A total of thirty-one alumni and two current parents hosted sessions for upper school students to attend during third, fourth and fifth periods as part of Career Day Tuesday.
During Career Day events in previous years, juniors visited professionals in their workplaces off campus. This year’s Career Day stayed on campus and was open to all upper school students who had free periods during the event, which was divided into six sessions. The day included free lunch and Coolhaus ice cream sandwiches for participants.
Samuel Hornblower ’97 and Michael Kaplan ’08, both associate producers on the CBS show “60 Minutes,” were two of the 19 hosts who spoke to students during session one, but neither of them was on campus. Hornblower talked to students through Skype, while Kaplan, after a FaceTime meeting was canceled because of technical issues, talked to students by phone. At least for that first session, listeners gathered around an event organizer’s iPhone while Kaplan shared on his experiences as a television producer.
During the second of the sessions he hosted in Seaver 103, Sam Teller ’04 told 15 sophomore boys, one senior boy, one junior girl and one straggler – a sophomore girl – about the decreasing cost of starting businesses. Teller is the Managing Director of Launchpad LA, a startup accelerator that invests in the early stages of tech companies.
After Teller shared that his company tends to invest in people who are “crazy” about their projects, because it means they are committed, Chief Financial Officer Rob Levin, who had sat in on the discussion, pointed out that students interested in entrepreneurship might consider taking time off before, during or after college to launch their own business ventures. He brought up David Lim ’13 and Austin Chan ’13, who both opted for a gap year before starting college, as examples.
Prada Vice President of U.S. VIP Relations Celine Khavarani ’95 sat on a desk in an English classroom to meet with students for most of the event. She told them about solving crises on her job, including one time when she had boarded an airplane with a large necklace on and a larger sweatshirt over it because it had been too late to ship the necklace to a client. She also talked on the importance of people skills and “taking ego out of the picture,” especially in the fashion industry.
During one of the last sessions of the event, in a physics classroom in Munger, political consultant Jeff Millman ’99 told students how he fell in love with politics. He had been following then-President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial on the radio during his drive to school, where he would discuss the developments he heard about with other students in his history class. Millman went on to work for Hillary Clinton when she ran for president in 2008.
A table organizing the sessions and their hosts by location was sent to students before the event by email.
Actor and voice over specialist Phil LaMarr ’84 and digital marketing specialist Ashley Felts ’02 both planned to host sessions, but could not attend, Alumni Administrator Janiece Richard said.
Advanced Placement exams in U.S. Government, French Language and Human Geography also took place Tuesday and may have conflicted with the event.
Click here to view a photo gallery of the event.
List of session times:
Session 1 9:50-10:05
Session 2 10:10-10:25
Session 3 10:35-10:50
Session 4 10:55-11:10
Session 5: 11:20-11:35
Session 6: 11:40-11:55
Lunch 12:00-1:30
List of hosts, times and locations by field:
Design
Natasha Baradaran ’90 (Interior Designer, Natasha Baradaran Interior Design) – Sessions 1-4 in CH 310
Sharon Lee (Fine artist/wallpaper and fabrics designer, Krane by Sharon Lee) – Sessions 1-6 in SV 108
Entertainment
Jonathan Ahdout ’07 (Filmmaker, Marc Platt Productions) – Sessions 1-6 in SV 104
Drew Bracken P’14 (Commercial producer, Roadhouse Films) – Sessions 1-4 in RG 224
Rona Cosgrove ’85 P’18 (Executive VP of Business Affairs, Paramount Pictures) – Sessions 1-2 in WH 104
Justin Letter ’05 (Talent Manager, Mosaic) – Sessions 1-2 in RG 210, Sessions 3-4 in RG 202
Entrepreneurship
Sameer Gupta ’99 (Entrepreneur) – Sessions 1-6 in RG 209
Tian Mu ’96 (Co-founder and CEO, Naked Sky Entertainment) – Sessions 3-6 in SV 109
Jennifer Wang ’98 (Founder and owner of The Tasteful Pantry) – meet in Rugby for Session 4, Sessions 5-6 in SV 101
Finance
Susan Yun Lee ’98 (Private Equity, Angeles Investment Advisors) – Sessions 5-6 in SV 110
Todd Lemkin ’93 (Partner and Senior Portfolio Manager, Canyon Partners) – meet in Rugby for Sessions 3-4, Sessions 5-6 in CH 309
Fashion
Tony Chu ’89 (VP of International, Hudson Jeans) – Sessions 1-4 in RG 208
Celine Khavarani ’95 (VP of U.S. VIP Relations, Prada) – Sessions 3-6 in RG 204
Journalism (All sessions by Skype)
Sam Hornblower ’97 (Associate producer, 60 minutes) – Session 1-2 in WH 106
Michael Kaplan ’08 (Associate producer, 60 minutes) – meet in Rugby for Sessions 1-4
Law
Brian Bezonsky ’98 (Criminal defense attorney) – Sessions 1-2 in RG 211, meet in Rugby for Sessions 3-4
Angel James Horacek ’95 (Principal, Law Offices of Angel J. Horacek) – Sessions 1-2 in CH 308, meet in Rugby for Sessions 3-4
Marketing
Jonathan Kichaven ’02 (Account supervisor, PMK*BNC) – Sessions 1-2 and 5-6 in SV 107, meet in Rugby for Sessions 3-4
Amy McCullaugh ’05 (Marketing & business manager, Coolhaus) – meet in Rugby for Sessions 3-4. Sessions 5-6 in CH 305
Medicine
Kathleen Boldy P’16 (Veterinarian) – Sessions 3-6 in MG 101
Lisa Brevik-Anderson P’16 (Veterinarian) – Sessions 1-4 in CH 301
Rom Kandavel ’93 (Surgeon, Colvard-Kandavel Eye Center) – Sessions 4-6 in MG 105
Cara Natterson ’88 (Pediatrician, WorryProof Consulting) – Sessions 1-2 in CH 311, meet in Rugby for Sessions 3-6
Non-profits
Nikky Canter Schulman ’00 (Chief of staff, City Year Los Angeles) – Sessions 1-4 in CH 303
Photography
Matt Sayles ’00 (Photographer, Matt Sayles photography) – Sessions 3-6 in FH 201
Politics
Jeff Millman ’99 (Political consultant) – Session 6 in MG 104
Real estate
Casey Federman ’91 (Managing director, Irongate) – meet in Rugby for Sessions 3-6
Science
Karen McBride ’80 (Mars Exploration Specialist, UCLA/NASA) – Sessions 2-6 in MG 103
Sam Pfister ’95 (Mechanical Engineer Ph.D., Cheechi Capital Advisers) – Sessions 1-6 in RG 207
Sam Yaggy ’98 (Rocketdyne, Commercial crew vehicle member for NASA) – Sessions 1-4 in MG 104
Technology
Joshua Glazer ’96 (Co-founder and CTO, Naked Sky Entertainment) – Sessions 1-6 in RG 222
Sam Teller ’04 (Managing director and Co-founder, LaunchpadLA) – Sessions 1-2 in SV 103, meet in Rugby for Sessions 3-4
Jules Urbach ’92 (CEO, OTOY and Lightstage) – meet in Rugby for Sessions 3-6
