Aim High

Holly Arida is an entrepreneur turned Cranbrook teacher, and now, a Director of a non-profit that is a talent pipeline for Detroit youth. Holly looks back at her 20 year storied career here at Cranbrook and her many partnerships at the school that led to exciting learning opportunities for teachers and students. We will also hear from Jace Danielewicz CK'22 and Victor Berger CK'22, two co-...

Working in a family business can be challenging. But when both your parents are entrepreneurs, its kind of inevitable. Jason Eddleston, business runs through the family.  Jason was a state championship lacrosse player and Cranbrook lifer, and he is now the VP of Operations at the company his parents started in the 1970s Sterling Oil. He is also the current owner of Ray's Ice Cream in Royal Oak...

Debbie Calfin recently retired after spending 37 years teaching a range of grades at Cranbrook Brookside, with most of them spent teaching 2nd grade.  Host Qadir Muhammad sits down with Debbie as she reflects on her career and time at Cranbrook: teaching elementary school through COVID, cultivating a classroom environment that stimulates growth, Grandparent’s Day, and shares some advice for the ne...

Give value first and lead with gratitude, always. That has been Arsh Shah’s motto when it comes to his adventurous career path. So it's no surprise that Arsh has accomplished a lot since his Cranbrook graduation. In the last 11 years, he has already founded three companies, spanning the entertainment, entrepreneurship & tech industries ( GlassLink , The Cr8 Group , /Six ). Arsh takes some...

Dr. Elizabeth Ryan is a sophomore history teacher at Cranbrook, and former Head House advisor for eight years. Dr. Ryan was actually host Qadir Muhammad’s history teacher when he was a student! She sits down with him today to catch up and chat about her fav classes to teach, her class project on the history of feminism at Cranbrook, her journey to a teaching career, as well as teaching through Cov...

Daniel Jefferson is the founder of Black Brook roughly 19 years ago, which continues to function as Cranbrook's answer to a black alumni association He also served as a former Cranbrook African-American Awareness Association President. Now a days, Daniel lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is an IT director at Charter Communications, specializing in database management. He also runs an ent...

Growing up in Detroit, Kamau Williams ‘90 never saw himself at a place like Cranbrook. But with the help of the Horizons Upward Bound or HUB Program, he acquired a scholarship and spent the last two years of his high school journey at Cranbrook.  He joins host Robert Li to chat about his first memories of stepping onto campus, finding his people at Cranbrook through HUB & 4A programs, memories...

While studying architecture at the University of Michigan, photography was just a hobby for Adam Wells. But it was while he was working at marketing job right after college that he realized this could be a full-time career. But even before all that, Adam says his time at Cranbrook, where creativity and the arts are fostered, was a crucial starting point on the road to becoming a full-time photogra...

Michael St. Germain (‘10) has been both in the Army Reserve as an army aviator for 860 Blackhawks and C-2 Hurons, as well as working for Google ever since graduating college.  He is currently a product business development manager focused on Android automotive navigation and maps. Growing up outside of Detroit, he says the car industry is just in his blood. Michael sits down with Robert to talk ab...

If you’ve seen The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Treasure Planet, or The Princess and the Frog, you've seen some of our guest’s writing work. Rob Edwards is a screenwriter. After Cranbrook, he went on to major in film at Syracuse University, and is now living in Beverly Hills. He also works as an adjunct professor for Syracuse University’s Los Angeles program.  He sits down with Robert and talks ab...

We’ve all ended up with some non profit swag. Whether its a tshirt or a totebag, its probably covered in company logos and mission statements, and something that stays in the back of our drawer. But what if the design was toned down, sleek, and something you actually wanted to wear on the day to day? Thats the mission behind CLOZTALK, founded by Jonny Imerman and his brother (both Cranbrook grads)...

Sports were a constant for Joey Files in school. He played basketball and football at Cranbrook and crew & football in undergrad. Joey graduated from Cranbrook in 2015. From there he went to the University of Michigan where he also played football. After undergrad, Joey took up teaching for a bit and is now in his third year of medical school at Wayne State University. He chats with Robert to...

When Blake graduated college, he moved to Chicago and was a volunteer at the Children’s Hospital his younger brother spent time at as a child with a congenital heart defect. While making his rounds, Blake met so many incredible kids. And while many were sports fans, most had never been to a sports game. Blake knew this is how he could help these kids even more. In 2002 he created Special Spectator...

Steven "Chuck" Meng (‘16) was on the tennis team at Cranbrook. And in the span of just a few years, has graduated to running half Ironman races with the triathlon team at the University of Michigan. For reference, a half Ironman is 1.2 miles of swimming, 56 miles of biking and 13.1 miles of running in a single race.  Steven talks to Qadir about how he trains, using triathlons to stay fit a...

From the moment she heard David Attenborough talking about our world, Brooke Ballard (‘16) knew that working in film and documentary was her dream career. Nowadays, she's living in California, and working as an associate producer on Bravo’s hit reality TV series Below Deck Mediterranean and Below Deck Down Under. Although the creative path isn't the traditional road after Cranbrook, Brooke...

When Qadir Muhammad was a kid, he had a list of things he wanted to be when he grew up, including inventor, movie actor and veterinarian. Slowly but surely, as he grew up he eliminated careers from the list, until veterinarian was the last one standing.  Qadir is now working in Chicago as a vet tech, and applying to vet schools now. He will also be the new host of this podcast! He tells us about h...

That's what our Host Qadir Muhammad calls our guest. The physical embodiment of the word grit.  That's because after graduating from Cranbrook in 2016, Anamika Shrestha (‘16) went to West Point Academy, training to become an officer in the United States Army, and just graduated in December 2021. She is currently a Second Lieutenant in the Army, training in Georgia at Fort Benning.  Now, th...

During the economic downturn in 2008, Sean Gu's parents realized that their son's education was the best investment they could ever make. At that point, they decided to enroll him at Cranbrook and he received more than just an education. Sean reflects on Wilderness and other formative experiences with band, cross-country, and eventually weight lifting.  In this episode, Sean talks about hi...

In this episode, we're joined by Lizzy Xiong (‘15) as she recounts her love for music and photography, and lessons learned at Cranbrook. She reminisced about batch 2015's late-night projects and favorite teachers. Join her as she shares advice on balancing social life, studies, and adjusting to college life.  About the Guest: Having fallen in love with photography after discovering it acci...

From the long line of Cranbrook alumni in her family, Libby Post (‘15) shares how the school shaped her to lead a service-oriented life. It was her family's roots in education and the school's strong emphasis on multiplying resources to impact others that inspired her to pursue a career in social work.  In this episode, Libby opens up about her passion for preventing violence and preservin...

Studying and living in a beautiful place with friends from all around the world is not something everyone gets to experience.  In this episode, Clayton Kramp (‘15) and Alaina Headrick (‘15) reminisce about their time at Cranbrook Schools. They reflect on the arts, the grounds, and the magical experiences they shared with each other and their friends. Hear about what makes the school and its commun...

Subscribe to Aim High wherever you listen and make sure to follow CK's social media pages to keep up with new episodes. Thanks for tuning in! If you have a guest or show ideas recommendation send it over to robert@alumni.fm!