Month: October 2019
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that Bill Kramer, BBA ’90, will take the reins as the new director of the organization’s long-awaited film museum. Bill, who has served as managing director of development and external relations of the Academy Museum from 2012-2016, will become the museum’s new leader beginning Jan. 1 and will oversee the final phase of its completion towards it planned opening next year.
Read more about Bill and the film academy museum here.
Trinity Bank’s President and Chairman of the Board has announced that three bank executive vice presidents, including Barney Wiley, have been named to the Fort Worth bank’s board of directors.
Barney started his career as a certified public accountant. At Trinity, he has been on the lending team for the past sixteen years.
Learn more about Barney here.
Americana Partners, a Dynasty Network partner headquartered in Houston, has appointed alternative investments executive Michael Mithoff, MBA ’00, as head of private equities. Michael will advise families in connection with portfolio allocation and management, specifically with respect to alternative investment strategies.
Read more about Michael here.
Orion Suydam, MBA ’11, joins RiskLens as Vice President of Products. Orion brings over 14 years of experience in executive product management and will continue driving and executing on RiskLens’ pioneering vision for its Software-as-a-Service platform.
Learn more about Orion and RiskLens here.
Ana Ward, MBA ’06, recently founded her own company, InLawCorp, where she is the CEO.
Wyatt Jason’s webinar “The Psychology of Investing: How we can be our own worst enemy” covered common investment behaviors related to different emotions, how to identify these emotions within yourself, and how to prevent psychological factors throughout the investment process. Watch the webinar here!
Wyatt graduated from the McCombs Accounting program in 2017. He works on a wealth management practice at Merrill Lynch that helps Austin locals achieve their financial goals and prepare for their retirement. In his free time, he stays active by playing tennis or attending concerts throughout the Austin area.
The McCombs School invited all alumni back to the 40 Acres for the inaugural Texas McCombs Homecoming Weekend. The two-day celebration included an all-day Alumni Business Conference, an evening Reunion Reception, and a Pre-Game Alumni BBQ Tailgate before the Texas vs. Oklahoma State football game. The entire weekend was hosted in our new state-of-the-art building on campus, Robert B. Rowling Hall. Over 200 alumni showed up for the fun-filled weekend. See all of the photos!
Alumni Business Conference
The weekend kicked off with an all-day conference on Friday. The conference included concurrent faculty presentations and two keynote speakers, John Goff, BBA ’77, and Lance Loeffler, BBA ’99, MBA ’04. After a day full of presentations, conference attendees took a tour of Rowling Hall and wrapped up at a networking reception.
Watch the full keynote sessions on YouTube:
Reception for Reunion Classes
We were especially celebrating alumni who graduated from a reunion year during Homecoming Weekend! Graduates from the classes of ‘74, ‘79, ‘84, ‘89, ‘94, ‘99, ‘04, ‘09, and ‘14 were invited to a special reception Friday evening to network and reminisce about their time at the UT Business School.
Pre-Game Alumni BBQ Tailgate
On Saturday, alumni and their families came out for a tailgate with current Texas MBA students before the Texas vs. Oklahoma State football game. Tailgaters enjoyed a BBQ buffet, cold drinks, and other fun activities, like a photobooth and face painter for the kids. After the tailgate, many alumni went on to watch the Longhorns take a win over Oklahoma State – HOOK ‘EM!
THANK YOU to all alumni that joined us for a great weekend! Please keep an eye on the alumni calendar for other events you may be interested in attending.
Alissa Bayer, owner and founder of milk + honey day spa, shares updates on her recent business ventures and reflects on her MBA days—where she first started working on the concept for a spa. Alissa joined a panel discussing the next wave of entrepreneurship and innovation for our Homecoming Weekend Alumni Business Conference a few weeks ago; thanks for your continued engagement with the Texas McCombs Alumni Network, Alissa!
How did your educational experience change you?
I studied philosophy and literature as an undergrad, so business school was great for me—there were so many things I didn’t know that I didn’t know! I really loved the case study method; as with many things there is no right or wrong answer, and learning from other people’s situations and outcomes is so easy to assimilate. In the early years of milk + honey, I regularly called upon lessons learned from those case studies to help me make better business decisions.
Please provide a brief summary of your career path since graduating.
I started working on a business plan for a spa as an independent study class during my last semester. After graduation, it took about 18 months to round up the debt, finalize the lease, and get the first spa designed and constructed. Within our first year, we signed a lease for our second location. Within two years, we launched our salon concept. In 2013, we introduced our line of hyperclean (non-toxic) bath and body products. This spring, after 6 years of R&D, we launched our own skincare line, which was formulated in close partnership with our team of amazing estheticians.
I’ve bootstrapped the business entirely on my own until last year, when I sold a small amount of equity in order to speed up our growth. Today, we have six locations, about 500 employees, and two Los Angeles projects in development, and our product line is sold at major retail partners including Neiman Marcus, Free People, Ulta, and Whole Foods.
What are you most proud of in your career so far?
I am most proud of the amazing community that has been created at milk + honey. Life-long friendships, marriages, and new entrepreneurial ventures have been created by our team. Our team really takes care of one another, and I love that I was able to help bring these amazing people together. I’m also very glad that milk + honey has been able to give back to the community. At milk + honey, we define our success not just by increasing ‘shareholder value,’ but by also increasing value for our employees, guests, vendors, and community. We call it the Virtuous Cycle, and when we focus on taking care of our team—with health benefits, 401k, paid vacation, a positive and professional management experience, and a happy office culture—it makes it easy for our team to take great care of our guests.
Has your career played out the way you expected?
I have three young children (ages 6, 8, 8), and it took me four years of intense fertility treatments to have my children. So really for the past 12+ years, my energies and attention have not been entirely on my business. Now that all of my kids are in school, I have a lot more time and bandwidth to focus on the business, which is why we were finally ready to take some outside investment.
How have you stayed involved with the school as an alumna?
Over the years, I’ve enjoyed participating in many events on campus. I love meeting with the BBA and MBA students and sharing my experiences. On occasion, I’ve also been able to participate as a judge with Texas Venture Fellows and various panels and discussions during homecoming events. My office is just a mile away from campus so it makes it easy.
How have you personally benefited from being a part of the network?
I have the most amazing group of friends from McCombs—they have been my biggest supporters over the years and I am so grateful to them. I’ve also found that anytime I need some help or expertise, the Longhorn network is strong, vast, and generous. I feel truly lucky to be a part of such an amazing group of humans.
What are your goals for the future, career wise and in relation to McCombs?
We plan on growing milk + honey rapidly in the next several years. Last year’s fundraising was very informal and did not involve any roadshows or even pitch decks. In the next two years or so, we plan on raising around $30M to continue opening more spa locations and continue growing our product brand. It’s an exciting time!
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