Beth Davies, a 2016 College Luminary, was fired from Apple. Now a director of learning and development for Tesla Motors, she said the experience taught her an enormous amount about being a manager and about what kind of work environment she wants to be in during IU's College Luminaries Panel Discussion.
“My career hasn’t always been exactly what I wanted it to be at every moment,” Davies said. “I haven’t had control over every decision along the way. Being resilient is huge.”
Six distinguished graduates gave career advice to students in the College of Arts and Sciences on Monday evening during two panels. The events were part of the Luminaries Annual Fall Forum.
“Each of these panels explores the many ways in which students can use their liberal arts degrees to find fulfillment and success throughout their career,” said junior Samantha Yaros, a programming and scheduling chair for the Luminaries Program Council.
The Luminaries Program connects students in the college to prominent graduates who give them career insight and advice for professional development. Students can work on the Luminaries Program Council to direct the planning of the program as Hoosier Hosts who accompany visiting luminaries around campus or in the Luminaries Communications and Marketing Task Force to promote the program. Other events in the fall forum include a meet-and-greet with students, classroom visits and student group interactions.
Members of both panels were IU alumni. The first panel comprised Mark Johnson, who works for Naturebox, GoFundMe and Cogitative Inc.; Charles Clifford, founder of Tumi Inc.; and Davies. The second discussion comprised Amy Balcius, who works for PricewaterhouseCoopers; Eli Flournoy, an independent media consultant and former CNN reporter; and James McGee, a former United States ambassador.
The first part of the discussion focused on what makes a good entrepreneur, and members of the panel spoke about their experiences when they were younger and what they have noticed in younger members of their businesses.
“I don’t think there’s a formula. I think everyone’s a little different,” Clifford said. “You need to be either very stubborn or very perseverant. You have to be able to endure a lot of ups and downs. I think you have to be quick enough on your feet to learn from your mistakes and to recover from them.”
Johnson said he has noticed a difference between young entrepreneurs who listen to advice and those who don’t.
“There’s this expression, ‘you need to know what you don’t know,’” Johnson said. “This is a big differentiator. You need to be laser-focused when you’re starting a company, but you also need to step back.”
The members also spoke about the relationship between the liberal arts education provided from the college and being an entrepreneur. Johnson said for him the freedom in choosing classes in the college was similar to being in business.
“When I came to IU, I had this really big book of a lot of classes and majors and course requirements,” Johnson said. “It was on me to figure out how to take all of this and make something of it. I think that’s being an entrepreneur — figuring out how to take all of these things and make something of it.”
