Be a Boss: Learn from the Women of '99

Chandra Patel

Salesforce

Chandra Patel graduated from UMBS in 1999 with a focus on strategy and from M.I.T. in 1994 with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering. Upon graduation, she moved to San Francisco during the height of the late 90s dot com boom. Although she was relieved to have a “traditional” management consulting job when things came crashing down, she was bitten by the Silicon Valley entrepreneurial tech bug.

Upon leaving consulting, she joined Wells Fargo’s digital group (before fintech was a real thing!) and stayed 8+ years in product management leadership and to build out technology innovation and incubation capabilities.

Chandra finally took the plunge to the true  startup world in 2011 serving in marketing leadership roles at a number of early stage venture backed companies. After accumulating a LOT of start-up war stories and a number of grey hairs, she joined Salesforce earlier this year as a Product Marketing leader bringing her corporate and startup experiences together.

Over these 20 years, San Francisco became her happy home where she appreciates that she can go hiking or do beach yoga almost every weekend. She doesn’t regret taking the snow shovel out of the trunk of her car.

Alta Yen

Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors

Alta graduated from Michigan with a plan to work in buy side investing at GE Capital for two years.  The two years unexpectedly turned into twenty as she navigated her way through various roles ranging from portfolio management, launching a new business, running a large underwriting team and heading investment strategy at GE Energy Financial Services.  She also never would have thought that she was going to build a career in energy and that the industry would be undergoing such a transformation. Somewhere along the way, she finally met her spouse and had a daughter as a "more mature" mother. And just when she thought she had it figured out, Alta left GE earlier this year to venture into private equity at Kayne Anderson to help launch a renewable energy fund.

Christine Parlamis

Blessed Celebration

Christine Parlamis graduated from UMBS in '99 with a focus in Marketing and from Columbia University in ‘94 with a BA in Economics.  After graduation, she worked for American Express and SBC Global Communications. A couple years after Kid #1, she realized she was burning the candle at both ends and made the switch from Corporate America to a small health care startup where the dream of a balanced day shone strong.  When that balance proved elusive and with Kid #2 on the way, she launched her e-commerce business -Blessed Celebration selling customized specialty goods to the Greek Orthodox market for all wedding and baptismal needs while simultaneously working at the health care start-up. Being the first to web in this niche space, the business grew quickly and within 18 months she left the health care company to pursue her venture full time.  Her business has expanded to be the largest U.S. business for Christian Orthodox event products. Orders are fulfilled out of Austin, TX (where the company began) and Christine works from her home in Southern NJ. Kid #3 and #4 came along just to make sure she never got a full night’s sleep, which, after all, is the hallmark of any dutiful MBA.

Julie Jeffries

Not Your MommaÔÇÖs Vegetables

Considered an "Accidental Entrepreneur", Julie Jeffries has always had a knack for finding something new to create.  Julie has been involved in start ups -- both inside corporate America and in a traditional sense -- since before b-school.  But, when life threw her some serious lemons, Julie did the only thing she knew how to do... she broke apart her own medical crisis into manageable chunks like she has learned to do at Michigan and started to solve her problem.  Julie shocked the medical world with the reversal of an "incurable" problem, all with a whole food, plant-based lifestyle. Today, she is creating an organization around her learning and her passion to help people live their best lives, while working to address the global crisis of chronic disease, diet-related death rates and skyrocketing costs associated with poor health.  Meet the Founder and Chief Onion of "Not Your Momma's Vegetables", Julie Jeffries. 

Marlo Scott

Eli Lilly

Marlo is an award-winning business leader with operational P&L, brand development & business strategy experience, proficient at driving innovation and new business initiatives in large corporations and startups in media, entertainment, hospitality and lifestyle. She joined Lilly Bio-Medicines in summer 2018 to champion patient-centric storytelling through the lens of PR, leveraging extensive media experience gained as founder and CEO of Sweet Revenge in NYC. She negotiated Lilly’s first ever 7 minute branded segment on the Dr Oz show featuring a clinical trial patient and thought leader, also a first for the show and secured Lilly’s first ever live coverage at the NYSE for an FDA approval, also a first for the exchange.

As an entrepreneur, Marlo enjoyed a successful 10-year run with her lifestyle business anchored by a highly rated, award-winning restaurant and wine bar in NYC’s west village. She has been recognized for innovation and as a champion of small business, securing the cover of Entrepreneur Magazine, appearing on Martha Stewart, Throwdown with Bobby, Flay, the Today Show with Kathy Lee & Hoda, Fox Business and starring in the inaugural Ink from Chase national ad campaign. Prior to setting out on her own, she specialized in brand development, corporate strategy, and custom content advertising solutions primarily at NBC, CNBC and the Fortune/Money Group at Time Inc.

She lives in Indianapolis with her husband Gurhan and two golden retriever puppies. She is immensely enjoying their backyard, listening to cicadas and not climbing stairs to a 4th floor walkup.  University of Michigan MBA, class of 1999.