The Nichols College Alumni Experience

The 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 hockey team. After founding a mobile app company as a college student, he became the founder and CEO of Intigo 3D, which was awarded 3 US Patents for its unique inventory and distribution system for 3D printable files. In this episode, Frank and I talk about the 3D printing industry and how it is changing the face of business and consumer goods ... his outlook on the industry's future ... and how Covid helped to evolve the adaptation of this emerging technology. We also talk about Frank's time at Nichols ... how his company differentiates itself in a growing space ... and the types of things he has learned as the CEO of a company in the fast-paced technology industry. Whether you know a lot or a little about 3D printing, there are lots of interesting things to take away from this exciting 26 minute conversation with Frank.

'The Nichols College Alumni Experience Podcast' theme song was produced by Jermell Walker '12.

Bison 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.

Rick and I talk about the fast-growing legalized Cannabis industry from a business, investment and product standpoint. Our conversation includes what the current and future outlook is for the Cannabis industry ... how his company positions its products, such as The Clear concentrate, in a fast-growing market ... and his life as a venture capitalist and entrepreneur. We also talk about his time on the hill, his favorite professors and the joy of working with family members.

This is a great episode for anyone who is interested in the business aspects of the legalized Cannabis industry, who is a seasoned consumer or is new to the world of legalized marijuana.

(The Nichols College Alumni Experience theme song was produced by Jermel Walker '12.)

Matthew 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 favorite professors, and how he started from scratch by moving from the financial services industry to the dot com industry, seeking a faster-paced environment. We talk a lot about sales including ... what are the best ways to become an effective salesperson, overcoming the word 'no', how to deal with rejection and his favorite sales-based books and training tools. We talk about his company, Care.com, and how the pandemic has affected the care business, his sales teams and the changes in culture and tele-selling brought on by social distancing. We finish by talking about why he has stayed involved at Nichols for all these years.

If you are currently in a sales-based career, are just starting a sales career or work with or oversee a sales department, this interview will give you some great tips on how to succeed in sales from one of the country's top sales executives.

For more information about his company, visit: www.care.com

Nichols College Alumni Experience Theme Song by Jermel Walker '12

Former 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, the similarities and differences of the marketing world in the 1960's vs. present times and discusses why the show Mad Men was an accurate depiction of Madison Avenue in the 1960's. He talks about his time in the classroom at Nichols, including why the toughest professors are usually the most appreciated later in life, some funny stories from the classroom and shares examples of how his former students at Nichols have touched his life. Larry also shares several of his famous 'Downsisms', which are short sayings and pieces of advice that most of his former students still remember to this day. If you are a former student, current student or marketing professional ... you should take a lot out of this episode. And it's okay if you don't show up to THIS class on time ... the door will stay unlocked for a fantastic half hour of conversation with a Nichols College legend!

Nichols College Alumni Experience Podcast theme song by: Jermel Walker '12

Alex 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 athletics admissions scandal and discusses the importance of the game of golf to the business world and beyond. Alex also gives many tips on how to be a better golfer, the mental game of golf and the simple things many golfers don't do which could lower their scores. Even if you are not a golfer, you'll love this episode, which also includes great information  parents of high school students can use as they navigate through the college athletic recruiting process.

Nichols College Alumni Experience theme song by: Jermel Walker '12

Given 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 was forced to make some important leadership decisions in order to save the company. Under his leadership, TBM Hardwoods made major changes in the company's business model, including the tough reality of cutting staff by over 75%, cleaning their own office and resulted in Tom forgoing salary for almost 2 years. Today, many of those forced innovations are still in place in some form at TBM and the company brings in more revenue than before the recession. Tom also shares some interesting facts about the hardwood industry including how furniture manufacturing has left the United States for Asia, why a shift in interior design preferences is bad for the hardwood industry, sustainability of American hardwood forests and how he feels when he sees Keith Richards playing a Gibson guitar made out of his product. You won't want to miss this incredibly relevant interview with a parallel to our current turbulent economic times.

Tom's recommended reading from the episode: 'Confronting Reality: Doing What Matters to Get Things Right' by Larry Bossidy, ISBN 978-1400050840

Theme song by: Jermel Walker '12

Mike 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 Tampa Bay Lightening to do Hero's Cup tournaments in those cities. Mike also talks about his time at Nichols as a student, what it is like to skate with his childhood heroes and how, as someone who hates running, he began running in the Boston Marathon each year. Mike came back to campus to enlist Nichols marketing classes to help him promote the Bruins 50/50 raffle for The Hero's Cup and his new business venture, RedLine Gear Cleaning. Since the episode aired, a Nichols marketing class helped The Hero's Cup Foundation raise over $49,000 in a 50/50 raffle at a Bruins game. You won't want to miss a minute of this inspirational episode where you'll see that not all heroes wear capes ... some wear skates. (Show note: Since this episode was recorded, this year's Hero's Cup tournament was cancelled due to covid-19, however Mike and his team are looking forward to next year's tournament and are hopeful the tournaments in other cities this year will be able to once again raise money for good causes through hockey.

Find out more about Hero's Cup Hockey at: www.heroscuphockey.com

Foodies 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 company. This is a true "two-in-one episode" as Henry first talks about his time at Nichols and what it takes to build and run a large business. We then get into food and travel talk in the second half of the podcast ... including Henry's favorite seasonal ingredients, traveling to Italy for a truffle festival, eating the world's deadliest meal of blowfish sushi in Japan ... and the three cheeses you'll want on your next cheese plate when entertaining. This was an incredibly fun episode to record and I am sure you'll learn some amazing things.

(Show note … After this episode was recorded, Sid Wainer & Son was sold to The Chef’s Warehouse. Henry will remain president of the company and the company will retain the Sid Wainer & Co. name.)

You can visit Sid Wainer & Son's Gourmet Outlet at 2301 Purchase Street, #1, New Bedford, MA 02746 Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. where you'll be able to shop like Gordon Ramsay and sample some of the finest and freshest produce and specialty items the culinary world offers.

Visit their website at: www.sidwainer.com 

This 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 Rick as a professor in back to back classes while I was getting my MBA at Nichols and I'm fortunate to say that he's been a mentor and friend of mine ever since. As his classes did, this episode covers a lot of ground and will leave you wanting to hear more. Enjoy!

Photo shows: Myself, Nichols College Board of Advisor member Judith Keyser '89 (one of Rick's favorite students) and Professor Rick Hilliard

Nichols College Alumni Experience Theme Song by: Jermel Walker '12

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 of establishing a work-life balance ... and his work with VH-1, Dr. Drew and others to help stop the current Opioid crisis which killed almost 50,000 Americans last year.

Neil was on campus this spring to speak to a marketing class before the pandemic switched colleges into online class mode and he stopped by the studio after class for an entertaining 40 minutes of chat for The Nichols College Alumni Experience podcast. Anyone who is looking to eventually advance into a management or sales career might find this episode to be a master class in leadership advice. Neil remains one of the most requested alumni guest-class lecturers by the students and often helps recent Bison graduates find positions at great companies in the marketing world each year using his connections.

The Nichols College Alumni Experience theme song, 'The Bison are Coming' by: Jermel Walker '12

Jillian 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 ...  graduating during a recession ... the value she found in her graduate degrees ... and the future of telehealth, given the implications of the pandemic. We also chat about Jill's favorite hobby which is traveling. We discuss her favorite National Parks, the absence of polar bears in Antarctica, over-water huts in Bora Bora and how to fit a passion for travel into your career plans. This episode would be great motivation for any current 2020 grads to listen to given the current economic conditions and job market.

As a reminder to our listeners ... if your company is hiring, we can get you some great Nichols College applicants for jobs or internships! Please reach out if you have any leads on jobs for our recent grads who have not yet been placed.. Bison helping Bison is an important part of our alumni network ... send that elevator back down!

"The Bison Are Coming" theme song by: Jermel Walker '12

You 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 dried beer. There is a lot of information contained in this episode, so grab a seat and enjoy the "class". (Note taking is not required.)

Show note: This episode was recorded in early March before the effects of Covid-19 were felt on college campuses across the country. Since the episode was recorded, many changes (including the need to temporarily move classes online last semester) were experienced. I hope to do a future episode on Nichols' response to Covid-19 but in the meantime, all the information about our academic programs contained in this episode remains relevant.

Nichols College Alumni Experience theme song by: Jermel Walker