Year in Review 2024 - Faces of Leeds

Laura Vogel (Mktg,Fin’20)

Jane Majkiewicz — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 22:08:03 +0000

Laura Vogel (Mktg,Fin’20) Jane Majkiewicz Fri, 11/22/2024 - 15:08

Anna Sheffer

Today, Laura Vogel (Mktg,Fin’20) has earned nationwide recognition for her collection of Italian leather handbags, Vogelle. SUCCESS Magazine recently named her No. 1 on its list of top 10 aspirational entrepreneurs, and she has been featured in other publications including “5280.” To get to where she is now, Vogel had to adapt to the unexpected—including the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unprecedented times

In 2020, Vogel was in her last semester at Leeds and preparing to launch Vogelle. She traveled to Milan that January to pick up the first products, then organized a trunk show at her sorority house to sell the chic leather shoulder bags.

But in March, the world stopped.

"Honestly, thank God I [launched] it when I did because if I hadn’t launched before COVID, I don’t know if I would have made the investment,” Vogel said.

She quickly pivoted her marketing plan away from on-the-ground retail. In-person classes were canceled, and her part-time job at Nordstrom was on pause, so she threw her energy into messaging influencers about Vogelle, most of whom did not respond.

Then she reached out to Caelynn Bell (née Miller-Keyes), a contestant on Season 23 of “The Bachelor.”

"She had about 1.3 million followers, and she responded right away,” Vogel remembered. “It was so crazy. I don’t know how she saw my message, but she responded and said, ‘This is so amazing. This is such a cool story. I would love the black bag.’”

The bag, one of Vogelle’s first designs, became Miller-Keyes' go-to. The influencer recommended it to her followers in a YouTube video, and Vogelle’s sales immediately started to pick up.

“Not only did her followers start buying it, but in my community, it legitimized it for people that this [bag] was a good product, and she was wearing it,” Vogel said. “It wasn’t just this thing I was doing.”

Thank God I [launched] it when I did because if I hadn’t launched before COVID, I don’t know if I would have made the investment.

Laura Vogel, Founder and Designer of Vogelle

Humble beginnings

Selling handbags was not Vogel’s first foray into the fashion world. It all started at a Walgreens in Highlands Ranch.

The then-13-year-old was shopping for a birthday card when a modeling agent approached her. This chance encounter led Vogel to work on fashion shoots through high school, even graduating a semester early to spend a few months modeling in Mexico City.

Modeling allowed Vogel to be a “fly on the wall” during high-level business meetings, which sparked her interest in entrepreneurship.

“I was listening to all this language and jargon and strategy,” she said. “Being at fashion shows and photo shoots and seeing how different people from around the world weren't in nine-to-fives but were freelancers running their own businesses or fashion designers exposed me to a lot of different ways of working.”

The skills to succeed

At first, Vogel didn’t think her modeling experience would translate to a resume. But when she came to Leeds, a career advisor encouraged her to embrace the self-promotion, branding and interviewing skills she had developed as a model.

“It was really validating to have a Leeds career advisor tell me that [modeling] was more than just taking pictures,” she said.

Vogel credits her Leeds education—especially the finance classes—with giving her the tools necessary to start her own business. Her time at Leeds gave her important connections, too. Through the Leeds Professional Mentorship Program, she met Danielle Reagin, a buyer for Nordstrom who recommended that she work at the department store.

“I think that helped me see how certain brands appeal to every customer and that less really is more,” she said. “That was a big eye-opening experience for me.”

Made in Italy

A First-Year Global Experience trip to Milan changed the trajectory of Vogel’s career. It was Vogel’s first time in Europe, and the class focused on “made in Italy” brands. Although she “wasn’t obsessed” with handbags beforehand, she took note of the shoulder bags Milanese women wore—which later inspired Vogelle’s signature design.

“When you travel through Italy, there's a leather goods store on every block,” she said. “I found myself going in all the stores and touching everything and asking questions and looking at what the other women were wearing.”

In Vogel’s junior year, she returned to Milan for a semester abroad at Bocconi University and met a leather goods manufacturer. Now all she needed was a product.

Because Vogel had never designed a handbag before, she dissected cheap bags to draw the first Vogelle prototype. From the UPS on The Hill in Boulder, she sent her Italian manufacturer her first sketch, along with some scraps of the cut-up bags.

After revising her initial prototype, Vogel was at a crossroads: Should she wipe out her $4,000 savings to produce an order of Vogelle bags? She showed her prototype to Associate Teaching Professor Bob Donchez and asked for his advice.

“Bob said, ‘Well, you won't know if you don't try, and honestly, that's not money that's gonna ruin your life,’” she remembered. “‘You know that amount, even though it feels like it, it's not going to sink all your ships.’”

She placed the order, and Vogelle became a reality.

Looking ahead

In the future, Vogel hopes to expand Vogelle and possibly venture into other leather products. For now, she’s excited to keep growing her brand.

“It has this adventure piece to it, and this travel curiosity piece to it because for me everything that I have done in my life to grow has come from traveling solo, indulging in cultures and meeting the locals,” she said.

“I really want it to have this travel piece to it but still always remain high-quality made in Italy.”

The pandemic could have thwarted Laura Vogel’s journey to launching her handbag company, Vogelle. But thanks to a forge-ahead attitude and ability to pivot, her success is in the bag.

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Tony Kong

Jane Majkiewicz — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 15:00:00 +0000

Tony Kong Jane Majkiewicz Fri, 08/02/2024 - 09:00

Anna Sheffer , MFA’25

Associate Professor, Organizational Leadership and Information Analytics

From Shanghai to St. Louis to CU Boulder, Tony Kong, associate professor of Organizational Leadership and Information Analytics, has witnessed firsthand how vast the world is. As a result, he strives to unite people across differences.

“My passion is really bringing people together,” he said. “Then, hopefully, we can promote more positive behaviors for the greater good.”

Growing up in Shanghai, a city with a population of more than 26 million, Kong was surrounded by people. On top of that, his experience of singing in theaters in China and overseas in his teens exposed him to a diverse array of cultures.

“I just realized people are different and how people see things is different,” he said. “There was a lot of global awareness early on. The diverse experiences helped me appreciate human diversity more and more over time.”

A passion for people

Kong currently researches leadership and social psychology, but during his undergraduate years, he studied management science. An internship with Fortune Magazine in New York City changed his career trajectory, being the turning point of his life. Interviewing executives, managers, politicians and academics and working on the ranking of the "Most Powerful Women in the World" for the magazine made him realize that people are more complex and fascinating than he initially thought..

“In order to have an exceptional company, I think really it’s about people,” he said. “It’s about how to motivate and inspire people, how to support and empower people, and how to help people be more mindful of others’ presence and interests. So that gets me really excited about leadership and psychology.”

Kong went on to study Organizational Behavior during his PhD program at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis. Later, he worked in Viriginia, Texas and Florida. He was attracted to CU and to Leeds because he loves the school’s values and caring atmosphere, which make him want to do more for the school. Although business schools are often stereotyped as cold and profit-driven, he found the opposite to be true at Leeds.

“I do like that human touch portion of our culture because it makes people feel they want to contribute more to the place,” he said. “They feel they're valued as a unique entity rather than just another person they can replace anytime. This is something I truly believe in myself. That's why I do a lot of research on positive psychology of people and organizations.”

“My passion is really bringing people together. Then, hopefully, we can promote more positive behaviors for the greater good.”

Tony Kong, Associate Professor, Organizational Leadership and Information Analytics

Bridging divides

Kong brings his passion for uniting people to his teaching. As a Daniels Fund Faculty Fellow, he hosts workshops in which international students share their experiences while enjoying Chinese food to promote cross-cultural understanding. In the classroom, he encourages students to share their perspective even when others disagree. To Kong, the classroom is a place to be exposed to new ideas and take risks without the repercussions that might come elsewhere.

“It’s a community issue,” he said. “We need to help each other to see the blind spots of our understanding and the invalid assumptions we make about people, about places, about events, and also just give a little bit of room for people's experimentation and making mistakes.”

In the classroom, Kong appreciates the ability to receive instant feedback from students. His background as a singer has helped him overcome his anxiety in the classroom.

“I feel like it really helped me with my teaching. I used to perform in front of thousands of people in a theater. Now I don't feel afraid in front of students; rather, I enjoy teaching, and knowing that my teaching has a lasting impression on students makes me smile,” he said.

Kong still finds ways to apply his former singing career to his current life. He likes to unwind by singing karaoke and is an avid fan of Broadway musicals.

“Thanks to the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, which brings Broadway shows to me! I don’t need to go to New York for the shows,” he said.

Whether in research, the classroom or his personal life, Kong’s respect for differing backgrounds and opinions is evident.

“My view is that we are all humans,” he said. “We are all flawed and feel insecure and vulnerable at times, but that makes us human and feel alive. Sure, we all think differently and value different things, but we need each other to make a better society. It’s human diversity that makes us resilient and interesting. It’s important for us to respect each other, lift each other up, leverage our strengths to address challenges, and unite for a better future.”

Singing in theaters and traveling internationally have helped Tony Kong embrace human complexity—whether as a teacher, a leader or a researcher.

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Harris Cunningham (Fin’24)

Jane Majkiewicz — Fri, 29 Mar 2024 03:00:00 +0000

Harris Cunningham (Fin’24) Jane Majkiewicz Thu, 03/28/2024 - 21:00

Anna Bedell (Mktg’25)

Founder, Black Swift Angel Group

A self-starter, Harris Cunningham (Fin’24) didn’t wait for opportunities to fall into his lap; rather, he created them himself.

Cunningham enrolled at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs (UCCS) with plans to become a physical therapist, inspired by his grandparents in the same career. But after a semester, he realized it wasn’t for him.

“I wanted to find a new way to apply the people skills that I had and my interest in numbers as well,” he said. “Finance seemed like a better way to do that.”

After transferring to Leeds, he immediately got involved with the Deming Center for Entrepreneurship. The Deming Center was looking for students interested in starting a venture capital club, and once he found out about this, he was all in. He spent his next class drafting a list of ideas for the club. Around the same time, he met a like-minded student, Jesus Soto, and together they co-founded the Boulder Venture Club.

“It's about investing in people,” Cunningham said. “Business is more than just the financial side of things; it’s getting creative with ideas and being able to fund the ideas that are ultimately going to change the world.”

The Boulder Venture Club recently partnered with Kickstart Fund, a venture fund out of Utah, to launch ‘14 Founders,’ a student-run venture fund with a $2 million allocation. The club now has over 200 members, and Cunningham is confident it will eventually be the biggest club on campus.

“I think it was the vision that sold people to join the club,” he said. “There are a lot of people like myself and Jesus who are looking for a place for people who think differently.”

He believes that having mentors has been a significant factor in his success. His mentors include the faculty at Leeds, David Forsberg of Ascent Energy Ventures, and Michael Leeds, whose family made a naming gift to the business school in 2001. Leeds came to speak to the Boulder Venture Club in April 2023.

“Mike Leeds has been super supportive of the club, but he has also given me a lot of life advice,” he said. “He’s helped me learn to aspire to be someone who isn’t a grindstone at the office,” he said.

He says he owes his success and mindset to Soto, Ethan Düster and Cat Pham, his fellow club executives and venture fund partners. Many other club members, especially those on the club's undergraduate Venture Capital Investment Competition team, have also been an inspiration.

“You deserve more than you have because you can become more than you are.”

Harris Cunningham (Fin’24)

Cunningham’s entrepreneurial drive hasn’t stopped with the club. He recently founded Black Swift Angel Group, a company that helps startups secure capital and investors.

He says being a self-starter doesn’t come without its challenges—there’s a constant balance between school, work, clubs and simply making sure he’s eating enough. After fainting in front of a few of his mentors, he had to reevaluate his work-life balance and started taking care of his health. He still believes the sacrifices are worth chasing his passions.

“You deserve more than you have because you can become more than you are,” he said. “I'm trying to do something really cool. Sometimes you have to sacrifice things.”

After graduation, Cunningham plans to work within the venture capital space while traveling around the world—he dreams of visiting Australia and France.

As for the Boulder Venture Club, he believes it’s being left in good hands with new leaders.

“There are a lot of bright ideas and directions the club could go,” he said. “They’ll keep integrating with other CU programs, so it will keep growing. Students will know it's the best club on campus in no time.”

Harris Cunningham believes business means being creative and funding ideas that are ultimately going to change the world.

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Year in Review 2024 - Faces of Leeds

Laura Vogel (Mktg,Fin’20)

Unprecedented times

Humble beginnings

The skills to succeed

Made in Italy

Looking ahead

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Tony Kong

Associate Professor, Organizational Leadership and Information Analytics

A passion for people

Bridging divides

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Harris Cunningham (Fin’24)

Founder, Black Swift Angel Group

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