Navigating leadership transitions. Tackling education inequities. Finding inspiration within cancel culture.

Five Morehead-Cain alumnae share with Benny Klein ’24 about their entrepreneurship journeys from the worlds of consulting, tech, nonprofits, and government. The group shares their role models, most impactful Morehead-Cain summers from college, and what’s keeping them motivated at the moment.

Today’s guests:

• Jane Sommers-Kelly ’85, founder of JSK Leadership (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
• Chesca Colloredo-Mansfeld ’87, co-founder and strategic advisor for MiracleFeet (Chapel Hill)
• Caroline Lowery ’16, product and customer insights manager at Amazon (Seattle, Washington)
• Cecilia Polanco ’16, director of community growth and outreach for Pupusas for Education and CEO of So Good Pupusas (Durham, North Carolina)
• Pavani Peri ’20, co-founder and COO of Acta Solutions (Chapel Hill)

The group spoke with scholars at the Morehead-Cain Foundation on September 30, 2023.

Listen to the episode.

Music credits

The episode’s intro song is by scholar Scott Hallyburton ’22, guitarist of the band South of the Soul.

How to listen

On your mobile device, you can listen and subscribe to Catalyze on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. For any other podcast app, you can find the show using our RSS feed.

Catalyze is hosted and produced by Sarah O’Carroll for the Morehead-Cain Foundation, home of the first merit scholarship program in the United States and located at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. You can let us know what you thought of the episode by finding us on Twitter or Instagram at @moreheadcain or you can email us at communications@moreheadcain.org.

Episode Transcription

(Chesca)

Yeah, I’m Chesca Colloredo-Mansfeld. I was in the class of 1987, way back when, and I founded an organization called MiracleFeet, which I ran as the CEO for the last 13 years. And right now, I’m at this moment of transition, and someone else is taking over, which is exciting and also terrifying.

(Caroline)

Okay, I’m Caroline Lowry. I live in Seattle, Washington, and I’m a product manager at Amazon.

(Cecilia)

My name is Cecilia Polanco. I’m a UNC Morehead, class of 2016. And currently, I am the director of community growth and outreach at Pupusas for Education/People for Equity. That’s a whole story.

(Jane)

Yes, I’m Jane Summers Kelly, class of ’85. I currently run my own business, JSK Business Consulting, which coaches teams and their leaders, and also I run a CEO peer group.

(Pavani)

Hey, my name is Pavani Peri, class of 2020, and I’m a co-founder and COO of Acta Solutions.

(Benny)

In your role, what is something that makes you lose track of time because it’s so captivating or engaging?

(Cecilia)

I’m really grateful that right now I get to innovate and create a lot. I’m doing a lot of problem solving as we are building and growing, so we’re experiencing growing pains. But everywhere we have attention points, an issue, or somewhere where there’s something to be resolved, that’s where I like to dig in. So I’m enjoying working with a team to build the team, grow the team, help folks get to where they want to be as far as their growth, whether it’s personal or professional, and building new things. I think with Papusas for Education evolving into People for Equity, I get to bring my visions to life. So, I love problem solving. I love being in the clouds of what is possible and freedom dreaming. And then the work of bringing that into reality is really what’s driving me to keep going every day.

(Jane)

I’m lucky to do what I love after five different career steps, and what captivates me is working with a business leader and getting him to think through what’s not working from a business point of view, and the people element of that business point of view, but anchoring it, learning about his business. One, I love learning; two, helping him anchor possible changes, benefits from a business point of view. How many hours would you save if your team did this differently? Why would this be of benefit? So, getting him to believe it’s worth the change?

(Benny)

We have the privilege of speaking with incredible women entrepreneurs today at this Coffee Chat. Who is someone that guides your thinking and that has shaped you, a role model of yours?

(Jane)

Benny, I actually don’t have a role model that’s doing exactly what I do. The role model I have is a woman who was one of the first in her position as the female head of the World Bank, Christine Lagarde. And 15 years ago at INSEAD, we were, before she became that, we were thinking of hiring her. So I got to interview her and she was not interested, but she was both strong and smart but didn’t make others feel dumb. And she was willing to risk her career to do things that she was passionate about. And I just so respected that backbone, as well as her savvy global business understanding and ability to work in a room of men and not need to prove herself.

(Caroline)

I feel like there’s such a trend around, like cancel culture. I had to be careful who I pick because there’s a lot of like conflicting figures out there. And I feel like there was a whole group of women entrepreneurs that were really inspiring to me, who all have been, like, defamed in certain ways.

(Benny)

Interesting. How does it make you feel?

(Caroline)

It’s sad because I feel like so much of their downfall was because of ways they were breaking barriers. I’m thinking of like Ty Haney at Outdoor Voices, Emily Weiss at Glossier, the woman who ran Away, the suitcase company, like all of these, like direct-to-consumer brands that were like. So I looked at those women, and I was like, “You guys are power women, this is amazing.” And then there was like a three month period where every single one of them got kicked out of their companies. The companies were taken over by institutional investors, and it was really hard for me because I was like, wait, these are women I looked up to? What do you mean? They’ve created a terrible, a toxic working culture. And so much it was like, is it because they’re women? Like, I’m pretty sure Elon Musk’s Tesla has a worse working culture. Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin is crucified all the time. But no one comments on, people will say like, “Oh, the working culture is bad,” but no one says , “Oh, it’s because of Jeff Bezos.” And I feel like it was tough to watch. Many women entrepreneurs get kicked out of their companies when they built these really amazing, interesting brands. And part of me was like, is it because they’re women, or is it because they actually did make these toxic work environments and failed their shareholders, failed their customers, failed their employees? Did they actually fail or is it because they were held to unreasonable standards?

(Pavani)

I would say my dad. So he came to this country and didn’t really know what he was going to do. And he has always been super entrepreneurial, but just because of his circumstances and the fact that he didn’t have resources, he couldn’t. Like when you ask him today what he would have done if money was no object, he says he would be a writer and an entrepreneur. And I think growing up hearing that, it was really clear to me that that was something that I would be able to do and should do if given the option.

(Cecilia)

So currently, a role model for me is AOC, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Just because she’s such a badass and she is showing up in very challenging ways through her role in Congress. And so for one, it’s great to see some representation like that is still something that is needed, especially, I would say for me, like for me, in order to see myself in spaces, I’m used to being the first one, the only one. It’s great to see examples like that. And she has this fearlessness about her to challenge things. I love how educated and articulate she is, and she’s coming from a really, you could say, a humble background, but from the lived experience of being somebody out here working to make a living, pursuing an education, and for her to be at those levels, representing the voices of a lot of people who are not always represented. Challenging systems, challenging big corporations, asking challenging questions in such an educated and articulate way, I want to be at that level where I can keep my calm, even when there’s tension and conflict. I want to be able to move through that really gracefully. So I’ve seen some of her speeches, some of the questions, the line of questioning she has. And I’m like, wow, I want to be on that level to ask the right questions and be able to move through it with a lot of grace and calm.

(Benny)

When you think about where you are today, is there a summer experience that you had at the Morehead-Cain that pushed you in the direction you are today, and maybe a reflection on that summer?

(Jane)

Two of them allowed me to know I didn’t want to go into. I worked at Coors Brewery in their marketing department, and I learned I didn’t want to go into marketing. The one that really helped me focus my first 11 years of a career was Chase Bank in Paris. Sounds sexy, but it was, I really got to understand how much you assess businesses in finance. And I loved the business aspect and understanding each business. So, that had me apply to the traditional banking New York JP Morgan route. And that’s not, it didn’t it didn’t get me to the leadership consulting I’m doing now, but it did hone my business acumen and allow me to then transition into the softer side of business because I understood their context. So it was a grounding. Today’s generation is aware, I need to find what I enjoy, so I’d say 70 percent—I live off right off campus, and so I interact with a lot of students—70 percent of them are willing to buck the respected consulting high salary, and it can be harder to find it, so that they need to do more info interviews to find that niche and find what they love.

(Caroline)

So, my NOLS trip was pretty influential. I credit that with how I ended up in Seattle. I flew through Seattle on the way out to Alaska, and I remember flying over Mount Rainier and all the volcanoes out there, and having never seen anything like five volcanoes in a line all next to each other, and thinking like, this is the most insane place coming from Charleston, South Carolina. Okay, so yeah, no volcanoes, no volcanoes, only a bridge, which was like our largest hill in the area. So seeing a volcano, like a snowy, true mountain volcano, was unbelievable. And then looking left and seeing the Olympics, looking right and seeing the North Cascades. There are fewer places, I think, that are that beautiful in the world. Until I went to Alaska, and then I was like, oh, it gets bigger, the mountains get bigger. So that was pretty crazy. And then I’d never gone camping until I went for 30 days in the backcountry.

So I feel like I learned a lot, trying new things, just jumping in headfirst. I will surprise myself if I try new things, and I feel like that was the ultimate get out of my comfort zone. And I think growing up in small-town South Carolina, to then be forced out of my comfort zone in that dramatic of a fashion, I think really set the tone for the rest of my Morehead experience, which was just like, say yes, do it, get out of your comfort zone, and interesting things will happen. It sort of was like the motto, I feel like, for my Morehead experience, but also kind of for the rest of my life. When I was like, “Oh, do you want to move to Charlotte, North Carolina, or do you want to go to Seattle, Washington?” And I was like, “I want to go west.” So yeah, it made it—I feel like after that experience, my capacity for what I knew, I was like, “Wow, I actually know very little. I’ve seen very little. And I want to see more of it.” So yeah, I think my NOLS course, in retrospect, was way more influential.

(Benny)

Interesting. Yeah.

(Caroline)

And I’ve come to appreciate it. Like took me a long time to get there.

(Benny)

Yeah. It was an intense experience.

(Caroline)

Yeah, I came to really appreciate it. And I was like, “Oh, I learned how to set up a tent and pack my backpack and eat powdered potatoes.” That was great. And then it was many years later where I was like, “Actually, this is why I ended up in Seattle and why I love to hike and climb, and ski and do all these activities and trail run and push myself in this way is because when I was 18, I learned like, oh, I can do these things, and I can try new things, and I can be really, really, really bad at these things on day one and learn how to get better at them.” So yeah, I love NOLS.

(Benny)

What are you most prideful about when you look back on your time? And then, what are you thinking about for the next immediate future to fill your day?

(Chesca)

Well, I think what I’m most proud of is the the daily impact that MiracleFeet was able to have on children’s lives and on family’s lives. My day-to-day experience as the CEO was often quite removed from that. Managing legal issues or financial issues or building a team, et cetera, that again, might be not that different than a corporate entrepreneurial venture. The piece that was so rewarding was when I would go to clinics around the world and watch and observe families getting treatment. They didn’t know who I was, and they didn’t know my role, but to see this well-oiled machine happening, and then to see the joy on the families’ faces, especially the mothers, and to see these kids just running around who previously wouldn’t have been able to walk, that was what drove me and motivated me, and I found that I had to go and visit clinics, sort of on a regular basis to refuel my own motivation and enthusiasm and energy for doing the work. So that was the really exciting part.

In terms of what I’m going to do next, I have no idea. It’s very, very exciting to be able to hand something off and feel really confident about it. But it’s also really hard because I’ve poured my heart and soul into this for 13 years, and suddenly, I’m no longer that person. And yet, my identity has, in some ways, been tied up with it for a while, and I’m having to detach. So I’m very excited for the opportunity to kind of step back, spend some time thinking and trying to figure out what is the next role and what is the next issue. I’m torn between sort of just really building on and sharing the experience I’ve gained from MiracleFeet, which is in a sort of global health space, and just using that knowledge and experience to help others build organizations versus switching. And the thing that’s really pulling at me is climate change. And it just seems so urgent. But I don’t know anything about climate change other than being an avid reader and following what’s going on. But that’s, I think, is what I’m grappling with right now is like, do I try to actually switch to a totally different issue that I feel is the urgent issue of our time?