There are secrets to baking that also apply to being an entrepreneur. And five Maryland siblings are putting those secrets to work in their latest venture. The Dubbaneh brothers and sisters – Ronnie, Danny, Ronia, Johnny and Deanna – know that to be successful in baking, you have to take care in every step of the process, be patient, give it your time and attention, and love what you’re doing. It’s the same for starting a business.

Jennifer Felix ’92 has one goal in mind when it comes to leadership – helping everyone maximize their potential. As president and CEO of ASRC Federal – a Maryland-based government services subsidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, an Alaska Native Corporation owned by 13,000 Iñupiat shareholders – Felix has learned firsthand what it means to lead. It starts with empowering others and finding inspiration in every journey, she says.

When Sylvia Bugg, EMBA ’12, first applied for a job as an administrative assistant at PBS in the early 1990s, she was excited to join an organization that had supported and broadcast so much important content. “It was a dream,” she says, looking back. Today, she’s PBS’s chief programming executive and general manager of general audience programming, playing an integral role in the broadcaster’s mission.

When it comes to navigating the business world, Anoop Mehta ’84 understands the power of a network. “During my time at Smith, I was heavily involved in a variety of campus-wide organizations, such as the International Student Association and the Indian Student Association,” Mehta says. “Being around a diverse group of people and learning how to network and collaborate with them helped propel me into my future career.”

The USA hockey team upsetting the Soviet Union in the Olympics. A 35-year-old pitcher making his MLB debut. A horse owner fostering a colt to Triple Crown glory. Many are familiar with these athletic feats not only from cheering as they happened or flipping through the record books, but also from watching the fan-favorite movies that they inspired. Besides the feel-good plots, the films share another common feature: They were all produced by a Maryland Smith alum.

After being exposed to the data analysis field, Sagar Math, MS ’18, knew he had found his calling. What he didn’t know was that he also found his path to becoming an all-star.

When David Rosenstein ’20 was a Maryland Smith undergraduate student, he became known for his boundless energy. One marketing professor even referred to him as a “Human Energizer Bunny.  The title has stuck, and his tempo hasn’t slowed. These days, he’s in New York, working for LinkedIn as a Business Leadership Program associate. It’s an entry-level rotational sales program that has him working in customer operations and support, with content creators, and with customers in sales. “You wear a lot of different hats,” he says.

Like many college-bound high school seniors, Andrew Chen ’85 didn’t have any idea what he wanted to do with his life, but he knew he’d be continuing the family tradition/legacy his grandfather, father and uncles started by attending the University of Maryland.

Nadine Payne, MBA ’15, believes understanding complex business problems means understanding how the pieces all fit together, studying, and assessing their functions.

Entrepreneurs beat long odds when they launch a company and sell it to investors. Jason Cohen ’96 has done it many times. It’s not how he started his career.