Ben Johnson: Retail Leadership Development Program, Sr. Instock Manager @ Amazon

Mike Alcazaren Class of 19' is many things. An entrepreneur, a product manager, a mechanical engineer, a podcast host, a great guy, a storyteller, and most of all, a Simon alum. He talks about his role at Amazon and how the lessons he learned from Simon are still important in this data-driven world. This episode is packed full of great anecdotes, and if you want to hear more of Mike talk (why wouldn’t you?) go and listen to his incredible Podcast called - Product, Explained – a show that dives into the companies, history, and strategy behind popular tech products.

Crystal Thompson Class of 20’ is the reason we are all here listening to this podcast. She had a vision of connecting students to alumni and luckily for us, she made it happen. Now as a Senior Manager of Insight at Target, she finds herself back in the space she has always loved, retail. There are many lessons within this episode, but one that I love the most, that Crystal exemplifies in every part of her being, is never giving up on yourself. Crystal takes us through her incredible journey to Simon, her internship process, and how treating every first conversation led her to her incredibly cool current role at Target.

Jean Ryan Class of 13, walks us through the fascinating work behind private label brand strategy. She talks about the transformation of the private brand from just a cheaper alternative of nationally known products, to having their own qualities, identities, strategy, consumer trust, and how that ultimately culminates to meeting consumer needs.

Joshua Rosen Class of 08’ and current Group Leader, Ecommerce & Digital Marketer at Church & Dwight Co. Joshua drops some major gems in this episode about the realities of the modern Brand Marketing role, and leaves us with some key insights and advice to current MBA Marketing students.

Joe Bell Class of 16', cyclist, rock climber and underdog supporter. In this episode Joe, the current Marketing Manager for MGK, talks to what it is like working as a Marketing Manager in a B2B business and how he navigates wearing different hats, from marketing research, to pricing, to forecasting, to new product development and so much more.

Fuat Koro sheds some light as to why the intersection between technology and business is so fascinating and important, and why this focus led him back to pursue his MBA at Simon. Fuat explains his past career working for GM within R&D, to transitioning to Bose and lends some further knowledge into what Simon MBA courses he believes are still invaluable in today’s modern working world.

Elliott Fletcher Class of 17’ started off working in the music industry before deciding to go after his MBA to focus on Marketing and Brand Management at the Simon Business School. In this episode he explores this transition from working for Sony Music Entertainment to navigating the MBA experience, and ultimately ending up as the Associate Brand Manager for TracFone Wireless.

Ben Johnson Class of '20 went from Level 1 Sommelier to Sr. Instock Manager. Ben explores his unique journey towards business school, and how he navigated his way towards working for Kimberly Clark to eventually becoming Amazon's Senior Instock Manager. 

Jim Prinzi gives a lively and unique interview through his path that started at Simon in the 80s and finishes back here at Simon today- with incredible experiences in between his times at Simon. Jim is gracious with his time and expertise and is a wealth of marketing knowledge!

If you've listened to any of our other episodes you have most certainly heard former students singing Mitch's praises- we thought it was only fitting that we had him as a guest! Learn more about Mitch's journey from a triple major undergrad to Boise to Duke and finally here to Rochester. We take a journey through his very interesting path and get to know the man behind everyone's favorite courses.