The Duck Stops Here: University of Oregon University of Oregon

As a student in the University of Oregon Lundquist College of Business (‘02) Matt Thomas never dreamed that a simple prompt in class senior year would turn into a $50+ million business.As the founder and CEO of Brew Dr. Kombucha, Matt is a massively successful beverage entrepreneur who leads with a growth mindset.

Assigned a straightforward student project -- develop a business plan for an underserved market – Matt landed on tea drinkers. His vision? A teahouse, with all things tea under one roof. 

Hear Matt chart the course of this success story, from his early days scraping by on capital loaned by family and friends, to the founding of seven teahouses and ultimately a product now sold nationally, including at Starbucks. Learn about the turning point in 2008, when Matt dared to dream bigger for his company and produce a beverage – kombucha, a fermented tea prized for its healing properties since ancient times but still little known in the US at the time –that his customers kept asking for. From initial seed money coming exclusively from family and friends, to the hustle years, to why Matt’s kids help him come up with the funny phrases under each Brew Dr. Kombucha bottle cap, learn about the many other challenges Matt met along the way, including those that ultimately inspired him to found the world’s first and only tea distillery.

 

Matt Thomas is being interviewed on the podcast by Lisa
Calevi, Associate Director for Engagement.

To connect with Matt, visit: https://www.brewdrkombucha.com


Keep in touch!
Follow the team @uo_the_duck_stops_here on IG to stay up on the latest podcast
and alumni news and events.

Shoot us an email at Engagement@uoregon.edu

Music credits: "Leaving Home" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under
Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License 
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ • "Funkorama"
Kevin MacLeod  (incompetech.com) Licensed
under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 
License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Today we're joined by Soledad Hurst '88. If her voice sounds familiar it’s probably because she spent years on-air, covering the New York Stock Exchange for Bloomberg Television. She’s also spent time as an attorney and an investment banker, but these days she’s best known for her transformative philanthropic work. As the board member of several charitable nonprofits, she works to help provide opportunities to people who wouldn’t otherwise have them.

She knows first hand how hard it can be to beat the odds and carve out opportunity. Growing up in Springfield, her father was self employed as a driver and mechanic, ultimately owning his own trucking business. Her incredibly strong work ethic allowed her to pay her own way not only through the University of Oregon, but also through Yale Law School. 

In this very special episode, Soledad offers inspiration to all who aspire to create a positive impact and to dream big. Her story is one of perseverance, and dedication to making a difference.



Links:

Jaidyn’s music links on Spotify (she’s on Apple and all the
other platforms)

https://open.spotify.com/artist/2iljxYv3hM7WiVclzrkNJN

https://open.spotify.com/track/7uCGw1PCdZtM7w7RQMuW6l?si=be23ffb9d34c43ad

https://open.spotify.com/track/04xKEl6KhlnaokMXWS3IQJ?si=69e0108279214452

 

Jaidyn's music videos:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=jaidyn+hurst+music



International Nonprofits

FINCA

https://www.meridian.org/



Keep in touch!

Follow the team @uo_the_duck_stops_here on IG to stay up on the latest podcast and alumni news and events.

Shoot us an email at ⁠⁠⁠engagement@uoregon.edu⁠⁠⁠

Music credits: "Leaving Home" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed  under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ • "Funkorama" Kevin MacLeod  (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0  License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

 




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 Today’s show features the Lerner twins: Andrew, a divorce lawyer and Mike, a marriage therapist. And they work across the hall from each other!

Throughout the episode, the brothers discuss the symbiotic nature of their professions, despite the initial humorous contrast. They emphasize their shared goal of helping people through tough times and highlight the advantages of their collaborative approach when working together on cases. They also touch upon the challenges and emotional aspects of their work, acknowledging the importance of having someone who truly understands the weight of their roles.

Andrew shares his experience as a family law attorney, having graduated from the University of Oregon and California Western School of Law. After practicing law for some time, he decided to explore alternative ways of helping the community, leading him to pursue a master's degree in dispute resolution from Pepperdine. He now runs Lerner Conflict Resolution Center, mediating cases and practicing family law.

Mike, on the other hand, pursued a different path. He graduated from the University of Oregon with a Bachelor's degree in Clinical Psychology and went on to obtain a master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Cal Lutheran University. Currently, he is pursuing a doctoral degree in psychology with the California School for Professional Psychology. As a licensed marriage and family therapist, Mike runs his own practice.

They emphasize the positive and inclusive environment at the University of Oregon, where egos are set aside, and connections are formed easily.

Tune in to this thought-provoking podcast episode as Andrew and Mike delve deeper into their roles as conflict resolution professionals and provide valuable insights into their respective fields.







Keep in touch!

Follow the team @uo_the_duck_stops_here on IG to stay up on the latest podcast and alumni news and events. Leave us a voicemail through Anchor that we can play on the air: ⁠⁠https://anchor.fm/theduckstopshere⁠⁠. Shoot us an email at ⁠⁠engagement@uoregon.edu⁠⁠

Music credits: "Leaving Home" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed  under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ • "Funkorama" Kevin MacLeod  (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0  License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

 


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Today’s guest is Gurdeep Singh Pall (’89, MS Computer and Information Science), Corporate Vice President for Business AI at Microsoft. He is an "intrepreneur," a product strategist, and an enthusiastic technologist.

Having spent more than three decades at Microsoft, Gurdeep is now focusing on creating scalable and ethical Autonomous Systems. His tenure at Microsoft began during the advent of the internet, and he played a key role in developing critical technologies such as TCP/IP, VPN, and cloud-based communications that underpin today's digital economy.

When he arrived in Eugene in the late 1980s, Gurdeep secured a teaching assistantship to support his graduate studies at the University of Oregon. It's been rumored that he spent long hours in the computer lab, even sleeping there with a sleeping bag to finish his thesis. He joined Microsoft in January 1990.

He’s being interviewed by Dr. Ramón Alvarado, a Philosophy faculty member at UO and a key contributor to the Presidential Initiative in Data Science, which led to the creation of the UO School of Computer and Data Sciences. His areas of expertise include Data Ethics, AI Ethics, Epistemology of Computer Simulations, and Philosophy of Computation. Dr. Alvarado designed and teaches the first Philosophy course required by another major on campus, demonstrating the importance of philosophical thinking in a rapidly changing technological society. In 2023, he was awarded the Tykeson Teaching Award.

Dr. Alvarado’s publications on philosophical issues related to computational methods and data science can be seen here https://ramonalvarado.net/



Keep in touch!

Follow the team @uo_the_duck_stops_here on IG to stay up on the latest podcast and alumni news and events. Leave us a voicemail through Anchor that we can play on the air: ⁠https://anchor.fm/theduckstopshere⁠. Shoot us an email at ⁠engagement@uoregon.edu⁠

Music credits: "Leaving Home" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed  under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ • "Funkorama" Kevin MacLeod  (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0  License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/


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Mark Twain once said, “Too much of anything is bad, but too much good whiskey is barely enough.” Today’s guest knows a little something about whiskey. Alex Chasko is the Master Distiller and Blender and was employee number one at Teeling Whiskey, which was built in 2012 and was the first new distillery in Dublin for over 125 years. However, Alex didn't start there. His passion for brewing can be seen as early as sophomore year when he started making beer with at-home brew kits and spent his summers at Bridgeport Brewing Company. Through working at Bridgeport, Alex learned how biology and chemistry were applied to the elements of brewing. After graduating from the University of Oregon, Alex worked at Pyramid Brewing Company in Seattle until he realized he wanted to get into whiskey and distilling. When it comes to whiskey, Edinburgh, Scotland, is the only place to go. So, Alex saved up his pennies, sold his truck, and enrolled in Heriot-Watt University in their Masters of Brewing and Distilling program, where he felt like he belonged. After a brief stint in Singapore to open a brew pub and rediscover where he was born, Alex moved back to Ireland in 2008 to bring new ideas to whiskey.

For 20 years, Teeling had struggled to compete against large distilleries such as Jameson but thanks to Alex's dedication to bringing new and innovative flavors to whiskey, Teeling is now the World's Most Awarded Irish Whiskey. Teeling continues to raise the bar and boasts over 200 International Whiskey Awards.

Alex Chasko is being interviewed by Mike Aronson, Associate Professor of Cinema Studies

To connect with Alex, visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-chasko-497a6823/

Teeling Whiskey: ​​https://www.teelingwhiskey.com/us/en/

Keep in touch!

Follow the team @uo_the_duck_stops_here on IG to stay up on the latest podcast and alumni news and events. Leave us a voicemail through Anchor that we can play on the air: https://anchor.fm/theduckstopshere. Shoot us an email at engagement@uoregon.edu

Music credits: "Leaving Home" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed  under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ • "Funkorama" Kevin MacLeod  (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0  License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Producer credits: Jaleh Wooten

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Describing himself as a “serial entrepreneur and investor” Eugene local Chad Barczak got his start in business at the age of 14 and never looked back, that is, until he decided it was time to take an “adult gap year” in his early 50s. Along the way he founded a massively successful snowboard company, earned a BS (’98) and MBA (’99) from the UO Lundquist School of Business as a non-traditional student, and founded IDX – a leading national provider of real estate search applications. Chad served as CEO of this Eugene-based company for 18 years, managing over $1 trillion worth of active listings data from over 600 individual Multiple Listing Services (MLS) before a successful exit during the pandemic. Though upfront about some detours along the way – millions of dollars in pre-paid orders lost because of a legal mistake, flunking out of the UO (before going all in with his studies and earning straight As), and a questionable use of financial aid – to hear Chad tell it, his greatest failures have actually been his greatest successes.

When he’s not snowboarding down a Chilean mountain or on the hunt for new entrepreneurs to mentor, Chad has a soft spot for the nostalgic video games of his youth: you might also know him as the co-founder and lead investor of Eugene’s immensely popular Level Up Arcade.

Chad Barczak is being interviewed on the podcast by Lisa Calevi, Associate Director for Engagement.

To connect with Chad, visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barczak/

Keep in touch!

Follow the team @uo_the_duck_stops_here on IG to stay up on the latest podcast and alumni news and events. Leave us a voicemail through Anchor that we can play on the air: https://anchor.fm/theduckstopshere. Shoot us an email at engagement@uoregon.edu


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