Shows
The Nichols College Alumni ExperienceThe Rise of 3D Printing ... Intigo CEO Frank Posillico '16The 3D printing, or Additive Manufacturing, industry is bigger and has more potential than most people realize. Recently, PricewaterhouseCoopers named it as one of their 'Essential Eight' technologies and it may soon change the world of consumer goods as we know it within the next few years. From sneakers, to sunglasses and from gaming figures to essential PPE gear, 3D printing may soon add another layer of product creation and distribution where physical inventory is a thing of the past for certain products.
Frank Posillico graduated from Nichols in 2016, where he was a member of the championship...2021-01-2126 min
The Nichols College Alumni ExperienceVenture Capital in Cannabis ... Rick Batenburg '14Bison alumni Rick Batenburg graduated from Nichols in 2014 as a dual Finance/Management major and played on the hockey team during his time on the hill. Rick is currently the Chief Investment Officer and part-owner of Cliintel Capital Management Group, a venture capital firm which specializes in emerging markets, such as the Cannabis industry. In addition he sits on the Board of Directors at Clear Cannabis Inc. which produces one of the industry's best known products, The Clear. In addition, Rick is an owner of The Breckenridge Vipers, a Senior 'A' Hockey Team in the Mountain West Hockey League.2020-10-3031 min
The Nichols College Alumni ExperienceHow to Succeed in Sales ... Matthew O'Connor '93Matthew O'Connor graduated from Nichols in 1993, playing basketball and golf for the Bison. He went on to become Senior Vice President of Sales at Monster.com, leading several divisions over over a decade there before taking the job of Senior Vice President of Global Sales for Care.com in 2018. Matt remains active at Nichols College as a member of the college's Board of Advisors, occasionally mentors students who are interested in sales careers, hires Nichols graduates and is a President's Society Level Donor to Nichols.
In this episode, we talk about Matt's time at Nichols, including his...2020-09-1733 min
The Nichols College Alumni ExperienceProfessor Larry Downs ... "Downsisms" 101Former professor Larry Downs was the marketing chair at Nichols College for 15 years during his teaching career, which spanned from 1979 to 2012. Before becoming a college professor, Larry worked in New York as a marketing brand manager for companies like Post Cereals, Phizer and American Optical. During his career, his teams worked on rebranding such products as Post Raisin Bran Cereal and Ben Gay Ointment ... and introduced Honeycombs Cereal, Cool Ray Sunglasses and Visine Eye Drops to the market. (His team made the phrase, 'Visine gets the red out!' famous.)
Larry talks about his career in marketing, t...2020-08-2032 min
The Nichols College Alumni ExperienceIvy League Golf Coach of the Year ... Alex Kirk '91Alex Kirk graduated from Nichols in 1991 and was captain of the soccer team and a member of the Rugby team. In 2019, he was named Ivy League Coach of the Year as the head women's golf coach at Dartmouth College and is a New England PGA Patriot Award winner. He is currently the President of the New Hampshire PGA and was named the NHPGA Teacher of the Year in 2018. In this episode, Alex talks about why he has stayed involved at Nichols, the coaches whom have inspired him over the years, gives his take on the recent Varsity Blues college...2020-07-2725 min
The Nichols College Alumni ExperienceHow one CEO tackled the 'Great Recession' of 2008 ... Thomas McIlvain '67Given all that is happening with the current pandemic, this is a very topical interview and one which might be of particular interest to business owners trying to navigate their way through a catastrophic economic event. In 2008, Bison alumni Tom McIlvain was the head of a large company with an industry heritage dating back to the time of The Revolutionary War, which supplied high-end hardwoods to many industries including the building industry, furniture industry and even the wood used in Gibson guitars. When the economy collapsed almost overnight, which started in an industry directly tied to his business, Tom...2020-07-1129 min
The Nichols College Alumni ExperienceNot all heroes wear capes ... Mike Matros '07Mike Matros '07 founded The Hero's Cup Foundation in 2016 which organizes and runs an annual hockey tournament in partnership with The Boston Bruins. Each year, The Hero's Cup tournament attracts thousands of players and fans with 110 teams coming to Massachusetts from 27 states and 3 countries to play over 3 days. The tournament raises over $1 million each year for fire, police and military first responders. Mike joins us to explain how he started this nationally known tournament, it's importance to the first responder community and his plans to expand the tournament nationally. He has already signed on with The Nashville Predators and...2020-07-1119 min
The Nichols College Alumni Experience"The Willy Wonka of Produce" ... Henry Wainer '72Foodies take note! Henry Wainer '72 has been dubbed “ The Willy Wonka of the produce industry" by The Boston Herald for having traveled the world to source the best food products for his family's company, Sid Wainer & Son, which has been in business for over 100 years. Henry helped grow Sid Wainer & Son from 17 people to over 320 employees who supply over 23,000 chefs nationwide with the absolute best ingredients, including establishing a 300+ crop experimental greenhouse and farm. In fact, most of the unique food items from the pantry of The Food Network’s hit show ‘Chopped’ are provided by Henry and his compa...2020-07-0724 min
The Nichols College Alumni ExperienceRick Hilliard ... Professor 007This episode features one of the all-time most popular professors at Nichols College, Professor-emeritus Rick Hilliard. He talks about his time teaching students at Nichols, double parking a Porsche in front of the campus snack bar and serving as an agent in the US Counter Intelligence Corps during the Cold War. Professor Hilliard talks about how he applied the lessons he learned as a spy to his career as a high powered business executive and the types of things he made sure his students learned for success, which were not always out of a text book. I myself had...2020-07-0626 min
The Nichols College Alumni ExperienceFormer Viacom VP Neil Holt '76 shares some entertainment industry leadership lessons.Viacom executive Neil Holt graduated from Nichols in 1976 as a somewhat mediocre student and a standout on the lacrosse field. He reflects on the things he's learned in his 42 year career in sales and marketing at companies like NBC, ESPN and Viacom, where Neil recently retired as Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing Solutions. During this episode, Neil talks about how he persuaded Dean Eaton to let him into Nichols College ... building a career in the hyper-competitive entertainment sales industry ... hanging out with celebrities such as Mark Wahlberg, Kid Rock and Eva Mendes at awards shows ... the importance...2020-07-0640 min
The Nichols College Alumni ExperienceStaying involved with your college is a great investment ... Bob Kuppenheimer '69California native Bob "Kuppy" Kuppenheimer found great success after graduating from Nichols College, working in various roles at Nuveen Investments over the last 40 years, including as Managing Director of Distribution Development. Kuppy credits his success in the business world, in part, to his time as a student at Nichols and has been a very generous benefactor to the college over the years serving as a longtime member of the Board of Trustees and establishing a scholarship for Nichols students living west of the Mississippi. In this episode, Kuppy talks about professor John Katori's accounting class helping to land him...2020-07-0618 min
The Nichols College Alumni ExperienceFrom pro sports to creating one's own destiny ... Jim Capuano '07Jim Capuano interned with one of hockey's most storied sports franchises, The New York Rangers, while he was a student at Nichols. After much post-graduate reflection, he decided to leave his sport management roots and enter the financial services field eventually settling into the insurance business. A year ago, Jim decided to start his own firm, The Integrity Life Brokerage. Jim talks about his desire for college graduates to enter into the insurance industry, what it takes to put yourself in the driver's seat by starting your own business and the brutal effects of Covid-19 on business owners. Jim...2020-07-0635 min
The Nichols College Alumni ExperienceLiving your best life despite graduating during a recession ... Jill Coyle '09Jillian Coyle graduated from Nichols in 2009 during what was called 'The Great Recession'. Not since The Great Depression had the job market been so harsh, yet through patience and perseverance Jill was able to take the long road in finding her dream job ... and obtain two graduate degrees along the way. Currently, Jill is the Senior Manager of Corporate Compliance & Contracts for American Well, a Boston based company with over 500 employees, which has raised over $500 million to date in order to keep up with the high demand for telehealth. During this episode, we talk about Jill's experience at Nichols ... g...2020-06-0936 min
The Nichols College Alumni ExperienceProfessor Mauri Pelto ... From teaching in the classroom to living on a glacierYou may remember Professor Mauri Pelto from your time on the hill as he's been working at Nichols for 30 years. Mauri currently serves as Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor of Environmental Science. He joins The Alumni Experience to talk about how Nichols is constantly innovating and improving and his work monitoring glaciers as the US Representative to The World Glacier Monitoring Service. We discuss topics such as how majors are added or dropped, what Nichols professors are doing to position their students for success, climate change, what a scientist's life is like living on a glacier ... and freeze...2020-05-1235 min