Eccles Business Buzz

Hosted by David Eccles School of Business

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About the show

Welcome to the Eccles Business Buzz Podcast. My name is Frances Johnson, and your host for our podcast show. We know the Eccles community is only as strong as its alumni network and as I have built relationships with alumni across the nation, I’ve learned how truly remarkable our network is. Our goal is to share alumni stories, perspectives, and voices on topics that are driving conversations around the globe and within our school today. The core values of the Eccles community will underlie everything we discuss here: Entrepreneurial Grit, Continuous Curiosity, Empathetic Global Citizenship, and Impacting Your World. Eccles Business Buzz is a production of David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University FM.

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41 min

S10E10: Big Dreams, Small Steps, and Life Beyond the Olympics with Winter Vinecki

The tenth season of the Eccles Business Buzz podcast concludes today with a conversation between host Frances Johnson and Winter Vinecki, 2x Olympian for the US Freestyle Ski Team, author, David Eccles School of Business graduate and current law student. Winter and Frances go over Winter’s many impressive achievements, including being the youngest person to run a marathon on all seven continents, founding the nonprofit Team Winter for prostate cancer awareness in honor of her late father, and balancing elite training with school throughout her career. Winter discusses motivation, trying new things, and reaching long-term goals through incremental steps, as well as managing Olympic pressure through preparation, sports psychology, breathing, visualization, and staying present. She reflects on coping with disappointment, recurring injuries, valuing the process, and prioritizing education for mental health and post-sport identity. The conversation also explores how sports build community and create global connections, and Winter explains why focusing on your own unique journey rather than comparisons is so important for your mindset. Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University.fm . Eccles Business Buzz is proud to be selected by FeedSpot as one of the Top 70 Business School podcasts on the web. Learn more at https://podcast.feedspot.com/us_business_school_podcasts . Episode Quotes: How small goals built an Olympic dream [06:17] You make the baby steps and the incremental plans along the way and the goals, and before you know it, you're one step closer and one step closer and one step closer. So when I first moved out to Park City to try aerial skiing, my goal was to get that summer scholarship to be able to train in Park City for the summer, because I knew if I did that, then I could train and do my first back flips on snow. If I did that, I could have a good year on snow for the first time, then maybe the next year do doubles, and then doubles meant I could make the ski team. Ski team meant World Cup. World Cup meant Olympics. So it's like all these steps, but you have to start by looking at that first step in the ladder, because you can't get to the top unless you put that hand on that first step first. It's about all those short-term goals that really allow you to get those long-term goals, but it is important to have those dream goals, even if you don't get there, because it's all a part of the process of how you can accomplish all those other steps on the way up. The real reason why Winter kept studying while chasing Olympic glory [22:57] I've always really enjoyed learning, so that's been part of the reason why it's been easy in a sense for me to want to continue to do these things. But in another sense, I think it's good for my entire mental health as a professional athlete because if your only focus is on your sport and that gets taken away, that is extremely difficult. So with injuries, if you have a bad year and you don't get sponsorships, you don't have prize money that year; that can put so much pressure on a sport you love, and it can make it not fun anymore. And so I think it's important to have these other things to be able to look forward to in your life, and if I have a bad day of training, then that doesn't go well, but I can do something good in school and get a good grade in that or work on that to be able to have those other things to feel like I'm moving forward in other areas of my life, too. Because we can't all do sports, unfortunately, for the rest of our lives. An Olympian's hard-won lesson on letting go of everyone else's expectations [44:19] I would tell my younger self that it's your journey. It's not anybody else's. There's no use in comparing yourselves or trying to do things just to please other people, whether that be your parents or other friends or, like, coaches. This is about you. Like, what do you want, and how do you want to get there? And so, I think some of the time throughout my career, I've been so stressed about, like, "Oh, what do other people want or what's expected of me, or everyone thinks I should do this." And at the end of the day, realizing sooner that [I] believe in myself and believe that what I want is worthy and how I want to get there. Show Links: WinterVinecki.com Team Winter | Charity Organization Winter Vinecki | LinkedIn Winter Vinecki | Team USA Profile Winter Vinecki | Instagram Winter’s Rise David Eccles School of Business (@ubusiness) | Instagram Undergraduate Scholars Programs Rising Business Leaders Eccles Alumni Network (@ecclesalumni) | Instagram Eccles Experience Magazine

39 min

S10E09: Technology, Fan Experience, and the Future of Sports in Utah with Utah Jazz President Jim Olson

The tenth season of the Eccles Business Buzz podcast continues with a conversation between host Frances Johnson and Jim Olson, President of the Utah Jazz, and key leader for the Utah Mammoth NHL Franchise, the Delta Center Arena, and more. Jim and Frances talk about Jim’s 30+ years in the sports business, emphasizing how technology and Ryan Smith’s tech background have expanded the Utah Jazz’s parent entity, The Smith Entertainment Group’s global reach, deepened fan connection, and enabled data-driven customization of tickets, sponsorships, and in-arena experiences. He explains how sales are the revenue engine that funds reinvestment in teams, facilities, community programs, and the current Delta Center renovation for hockey, including a new 450-stall parking garage. The conversation covers sports’ unifying and economic impact, lasting memories, career skills and education, the upcoming Business of Sports minor at the Eccles School, and excitement about future championships, upcoming Olympic Games, and district-style real estate developments in Utah. Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University.fm . Eccles Business Buzz is proud to be selected by FeedSpot as one of the Top 70 Business School podcasts on the web. Learn more at https://podcast.feedspot.com/us_business_school_podcasts . Episode Quotes: Why fans are the lifeblood of every sports business [08:46] Frances Johnson: What is the role of sales specifically in today's sports industry? [08:52] Jim Olson: Well, I'm definitely biased when I get asked that because I spent so much of my career focused on the revenue-generating aspects of our business. And I just believe you have to generate revenue. It's revenue-generating; that revenue just opens up the doors to so many different things. You know, it opens up the doors to improving our arena experience. It opens up the doors to improving our broadcast experience. It opens up the doors to improving our retail experience. And obviously, it's cyclical. As you open up those doors and improve all those experiences, the goal is to generate more revenue with it. But, look, we say that our fans are the lifeblood of the organization. We really mean that because they're making a large commitment, be it through buying tickets, watching games, streaming games, their businesses being partners in through sponsorship programs, and so forth. And our fans are the lifeblood because it drives the revenue, which allows us to do so many things. Turning revenue into a better fan experience [10:56] When we make money, we reinvest it back into the company. We're not publicly traded where we got to worry about stockholders. We're not worried about paying off other individuals or whatever it may be. When we make money, we reinvest it right back into the organization, where we have gone through a rebuilding phase with the team, and now people have seen we're making investments into improving both the basketball team and the hockey team, Jazz and the Mammoth, and we're reinvesting into our facilities. We're going to be done in September with a new parking garage that's connected to the arena. 450 new parking stalls to enhance the experience there. And so really we reinvest into our marketing efforts and our social media efforts, and we reinvest back into the community. Jim reveals the most important skills for building a career in sports [23:50] Working in sports is no different than working in every other job. It's competitive. You have to grind. You have to work hard. You have to be focused. You have to learn to work with people. Like, it's, kind of, what everybody knows. It's hard. It's competitive. There might be jobs out there that are 9:00 to 5:00, but I don't know. That's not sports, you know. We work nights, we work weekends, we work holidays, we work early mornings, we work late, whatever. But it's just so fun. Show Links: Jim Olson | LinkedIn Sales Innovation Summit Presentation | David Eccles School The Delta Center David Eccles School of Business (@ubusiness) | Instagram Undergraduate Scholars Programs Rising Business Leaders Eccles Alumni Network (@ecclesalumni) | Instagram Eccles Experience Magazine

33 min

S10E08: Mentorship, Community Banking, and Utah’s Growth with Becky Kearns

The tenth season of the Eccles Business Buzz podcast continues with a conversation between host Frances Johnson and Becky Kearns, Director of Community and Business Development at Zions Bank. Becky and Frances talk about mentoring as a way to share knowledge, help students find direction and passion, and expand access to professional networks. Becky highlights student adaptability but notes they often need guidance in clarifying career paths. She also describes why corporate partnerships with higher education and community involvement matter, including employee engagement and “goodwill,” and how banks can design programs to meet unmet community needs. Becky explains the economic and cultural impact of sports events in Utah and discusses the future challenges of sustainability, water, and housing, urging collaboration and responsible growth. Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University.fm . Eccles Business Buzz is proud to be selected by FeedSpot as one of the Top 70 Business School podcasts on the web. Learn more at https://podcast.feedspot.com/us_business_school_podcasts . Episode Quotes: The influence behind Becky's commitment to give back [06:22] Frances Johnson: Why was it important to you to be a mentor, to give back in that way? [06:39] Becky Kearns: Well, I think my parents both were two individuals who taught the four of us to always leave a community better than you found it. Now, how we define community is up to us. But that could be being very involved in the, you know, not-for-profit world and helping with boards, et cetera. But my parents were very clear that share the knowledge that you have with those that need it. And so that's why it was important to me because I also am not quite sure where I would have gone without the direction I had from both my father and the dean of the College of Business because I was going off in a total different direction than where they were. And they saw my strengths there, but they also saw the big pitfalls that came with that. So I think having the comfort... And sometimes it isn't always what you want to hear. In my case, it wasn't always what I wanted to hear. However, you know, it's just information that someone can use to help guide them along the way. The key skill for success in financial services today [09:38] Frances Johnson: What are some skills that students need to succeed today in the financial services industry, but also more generally, and how have those maybe changed or evolved over time from when you started your career? [09:52] Becky Kearns: I think being adaptable. The students today need to be adaptable with all the information that's coming at them from different directions, you know, where do they want to go? But being able to see there might be different avenues for them to pursue, whether today or throughout their career. Because when I started, especially in financial services, people would pick a specific genre that might be retail banking, commercial banking, investments, and they stayed plugged in, so to speak, to that specific area. In my case, I had the opportunity, and mainly through my husband's transfers across the country, I was pulled out of everything that was familiar to me and being plugged back into something I didn't know. In most cases, I was moving to cities I didn't know anyone. And so being adaptable to those changes and being able to find what would fit best for me really opened up a wealth of opportunity for me. What Becky wishes she had done earlier in her career. [38:18] We had four kids in my family. We were all going to school at the same time. God loves my parents, but they couldn't afford to put us all through. So, you know, we had to help. So I had to have a paycheck. And so, I stayed pretty risk-averse for a while. But when I started to be willing to take risks is when I found my greatest success but most importantly, my greatest joy. If I could give advice to myself and to others, be flexible, be adaptable. You know, be willing to bank on yourself, so to speak, that some of the skills I didn't think I had, I very much had. It just took me a long time to find them. And so, believe in yourself and believe in what you can provide. And I wish I had done that a little earlier. Show Links: Becky Kearns | LinkedIn LiveLikeSam | Advisory Board Profile David Eccles School of Business (@ubusiness) | Instagram Undergraduate Scholars Programs Rising Business Leaders Eccles Alumni Network (@ecclesalumni) | Instagram Eccles Experience Magazine

33 min

S10E7: Considering Basic Needs Can Make All the Difference with Ginger Avitt

The tenth season of the Eccles Business Buzz podcast continues as host Frances Johnson sits with Ginger Avitt, a VP Regional Coaching Consultant at Fidelity Investments. She also earned her MBA from the David Eccles School of Business in 2020. Ginger and Frances talk about the framing of what makes for fortunate or unfortunate circumstances, and how to go about overcoming challenges and not succumbing to them under the pressure. Ginger shares her own personal journey that included struggles and hardships, and how she achieved her goals despite the obstacles. In a chance encounter Ginger came across the David Eccles School’s In a Pinch Basic Needs Initative, and really understands a lot of the misconceptions that those struggling with basic needs are up against. Through her conversation here and her work with the initiative Ginger works to reverse that narrative. Stressing empathy and understanding, as well as empowering those in tough situations, this is a great conversation to lift and energize the spirit. Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University.fm . Eccles Business Buzz is proud to be selected by FeedSpot as one of the Top 70 Business School podcasts on the web. Learn more at https://podcast.feedspot.com/us_business_school_podcasts . Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University FM. Episode Quotes: How Ginger’s life experiences shaped her people-first leadership [28:31] You never truly know what someone else is carrying outside of work, just like what they're carrying outside of school, what they're carrying outside of work. And so I lean into being people-first, like each with their own challenges, their stories, backgrounds, that awareness guides my approach to coaching and leading. So I focus on connecting to that human to human before anything else. I lead with empathy and listen without assumptions. I meet people where they're at, and that perspective has become one of my greatest strengths in my work if I reflect on my own, the way I show up. So it's what I try to truly bring to work every day. The misconception about struggling students and the reality they face [24:25] Frances Johnson: What do you think are some misconceptions that people might carry about students who rely on things like In A Pinch, students who are facing some of the difficulties that you faced? Do you think there's something that people don't understand about that experience that you wish they understood better? [24:47] Ginger Avitt: I don't think it's unique to this conversation, this topic. I do think it's a common misconception for people who are struggling with these basic needs across, like, not just in college, is what I'm trying to say, is that they're lazy or just simply not making the right choices. And I know for a fact that couldn't be further from the truth for most people. You never know what someone else is carrying behind the scenes, and many students are working, often multiple jobs, still barely getting by, trying to keep those heads above water. But even my second round, some are supporting children, some siblings, or even parents, and others are managing really complex circumstances that you just can't see from the outside that would overwhelm even most of us. [25:36] Frances Johnson: Yeah, anyone. [25:37] Ginger Avitt: And a prepared adult, right? [25:39] Frances Johnson: Absolutely. Yeah. [25:40] Ginger Avitt: And you touched on some of that in the beginning, and many just don't know what resources exist as well, let alone feel comfortable seeking help, because that pride, you know, that dang pride gets in the way. From getting by to creating options, why Ginger wanted to earn her college degree [15:21] Returning to school became essential when I realized I was now the primary provider. I wasn't going to be that teacher, that was the second extra money, you know, something for spending my time that I could find some fulfillment in. I, myself, and my two little boys depended upon where I went next. And I wanted more than just a way to get by. I wanted options. I wanted that ability to shape our future instead of being just limited by circumstances. And so, earning that college degree really represented that possibility for me. So, it was the key to unlocking opportunities that I wouldn't have had otherwise. Show Links: Ginger Avitt | LinkedIn In A Pinch | Eccles Basic Needs Initiative David Eccles School of Business (@ubusiness) | Instagram Undergraduate Scholars Programs Rising Business Leaders Eccles Alumni Network (@ecclesalumni) | Instagram Eccles Experience Magazine

34 min

S10E6: Building Cole West, Launching the U’s Real Estate Program, and Redefining Success with Colin Wright

Welcome back to the tenth season of the Eccles Business Buzz podcast. Today, guest-host Annesley Womble returns for a conversation with Colin Wright, Owner of Cole West Group, a real estate development group focused on developing master-planned communities, residential lots, urban infill communities and mixed-use properties throughout Utah. Wright traces his path from studying finance at the University of Utah, where real estate classes sparked his interest, to earning a master’s in real estate development at Columbia University in New York, where he learned the private equity joint-venture model. When family and a great job opportunity brought him back to Utah, Wright found himself facing the Great Financial Crisis after leaving Ivory Homes too early. After pivoting to help build the University of Utah’s Master of Real Estate Development curriculum, he taught classes to survive. Wright shares insights on timing, real estate cycles, partnerships, leadership, and scaling while reflecting on family pressures, Amy Chua’s “Triple Package” framework, aspirations for campus and student housing, and his commitment to developing leaders, strengthening faith and family, and creating lasting impact. Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University.fm . Eccles Business Buzz is proud to be selected by FeedSpot as one of the Top 70 Business School podcasts on the web. Learn more at https://podcast.feedspot.com/us_business_school_podcasts . Episode Quotes: On learning to become a better leader of people [21:41] I talked a little bit about, I think God made me to be an entrepreneur, deal maker, and I'm learning to be a good manager. So, as I started Cole West, same thing happened over again. I'm an entrepreneur. I'm growing. I started with three people. Next thing I know, I've got 30 people, and I'm back into this rut of, you know, managing HR problems versus doing deals. And that's when Darlene Carter, who we'd worked with previously, she came back and really helped fill that role of being an integrator and put me back in the seat of being a little bit more of an innovator, which is where I'm more comfortable. But every day I wake up, and I try to be a better integrator. I'm not giving up on, "Hey, you're just not a good leader. It's not natural to you." I wake up every day trying to be a better leader of people, and frankly, I think I have gotten a lot better just through effort, and attention, and study, and patience. Colin shares lessons from the Great Financial Crisis that shaped his company [15:07] So, I learned a ton about real estate cycles. It was the first one I really got to observe. My dad and Ellis Ivory lived through many in the '80s, and '90s, and 2000s, and they warned me and told me what it would be like 2006 to 2009. I watched it from the sidelines. And then 2022 to 2025, I lived it by having real estate investments. Personally, it was really hard. Couldn't pay the bills, you know, some kids and house payments, and it was really hard. I learned I wasn't ready, and that led me to a partnership with three other individuals. And I've always compared it to like a Madden score. If you're playing basketball or football on the Xbox, the players have a score from zero to 100. And in 2006, going into the GFC, I would guess my Madden score was like a 35 or 40. I thought it was 80 or 90, but it was probably a 35 or 40. And the way to survive coming out of that was to find three business partners who had complementing skill sets, where collectively we could be 100. And that was a good step for me, that if you're not an 80 or a 90 or 100, and you want to go into business, find some business partners that complement your Madden score so that you can get close to 100 and try to be successful, and that's what we did. So, we started a company, and the distress that was caused by the GFC, we started buying land and lots in Utah and Colorado, and we started a home builder called Henry Walker Homes. So, it was very entrepreneurial, three other partners, and we just went at it all together to try to work our way out of the Great Financial Crisis. Colin on President Randall’s leadership & the U’s world-class business education today [30:11] What President Randall has done over the past five years of, you know, you've got to put beds on campus, which he's doing an amazing job of, and then just the quality of learning at the U of U business school. I'm on the board at the business school. It's just amazing, the professors, the curriculum, the dean. It's just an amazing experience. It doesn't feel anything like it did when I was there. The kids, the energy, the entrepreneurs, the mentors, they have the access to these real estate classes. I mean, it is world-class. I firmly believe that. Show Links: Colin Wright | LinkedIn Cole West Group | About Master of Real Estate Development | David Eccles Business School David Eccles School of Business (@ubusiness) | Instagram Undergraduate Scholars Programs Rising Business Leaders Eccles Alumni Network (@ecclesalumni) | Instagram Eccles Experience Magazine

43 min

S10E5: From Kodiak Cakes to Kindling Snacks: Cameron Smith’s Playbook for Disrupting Food Brands

As we continue our hallmark tenth season of the Eccles Business Buzz podcast, host Frances Johnson sits down with Cameron Smith, Founder & CEO of Kindling Snacks, and Co-Founder of Kodiak Cakes. Cameron is also a graduate of the David Eccles School of Business with a BS in Business Administration. Cameron talks to Frances about his time at Kodiak Cakes, where he served as president (2019–2023) and helped expand the product line into multiple protein-forward and frozen categories. Cameron shares how it was college’s structure that later helped him research, learn, and become well-rounded across business functions, and how he joined early-stage Kodiak without a clear long-term plan, but drawn by the people and the chance to work broadly. Cameron explains the balance between intuition and data, highlighting the successful launch of the protein “Power Cakes” at Target, and discusses building brand affinity beyond functional benefits. He also describes founding Kindling Snacks in May 2024, a better-for-you pretzel brand, and how they meet challenges like tariffs, finding space in stores and on shelves, and the importance of hunger, execution, and real effort. Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University.fm . Eccles Business Buzz is proud to be selected by FeedSpot as one of the Top 70 Business School podcasts on the web. Learn more at https://podcast.feedspot.com/us_business_school_podcasts . Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University FM. Episode Quotes: Taking actions creates your own opportunity [27:05] What was so interesting is the organization that I was a part of at Kodiak with Joel allowed me to do that, allowed me to express those entrepreneurial feelings and mindsets in an already established business that I didn't have to start it, but I was able to disrupt it and innovate. And I think so many times people wait for... They wait for things to happen for them, and they wait for opportunities. And the reality is opportunities do happen for some people, but you have to make it happen. How curiosity fuels disruption [29:40] If you want to be disruptive, you've got to think like someone who is disruptive. The other night, we were driving home, this was so funny, we were driving home as a family, and it was raining, and my 9-year-old daughter, she just starts saying, "You know, Dad," because the windshield wipers were going, "Dad, I know this would cost a lot of money, but they should put, like, a roof over the road so that you don't have to, you know, essentially, like, use your windshield wipers." And is it practical? No. Could you do that across all of America? You couldn’t do that, but what's happening is she's seeing the world in possibilities. I read something that our curiosity peaks at age, like, six, like three to five, three to six, which is so unfortunate that as we get older, we stop being curious. We stop having these ideas of, "What if you could put a ceiling above the road?" And, like, she's just thinking these ideas. And then so, like, we need to encourage that, encourage that in people on our teams, encourage that with people that we're around and our families, that curiosity, that observation. And I mean, imagine if you go with your family and you're just, you sit in a Starbucks, and you say, "Okay, what's inefficient about what they're doing? What could they do better? What would you do differently?" And you start to create these mindsets of, "How could we think differently? How could we disrupt?" And it just, like, that's how other things start to happen. Deliberate strategy vs Emergent strategy [21:04] Our deliberate strategy was whole grain pancake mixes, add water only. The emergent strategy was protein pancake mixes, and it started to grow. And so the data told us, "Hey, there was a market for this." So we started to launch new flavors, and it continued to grow to the point that today, as you look at Kodiak as a brand, most places that Kodiak goes into, there's protein in because that's what the brand has become known for. But that was an emergent strategy. That was not our deliberate strategy. And so I think part of that learning is you need to have a deliberate strategy, and you need to pay attention to the emergent strategies. And sometimes your emergent strategy can become your deliberate strategy, but you also don't want to just chase after emergent strategies because that's what some businesses do, and they never see. A strategy that's working because they're looking for the next thing that's going to emerge for a lot of different reasons. Show Links: Kindling Snacks | About Us Cameron Smith | LinkedIn Profile David Eccles School of Business (@ubusiness) | Instagram Undergraduate Scholars Programs Rising Business Leaders Eccles Alumni Network (@ecclesalumni) | Instagram Eccles Experience Magazine

32 min

S10E4: Clark Ivory: Transformative Leadership in Education and Housing

Continuing the excitement of the Eccles Business Buzz podcast’s tenth season , host Frances Johnson talks with Clark Ivory, CEO of Ivory Homes, Utah’s Number One Homebuilder since 1988. Clark will also be inducted into the David Eccles School of Business Hall of Fame this spring. The Ivory companies have built more than 25,000 homes and 4,000 apartments. Clark has also held civic leadership roles and helped launch efforts including the Utah Impact Partnership, Utah Preservation Fund, and Utah Community Builders. He and his wife Christine have funded 4,000+ scholarships, established the Ivory University House (housing 623 students with proceeds supporting scholarships, internships, and stipends), and cofounded Ivory Innovations with their daughter Abby to address housing challenges via the Ivory Prize and affordable housing projects. Clark links education—especially literacy, citing only 50% of Utah third graders currently reading at grade level—to upward mobility, homelessness, and workforce needs. He also outlines his vision-goals-plan-accountability “success formula;” and emphasizes resilience, principles, and incremental growth through setbacks and market uncertainty. Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University.fm . Eccles Business Buzz is proud to be selected by FeedSpot as one of the Top 70 Business School podcasts on the web. Learn more at https://podcast.feedspot.com/us_business_school_podcasts . Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University FM. Episode Quotes: How to develop communities through a business lens without losing sight of people’s needs [31:24] The thing I love about Utah is that there are so many people that are willing to work together to solve problems and to come up with solutions. It's just so nice to be able to get together, collaborate, bring all the resources to bear, get the Gardner Institute looking at things critically, coming up with a new approach to governance for the state, which we did, and then nominating the right people to help lead out. And I think we're actually going to make some headway with homelessness. There's a lot of people contributing, but it's amazing how we've been able to get a much higher level of expertise in understanding the challenge and what can have a long-term impact that will actually move the needle instead of just throwing money at a problem or, you know, not ever measuring outcomes or understanding that we have to maybe re-look at the entire system and what's broken. What the Ivory success formula means to Clark [15:40] I just had opportunity after opportunity to do little things, and I had this view and this vision that I could become something. And I had this idea that maybe someday I'd go to a really top-notch business school. And that's the vision.And you always need to have a longer-term vision. And then if you do, it's easier to focus on goals that are one year or five year, and then you work harder to achieve your plans that you put together. So, that's been a process that I've shared with every organization I've been in and with all of my Ivory team members. And I ask them to share their success formula every year. And I always tell them, you know, "If you don't like my success formula, don't use it, but have your own." And the important thing is that you do have a great big vision of where you want to go, and then you aren't afraid to set goals. I always told all my kids, "It's always important to have goals, but you can change them anytime you want when they don't make sense, because circumstances change." You have to be able to be resilient and still be positive and say, "Okay, this has been ruled out, but now what is my goal? How am I going to adapt? What am I going to do differently?" And so, this has become part of our ethos at Ivory Homes and with Ivory Innovations and every organization I'm working with. How Clark views affordable housing as key to economic growth [36:57] If we can create great neighborhoods that really have a lot of people prospering, you know, people are so much more likely to graduate from high school, go on to college, have higher incomes, et cetera. And some of the zip codes and neighborhoods in the state are more challenged. And I love the fact that the University of Utah is really investing in the west side of the valley now, with this new hospital project that's going to get started soon. And we've also looked at neighborhoods out there and where we can really make a difference. I think we, like you have said earlier, we have to look a little bit earlier in the process of, you know, an individual's growth. And the earlier we can help them, the better. And then, of course, they're likely to avoid a lot of the pitfalls of life if they do get off to the right start. We're not going to be able to do it everywhere as a state, or we are not going to be able to do it in our own communities, but we all need to be heading in that direction. Show Links: Clark Ivory | LinkedIn Ivory Homes | Website Ivory Foundation | Website Clark Ivory encourages Rising Business Leaders to be driven by principles and impact | Article David Eccles School of Business (@ubusiness) | Instagram Undergraduate Scholars Programs Rising Business Leaders Eccles Alumni Network (@ecclesalumni) | Instagram Eccles Experience Magazine

45 min

S10E3: Service and Success: Inside Nicholas and Company's Family Legacy with Nicole and Peter Mouskondis

In this episode of our hallmark tenth season of the Eccles Business Buzz podcast, host Frances Johnson sits down with Nicole and Peter Mouskondis, the CEO and Owner, respectively, of Nicholas and Company, a third-generation, family-owned-and-operated broadline foodservice distribution company in the Intermountain West. Nicole and Peter are also being recognized with the Distinguished Entrepreneur Award at this spring’s David Eccles School of Business Hall of Fame event. Peter describes giving back through boards and the University of Utah after benefiting from mentors at key times, while Nicole reframes service as stewardship and servant leadership tied to community impact. They recount the immigrant journey of Nicholas and Company founder, Nicholas himself, the company’s creative beginnings selling dented canned goods, and their eventual growth into broadline foodservice. Nicole explains the values behind “Nicholas and Company,” the shift from the PRIDE acronym to an MVP model, and the Greek ethos of “philotimo.” Peter and Nicole discuss entrepreneurial courage, sales lessons, major innovations like an ERP implementation, people-first leadership and empathy, COVID-era adaptation and food donations, the pressure of being the third generation of a family business, and a structured succession plan as their children enter the business as well. Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University.fm . Eccles Business Buzz is proud to be selected by FeedSpot as one of the Top 70 Business School podcasts on the web. Learn more at https://podcast.feedspot.com/us_business_school_podcasts . Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University FM. Episode Quotes: The entrepreneurial grit behind Nicholas and Company’s success [20:26] Peter Mouskondis: You know, I am a young man, Nicole and I had just gotten engaged. We had just put money down on our house. And I came home and said, you know, "My dad basically has fired me and said the last stop is on sales, and if you make it, that's great, and if you don't, go do something completely different." And, you know, that was scary. You find ways of becoming very creative, and I know at one time I actually slept in my car in Park City because I was waiting for the chefs to come in the next morning. I wanted to be right there when they came in. And so, you get really creative in the sense of what you're trained to either sell or how you portray yourself. And that was not only fruitful, I mean, in the end, you know, thank goodness I was successful there, but it was scary. And that's something I think any entrepreneurial person would go through starting a brand-new company like my grandfather. How changing the mission felt almost sacrilegious but was necessary for the future generations. [16:11] Nicole Mouskondis: We have this secret ingredient called philotimo. So, at every step of the way in that mission statement, there is an absolute nod to everything that is unique about us. Preserving our family recipe for success, the family recognizes that we're a family business. The recipe for success recognizes that we're in food service. And securing the dreams recognizes that this started with the American dream, this immigrant story of an American dream. And everybody has dreams for themselves, their future, their families, for all future generations. And that's really a nod to this fact that we are a legacy business. We intend to be here to stay for generations to come. That secret ingredient in the recipe for success is this Greek word called philotimo. And at the time, especially, nobody knew what that meant. Nobody knew what that was. There still is no single English translation for the word. So, we had to come up with our own definition and explain to people what it was. And in the Greek culture, it is this sense of honor, this love and honor, and this duty and obligation to one another to make things better, to right the wrongs, to do what's right simply because it's right. It's, kind of, all-encompassing, this aspiration. We're not perfect, but it's something that resonates with all of our stakeholders as something that we are trying to become every single day and trying to make that so that it's not just words on the wall, but that we live that aspiration. Why empathy is an important leadership tenet [31:05] Nicole Mouskondis: I think one of the most important leadership tenets ever is empathy. And so, if you can lead by, you know, really trying to put yourself in the shoes of someone else, I mean, at the end of the day, it all comes down to people. And so, when we have to make changes, we don't take those lightly because you're impacting and affecting somebody's world, somebody... It is personal to them. It's not just business to them if you have to make a change that, you know, they feel, like, is not a good change for them. Show Links: Nicholas and Company Nicole Mouskondis | LinkedIn Hall of Fame | David Eccles School of Business David Eccles School of Business (@ubusiness) | Instagram Undergraduate Scholars Programs Rising Business Leaders Eccles Alumni Network (@ecclesalumni) | Instagram Eccles Experience Magazine

34 min

S10E2: Building Dreams: From First Ascent to the Utah Jazz with Jhareil Hutchinson

As we continue our hallmark tenth season of the Eccles Business Buzz podcast, we will bring you conversations with notable alumni from the David Eccles School of Business and their stories about the impact the school has had on their lives and careers. In this episode, host Frances Johnson talks with Jhareil Hutchinson, a marketing professional and junior project manager for the NBA’s Utah Jazz. Jhareil, a 2024 David Eccles School of Business marketing graduate and First Ascent Scholars alumnus, describes some of the barriers he faced coming to college as a first-generation student, and how the First Ascent cohort helped him build a sense of community and belonging. Jhareil credits the program and Eccles with teaching him networking, getting him involved through internships and campus roles, and allowing him to be vulnerable enough to ask questions. Jhareil and Frances discuss his career path, from Jazz team attendant to Cotopaxi intern, to his first job with the Olympic Legacy Foundation, and then back to the Jazz. He discusses aiming to work for the NBA, mentoring current students with his wife Julie, and advises students to not be afraid to pursue opportunities. Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University.fm . Eccles Business Buzz is proud to be selected by FeedSpot as one of the Top 70 Business School podcasts on the web. Learn more at https://podcast.feedspot.com/us_business_school_podcasts . Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University FM. Episode Quotes: How the people you surround yourself with and the choices you make shape your future [20:56] One of my favorite athletes of all time is the late Kobe Bryant, and he said good coaches tell you where the fish are. But great coaches teach you how to find them. And I think that when I think about that, I kind of just think about the people that are around you, the people that you kind of surround yourself with. People will tell you, “Hey, I have this car; I got this really great promotion. You know, just showing off all these extravagant things, or yeah, like look, kind of just like, look at me, look at me, look at me." And I think that in order to kind of succeed and find those fish and tell you, you know, to have that coach tell you exactly where those fish are, you need to surround yourself with people who are going to be honest with you with tough love but also be like, "Hey, if you want to go down this path, let's do it together." I'm here in your corner to support you. Let's talk about it, let's research it, and let's come up with a plan to actually take action and do the thing that you want to do. I feel like I've always wanted to know exactly where I want to go or where I need to achieve the things, and it's always just about having those people in your corner, but then it's also up to yourself to go out there and do the research. On guiding students toward proactivity, while staying accountable himself [37:50] There's so many different paths to go down in sports, whether that's with sales, marketing, game presentation, whatever it is. So I think it's like a really cool opportunity just because we had some amazing mentors. We had some really cool people to kind of reach out to and ask questions. So I'm wanting to do the same for these students that are in this program. And so far it's been really cool to talk with these students and hear about all the different career paths that they're watching to go down, because it's not all the same. And we don't have the same advice for every student. But, I think the thing that we always tell students is to, again, like we've talked about, like don't be afraid to get involved. Don't be afraid to ask questions. And I think the thing that I get out of it the most is kind of—it's just like a reset point for us, or at least for me. Just kind of like, okay, this student is doing this, and, you know, I'm telling them to make sure that they're reaching out to folks and making sure that they're getting involved and making sure that they have their checks and balances. But am I holding myself accountable for those checks and balances? So it's kind of like a reflection. Like make sure you're telling them to, you know, do all these things for their sake, because we want them to have good grades, we want them to excel. We want them to have a great career, but then we also want that for ourselves. The struggles of being a first-generation student [03:33] I think another barrier that I faced coming into college was just the sense of belonging. Being a first-generation college student, none of my family members had ever even gone to college. So I was the very first one, and I had no clue what to think. I had no clue what to say. I had no clue what to ask. I had no clue who to reach out to, didn't know anything about classes, [and] didn't know anything about internships or, you know, just everything that had to do with college. I had no kind of support system in that sense. And so that kind of put me like, I kind of took a step back, and I was like, "Man, is this really for me?" Like, I don't know anybody; no one else knows about this. Like I'm really here on my own. So it's really up to me to figure out exactly what I need to do. I know there's individuals out there who have had the privilege of, you know, their parents went to college or their brother went to college, and so they kind of had that support system for someone to reach out to, and they had someone to say, “Hey, this is where financial aid is," or “Hey, this is all the clubs that you could be a part of,” and, you know, so on and so forth. It was really tough at first because again, like, I had no one to reach out to, and I had to figure it all out on my own, which was kind of a positive and a negative with my experience coming into college. Jhareil reflects: Wishing his younger self had more courage [31:06] I think the thing that I probably would tell myself is to not be afraid, to not dig my hole before it even, like, starts. I think a lot of the times, like, in high school, like, I was super, super shy. So, coming into First Ascent, having to share, you know, a room with another person, and let alone the whole house with 10 other students, I was like, "Okay, I guess I have to. Just don't be afraid to get out of your comfort zone. Don't be afraid to ask those questions." And I think a lot of the times a lot of students are like, "Oh, like, this is probably not going to happen for me, so I'm just not even going to pursue it." Or, "Oh, like, they're just going to tell me no, so I'm just not even going to do it." And I wish I would've told myself to just don't be afraid. Like, the worst thing people can tell you is no. Show Links: Jhareil Hutchinson | LinkedIn Profile Jhareil Hutchinson | Instagram Utah Jazz | NBA Team First Ascent Scholars | Eccles School David Eccles School of Business (@ubusiness) | Instagram Undergraduate Scholars Programs Rising Business Leaders Eccles Alumni Network (@ecclesalumni) | Instagram Eccles Experience Magazine

35 min

S10E1: Building NBA and NHL Brands while Breaking Boundaries with Elaina Pappas

Welcome to the kickoff for the tenth season of the Eccles Business Buzz podcast! This season we will bring you conversations with notable alumni from the David Eccles School of Business and their stories of the impact the school has made on their lives and careers. For our first episode, host Frances Johnson talks with Elaina Pappas, head of marketing for the Utah Jazz and the Utah Mammoth professional sports teams. We learn about the principles that have guided Elaina’s career in the NBA and NHL —loving sports and helping people. Elaina also talks about the importance of creating opportunities through hard work, relationship-building, and advocating for herself as she built her career. In addition, Elaina explains how earning an MBA at the David Eccles School of Business made her more well-rounded and boosted her confidence as a leader, and describes her leadership approach of aligning teams around a shared goal, while allowing diverse paths, staying calm under pressure, and encouraging staff to take “one more step” to resolve conflicts. She explains how sports build community locally and globally through fan experiences, content, and merchandise, and reflects on Utah’s growing sports future and youth impact. Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University.fm . Eccles Business Buzz is proud to be selected by FeedSpot as one of the Top 70 Business School podcasts on the web. Learn more at https://podcast.feedspot.com/us_business_school_podcasts . Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University fm. Episode Quotes: How Elaina stays calm in the high-pressure world of sports [24:13] Frances Johnson: How do you keep your cool in this… it's a fast-paced environment. You know, a lot is changing, high emotions, like a lot at stake every game, every night, and within the work that you do, you know, outside of the arena as well, how have you developed that muscle to stay calm and to learn how to deal with these difficult scenarios and hard conversations? [24:42] Elaina Pappas: I think, frankly, a lot of it's my nature. [25:24] I think practice helps, and understanding so much of my position is navigating those situations. The more muscle memory I've built over time has helped me with the next hard conversation or the next situation. I think early on in my career especially, which is unique to sports and entertainment, if you think about it just from a marketing lens, you go to school and you learn so much about pricing something and what a product looks like and what it provides. But in sports, they're human beings, and you can't control wins and losses. You can't sometimes control the ticket price because it depends on wins and losses. You can't control who gets hurt. You know, there's all of these things that I learned very early on, which is very hard, was to let go of the things that I truly can't control. Why advocating for yourself matters and what you gain from it [11:27] If you want to go talk to someone in another department, or you want an informational interview, or you want to invite someone to lunch, go do it. And there's no reason why you shouldn't be asking or, again, making your desires known as far as what you want to do, because that's the point of an internship. And so many of those either turn into full-time positions, whether it's immediate or not, or with other organizations too. And so, so much of it is, like, even if something comes six months after their internship ended, if they made an impression on you or someone on my team, that's way more valuable than a random resume coming through our system. And so some of those, you know, building blocks that they're establishing early on may not come to fruition for some point, but it helps you build this reliable reputation and credibility that will carry you through your entire career. And then, whether you know it or not, you're building advocacy, and you have people who are looking out for you, whether you are aware of it or not. And so I've been very fortunate in that perspective for my career too. But some of it, so much of it, comes down to, like, the relationship building early on, and again, being able to back it up with your expertise and experience. But that can really help you carry through your career in really positive ways. Elaina on the future of sports in Utah [36:04] 10 years ago, I never would've probably imagined an NBA All-Star game. An NHL team. An NHL Winter Classic, an Olympics coming back. And so for me, especially [as] someone who's from Utah it’s been so special to be a part of, and I think we are so fortunate to live in a state that is so strong economically and is so resilient to change and so, like, inelastic to all of these market conditions, which I think sets us up and is why we've been rewarded with, you know, we have a women's soccer team, now we have an NHL team. Again, I can continue to go down the list, but I think what's the center of this is Utah. And Utah is just a place in a state that's always growing and climbing and wants to get what's next. And I think it’s continually shown time and time again that Utah is very ripe for sports. Show Links: Elaina Pappas | LinkedIn Profile Utah Jazz | NBA Team Utah Mammoth | NHL Team David Eccles School of Business (@ubusiness) | Instagram Undergraduate Scholars Programs Rising Business Leaders Eccles Alumni Network (@ecclesalumni) | Instagram Eccles Experience Magazine