San Francisco: Alumni Networking

Today was our busiest day yet and it was certainly one of the best. We started the day off visiting Grant Thornton LLP, which was an incredible experience. We toured the office with the beautiful views of the Bay Bridge and city skyline, and learned a lot about the company’s audit, advisory, and tax services from our alumni representative Mike Barry, a Senior Manager at the firm. we were able to hear from more Grant Thornton employees about different business lines that the firm offers and truly got an in-depth presentation about the work that they do. It was inspiring to hear from everyone and we all enjoyed a lovely lunch from Mendocino Farms, I got the Impossible Taco Salad!

After the site visit, we returned to our hotel and had a little bit of a break, followed by a meeting with Genesis Emery-Foley, who is the President and CMO of Blueprint Haus Agency, a digital marketing firm that she founded. Hearing Genesis' experiences of how her time at Loyola shaped her into the career she has today was truly eye-opening and insightful. Genesis was kind enough to answer many of the questions that we had regarding entrepreneurship, obstacles, experiences, and ways to improve and put ourselves out there, which was really special. Her passion and realness about the marketing industry and future predictions truly helped me understand the world of business and marketing so much better.

Lastly, we ended the night with the Alumni Reception, which was an extremely memorable experience! I met with many Quinlan alumni who now live in the San Francisco area and I learned a lot about their current roles and how they got to that point because of their education at Loyola. I was extremely grateful to have the opportunity to build connections with many professionals from various industries and learn about their life stories as well as how Quinlan was the starting point of it all. During the night, we enjoyed amazing snacks such as garlic bread, tomato and mozzarella skewers, pizza, fries, and drinks. We even had tiramisu and sorbet for dessert, which were incredible! I loved the sense of community that was flourishing in the room, as everybody had the same common trait of attending Loyola at one point in time. There was endless laughter, storytelling, learning, and connecting with individuals from diverse backgrounds and industries, and I loved at all. We even got to snag some Loyola swag at the end of the night! I am so grateful for today, and I can’t wait for the upcoming site visits and more opportunities to meet with and learn from more professionals!