Following the Gong, a Podcast of the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State

Overview: Katie Legenski ’16 Eng welcomed Following the Gong to Antifragile Brewing in downtown State College where she serves as the head kombucha brewer for Moody Culture. Katie shares her experiences at Penn State Berks and in the College of Engineering, where she earned her bachelor of science in chemical engineering with honors after study abroad opportunities and a major setback on her thesi...

Overview: Bob Perna ’85 Bus serves as the senior vice president, general counsel, and secretary at Knowles Corporation in Itasca, Illinois. Bob joined Following the Gong to share his experiences as an early University Scholar at both Penn State Shenango and University Park. Bob provided insights on success in law school as a business student and the work of in-house attorneys in a business setting...

Overview: Leadership consultant Ken Graham ’67 joined Following the Gong and Schreyer Student Council for a special live session to discuss leadership development success for Scholars in their leadership roles and early careers. Ken retired from Royal Dutch Shell after a lengthy career in academia and industry focused on the study of leadership and developing leaders. This episode is a must-listen...

Overview: Jason Olcese ’06 Lib is the band leader of My Hero Zero in State College, PA, where he performs as a musician, writes and records in the studio, and manages equipment and practice space to keep everything running smoothly. Before joining the band in 2010, Jason performed as a solo musician under the artist name "Jason O". He earned his BS in Psychology with Honors in Music from Penn Stat...

CW: This episode includes discussions of child abuse, substance abuse including drugs, alcohol, and overdose, and terminal illnesses. Overview: Dr. Elizabeth Zona ’02 Sci (“Dr. Z.”) s a double board-certified physician, specializing in both Anesthesiology and Addiction Medicine. She is a medical director for Anesthesiology at Three Rivers Endoscopy Center and Medical Director for Addiction Medicin...

Overview: Paul Suhey ’14 Eng is the Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of Revel a firm with the mission to enable EV adoption in US cities. Specifically, the company is focused on building fast charging infrastructure and operating an all-electric, all-employee rideshare service. Before starting Revel in 2018, Paul worked for ExxonMobil and Gerson Lehrman Group. He earned a BS in Chemical Engi...

Overview: This is a special crossover episode of Following the Gong and Dare to Disrupt , a podcast from Invent Penn State that features conversations with Penn State alumni who are innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders, and the stories behind their successes. FTG host Sean Goheen interviews Goldman Sachs Managing Director and volunteer Dare to Disrupt host Ryan Newman ’01 and Associate Vice Pres...

Overview: Patrick Lucas ’13 Eng is an Analytics Success Manager at Nike in Boston, MA where he works in product management to design and roll out inventory analytics products for internal Nike users. Before being acquired by Nike in 2019, Patrick was working at a small Boston startup called Celect that developed inventory analytics tools for retailers. Prior to Celect Patrick worked for Accenture...

Overview: Anna Han ’10 Eng is the Director of Judicial Clerkships in the Career Development Office at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law and previously worked as an attorney for Covington & Burling after earning her Bachelor of Science in Bioengineering with Honors in 2010 and her JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Anna joins Following the Gong as a past Boar...

Overview: Darren Gibula ’93 Bus is a seasoned supply chain and operations management professional. He most recently served as the VP of Inventory at Owens & Minor servicing the healthcare industry. He previously worked in successively senior roles at LG, United Technologies, and prior to receiving his MBA from MIT Sloan, at Accenture as a consultant. He earned his BS in Quantitative Business A...

Overview: Jessica Paholsky ’14 A&A, Com is a digital communications specialist at TE Connectivity in Central Pennsylvania. She has previously worked in external communications roles in several industries including magazines, travel, and education – both K12 and higher ed. Jessica graduated from Penn State’s College of Arts and Architecture and Bellisario College of Communications with degrees...

Overview: Lou D’Ambrosio ’86, is a Partner at Goldman Sachs, having previously served as a Strategic Senior Advisor to the company. Lou has also been the CEO of Fortune 500 companies and a senior executive across multiple industries. Lou served as Executive Chairman of Sensus, a clean technology company, CEO of Sears Holdings – comprised of Sears, Kmart, and Lands’ End – and CEO of Avaya, Inc., a...

Overview: Tamara Hambrick ’05 Eng is the Boeing Enterprise Strategy and Operations Deputy Functional Chief Engineer for Systems Engineering implementing technical excellence for the workforce with focus on leading Model-Based Systems Engineering within the functions of engineering and across the functions of Boeing for Digital Thread enablement for their business. Her previous roles were at Boeing...

Overview:   Sean Goheen '11 Liberal Arts is the Coordinator of Constituent Relations and Annual Giving for the Schreyer Honors College. Sean switches from the host’s chair to the interview chair for this episode. Guest host Jaz Azari ’06 (who appeared on episode 44) speaks with Sean about his career in student affairs and alumni relations. Sean shares his insights on Penn State Berks and leveragin...

Overview: Jared Edgar McKnight ’11 A&A, Lib is a Senior Associate and Designer at WRT (Wallace Roberts & Todd, LLC), a landscape architecture, planning, urban design, and architecture firm based in Philadelphia and San Francisco. He joined WRT in 2012 after earning a Bachelor of Architecture with Honors, a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies, and minors in Architectural History and F...

Overview: Julie Florin ’87 Arts and Architecture teaches Theatre and Chorus at Greenville High School Academy in Greenville, South Carolina. She also works with local theatres and plays organ at churches in the Upstate. Julie is a trained pianist and organist and has a rich career teaching at the K-12 level and serving as musical director for countless shows at the K-12, collegiate, and community...

*Editor’s Note – There was a technical issue with the microphone quality for the first half of the episode. Please bear with us for a great conversation!   Overview: Dr. Quinta Warren ’05 Engineering is the Associate Director of Sustainability Policy at Consumer Reports (CR), where she leads the legislative, regulatory, and corporate engagement strategies for sustainability on behalf of consumers....

Overview: Jaz Azari, Class of 2006, is a multitalented professional with experiences in diplomacy, defense, and consulting roles with the U.S. government, military, and private sector firms, currently serving as a Senior Consultant at Guidehouse in Washington, D.C. Jaz has previously worked with the Department of State and Department of Defense and was a Fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Po...

Overview: Connor Sattely ’11 Behrend is an entrepreneur and startup mentor based out of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He's spent the last eleven years alternating between starting startups and supporting other entrepreneurs. Connor joins Following the Gong to discuss his experiences as a Scholar at Penn State Behrend, as an entrepreneur and start-up coach, and life as an ex-pat living and working ab...

Overview: Caroline Fitzgerald ’12 Bus, Lib is the CEO & Founder of GOALS - the first sports marketing & sponsorship agency that is fully dedicated to women's sports. Caroline joins Following the Gong to discuss her story and inspire both entrepreneurs and interest in women’s sports. She leveraged the opportunities of the Honors College to combine majors that fit her interests, earning a Ba...

Overview: Dr. Eric Gibney '94 Sci joins Following the Gong to discuss careers in medicine and organ transplant science and care. Dr. Gibney graduated from the Eberly College of Science in 1994 with a BS in Biology and with Honors in Nutrition and then earned his Doctor of Medicine from the Emory University School of Medicine in 1998. He now serves as the Director of the Piedmont Transplant Institu...

Overview: Reggie Hedgebeth ’89 Liberal Arts joins the show to discuss his career in corporate legal leadership. Reggie graduated from the College of the Liberal Arts with Honors in Economics in 1989 and went on to earn his JD at Harvard Law. He shares his career journey where he has served in senior, c-suite level roles for large organizations in a variety of industries from retail to energy to fi...

Overview: Scholar Alumni couple Erin (’99 Com) & Tony (’99 Eng) Talbert join Following the Gong to share their joint story and advice after meeting early in their Penn State journey. After serving as Lion Ambassadors and ringing the gong, Erin pursued a career in consulting and Tony went into financial services roles. They shared their advice on these fields, including commercial real estate,...

Overview: Don Aguillo ’07 A&A is a freelance illustrator and comic creator based in San Francisco, California. He has over fifteen years of experience in comics, tabletop games, and working fulltime in his area of passion as both an artist and entrepreneur. Don shares his experiences as a first-generation American at Penn State, life as a Resident Assistant on campus and also studying (and dra...

Overview: Diana Adams ’13 Berks is the Executive Director of Brevard Heart Foundation, co-owner and Community Engagement Coordinator of Rock Paper Simple, and a Council Member for the City of West Melbourne in Brevard County, Florida which come on the heels of a seven year career in elementary education in Florida where she earned numerous awards, including Teacher of the Year for her school and t...