Spring 2013 - Women's Entrepreneurship and Leadership Class at Babson MBA
Today, we had two wonderful Entrepreneurs in Residence of Babson, Sharon Kan and Gail Simmons, who visited a very unique elective class that we have at BABSON called Women's Entrepreneurship and Leadership, taught by Professor Candy Brush. I can just say that this has been one of my favorite classes at Babson and one of the reasons have been all the women we have had as panelists around different topcis in nearly every class this spring.
For those who know me, I am a "quotes" person, so here are few of the amazing thoughts I captured this afternoon from these inspiring women. I know they might not make much sense with out the context of the conversation we were having in class, yet I thought you might still enjoy few of them them as muchas I did.
My top quotes from Sharon
- [Answering to the question: what did you want to be when you were younger?] "A king (yes, not a queen!!)"
- "I always wanted to be with the boys"
- "Accidentally I ended up in the right place"
- "I usually do what I am not supposed to do"
- "For women is hard to say NO, but it seems to be harder to get a NO"
- "Do you remember a time when your mother has shared one of her NO's with you? This is where all starts"
- "If I saved people's lives, I can handle a No" (referring to her experience in the Israel air force)
- "What does it mean/imply when men 'go for drinks'? When we women talk to a man, seems like we have to 'pitch'"
- "If you do not take the responsibility to make a change, it's not going to happen"
- "The generation of our parents is all about job security. On the other hand I have created jobs for myself, that is what I have been doing all this time. The opportunity for me is to create the job I am looking for"
- "Aim for big, it takes the same effort than aiming for small"
- "Your most important professional decision is who you will marry"
- [Answering how to understand/deconstruct legacy] "Legacy is about credibility"
My top quotes from Gail
- [Answering to the question: what did you want to be when you were younger?] "I wanted to be a dental hygienist. When my mother asked why a dental hygienist. and not a dentist, I answered 'dentists are men, dental hygienists are always women!'"
- "Where do you see yourself in years? I hate that question. And that does not mean that I am not organized, but I know that it's all about dealing with uncertainty."
- [Answering how to understand/deconstruct legacy] "Legacy is about integrity"
About Sharon Kan
Sharon Kan is an entrepreneur and a seasoned operational executive. Sharon was a co-founder of Tikatok.com, which was acquired by B&N in 2009. Tikatok was the fourth startup company that Sharon built from its foundation with a group from MIT University. Before Sharon co-founded Tikatok she was CEO of Zoomix, a data management solution provider that was acquired by Microsoft in 2008. Prior, Sharon was President North America of c-Ark, a product lifecycle management company. c-Ark was acquired by SSA (now Infor). Prior to c-Ark, Ms. Kan spent 5 years with Demantra Inc., a leading global provider of supply chain management and established its activity in NA. Demantra was acquired by Oracle in 2006. Sharon is currently Entrepreneur in Residence at Babson College; a mentor at The MIT Venture Mentoring Service, formed to support entrepreneurial activity throughout MIT University.; and a member of the Advisory Board of Entrepreneurship at Simmons College School of Management. She has been a speaker at conferences and educational institutions on the subjects of entrepreneurship, innovation, core values and leadership. Sharon holds an Executive MBA from the University of Bradford in the UK, a BA degree in Business from the College of Management in Israel, and is a graduate of the French Culture program of the Sorbonne University in Paris, France. (Source: Babson Website)
About Gail Simmons
Gail Simmons is a trained culinary expert, food writer, and dynamic television personality. Since the show’s inception in 2006, she has lent her extensive expertise as a permanent judge on Bravo’s Emmy-winning series Top Chef. Now in its tenth successful season, Top Chef is rated the #1 food show on cable television. Gail is also host of Top Chef: Just Desserts, Bravo’s pastry-focused spin-off of the Top Chef franchise, which aired its second season in the fall of 2011. Gail joined Food & Wine in 2004 and directs special projects for the magazine, acting as liaison between the marketing and editorial teams on magazine events and chef-related initiatives, working closely with the country’s top culinary talent. During her tenure, she has been responsible for overseeing the annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, America’s premier culinary event. Prior to joining Food & Wine, Gail was the special events manager for Chef Daniel Boulud’s restaurant empire. Born and raised in Toronto, Canada, Gail moved to New York City in 1999 to attend culinary school at what is now the Institute of Culinary Education. She then trained in the kitchens of legendary Le Cirque 2000 and groundbreaking Vong restaurants, and worked for esteemed food critic Jeffrey Steingarten at Vogue. Throughout her career, Gail has contributed to several cookbooks, including It Must’ve Been Something I Ate by Steingarten, Chef Daniel Boulud: Cooking in New York City and The New American Chef, by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page. Gail’s first book, her very own memoir titled Talking With My Mouth Full, was published by Hyperion in February 2012. In addition to her work on Top Chef, Gail makes frequent television appearances on TODAY on NBC, ABC’s Good Morning America, and Fox & Friends, among others. She has been featured in such publications as New Yorkmagazine, Travel + Leisure, GQ, People, TV Guide, US Weekly, Entertainment Weekly, Los Angeles Times, and was named the #1 Reality TV Judge in America by The New York Post. She also appears at the nation’s foremost culinary festivals, including the South Beach Wine & Food Festival, New York City Wine & Food Festival and many more. Gail can be seen in the online video series The Pantry Project on www.kitchendaily.com, where she teaches viewers new ways to cook with the staples, both familiar and unusual, in their kitchens. (Source: Babson Website)
