Alumni Spotlight

	Erin Walter CEO and co-founder, nuphorIQ MBA Concentration: Entrepreneurship and Marketing Planning and Strategy Year Graduated: 2011

What was your path to your current position?

We had a strong marketing team at Tasty Catering for the past 6 years, with very intelligent and talented individuals working for us part-time through school and through sports.

Starting our own business had been an idea for the past 4 years but then I left Chicago to go play professional soccer for a couple years and we didn’t have the resources to start the business. When I returned from playing last year we had the pleasure of finding a DePaul student (Rafal Florczak). Rafal is a genius with everything technical and IT related. Shortly after he joined us we realized we had the ability to take the leap and branch off on our own, and that’s how nuphorIQ was born.

How have other DePaul students been involved with your business as employees?

Rafal Florczak – Rafal joined the team in July and after we built our first website together we realized that we were now capable to service clients. He is consistently cluing us in on the latest and greatest in writing code, SEO and anything technological that we’re unaware of. Most of the time he talks about code and seems to speak in a language that most of us don’t understand!

Bency Thevalakara – Bency really helps us organize and hone in our creative thoughts by creating easy-to-read proposal formats and aiding in our strategic planning. In addition, her professional marketing background has given us a hand in conducting necessary marketing research needed for the advancement of our company and our clients.

Can you provide us with an overview of your company?

From in-house to in-business. What started out as a reputable in-house marketing department in a prominent Chicagoland business has morphed into a successful company of its own. nuphorIQ is all about fresh talent, that blissful feeling you get when things seem to work out just right, and brains. In fact, we liked those three concepts so much that we smashed them together to create the name of the company. nuphorIQ (noo • fawr • ik) Get it? Well, we thought it was clever… Anyway, with clients from multiple cities in multiple time zones across the country, we can truly say we specialize in marketing for small businesses everywhere. Some clients hire us on a project-by-project basis while others have handed over their entire scope of marketing needs. Either way, you’re in for something edgy and new, so hold on to your suit jackets, folks. We like to make a scene, and we’re not afraid to have some fun. What are our capabilities, you ask? We’ve got plenty, including website design and development, logo and bra

What advice can you offer MBA students who are considering starting their own business?

You can never have enough mentors and advisors. Asking for help and guidance is hard to do. It’s hard to admit you don’t know things sometimes, but there is invaluable experience and advice out there and you never will find it till you ask. One of the major reasons we’ve been successful so far is that we have an incredible team of mentors and advisors helping keep us on track but at the same time letting us take the path we want to take.

Which class or concentration do you feel anyone interested in starting a business should consider?

This is a question harder than “who do you like better…..your mom or your dad?” I guess that’s true if you have 3 moms and 3 dads. The first class Zafar Iqbal’s “developing sustainable business models”. The second class is any class from Dr. Patrick Murphy. Both of these classes/professors stretched my mind more than I thought possible and taught material that is absolutely crucial for starting and sustaining a successful business. The other four professors that are must-takes are ones that I took in undergrad, but I know they also teach MBA classes. Joel Whalen, Clancy Ryan, Dan Strunk and Dave Hoffmeister all teach extremely valuable sales leadership classes that are crucial to any business person, not just sales focused students.

Why did you select the DePaul MBA program & your emphasis of study?

My undergrad experience at DePaul was incredible. I realized that DePaul doesn’t just teach theories and academics from decades ago; they teach what’s current in today’s market. The professors are genuinely interested in the students’ growth, development and well-being. I’m still in contact with my professors, even ones I had in undergrad, and turn to them when I need help. As for my two emphasis’ (entrepreneurship and marketing), well, entrepreneurship is in my blood and has interested me since high school. I couldn’t wait to learn more about starting a business and how to make it sustainable. With marketing planning and strategy, I knew I didn’t want to get into the extremely technical side of the industry. By “technical” I mean marketing and advertising research and new product management. I went with an emphasis that was a bit broader in terms of content and far more crucial to my interest in starting a business.

What book(s) related to your profession, industry, or self improvement would you recommend?

Why She Buys – Bridget Brennan

What has been your experience in attending KMG events?

The 2011 Symposium was one of the best symposiums I’ve ever attended. Everyone that attended the event was involved and engaged. I was impressed with the knowledge and experience that the panelists and speakers brought to the table, as well.

	Jennifer Anton Brand Manager/Innovation, MillerCoors MBA Concentration: Marketing Management Year Graduated: 2003

What was your path to your current position?

I spent 5 years agency side in account management and new business development getting familiar with every type of marketing tactic from direct marketing, digital, print, point of sale, TV., you –name-it! After finishing my M.B.A at DePaul while working full time, I made the switch to client-side, taking an Associate Brand Manager position with Unilever, a $52 billion packaged good company where I worked on Lawry’s, Knorr and Lipton. I was promoted twice there, once to a channel marketing role focusing on international chain accounts like McDonald’s and Subway and then to Brand Manager. It was there that I got bit by the Innovation bug while at a training in Rotterdam, Netherlands with global marketers just like me from around the world sharing ideas on how we could grow our portfolios. I moved to Constellation Brands and into a strictly Innovation and New Product development role where I fell in love with the beverage alcohol category. Now, in my role at MillerCoors, I have the best of all worlds in a role w

Can you provide us with an overview of your company?

My focus as Brand Manager, Innovation is to launch new products and beers into the market place. My role focuses both on the fuzzy front end of innovation including research, ideation and testing as well as fully developing new brands and launching them in the marketplace. Most recently I’ve led a team in bringing back an old Pre-Prohibition beer recipe that we’ve called Batch 19. It’s named after the year that beer was banned – 1919 and it’s in test in Chicago, D.C., Milwaukee and San Francisco. It’s a strike of good luck that we found this old recipe for a fantastic Pre-Pro beer, now we’re traveling around the U.S. and bringing it with very carefully selected bars and retailers.

What advice can you offer MBA students who are considering starting their own business?

Really think about what excites you and where you are going to be happy every day. Aim to do exactly what you want to do as you start looking for roles. Get to know the industry and the players and get to know them personally anyway you can.

Which class or concentration do you feel anyone interested in starting a business should consider?

Honestly, it’s all so important. Every part of your M.B.A. is at work every day. The marketing courses are all critical but you better strive to excel in the classes you don’t like because you will use it all and need to feel very comfortable with finance, accounting, strategy, production, presentation/speaking, human resources and legal. As a brand manager, it’s like you’re running your own business in a larger organization. You’re accountable for results and a healthy P&L. Being a great marketer, savvy business generalist and respected people person is the foundation for a good brand manager.

Why did you select the DePaul MBA program & your emphasis of study?

DePaul was the highest ranking part-time M.B.A. program in Chicago and fifth ranked in the nation. The program was known to be excellent and I appreciated being able to work in the industry all day and then learn at night and come back and use my new knowledge every day in the workplace.

What book(s) related to your profession, industry, or self improvement would you recommend?

I just read Contagious Success by Susan Lucia Annunzio, whom I met as a speaker for the Chicago Executives Club. Emotional Intelligence is the new most important characteristic of CEO’s and it is so important to not just focus on the tangible skills that you can learn in the classroom but also in the intuitive people skills that you will need to use every day to help you and your future teams succeed.

What has been your experience in attending KMG events?

	Andrea Klemm Senior Manager/Market Strategy, Tribune Media Group MBA Concentration: Marketing Management Year Graduated: 2010

What was your path to your current position?

I’ve been around both media and marketing for my whole career to date. Coming out of Marquette, I started at Kohl’s corporate headquarters in their print media buying group. My work there exposed me to the discipline behind marketing a major retail brand as well as the media planning that made the transition to Tribune a smooth one for me. I’ve been with TMG for five years and have had the opportunity to move from marketing analyst, working directly with our sales team on client proposals, into other positions of increasing responsibility within the marketing group. I took on my current position in March: a completely new role for the company, so it’s been very fun to carve out the path for “customer outsight”.

Can you provide us with an overview of your company?

In its simplest form, I am responsible for what I like to call “customer outsight,” or the practice of identifying trends and customer needs and using them to inform key strategic decisions. My team drives the front end of the company’s innovation pipeline through research and engaging customers. We also own the digital strategy for the Tribune Media Group brand, which will lead to a re-launch of our B2B site, www.tribunemediagroup.com, on December 16th.

What advice can you offer MBA students who are considering starting their own business?

Read a lot. It’s important to study and understand the increasing integration of media. That sounds strange in the era of more and more media fragmentation, but to be impactful a brand’s marketing message must build across media platforms. Consumers are using countless media sources for news and information, and brands are looking for ways to create experiences that will connect with their targets well beyond just a series of detached ads.

Which class or concentration do you feel anyone interested in starting a business should consider?

The Market Strategy course is certainly the obvious answer with a good balance of strategy and leadership. The latter is really where I recommend students focus if they’re interested in media. Patrick Murphy teaches a great leadership course that gives you the forum to build a leadership philosophy as well as tactical plan for approaching challenges. Being an exceptional leader in an industry going through revolutionary change is the best way to position oneself for a rewarding career in media.

Why did you select the DePaul MBA program & your emphasis of study?

DePaul had all of the things I was looking for in a program: experienced and high-caliber fellow students that led to more insightful class discussion; plenty of options for international study – I went to Germany and Bahrain for courses; and a strong alumni group in Chicago.

What book(s) related to your profession, industry, or self improvement would you recommend?

Innovation is all about generating ideas, but we’ve all been in the dreaded “brainstorm” that nets the same old ideas. I just read “Thinkertoys” by Michael Michalko in which he details several great exercises to stimulate more fruitful ideation. A great read for all marketers and, really, leaders in general. On the self improvement front, I recommend Strengthfinder 2.0 by Tom Rath. The whole premise is to understand and build on your strengths, which goes against mypersonaltendency to focus on improving weaknesses. The book and self-assessment will take you less than an hour to get through – an investment in self-awareness that is well worth the time.

What has been your experience in attending KMG events?

I really appreciate the frequency and consistent caliber of KMG events. I’ve been to several events this fall and always meet great fellow marketers and learn something new.

	Dan Brunnert Vice President | Consulting, Floyd Consulting MBA Concentration: General Business Year Graduated: 2004

What was your path to your current position?

I worked for the SAE non-profit educational foundation while attending Kellstadt. I was responsible for developing educational programs and leading leadership workshops for their members throughout the country. During that time, I met Matthew Kelly while attending one of his presentations to learn ideas that I could share in the educational programs I was developing for my job. We invited Matthew to serve as a keynote speaker for our organization’s Leadership School for two years. He and I stayed in touch. When Matthew was writing The Dream Manage, he asked me to help him work on the Dream Manager Program and help him start Floyd Consulting in Chicago. We have been working together and growing the business since then.

Can you provide us with an overview of your company?

Our firm is based on the fact that when we are more engaged in our personal life we become more engaged in our professional life. When we become more engaged in our life and work, we perform better, provide better customer service, improve as a spouse and parent, and become healthier. Our team at Floyd Consulting helps companies, teams, individuals, and families adopt the philosophies from Matthew Kelly’s best-selling book, The Dream Manager, to build engagement and form dynamic teams. Our company provides team building workshops, executive off-site retreats, long-term employee engagement projects, and public training events for individuals interested in becoming a Certified Dream Manager.

What do you do in your current position?

I manage our office in Chicago, including all aspects of business operations. I lead training workshops for clients, develop our program materials with Matthew Kelly and our team, train managers and independent business owners to be Certified Dream Managers, and I have the pleasure of serving some of our clients as a Dream Manager to implement the personal strategic planning program that we have developed.

What advice can you offer MBA students who are considering starting their own business?

I think it’s true for any career or role, but identify what type of environment will allow you to grow, be happy, and develop personally and professionally. Who are the types of managers you want to work with and for? I think clarity around those questions will help you know when you may have the main ingredients for a great fit. Take an interest in lots of types of industries, companies, and organizations. One of the things that I enjoy the most about our work at Floyd is the ability to partner with clients from a variety of industries, sizes of businesses, and types of firms.

Which class or concentration do you feel anyone interested in starting a business should consider?

I regret not exploring the entrepreneurship program while at DePaul. While completing my degree I didn’t consider that I would become an entrepreneur. Since I am in that role now, in hindsight, I wish I would have taken entrepreneurship classes. I think entrepreneurial skills are necessary for any effective manager or consultant. It can serve as a compliment to any degree program. As a consultant, you have to think like an entrepreneur to develop innovative solutions or just figure out how to get things done.

Why did you select the DePaul MBA program & your emphasis of study?

The DePaul MBA program was a great fit for my work commitments and my desire for a part-time MBA program. As a undergraduate, I received degrees in English and Biology. Therefore, I was seeking broad business knowledge and a foundation through the general business focus at DePaul. I appreciated the flexibility of a general business focus. I was also able to experience several international business classes that were very rewarding and helped me to explore my personal interests of international travel, while at the same time expanding my business education.

What book(s) related to your profession, industry, or self improvement would you recommend?

Leading Change by John Kotter is a wonderful resource for guiding organizations and teams through transformation and change. The concepts are applicable for any business leader but especially appropriate for anyone consulting or supporting other organizations, teams, or departments with new programs, initiatives, or any form of transition.

The Three Signs of a Miserable Job by Patrick Lencioni provides a great framework for serving others as a manager and becoming a better manager. I think this book presents ideas to help us understand why we have excelled or struggled in some roles and how we can work as managers to create an environment where our colleagues can feel appreciated, supported, and good about their work.

My Life with the Saints by James Martin. I am currently reading this book and enjoying the insights presented by Fr. Martin. He graduated from the Wharton School of Business and was an executive with General Electric before he joined the Jesuits. The book provides short biographies of some of the saints who have impacted his life and how he has grown on his own path.

Built to Sell by John Warrillow. This book helped me to think differently about entrepreneurial businesses and where value resides in those businesses.

What has been your experience in attending KMG events?

KMG events have been a great way to get back in touch with DePaul. I have appreciated the opportunity to reconnect with friends from the program, meet new alumni, and hear about the current program from students. The content and programs have all been interesting and applicable to my work. The events are so welcoming and create a wonderful sense of community for DePaul alumni and students. I have always left these events with new ideas and new connections.