Suzanne Brown is a consultant, speaker, strategist, author, and avid international traveler. She’s an advocate for and enabler of professional working moms creating their own version of work-life balance.  Watch her career webinar here!

Suzi worked in the demanding marketing agency industry at large companies with no work-life balance and ones that enabled a more balance-focused approach to life. She eventually found her way to entrepreneurship, where she created a lifestyle centered around being the mom she wants to be and staying engaged in exciting and interesting projects for her clients. Suzanne shares her own experience and research, combined with knowledge from more than 110 conversations with working moms to enable other working moms to create the balance they crave.

Suzanne and her husband live in Austin, Texas. You can often find them during non-work time trying to keep up with their two active young boys, whether on a local hike or a far-off adventure.

Blockchain—what exactly is it and what should we expect from it? Cesare Fracassi, associate professor of finance and director of the Blockchain Initiative at Texas McCombs, discusses this emerging technology, including what is real and what is not. Whether you are a skeptic or an enthusiast of blockchain technology, this forum will challenge your views. Watch the webinar here. 

Cesare joined the Finance Faculty at the McCombs School of Business in 2009. His primary research interest is in the area of corporate finance. His research includes work on corporate governance, executive compensation, credit rating agencies, small business financing, and the effects of social networks and cultural preferences on financial policies. His articles have been published in the top Finance journals, such as the Journal of Finance, the Journal of Financial Economics, and the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. He teaches corporate finance and valuations in the MBA program. Cesare holds a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from the Politecnico di Milano (Italy), and an MBA and PhD in Finance from UCLA Anderson. He was a visiting professor at the Wharton School in 2012/2013. Before his PhD, he worked as strategic management consultant at Booz Allen and Roland Berger in Italy, and as summer intern at the United Nations in New York.

Power and influence, not performance, are often keys to succeeding in the workplace and both come in many forms such as legitimate, expert, reward, referent, and coercive. Dr. Kristie J. Loescher, Sr. Lecturer, Department of Management, discusses ways to master and balance these multiple sources of power in her webinar for the Texas McCombs Alumni Network, Pumping Up Your Power and Influence: Strategies for Being Heard and Making a Difference. Watch the webinar.

Dr. Kristie J. Loescher teaches management, leadership, and business communications at the McCombs School of Business. Prior to her career in academia, Kristie worked in the health care industry for 15 years in the areas of quality assurance, utilization management, and clinical research. Her academic publications focus on ethical education, organizational ethics, communication, change management, diversity management, process improvement in health care delivery systems, and health care reform. Dr. Loescher is the associate director for the Business Foundations Program and the director of curriculum and community engagement for the Healthcare Innovation Initiative.