Meet the Career Team

For over 20 years John marketed such products as the American Express Card, Kellogg Cereal and Vlasic Pickles, as well as owning his own marketing strategy and planning firm. In 2003, John changed his career direction and chose to help MBAs market themselves. His expertise is assisting MBAs in connecting their work experiences with their business school education in order to achieve their post-MBA career goals. John earned his BBA in marketing from the University of Iowa and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Lisa is the founder/CEO of Capital Coaching, LLC.  She established her coaching practice to support mid-career business and IT professionals to manage their careers and help them apply lessons she learned from developing her staff members at Fidelity as well as from her own multiple internal IT and managerial promotions.

Lisa has over twenty-five years of technology experience in the chemicals, state government, supply chain management, and financial services sectors.  She launched her career transition from chemical engineering to IT as an entrepreneur and web developer then expanded into corporate roles of analysis, project management, before moving into a leadership position as development manager and then as director of quality assurance engineering at Fidelity Investments. Strong relationships have been a hallmark of Lisa’s career – whether it be in a service or sales capacity working with clients or as a manager and leader of onshore and offshore teams across the US, China, India and Ireland.  In her corporate career, she was a mentor, advocate and coach for her many team members.  As a volunteer career coach at Dress For Success and as a private practice executive coach, Lisa has provided the insight, advice and inspiration that has helped her clients to achieve their goals.

Lisa received her MBA in 2012 from North Carolina State University – Jenkins Graduate School of Management with a concentration in Finance & Marketing. She received her BS in Chemical Engineering from North Carolina State University. Lisa has also completed training as an Authentic Leadership Coach at Raleigh Coaching Academy.

Ed has more than twenty-five years of experience within the talent acquisition, staffing, recruiting, and human resources environment with additional experience in project management, business management and recruiting management. Much of Ed’s career has been working with clients and candidates matching the two together to help clients grow their businesses and to help candidates grow their careers. Ed has been the co-founder and the founder of four entrepreneurial companies in his career and has worked in the big business corporate environment as well as in the small business environment. His experience includes supporting talent acquisition programs in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, India, and China.

​Ed received his MBA in 2010 from North Carolina State University – Jenkins Graduate School of Management with a concentration in Services Management & Consulting. He received his BS in Business Administration from North Carolina Wesleyan College and he attended Appalachian State University and participated in the Industrial Technology program. Ed is a certified Professional in Human Resources and he is a certified Project Management Professional.

Kira joins the Jenkins MBA Career Team from sunny southern California after nearly six years at the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business. Most recently, Kira served as the Associate Director and Career Strategist supporting students across four MS programs in Marketing, Global Supply Chain, Business Analytics and Finance, as well as MBA students. She initially joined Marshall’s Undergraduate Career Services team in 2016 where she managed an international internship program and served as the employer relations contact for companies in the entertainment, retail, fashion, hospitality, and travel industries. Kira is known as an inclusive and compassionate thought partner, coaching students in crafting their own individualized career search strategies.

Prior to her time at USC Marshall, Kira worked in the entertainment industry in LA for 12+ years. As a campus recruiter with the Walt Disney Studios, she focused on securing MBA, undergraduate and JD talent for the marketing, distribution, sales, strategic planning, legal and production divisions of the studio, including Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) in San Francisco. Other industry roles have spanned feature animation production (DreamWorks Animation), HR, TV and commercial casting, and corporate media production.

Kira holds a BA in Theatre and TV Production from Pepperdine University and will complete her Executive Master of Leadership (EML) at the Price School of Public Policy at USC in May, 2022. She is a Student Affiliate Member of the International Ombudsman Association.

In her spare time, Kira enjoys perfecting shots of delicious foods on Instagram (@cleverfoodie), attending live theatre shows, and working on creative writing projects. She loves Tillamook caramel pecan ice cream, pancakes, and fluffy puppies.