Economics & Strategy Podcast

DePaul University's Business Strategy & Decision Making Program
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DePaul University's Economics & Strategy Podcast is a monthly conversation with individuals who use frameworks discussed in Economics and Business Strategy & Decision Making. The interviewees will represent multiple industries and institutions, and hold various roles within their organizations. The premise of the podcast is to examine how economics and other related strategy frameworks are practically applied in real-world situations.

  1. FEB 10

    Episode 072: Dr Brian Thompson, DePaul University

    This month we welcome Dr Brian Thompson, Clinical Professor of Economics at DePaul, and faculty member in the business strategy and decision making program. As the son of educators, he takes his role seriously and is very focused and intentional in his preparation and classroom goals. In this episode, we discuss the intersection of economics, business, and strategy and how he uses real-world experiences to connect those areas in ways that engage and enlighten his students. He explains how economics, and its study of choices in the face of scarcity, provides tools to consistently make the best available decisions with the resources at hand. It's a masterclass you should not miss.

    46 min

  2. JAN 13

    Episode 071: Dhruv Kavi, Quantum Rise

    What can a business strategy education do for your career? Dhruv Kavi is Manager of Client Delivery at the AI consulting firm Quantum Rise and he joins us on the Economics & Strategy Podcast to tell us what it's done for him. He tells us how he went from a task-oriented mindset to thinking three steps ahead. He describes how he applies strategy frameworks to analyze and understand the interactions he encounters at work. Giving him an ability to frame the impact of his projects as part of a larger whole. With that understanding he can now make each project more fruitful, each client engagement more impactful, and his firm more successful. It really does work!   Give it a listen.

    51 min

  3. 12/09/2025

    Episode 070: Heidi Pearson, Family Focus

    Women can rule the world! Heidi Pearson is a great example of this truth. She is a mother, entrepreneur, creative writer, marketing expert, and DePaul MBA alumna from the Business Strategy and Decision-Making program. She shares wisdom from her business career and how her education in strategy informs her work. Heidi's career spans almost 25 years including the 2008 economic meltdown, many personal challenges, and a global pandemic. If there's one word to best describe Heidi, it is resilience; a trait commonly found in women who navigate motherhood and career simultaneously. Ready to learn more?  Listen in!

    46 min

  4. 11/11/2025

    Episode 069: Pat Petersen, Avanade

    Pat Petersen is a double demon, business strategy & decision making alum, and a Manager at the global consulting firm Avanade; a position he has worked hard for. He joins us to talk about his journey in defining what he wanted as a career, and how he pursued that. His path has not always been easy and he's faced challenges in work and life that would test anyone's resolve. He passed every one using an unrelenting drive, perseverance, and an education infinitely suited for the career he chose. What fun would it be if everything always went perfect anyways? Listen in to his story and see how he succeeded even with a few challenges.

    39 min

  5. 10/14/2025

    Episode 068: Elliott Bulling, Hudl

    Elliott Bulling has a dream job and an MS-EPA graduate degree from DePaul University. He currently works at the sports technology firm Hudl, as a product manager and joins us this month to discuss his work, his path, and how economics helps him in life and business. Economics, as a discipline, has the reputation of an academic field delivering cold, clinical explanations of our world. Elliott shares his interest in economics and how it helps him in life and, more importantly, in his day-to-day business decisions. Yes, he works with lots of data AND technology, but he also spends a great deal of time working with internal teams and customers. He tells us how solving problems for others and rational decision making can coexist.   Listen in!

    56 min

  6. 09/09/2025

    Episode 067: Jen Asplund, Asplund Leadership Consulting

    We are privileged to welcome back MBA alumna Jen Asplund for a Check In. Since our last visit Jen left a successful at career AT&T, to start her own leadership coaching business, Asplund Leadership Consulting. With significant leadership experience informed by two graduate programs, she is truly an expert. In business, no area gets more scrutiny than leadership. In this episode, Jen explains why being a great leader doesn't mean being great at everything. It means knowing your own limits and enabling & applauding the strengths of others. Her work helps people acknowledge gaps, develop skills, and embrace that an organization's strength comes from teams of individuals inspired to work towards a common goal. Give it a listen.

    53 min

  7. 07/28/2025

    Episode 066: Lauren Coartney, Uber

    Double Demon and Business Strategy & Decision Making alumna Lauren Coartney, has experienced wildly different organizational types in her career. Currently Program Lead – Global Digital Experience at the tech giant Uber, she started her career in the traditional healthcare space. We discuss how those differences showed up in her work and what challenged her to try something so radically different. From a resource-based view, these organizational differences can be seen as a means to an end. In healthcare, a hierarchical structure enables the command-control style necessary to prioritize safety and facilitate compliance mechanisms, whereas tech's flat or matrixed structures foster the speed and innovation required to adapt quickly. What do you need? Listen in!

    36 min

  8. 06/10/2025

    Episode 065: Joe Christie, Owens Corning

    Joe Christie is a Business Strategy & Decision Making alumnus, manager at the building materials giant Owens Corning, and a history buff. He joins us this month to discuss the value of a history degree in business, the opportunities his MBA provided him, and how B2B sales is a bit like a repeated game, where credibility is central to each party receiving their best outcome. Joe innately understands that being transactional in business relationships has a way of following you around and leads to credibility issues that are often hard to outrun. His answer is investing in these relationships and gaining the kind of reputation necessary to build long-term mutual success. History can teach us many things, if we chose to listen in.

    46 min
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About

DePaul University's Economics & Strategy Podcast is a monthly conversation with individuals who use frameworks discussed in Economics and Business Strategy & Decision Making. The interviewees will represent multiple industries and institutions, and hold various roles within their organizations. The premise of the podcast is to examine how economics and other related strategy frameworks are practically applied in real-world situations.

Information

  • Creator
    DePaul University's Business Strategy & Decision Making Program
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    73
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    Economics & Strategy Podcast