Drive Time

From Awkward Introverts to Close Friends (Full Circle Story). Why He Chose EMBA, Now (And What Most People Get Wrong). Commuting from Bakersfield to UCLA twice a month—Was It Worth It? First-generation, Kicked Out of College: The Setback That Changed Everything Rock Bottom Moment: Digging Ditches & Facing Reality. My Wife, She's the Reason, My Guiding Light. AI Pivot; The REAL Value of an MBA: It’...

Featuring: Teresa Prindle (’26) with Erin Hiley (’26) Teresa Prindle (’26) had early dreams of working in entertainment and she infused almost everything she did with an element of performance or showmanship. Whether in production or storytelling roles, from Disney’s Muppet*Vision 3D to hosting a college radio program, Prindle took a broad view of what a career in entertainment meant. UCLA Anderso...

Featuring: Leah Torres (’26) with Salo Steinvortz (’26) In this Drive Time Celebrate 2026 episode, Leah Torres exemplifies the transformative power of UCLA Anderson’s Fully Employed MBA program—pairing an unconventional, self-directed career journey through the biotechnology industry across R&D, operations, analytics, and strategy with standout academic and leadership achievements that maximize RO...

Featuring: Kevin Dean (’26) with Salo Steinvortz (’26) Kevin is currently a technical program manager at Divergent Technologies, an advanced manufacturing company that leverages additive manufacturing to build advanced, lightweight structures in the automotive and aerospace and defense industries. He spent nearly a decade in the aerospace industry, working on projects from jet engines to radar sys...

Featuring: Michelle Fan (’26) with Salo Steinvortz (’26) In this special “Celebrate Drive Time 2026” episode, FEMBA student Michelle Fan embodies the global ambition, academic rigor, and deeply human connections that define UCLA Anderson’s Fully Employed MBA program. From immigrating across China, Canada, and the U.S. to earning dual chemical engineering degrees and driving life-saving therapies a...

Featuring: Miriam Daucher UCLA-NUS ('26) What does it look like to uproot your life, move to the other side of the world, and then — while managing a demanding consulting career across Asia — quietly become someone you didn't expect to be? That's the story of Miriam Daucher '26, and it starts not with a grand plan, but with a simple bet: give it two years and see what happens. Three years later, M...

Featuring: Joshua Morey UCLA-NUS ('26) What does it look like to carry 125 years of family legacy on your shoulders — and then decide not just to continue it, but to make it exponential? In this episode of Drive Time, host Praveen Gangaraju sits down with his UCLA-NUS Global Executive MBA classmate Joshua Morey '26, co-founder and chairman of Ori-gen and president of J. Morey Company. Joshua trace...

In this inspiring UCLA Anderson Drive Time: Celebrate 2026 conversation, Aline Mardelli—Executive MBA ’26 and Director of Ticket Sales for the LA Galaxy—shares a powerful story of resilience, leadership, and transformation, highlighted by her extraordinary achievement of selling out the Rose Bowl twice en route to setting an MLS attendance record. She reflects on how Anderson’s rigorous curriculum...

Jon Muth (’27) Founder, Unbound Brews | International Impact Made Delicious Host: Salo Steinvortz (’26) Marketing Manager | Product, Brand Strategy and Customer Insights | Father Jon Muth (’27) is a UCLA Anderson FEMBA student and founder of Unbound Brews, a specialty coffee company focused on delivering high-quality coffee with the convenience modern life demands, while championing fair and direc...

Stephen Johnson (B.S. ’05, ’21) Founder, AptivePrep and Ymeon Capital | President, Anderson Black Alumni Host: Dylan Stafford Strategic Initiatives and Alumni Engagement, UCLA Anderson EMBA and FEMBA Programs Double Bruin Stephen Johnson (B.S. ’05, ’21) is an edtech founder, a teacher, strategic alliance partner in commercial real estate, and an investor working in capital markets, debt and equity...

Ishan Asokan, M.D. M.Sc. (’26) Clinical Hospitalist, Providence St. Joseph Health John Wooden Global Leadership Fellow Salo Steinvortz (’26), Marketing Manager, Aquent Studios Dr. Ishan Asokan (’26) is a clinical hospitalist at Providence St. Joseph Health and a former assistant professor at UCLA Health. His career has encompassed HIV prevention, and LGBTQ advocacy across India, East Africa, Thail...

Jordan Hutkin-Schwartz (’26) Associate Director, Chancellor’s Society, UCLA Salo Steinvortz (’26), Marketing Manager, Aquent Studios UCLA Anderson’s Fully Employed MBA students juggle their studies alongside full-time jobs and personal responsibilities. When Jordan Hutkin-Schwartz (’26) entered the program, she added maternity to her list of simultaneous goals. Jordan’s early career experience in...

Becky Wai (’26) Chief Strategy Officer, VSee Praveen Gangaraju (’26) Architectural Sales and Strategic Accounts, Automatic Openings Does success always mean winning versus losing? C-suite leader Becky Wai (’26), a student in UCLA Anderson’s Executive MBA program, says her first successes came through personal responsibility, not competitive wins at work. As chief strategy officer at AI-first digit...

Alexa Tralla (’26) Staff Product Marketing Manager, Illumina Praveen Gangaraju (’26) Architectural Sales and Strategic Accounts, Automatic Openings Strategic program manager Alexa Tralla (EMBA ’26) works at the intersection of science, strategy and commercialization. She’s helped launch some of the biggest global platforms, driving go-to-market success across teams and markets. She’s built her car...

Erin Hiley (B.A. ’98, ’26) Chief Legal Officer, American Specialty Health Host: Praveen Gangaraju (’26) Celebrate 2026 Drive Time Co-Leader UCLA Anderson executive MBA alumna and double Bruin Erin Hiley (B.A. ’98, ’26) is chief legal officer at American Specialty Health. Introducing her in conversation, classmate Praveen Gangaraju (’26) said, “She is someone who brings together law, leadership and...

Irma Márquez Trapero (’26) Chief Executive Officer, LatinoLEAD Host: Alexa Tralla (’26) Strategic Program Manager | Go-to-Market and Launch Excellence In her youth, UCLA Anderson executive MBA alumna Irma Márquez Trapero (’26) was “undocumented,” so she never had the chance to travel abroad. Through Anderson’s global immersion program, she traveled in 2026 to Thailand for experiential learning, wh...

Joel Rubin (’26) Vice President of Content, Lubetzky Family Foundation Host: Alexa Tralla (’26) Strategic Program Manager | Go-to-Market and Launch Excellence Entertainment industry programmer and developer Joel Rubin (’26) found himself at a career crossroads, frustrated with his job search. Although he was highly qualified in his field, he found that many positions he was interested in required...

Robert Morrison (’26) Deputy Executive Director, Housing Works of California Host: Salo Steinvortz (’26) Marketing Manager | Product, Brand Strategy and Customer Insights | Father Robert Morrison is deputy executive director at Housing Works in Los Angeles. He has more than 15 years of frontline and leadership experience expanding peoples’ access to permanent housing and supportive services. He pu...

EMBA Council Co-Presidents Marisa Lue (’26) Staff Program Manager – Technical, Illumina Vishnu Singh (B.A. ’08, ’26) Associate Counsel, Access Information Management Host: Praveen Gangaraju (’26) Celebrate 2026 Drive Time Co-Leader Just Here for the Conversations Marisa Lue (’26) and Vishnu Singh (B.A. ’08, ’26) shared responsibility as co-presidents of UCLA Anderson’s student-led EMBA Council. In...

Jonathan Liu, M.D., FACP (’26) Physician Executive | Investor | Becker’s Under 40 | Ex-Amazon | Scaling Healthtech and AI Host: Becky Wai (’26) CSO | Pragmatic Visionary | Healthtech Executive | Impact-Driven Health Equity Dr. Jonathan Liu (EMBA ’26) is on a personal mission to alleviate suffering on a grand scale. Liu was named among Becker’s 100 Healthcare Leaders Under 40 in 2025. He’s a fellow...

Alex Rayis (’26) Senior VDC Manager, Gilbane Building Company Host: Salo Steinvortz (’26) Marketing Manager | Product, Brand Strategy and Customer Insights | Father Alex Rayis (’26) once took a 2-week college hiatus to tour as a DJ. He would close the bars at 3:00 a.m. after his gig, then show up to work at his construction job. Originally from Ohio, Alex studied architectural engineering at the U...

Featuring: Bill Auxier ('26) Master Distiller | Serial Entrepreneur Host: Salo Steinvortz (’26) Marketing Manager | Product, Brand Strategy and Customer Insights | Father What happens when a chemical engineer walks into a nuclear power plant, looks around at the mountains of paperwork, and thinks, “Absolutely not”? UCLA Anderson FEMBA graduate Bill Auxier (’26) followed his instincts to leave one...

Featuring: Frankie Coelho (’26) VP of Inclusive Excellence, FEMBA Council | VPG Strategist Host: Salo Steinvortz (’26) Marketing Manager | Product, Brand Strategy and Customer Insights | Father Frankie Coelho is an intrapreneur and entrepreneur focused on inclusive leadership, innovation and the future of food and beverage. As a UCLA Anderson Fully Employed MBA student, they served as vice preside...

Featuring: Logan Wood (’26) Senior Product Manager, InMarket Host: Salo Steinvortz (’26) Marketing Manager | Product, Brand Strategy and Customer Insights | Father Logan Wood (’26) is a senior product manager at InMarket. His entire career has been in tech so far, starting off in data analytics and engineering, then moving into product. But, he told UCLA Anderson fully employed MBA classmate Salo...

Share Success: Incredible. Get your tissues because there SO much love in Barbara’s story: following her heart with Google from Brazil to LA, going through FEMBA (secretly!?!) with her husband Victor, falling in love with LA, taking the leap of faith to leave the juggernaut of Google to fly into the world of LA28 after an Anderson class that changed her life. Barbara’s story is 100% a telling of w...