Latter-day Saint MBA Podcast

Glenn is an expert in strategy and technology with over 40 years of experience in both the public and private sectors. He is the founder of two successful software companies in the travel industry and currently devotes his time to a non-profit humanitarian organization that he founded. He received an MBA from the Harvard Business School and a Post Graduate Diploma in Strategy and Innovation from Oxford University. Hewas also a CPA.

See details and register for the upcoming Latter-day Saint MBA Society conference at https://latterdaysaintmba.com/registration-2023Matt is currently in his second year at Stanford GSB. He grew up in Sandy, UT and after serving in the France Lyon Mission received his Bachelor's in Business Strategy at BYU. Prior to graduate school, he spent five years at Visa--first in a leadership rotational program where he worked across product, marketing, and sales, and then he spent his two most years on Visa's product team focused on social impact fintech.Matt is now a social entrepreneur whose passion is addressing how expensive it is to be poor in the U.S. to help blue-collar families like his own. 

Scott Sorensen, an MBA candidate at Stanford, previously transformed Twin Bridges Hospitality into a thriving asset management firm. Kassidy Sorensen, also pursuing her MBA, aimed to enhance financial inclusivity after her stint as a product manager at Capital One. They discuss the pivotal role of family influences in shaping their careers, the challenges of balancing their studies with personal lives, and their aspirations in fintech. Together, they highlight the importance of mutual support and community among MBA students, especially within their LDS network.

Dr. Astrid S. Tuminez (pronounced too-MEE-nez) was appointed the seventh president of UtahValley University in 2018. Born in a farming village in the Philippine province of Iloilo, shemoved with her parents and siblings to the slums of Iloilo City when she was 2 years old, herparents seeking better educational opportunities for their children.Her pursuit of education eventually took her to the United States, where she graduated summacum laude with a bachelor's degree in international relations and Russian literature fromBrigham Young University (1986). She later earned a master's degree from Harvard University inSoviet Studies (1988) and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in politicalscience (1996).Before UVU, President Tuminez was an executive at Microsoft, where she led corporate,external, and legal affairs in Southeast Asia. She also served as vice dean of research at the LeeKuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. She has worked inphilanthropy and venture capital in New York City and is a permanent member of the Councilon Foreign Relations. She is the author of Russian Nationalism Since 1856: Ideology and theMaking of Foreign Policy and many other publications. She and her husband, Jeffrey S. Tolk,have three children. In her spare time, she enjoys running, dancing, and traveling.

John is the 4th of 13 children born to an engineer father and a farmer mother. He grew up as a fairly free-range child in Rose Park, a suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah. After serving his mission in Bangkok, Thailand, John knew he wanted to pursue entrepreneurship and somehow impact the world for good through scalable, impact-based businesses. As an entrepreneur, turned consultant, turned serial entrepreneur, John has been involved in numerous start-ups and high growth businesses; including companies in the E-commerce, and B2C and B2B services and retail spaces. John is obsessed with the possibilities of scalable businesses with a purpose. He loves the challenge and excitement of his current role as President of Redlist, LLC a B2B SaaS company in the heavy-equipment related industries’ space--where his teams provide maintenance, safety and operational software solutions to medium and large enterprise customers that are involved in building fundamental building blocks of civilization.--Customers like Georgia Pacific, ExxonMobil, Kinross, Dart, etc. John currently lives a wannabe farmer’s life in Wallsburg Utah, with his wife and their seven children.

Elder Robert Gay, an Emeritus General Authority Seventy, shares his extensive background in private equity and humanitarian work. He reflects on the impact of his father's career, emphasizing integrity amid adversity. The discussion delves into balancing personal aspirations with professional opportunities and highlights the importance of leveraging one's influence for positive community change. With enriching stories from Ghana, Elder Gay underscores the transformative power of service and the need for humility in church leadership, encouraging listeners to find fulfillment beyond societal expectations.

Jacob Jones’ journey to a business management career was unexpected (at least to him) and involved leaps of faith, major disappointments, and several miracles.  Jacob is now mid-career, middle management, having recently joined Eastman Chemical as the Corporate Director of Product and Pricing.  His previous decade was spent at 3M in a variety of strategy and business roles.  Originally a Chemical Engineer, Jacob holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a B.S. from Brigham Young University where he co-founded what is now the Global Engineering Outreach program. He served as a full-time missionary in the Australia Sydney South mission. Jacob and his wife Summer recently moved from Minnesota to Eastern Tennessee, where they are attempting to conscript their four children into a family bluegrass band. 

Richard Flores is a current MBA student at Harvard Business School, expected to graduate in 2023. He hails from American Fork, UT and attended BYU for his undergraduate education in economics and business strategy. Richard began his career consulting with Bain & Company in Dallas, TX before transitioning to a product strategy role at Capital One in McLean, VA. He served his mission in London, England where he gained a love for all things fashion (and a stronger testimony of the Gospel too). He is married to Kelsey, who is currently a clinical instructor at Harvard Law School. Richard and Kelsey have two sons, Baer (3) and Jack (1). Richard enjoys basketball, European soccer, and Star Wars, and has recently started giving fashion consultations for his friends and classmates.

David W. Checketts is one of the most seasoned and well-known sports, media and entertainment executives in theindustry with a career that has spanned over four decades. Over that time, Mr. Checketts has been responsible for thesuccess of some of the most iconic brands in their respective industries.Mr. Checketts is the Managing Partner of Checketts Partners Investment Management, a private equity firm foundedin 2011 focused on sports, media and entertainment with investments in premium hospitality, ticketing, ArtificialIntelligence / data analytics and broadcast technology services. The firm has also advised investors and owners inprofessional sports leagues around the world.From July 2018 to June 2021, Mr. Checketts served as the President of the England – London Mission of the Churchof Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, overseeing the Mission’s diverse and impactful operations in the midst of theglobal pandemic.Since 2016, he has served as Non-Executive Director of Gravity Media, the leading global provider of complex livebroadcast facilities and production services to content owners, creators and distributors, where Checketts Partners isan investor.Mr. Checketts was Chairman and CEO of Legends Hospitality Management, the premier provider of hospitality,merchandising and premium ticketing services, founded by the New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys. CheckettsPartners held an equity stake in the company until October 2015. As Chairman and CEO from December 2011 toOctober 2015, Checketts guided the company through a substantial period of expansion and growth in marketshare, establishing it as one of the industry’s standard-bearers. Under Checketts leadership Legends made a majorexpansion both domestically and internationally. Added to the core Yankee and AT&T (Cowboys) Stadiums, areiconic venues such as LA Angel Stadium, Levi’s (49ers) Stadium, and Manchester City Football’s Club EtihadStadium. Notably, under Mr. Checketts’ guidance, the company was awarded, designed, built and nowoperates the heralded One World Observatory at the top of One World Trade Center. The Observatory opened inMay 2015 and is a must-visit for New Yorkers and tourists alike.Previously, Mr. Checketts founded SCP Worldwide in 2006. Under his direction and leadership, SCP has owned andoperated an impressive stable of assets including: the St. Louis Blues, Scottrade Center, Peabody Opera House, the2009 Major League Soccer (MLS) Champions Real Salt Lake, Rio Tinto Stadium and ESPN 700 Sports talk radio aswell as other investments in live entertainment and TV production. The Blues went from worst to first under hisleadership and the expansion club Real Salt Lake became the model franchise for MLS teams.Mr. Checketts established his sports media company after a successful ten-year career at Madison Square Garden(MSG).  As President and Chief Executive Officer from 1994 - 2001, Mr. Checketts oversaw all operations of “TheWorld’s Most Famous Arena” and its three sports franchises, the New York Knickerbockers of the NBA, the NewYork Rangers of the NHL, and the New York Liberty of the WNBA – along with the award winning MSG Networkand FOX Sports Network.  Mr. Checketts was also responsible for the acquisition and restoration of New York’shistoric Radio City Music Hall.  Under his leadership, MSG was named Arena of the Year for six straight years, andestablished the MSG “Cheering for Children” foundation, which created after school programs for thousands of NewYork City school children.Mr. Checketts began his career at Madison Square Garden as President of the New York Knicks in March 1991.  Inthe four seasons he served as President, the team finished twice in first place, made it to the Eastern ConferenceFinals twice and captured the Eastern Conference Champion Title in 1994.  During this time, the team set records inattendance, ratings and revenues including setting the all-time sellout streak of 460 games at The Garden.  During histenure Forbes named the Knicks the most valuable franchise in the NBA.Prior to joining the Knicks, Mr. Checketts spent one year as General Manager of NBA International, working withNBA Commissioner David Stern on building a presence for the league in broadcasting and licensing around theworld.In 1983, Mr. Checketts was named President and General Manager of the Utah Jazz.  At 28 years old, he became theyoungest chief executive in the history of the NBA.   During his six-year tenure, the team captured two MidwestDivision titles and enjoyed a multi-million dollar economic turnaround.Mr. Checketts did his undergraduate studies at the University of Utah and earned his MBA from Brigham YoungUniversity in 1981, where he graduated with top honors. Upon completion of his studies, he joined the Boston-basedconsulting firm, Bain & Company.He previously served as a Director of JetBlue Airways, IMG Worldwide (serving as Chairman of the AuditCommittee), Citadel Communications (serving as Chairman of the Audit Committee), Cablecom (Switzerland) andRepublic Mortgage Home Loans.He resides in Connecticut with his wife Deb. They have six children and eighteen grandchildren.

Kevin Rollins served as CEO of Dell, Inc from 2004-2007. He was responsible for worldwide sales, marketing, and service and for overseeing Dell's Worldwide Home and Small Business Group, European operations, and the Personal Systems Group. Prior to being elected to his current position in December 1997, Mr. Rollins served as president, Dell Americas. In this position, he was responsible for the company's operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Latin America.Formerly a partner and director at Bain & Co., Mr. Rollins specialized in strategies and management for high technology and consumer product clients. While with Bain, he helped develop strategies that propelled Dell into a leadership position in the direct selling of computer systems in the United States. Mr. Rollins earned his master's of business administration and bachelor's degrees from Brigham Young University.Kevin served as bishop ('92-'95) and stake president of the Boston Massachusetts stake from 2012 to 2020. He and his wife Debra have 4 children and 9 grandchildren.