen firsthand some countries who do not have this privilege, honor, duty; and I couldn’t image living in a world where I didn’t have the ability to vote…Get out and vote everyone!"–Dr. Andre “Andy” Gustafson

#24 Vote Your Values

In this episode, alumnus Joe Apgar '08 FIN ECON the COO at Pelotonia, shares his family’s cancer story, Pelotonia’s mission and how it has pivoted due to the pandemic, his career switch from for-profit to nonprofit, and best tips for succeeding in the nonprofit community. Tune in to find out what Smeal professor made a huge impact on his cancer journey!"People treat a job search in a non-profit differently than a for-profit and they should be the same. You want to work someplace where you can learn, grow, build your network and make an impact.” –Joe Apgar

#23 An Inspirational Journey to a Nonprofit Career

Smeal Alumni Career Services is dedicated to connecting our alumni with professional advancement opportunities at any stage of their career. Our lifelong learning webinars and brand new podcast program deliver live and on-demand digital content with subject matter focused on higher education business research, corporate and small business industry knowledge, and career development best practices. Podcast episodes are 20-30 minutes in length as one-to-one interviews featuring Smeal faculty, alumni, and well regarded industry partners. This program was developed for busy, on-the-go professionals looking for a quick immersion in trending business content.

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Smeal Lifelong Learning Podcast

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