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Learn what truly sets the UC Riverside MBA apart and how it helps in your professional growth
18 Apr 2017, 07:01
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| FROM The Berkeley EMBA Blog: How an EMBA Propelled Marketer Nick Johnson from Startup to Salesforce |
 Meet Nick Johnson – a director of marketing at Salesforce and a 2016 graduate of the Berkeley-Haas EMBA program. Nick spoke with us about his Berkeley MBA, his career in marketing, and his recent shift from startup work to Salesforce. Could you describe your role at Salesforce? As a marketing director working in the Content and Corporate Messaging team, I'm responsible for Salesforce's Executive Thought Leadership program. It's a fascinating role: I'm helping to produce and share fascinating content with an executive-level audience about huge issues like artificial intelligence. What did you do leading up to that position? Prior to Salesforce, I developed, launched, and ran two business media startups: The Incite Group and Useful Social Media, which focused on how social media was increasingly changing the way companies and customers interacted. As social media moved from being a distinct responsibility within business to something embedded in many different roles, I began to focus more specifically on the world of marketing. I launched the Incite Group to cater to senior Fortune 500 marketing audiences, and to develop and market conferences, reports, and white papers for them. During my time with the Incite Group, I was approached by the Financial Times to write a book. The somewhat ambitiously titled The Future of Marketing was published in mid-2015, just before I began my studies at Berkeley-Haas. How has earning an MBA been valuable in landing a position and working in marketing? My Berkeley MBA has been enormously helpful in three ways: building my network, adding legitimacy to my resume, and helping me translate and augment my skillset. For network-building, I found the help of the Career Management Group to be enormously useful – particularly its ability to connect me with people working in-house at the companies I was targeting. That initial conversation is very useful in defining whether or not a role is suitable and it can help get your foot in the door. Regarding legitimacy – I'd worked for startups before Salesforce, and they were not household names. Being able to say I was a Berkeley-Haas alumnus has helped reinforce my application and has shown that I am able to 'cut it' beyond my experiences at Incite and USM. Finally, I was fortunate to develop a wide range of skills at Incite and USM, including marketing, product development, and strategy. But all of these skills were within the same small-business ecosystem. My time at Haas has given me the ability and confidence to translate those skills to other environments. What were some of the most valuable courses or aspects of your Berkeley-Haas education? I found our strategy courses – Global Strategy and Core Strategy – both fascinating and enormously useful. The frameworks we were taught continue to be really helpful in defining and resolving business problems. Being far more of a poet than a quant, I found our quant-heavy classes challenging. However, they were probably the most helpful of all. In a space like marketing, being data-driven is key: those quant-focused classes really helped me understand and use data more effectively. Would you recommend the Berkeley MBA for Executives Program to people interested in marketing? Absolutely. Not only is the course-quality exceptional and the teaching of high standard, but you build a really tight network with your 68 classmates. You start to understand business problems from a variety of angles and, in a world where traditional roles and responsibilities are increasingly outmoded, having the ability to work across organizational boundaries is critical. Haas has really helped me learn how to do that. Want to hear more about the MBA program that's helped Nick with his career in marketing?  
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12 May 2017, 11:01
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| FROM The Berkeley EMBA Blog: Student Perspective: The Berkeley MBA for Social Impact |
 How do you see yourself making an impact on society?
 Ijeh Ogbechie, MBA 17, Principal, Haas Socially Responsible Investment Fund (Evening & Weekend MBA) Senior Operations Associate, Algert Global LLC “I want to focus my career toward a position where I can have a greater positive social impact on my community. Berkeley-Haas is hands-down the best school in that sector. It not only offers great classes on the topic, but I'm also I’m forming networks with companies and individuals who are committed to social impact.”  Katie Benintende, MBA 15, Mayfield Fellow, Net Impact VP (Full-time MBA) Senior Strategy Lead, Google “When I was on the fence, deciding between pursuing a technology path or exploring the social impact sector, career coaches helped me sort out the opportunities to do both. There are a lot of tech companies that have strong missions to be environmentally sustainable.” To learn more, download our free ebook on the Berkeley MBA and Social Impact  Andrew Hening, MBA 17 (Evening & Weekend MBA) Director Homeless Planning & Outreach, City of San Rafael “I first thought I would use my MBA studies as a foundation for starting a socially responsible business. My new job with the City of San Rafael was unexpected, but when I saw how much opportunity there is for government to improve people’s lives by using more of a ‘business mindset’, I jumped at the opportunity.”  Sonali Patel, MBA 17 (Executive MBA) Policy Fellow, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago “Given my background (former White House policy advisor), it would be too easy to choose Beyond Yourself as my favorite of the Defining Principles. I’ve always been encouraged by mentors and my own curiosity to Question the Status Quo. But questioning is only the beginning; Berkeley-Haas is giving me the skills to undertake the real work of solving tough problems which in turn, contributes to improving the world.”  Olivia Anglade, MBA 16 (Full-time MBA) Consultant, The Boston Consulting Group “Everyone at Berkeley-Haas has big ideas, they really do want to go Beyond Themselves by having an impact on society. My personal interest in social impact prompted me to lead a Career Trek to two Bay Area consulting firms that specialize in social impact consulting.”  Jacob Kislevitz, MBA 17 (Executive MBA) Manager, Climate Change and Sustainability Services, EY “I work with my clients to realize the value of environmental and social responsibility and strengthen relationships with their customers, employees, suppliers and the communities in which they operate. At Berkeley-Haas I am learning how to better align traditional organizational priorities with leading ethical and responsible corporate practices.” Could an MBA help you make the the difference you want to make? Get our free ebook to take a closer look at social impact opportunities at Berkeley-Haas.  
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25 May 2017, 11:01
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| FROM The Berkeley EMBA Blog: Shoe Designer Finds Berkeley EMBA a Perfect Fit for Her Business |
 For Martha Davis, shoes are not solely about fashion. As an industrial designer, she has always valued the unique balance of function and form in footwear, but turning her passion into a business has given her a whole new perspective on the lifecycle of a product. And as a student in the Berkeley MBA for Executives Program, Martha has what she's learned at Haas to expand the vision for her company—beyond the product, and into possibility. Designing Her Career With a degree in sculpture from the Rhode Island School for Design, Martha launched her career in industrial design (designing, among other things, the dial-pack birth control packaging for Johnson & Johnson) and then, with a move to San Francisco, in tech consulting, helping companies like Razorfish and Autodesk with design and marketing. In 2009, she took the leap to pursue a new path that had always been a passion: shoes. "I wanted to design my own product and see it through, which you don't really get to do as a consultant," she says. "I'd always appreciated fashion as a consumer, but had never done any fashion design. It struck me that footwear was unique and actually required a lot of utility like any other product. I also saw that there wasn't a lot of innovation going on in footwear- with materials, manufacturing or design." Enrolling in a trade school technician program in Milan, Martha learned the mechanics of footwear, and gained the essential foundation she needed to launch her own footwear company, Martha Davis Shoes. Building a Brand and a Vision While she was confident in her design eye and ability to produce a beautiful product, Martha realized she was missing a crucial piece for the long-term success of her business: an understanding of the business model around the product. "Designers are taught to be really creative and innovate all the time, but I was missing the business language and understanding of the bigger picture. Every designer should really have that language. It's so important to the success of what you do." While Martha has been extremely successful with the product side of her business, the Berkeley EMBA has given her a larger perspective on her business as a whole. "I've always been interested in the product (the design, the functionality, the look and feel), but until launching my own company, I never had a chance to get involved in the system around it—the business around the product. Now I see that the product is just one piece of an ecosystem. Haas gave me the ability to evaluate and strengthen the business as a much more compelling offering." Applying Berkeley-Haas Experience to Her Own Business The program’s immersive learning experiences have also been helpful, with the Silicon Valley Immersion Week offering insights into innovative business models with unique profitability and scalability. "The week exposed me to founders at many different types of companies. All of them spoke about the importance of balancing a need for capital, while also putting together the right kind of deals, so that you’re able to maintain a certain amount of control in your business." Another source of inspiration has come from the Haas community, including her peers and guest speakers. Even those who are coming from very different career pursuits have proven to be valuable resources for Martha. "The work of classmates in totally different fields can actually apply to my own industry. You don't realize how rich and relevant other perspectives and experience can be to the work you’re doing until you start reaching out and growing those conversations." Hearing Jagdeep Singh, Founder & CEO of QuantumScape, speak during Silicon Valley Immersion Week on how to structure a sustainable business with ethical practices has influenced her own desire to revisit the customer relationship side of her own—an opportunity she's excited about. "I think there's an opportunity to create a deeper relationship with my customer based on what they need, want, and on what brings value to their lives. For me, in addition to financial metrics, success is creating a long-lasting relationship with our customer base that continues to provide them value." Fashioning The Future of Martha Davis Shoes As she applies her experiences and lessons from Haas to her business, Martha is excited about the future of her company, and her role within it. "I know my business will shift going forward to reflect the intersection of design, fashion, and technology and that I will shift to focusing more on the business model than the product." For Martha, Haas was the perfect fit. And in true Haas style, she continues to go beyond herself, asking, "What else can my product be? How can my brand empower my customers more?” With an EMBA from Haas, Martha knows she’ll find the answers. Think Haas could help you turn your passion into meaningful work? Download our free Ebook, Finding More Meaningful Work, to learn how to approach your next career move, and how Haas can prepare you for success.  
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