The Next Step: Leaping to Adulthood

In this episode, Nikki interviews Scott Harken, a senior relationship manager at Rabo AgriFinance, about his non-linear path from history major to finance. Scott explains that he partners with agricultural companies to create promotional financing programs for farmers which involves problem-solving, research, and spending time with clients. He traces his journey from discovering a love of history...

On this episode, Nikki interviews Brooke Kraft, Vice President of Talent Management at VGM Group, Inc., where she explains the job search and hiring process from an HR perspective. Kraft outlines VGM’s recruiting lifecycle: identifying the need through preparation/job analysis, creating legally sound job descriptions and candidate-attracting job posts, choosing where to advertise, reviewing applic...

On this episode, Nikki  interviews Patrick Luensman, director of the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center at the University of Northern Iowa and co-owner of the Grid Lounge in Cedar Falls, about entrepreneurship. They discuss why entrepreneurship is easier when young and the bountiful number of supports available to those wishing to start their own business. Patrick provides three pieces of advic...

On this episode, Nikki interviews Tori Labernik, a 2017 UNI alum, with a communications major and psychology minor. Tori begins by describing her career path from Target as an executive team lead, to admissions recruiting at Cornell College and later Central College. Most recently, she joined Pella the talent acquisition team at Pella Windows and Doors and now focuses on campus recruiting. Tori ex...

On this episode, Nikki interviews Wartburg College alumni and Senior Area Vice President at Gallagher, Aaron Loan. First, Aaron details his career journey from political science/PR major, to a Washington DC Senate internship, radio sales, to financial services as an advisor where he moved from Cedar Rapids to Milwaukee and finally Philadelphia. He returned to Iowa before the historic 2008 floods a...

On this episode, Nikki interviews University of Northern Iowa Communication and Media alumni, Shelby Reicks ,about charting her own path from a rural Iowa dairy farm to becoming a full-time travel content creator. Shelby describes landing a sports marketing job at Paragon Marketing Group in Chicago working on ESPN’s high school sports account where she discovered her love of travel. She explains h...

On this episode, Nikki continues her conversation with Dr. Kyle Rudick as they chat about the power of a graduate degree during economic downturns. They argue enrollment rises because people re-skill and up-skill to reenter the job market above where they may have left. They cite post-2008 recession unemployment rates by education level (about 30% for high school, 12% for bachelor’s, and 4.5% for...

In Episode 34, Nikki welcomes Dr. Kyle Rudick of the University of Northern Iowa. Kyle contrasts undergraduate education as broad “tool gathering” with graduate school as focused development, mentorship, and creating knowledge rather than simply receiving. They discuss personality traits that make for good graduate students: those driven by curiosity and deep interest in their field. Kyle provides...

In this episode, Nikki interviews Brett Caviness, a University of Northern Iowa graduate and award-winning real estate agent in California, about forging a path from small-town Iowa to the Silicon Valley. Brett advises students not to overthink relocation, to secure a job before housing, budget carefully for cost-of-living, watch for rental scams, and treat moves as non-permanent decisions.

In this new mini-series, Nikki explores crooked career paths and how individual have used transferable skill sets to sell themselves in a new industry.  The first episode features her husband, Matt Harken, Manager of Safety and Environmental Engagement at GROWMARK. He explains his role in helping promote safe, compliant practices in agriculture services that feed and fuel the world. He recounts a...

On episode 31, Nikki welcomes Dr. Danielle McGeough, and they discuss the stress seniors feel balancing finals, jobs, internships, memories, and a job search. Danielle shares her trajectory from a communication media degree and speech coaching to earning a PhD, returning to UNI, getting tenure, then reconsidering “what’s next” and returning to speaking. They explore using structure and clear crite...

On the Next Step Podcast, Nikki interviews attorney Trynann Utzinger and marketing professional Liv Wendt about key legal documents young adults often overlook after college. The discussion defines three core documents: a living will, a medical power of attorney, and a financial power of attorney. They cover defaults after age 18, including medical next-of-kin and the need for a court conservators...

On this episode Nikki and LInda debunk the myth that earning overtime, bonuses, or raises can reduce take-home pay by “bumping you into a higher tax bracket,” explaining that the U.S. uses graduated marginal rates where only the additional income is taxed at the higher rate, with a noted exception for some Social Security recipients. They discuss deductions: business expenses for the self-employed...

In this first of a two-part series, Nikki and Dr. Linda DeBarthe discuss how taxes affect budgeting and common misconceptions about take-home pay. Linda clarifies the key difference between employees and independent contractors, a really important fact for students who are interested in doing side-gigs! Linda also summarizes filing requirements, what it means to be claimed, and dependency rules th...

In the final episode of the series on health insurance, Brennan explains key insurance terms: deductible, copay, coinsurance, out of pocket maximum, open enrollment, and qualifying events.  He also explains all of these terms and how they would impact the cost of a dental crown.  The examples showcases negotiated in-network fees, coverage, annual dental benefit maximums, and higher costs plus bala...

On the Next Step podcast, host Nikki interviews Brennan Floss of Delta Dental about health, dental, vision, and medical insurance. They discuss why dental and vision are separate from medical, emphasizing preventive care and disease detection. Brennan explains common plan types—HMO, PPO, and high deductible health plans paired with an HSA.

In this final of a two-part series you get to hear more from Megan Schofield about the four key types of insurance for people graduating college: life, property, auto, and commercial.  Key terms for life insurance are discussed and differentiated. When it comes to renters and homeowners policy, Megan explains the difference between liability, structural, and property. For auto insurance, Nikki and...

On the Next Step podcast, former student Megan Schofield (UNI ’08) describes her career path from communications/public relations to collegiate athletics, marketing leadership, to entrepreneur!  In this episode, Megan explains how to choose an insurer carrier and emphasizes agents’ role in guiding clients through claims, policy understanding, and switching agents or carriers when needed

In the final of a three-part series, Nikki and Steve discuss insurance and credit scores. The conversation emphasizes how inconvenient claims can be and shifts to liability coverage, urging listeners to know about their "three number" liability. Especially because medical costs can quickly exceed low limits. For final advice to young adults, they advise renter's insurance, talking to an agent, und...

The second of a three-part series, the host and Insurance Guy Steve explore why insurance premiums and claim payouts change, noting that people often blame insurers without understanding broader factors. It describes how premiums are regionalized based on local risk and how insurers rely heavily on investment returns to meet solvency requirements. The discussion delves deeper into deductibles. Fin...

Episode 21 of the Next Step podcast begins a three-part series on insurance basics with guest Steve, an “insurance guy” with nearly 20 years in the industry. The discussion explains why insurance feels like a “necessary evil” and traces its origins to ancient merchants spreading cargo risk, defining insurance as transferring risk to a larger pool. Key terms are clarified: premium, term, policy, cl...

Brittany Heard, a financial advisor at Foster Group in Des Moines, shares how a PR degree led her from event planning to PR work and into insurance and finance, which she enjoys for its mix of relationship-building and analytical planning. Nikki and Brittany discuss how digital banking has changed spending habits, the importance of budgeting from net pay, and how pay frequency affects monthly calc...

Episode 19 of the Next Step podcast concludes a conversation with Ben Anderson of empeople Credit Union about maintaining and repairing credit scores, especially for college students. He discusses student loans as a long-term burden, recommending not sacrificing current financial stability to pay them off early. For monitoring, he suggests quarterly score updates from card issuers, reviewing repor...

In Episode 18 of the Next Step podcast, the host welcomes Ben Anderson (“Bad Banker Ben”), with empeople Credit Union, to discuss credit scores. Ben explains why credit scores were created to replace biased lending decisions, tracing history from the origins in the 1950s to today. He explains that what counts as a “good” score shifts with economic conditions and details how credit scores affect ap...

Episode 17, the final installment in the Career Services series of the Next Step podcast, features a conversation with Matt and Sarah about career fairs and how students—especially those outside business majors—can prepare and benefit from them. They explain the purpose of career fairs and how to best utilize them. They note students often struggle to present, interview, and “sell” their skills, s...