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Vision to Execution: EMBA Alumnus Mike Knoelke
Mike Knoelke (Class of 2013), Managing Director of Spyre Group, graduated from Marquette University in 1981 and enjoyed a successful career as a civil engineer for Amoco Pipeline, progressing into sale management with companies such as: USG, Terex, and Altec Industries. In 2010, Mike partnered with his son, Patrick (also a graduate of Marquette), to launch a new venture: Spyre Group.
Mike joined the Bloch Executive MBA within the first year of launching this new venture and credits his experience in the program with the development path that their venture has taken. Class discussions exploring the challenges companies face in translating their vision into strategy, and their strategy into specific sales and marketing activities uncovered a need that many organizations have for expertise that can help them do this in a cost-effective manner. This awareness led Mike and Patrick to focus Spyre group on filling a need for small and medium sized businesses.
Spyre Group provides outsourced marketing services for small to medium sized companies along three pillars: direction and execution; design and development; and cloud collaboration and productivity. The company got its start in brochure and collateral design, but by 2013, they had transformed Spyre Group into a strategic marketing company that collaborates with clients to bridge the gap between “Vision and Execution.”
As they considered options for how to proceed in this new direction, the classes, discussions, and projects in the Executive MBA program provided the perfect environment for Mike to incubate ideas for their venture and test concepts within a community of peers. Mike says this “brought the learning to life” and helped him keep the entrepreneurial energy flowing.
Today, they’ve launched several cloud solutions that support the dynamic nature of sales and provide the sales teams with everything they need to sell efficiently regardless of where they are in the office or in the field. With a solid framework of services and solutions, Mike and Patrick are looking forward to focusing on growth, as well as giving back through guest speaking in Executive MBA classes to share their entrepreneurial experience and insights with others.
Bloch Executive MBA Alumni Feature: Denise Buffington
While in China during the Global Residency, Denise Buffington (Class of 2016) and her fellow female colleagues in the class of 2016, decided to launch a book club to stay connected after graduation. The primary goal of their book club is provide a place where members can discuss issues and opinions in a supportive environment, similar to the cohort experience during the Executive MBA program.
Members can make recommendations for which books to read, and they alternate between fiction and non-fiction. Book selections to date have featured Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandburg, Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee, and Presence by Amy Cuddy. Denise brings discussion guides (often available online) to spark group conversation around key themes from the reading.
To accommodate busy schedules, they meet quarterly and members who are unable come in person are encouraged to join the meetings virtually. Throughout the program Denise, the Director of Energy Policy and Corporate Counsel at Kansas City Power & Light, earned a reputation for organization that is reflected in the Book Club Charter she created to provide a basic sense of social order for the club.
If you’ve ever thought about starting a book club or think this might be a good idea for your cohort, you can find Denise’s recipe (the Book Club Charter) below:
BOOK CLUB CHARTER
- Participation. Members who have not read the book – come anyway! Not everyone can finish every book, but not readers my still have valuable insights. Additionally, this group is as much a professional networking club as it is a book review/exchange club.
- Group Size. Please feel free to invite other professional women that might be interested in participating. We currently have 7 members. We could expand to approximately 12-15 and still be manageable so everyone should think about inviting a friend.
- Non-Fiction/Fiction. We will alternate non-fiction and fiction. This rule can be waived if the majority of the group has a strong preference for a book.
- Timing. We plan to meet approximately every 3 months.
- Book Selections. Please send 2-3 book selections to Denise. The objective is to compile a list for the next year or two. If you don’t like a particular book, as noted above, you do not need to read it participate!
- Discussions. There is never one way to experience or interpret a book. When there are disagreements about the book, be gracious! Differing opinions make better discussions. Try to avoid words like “awful” or “idiotic” or even “like” or “dislike.” These types of words do not move the discussion forward and can put others on the defensive. Instead, talk about your experience — how you felt as you read the book.
- Leader. The person that suggests the book we are reading should be prepared to start and lead the discussion (or delegate the responsibility).
- Limits. We did not set limits on paperback vs. hardcovers or pages, but try to keep the books around 400 pages so that it remains manageable for everyone to finish the book.
Bloch Executive MBA Alumni Feature: Lisa Freidel
Lisa Freidel (Class of 2014) came into the Executive MBA with years of operations experience accumulated through her work at E. & J. Gallo Winery, SBC Telecom, AT&T, and the U.S. Army. Despite a successful career and a solid resume, Lisa felt that something was missing…but wasn’t able to pinpoint exactly what that something might be. An assessment administered during the program by Executive Coach, Dr. Sandra Kruse-Smith, identified Lisa’s career anchor (the value most important to her) as: lifestyle.
Reflecting on this, Lisa was able to pinpoint the discomfort she felt in her career and realized that she needed to make a change. Over the past decade, she had contemplated starting a business, but wasn’t sure what form it might take. After researching a number of potential options, Lisa and her husband, Mark, settled on a franchise that would allow them to start small, work close to home, and enjoy a schedule that would allow them to embrace all that life has to offer.
In October, Lisa and Mark, opened their Signarama store in Liberty, MO. From their store, they can design, produce and install all types of signs and graphics including (but not limited to) outdoor illuminated signs, window and wall graphics, vehicle graphics, banners, and yard signs. When asked about her feelings venturing into entrepreneurship, Lisa admits to being a “hopeless optimist” and described the process as more thrilling than frightening. Her upbringing, undergraduate study at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and subsequent career experience have made her fearless.
She credits the Executive MBA with helping her develop a broader business perspective that balanced her operations experience and served her well throughout the process of evaluating franchises and opening her business. Returning for graduate study twenty years into her career also reinforced her confidence to try new things. She acknowledges that she doesn’t know everything, but is comfortable jumping in and learning along the way.
It all comes back to that moment a few years ago when she realized how important lifestyle was to her career satisfaction. Curiously, the only other student in her class to share the same career anchor was Dr. Abid Bhat, who also launched a venture this year. Lisa believes that the work with the Executive Coach is so valuable because people don’t take enough time for personal evaluation and reflection, but when we do – it can take us in a new and rewarding direction.
Bloch Executive MBA Alumni Feature: Abid Bhat, MD, MBA
Dr. Abid Bhat (Class of 2014) is saving lives in several roles: as a Professor of Medicine, a Medical Director of the Center for Sleep Health, Program Director of the Sleep Medicine Fellowship Program, a Pulmonologist, an Intensivist and now…as an entrepreneur.
When educating the public on the importance of sleep health Dr. Bhat explains that, “Sleep is like food. It’s as important as diet and exercise for our health.” Sleep disorders can lead to depression, anxiety, poor performance at work, high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, diabetes, memory problems, and weight gain. Unfortunately, sleep disorders are exceedingly common but undiagnosed, a circumstance that led Dr. Bhat to dedicate his career to sleep health education and treatment.
Dr. Bhat never thought he would start his own venture, but the spark was lit during his time in the Executive MBA program. Specifically, in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship elective with Instructor Phil Needles, where he competed in the Venture Challenge. During the class, Dr. Bhat and his team took the opportunity to explore how the current healthcare system was failing his patients and worked to design a solution. Though their venture didn’t win, their pitch made it to the semifinals and received valuable feedback that helped him refine the concept and build the connections that made it possible to launch his venture.
Dr. Bhat and his partners opened the Sweet Sleep Studio, LLC this year in Leawood and Shawnee, Kansas to approach sleep health from an entirely new perspective. Their model places the patient at the center of care with access to both Western and Holistic medicine, with the ultimate goal of reversing sleep disorders by identifying the causes rather than simply treating the symptoms. The people served at the Sweet Sleep Studio have access to a physician, a psychologist, a massage therapist, an acupuncturist, and nutrition and exercise support as needed to address their individual needs. His latest interest is working with innovators to design a wireless device for monitoring sleep pattern and related sleep disorders. This will replace the existing intrusive and cumbersome monitoring system.
Dr. Bhat is hopeful that this approach will bring long-term relief to his patients with the added benefits of being both convenient and cost-effective. A patient who had recovered from years of suffering from a sleep disorder once told him, “I didn’t imagine life was so beautiful!” It is moments like these that drive Dr. Bhat forward to continue to improve sleep medicine, and he is excited to have the opportunity to help even more people through the Sweet Sleep Studio in the years to come.
Bloch Executive MBA Alumni Feature: Wai Lee
Bloch Executive MBA alumnus Wai Lee (Class of 2016) is passionate about innovation. He holds a master’s degree in computer science and has more than 20 patents issued to his name. Currently, Wai is the A51 Director and Chief Product Architect at Garmin where his recent work has focused on Garmin’s wellness and smart wearables technology.
Wai isn’t the only innovator in his family. His wife, Olive Lee, also holds a degree in computer science and has a background in programming. Together, they have launched a new startup that could improve physician/patient interactions and health outcomes.
What is this new technology? Well…it’s a book. While it may seem counterintuitive for such a tech savvy couple to create a startup using good old fashioned paper and ink, it makes quite a lot of sense.
Through conversations with physicians and nurses, a common problem emerged: patients knew what changes they needed to make to improve their health, but failed at high rates to implement the recommendations made by their doctors.
From this problem, Wai and Olive designed a solution: My Habit Book, a small booklet that supports goal tracking and achievement. Co-created with input from physicians, My Habit Book is designed to meet three critical needs for forming new habits:
- Setting a simple, attainable goal
- Feeling a sense of progress
- Seeing a daily action-cue
The user decides on a simple goal to get started such as “walk 15 minutes every day.” This can be something they decide on in partnership with their physician and the book includes a prescription page to record the goal.
The book has a table-top stand backing and can be displayed in a place the user will see every day, such as a desk or countertop, and serves as a visual reminder to accomplish their goal. Stickers are provided to mark progress toward in 1, 5, and 25 day increments until the ultimate goal of 100 days is achieved. Once a goal is achieved, the user can set a new goal to continue on the path to optimal wellness.
My Habit Book is being tested in about 40 doctor’s offices and success rates will be evaluated when patients return for their check-up. So far, the response from physicians and nurses has been overwhelming positive.
As a low-cost, user-friendly tool, My Habit Book can serve a broad audience. It can work in partnership with smart wearables, but is also accessible to users who may not be able to afford or be comfortable using higher tech tools. Physicians can prescribe it to their patients to reinforce healthy behaviors, and individuals can use it to help achieve personal goals and upkeep New Year’s resolutions.
Wai and Olive are already working on the next version of My Habit Book, which will include a social accountability feature. Additional versions are in progress to support specific needs such as sleep wellness, spiritual wellness, mental health, and mindfulness.
If you’re curious to know more about this project – check it out at www.myhabitbook.com!
Bloch Executive MBA Alumni Feature: Mark Amick
Four years ago, Bloch Executive MBA alumnus Mark Amick (‘09) was watching the Republican National Convention (RNC) on TV and thought, “that’s something I’d like to do someday.”
Last month in Cleveland, Mark realized his dream and represented his district as a Texas Delegate to the RNC. He described the convention as an “experience of a lifetime” with all of the traditional convention excitement, plus the spectacle of the roll call and rules dispute, culminating in the attendees coming together around the decided nominee.
Mark has always believed in giving back and finding the time to volunteer despite a busy career. His service has included work with the Kansas City Zoo, the City of Raleigh (NC) Greenway Trail System, and the Kirkland (WA) Heritage Society. Currently, he is serving his second term as the Vice Chair of the Denton County Republican Party. Mark says his time in the Executive MBA program helped to provide a better understanding of the relationship between government and business.
Two and a half years ago, Mark and his wife moved to Texas soon after welcoming their son, Wyatt (now 4), to the family. Recently, Mark participated in Leadership Frisco with the Frisco Chamber of Commerce. As a class project, his class raised $170,000 to create the “Ready to Read Rail Road” – an interactive learning environment within the library that features STEM activities and tips for caregivers to help them educate children between six months and five years of age. His son is an enthusiastic fan of the project.
Mark believes that, “voting isn’t enough, if you want to make a difference – you have to take action” and he encourages others to do the same. Civic engagement is an important leadership activity and one of the four pillars of the Executive MBA program. In the future, Mark hopes to draw on learning from another key theme – innovative mindset – as he considers entrepreneurship among his next pursuits.
