UCLA Anderson School of Management Blog

Eunice Cho ('14) Had Nothing to Wear -- So She Created AELLA

After graduating from Yale with a degree in fine arts, Orange County-raised Eunice Cho (FEMBA ’14) headed for New York City and wound up working for a high-end lingerie company. There she took on a number of creative roles while whetting her appetite for the business side of the fashion industry. She decided to go to b-school.

That epiphany led to a realization: She had nothing to wear.

While interviewing for schools, Cho says it became apparent that the casual and comfortable clothes she wore to work in the anything-goes environment of fashion didn’t meet the expectations of the buttoned-up business world. In classic entrepreneur fashion, when faced with a problem, Cho decided to find a solution.

That solution is AELLA. 

AELLA is an online retailer offering women a full line of pants, blazers, and t-shirts. Launched in the fall of 2014, AELLA is an L.A.-based company with an office in downtown’s fashion district and a warehouse in South Gate. The company has now made its foray into brick-and-mortar sales with a pop-up at Bloomingdale’s flagship store in New York City. We’d tell you more, but it’s probably better if Eunice, whose titles include “founder and creative director,” fills us in on the details.

Eunice Cho: I studied fine arts as an undergrad and worked in fashion in New York afterward, and I never had to dress up for work; I was always in jeans and leggings, just whatever I wanted to wear. Once I started interviewing for business school, I had to start looking for suits.

And that’s when I realized that suits were so expensive and they were very conservative and sort of devoid of personality. Wherever you go, it’s sort of a cookie-cutter, wool-suit look, and for me that was really frustrating because I do believe that clothing has a huge impact on your confidence and how you present yourself — and showing up for an interview in a wool suit is not necessarily confidence inspiring.

UCLA Conference Examines Issues of U.S.-China Economic Relations

By Sam Lin (’16)

I still vividly remember my first time at the Wilbur K. Woo Greater China Business Conference. I was a eyes-wide-open pre-MBA, eager to learn about all the exciting opportunities I could take on with my new skills. As a bilingual immigrant who’s only work experience was in the U.S., I had always dreamed of spearheading cross-border business relationships, where my dual-cultural experience could be best utilized to make a difference.

I was instantly impressed by the caliber of the speakers. I witnessed PwC’s head of China Business and an Anderson Forecast economist debate the possibility of a “hard landing” for the Chinese economy. I listened to executives from American and Chinese corporations voicing their optimism and concerns about cross-border collaborations. There was also a panel of successful immigrant tycoons talking about giving back to the Asian-American community.

The conference has only gotten better each year.

In keeping with Anderson’s mantra of “Think in the Next”, the Woo conference has evolved over the years to reflect China’s progression from a recipient of Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), to the most revered deep-pocketed investor in the world. The conference topics have shifted from “What can I sell or make in China?” to “What are the implication of Chinese wealth to my home market?”

Enough with nostalgia, let’s move on to this year’s program…

The Coming Transformation of South L.A. and Inglewood

By Tim Kawahara, Executive Director, UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate

At long the last, the NFL is back in Los Angeles. A new $1.86 billion, 80,000-seat stadium and 6,000-seat performance venue is currently under construction in the City of Inglewood. The stadium will serve as home to the Rams, and possibly a second NFL team in the near future. These are the stories grabbing the headlines, but the NFL’s return to Los Angeles is just part of a larger economic revitalization effort underway in Inglewood.

The stadium is part of the City of Champions Revitalization Project, a massive 298-acre mixed-used real estate development which includes retail, office, residential, hotel, and park space. The development is being built on the former site of the Hollywood Racetrack and Casino, the largest parcel of undeveloped land in the greater Los Angeles area. The development is a joint venture of San Francisco-based Stockbridge Capital and Missouri-based The Kroenke Group under the entity Hollywood Park Land Company.

Projects of this magnitude have the potential to be economic catalysts for communities in which they rise. And, Inglewood, a city of 110,000 residents, is in desperate need of revitalization. It suffered through the 1992 riots, the recession of the late 80’s, and the Great Recession. With a deficit of $18 million, the city was on the brink of bankruptcy just months ago, and the school district was taken over by the state for financial and performance issues. In popular culture, Inglewood has a long-held reputation as a rundown crime-ridden city.

The Riordan Programs Celebrates Heroes Among Us at Annual Gala

By Cheechee Lin

“Our heroes (and sheroes) are among us tonight,” beamed Ramsey Jay Jr., Riordan Fellow (’02) and 2015 recipient of the Riordan Program’s Excellence in Civil Engagement and Leadership Award. "Heroes are the ones who embody being bold and are able to achieve something excellent despite the obstacles. They pioneer ground that has yet to be pioneered, and they exemplify characteristics we are proud of.” 

The annual Riordan Gala, themed “Heroes Among Us,” celebrated the program’s 29th anniversary of empowering disadvantaged youth to realize their full potential in both education and business. At the Montage Beverly Hills, a dinner reception brought together the Riordan family that has transformed the lives of many. The Riordan Programs develops tomorrow’s leaders through mentorship, education workshops, and community service. 

“The Riordan Program is an amazing legacy. It is a privilege to be here tonight, as celebrating Riordan is synonymous to celebrating the best of Anderson,” Dean Judy Olian said.  "The educational divide is apparent in our country. Of those in the top tier income bracket, 75 percent graduate (from college). Of the bottom tier? Only 8 percent. Our education system is income driven— and it’s hard to dream about something that you’re not familiar with.  That is why I am so proud of the Riordan programs.” 

AMR team develops strategy for Zambian government to export commodities to U.S. duty-free

Luiza, May, Michael and Robert (Honorary Consul for Zambia in California) meeting with the Zambia Development Agency.

By Michael Joseph Kellagher ('16), Li-Yu Kuo ('16), Jiamei Lim ('16), Kelly Lynn Topp ('16), Luiza Martins Weaver ('16) 

A team from UCLA Anderson is working with the Republic of Zambia to develop a national strategy to take advantage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). AGOA is a U.S. trade act that allows eligible Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries to export a list of products, duty-free, into the U.S. For the scope of the Applied Management Research (AMR) project, the team developed a commercial viability assessment framework to help the Zambian government prioritize AGOA-eligible products, demonstrate the framework’s application on some commodities, including peanuts, cassava, copper and gemstones, and create educational literature directed at Zambian businesses and potential U.S. customers for distribution.

Several Zambian government agencies are key stakeholders for the project, and the team traveled to Lusaka in December to collaborate with the agencies and develop actionable recommendations. The discussions were instrumental in establishing relationships and helping the team understand the strategic role that each agency would play in an AGOA governance committee. To gain private sector perspective as well, the team traveled to Zambia to meet with representatives of various organizations, including financial institutions and industry associations, and even visited the Kagem emerald mine to obtain a better sense of the Zambian business environment. From the interactions and observations, the team was able to better assess the export viability of the products in scope and share its findings with the Zambian government.

UCLA Anderson's Health Care Institute: Creating Impact In the Field

By Bhavna Sivanand ('14)

While Anderson hosts Social Innovation Week on campus this week, showcasing the power of business to improve social outcomes and create positive change, I can’t help but reflect on the various organizations I interacted with last week that have health outcome improvement at the forefront of their organizational mission and whose staff work tirelessly to create impact. Last week I had the privilege of attending the first of a series of trainings hosted by UCLA Anderson’s Health Care Institute (HCI) in Albuquerque, New Mexico supported by a five-year federal grant.

In the room sat more than 100 participants representing 27 Head Start and Early Head start agencies, out of a total of 150 agencies that applied to go through the five-year cohort training. The training they received last week was to set them up for success in delivering their own health literacy trainings for low-income families of Head Start. They heard lectures and engaged in workshops on various topics, including: strategic planning, marketing, getting stakeholder buy-in, and creating staff and parent motivation and engagement. They also sat through a mock parent training they are meant to emulate in their communities when they return home.

Architects of Change Returns to UCLA Anderson Featuring Music Mogul Russell Simmons

By Cheechee Lin

 

“I am a conscious idealist that works for change starting from myself."

Hip hop mogul and businessman Russell Simmons joined journalist Maria Shriver for her Architects of Change series at UCLA Anderson.

Simmons’ best-selling book, The Happy Vegan, is widely-acclaimed as an accessible and inspiring guide for readers looking to move towards a plant-based diet and a happy, purposeful life. Simmons rose to fame by co-founding Def Jam Recordings, quickly propelling him to the top of the hip hop industry. Yet the man who sat down for an intimate chat with Anderson students in Korn Hall spoke of a simple life.

“Happiness comes from inside,” Simmons said. “Operating from a place of needing nothing— that’s happiness. No matter how rich you are, you can only sit your a-- in one seat at a time. The goal of life? To be comfortable in that one seat. Only when you are awakened with clarity can you be present and focus on the job. We are ever evolving to be more present, and more awake.”

Simmons describes his thought leadership through his influence on his fans. “As a [celebrity], you can say sh-- and it travels. You can affect change in many ways, and your efforts in every area become more fine tuned as you become awakened,” he said.

“You’re a different type of leader when you envision a different type of success. It’s empowering to take on philanthropic endeavors.” Simmons is an outspoken voice promoting a plant-based lifestyle. “The abuse of animals is destroying our planet at a rate we don’t know how fast— and we’re on a trajectory we don’t know how to stop. The water used to produce one hamburger is the equivalent of 70 showers. By changing your diet, you are not only helping yourself, but helping the planet. You’re in LA, and eating vegan has never been easier!” 

Alumna Bhavna Sivanand on UCLA Anderson's Social Innovation Programs

Bhavna Sivanand (’14) is the director of social innovation initiatives at the Price Center. With a background in public health, Bhavna is now merging her passion for making impact on a large scale with her business degree from Anderson. She has spoken about her passions in public health and the impact of projects she’s contributed to in various conferences, including TEDx Anderson. For more information on social impact at UCLA Anderson, visit the new website.   

Tell us about your background and what inspires you about social innovation? 

My background prior to business school was in public health. Coming out of undergrad, I was a biology and psychology double major, but instead of going the Medical route I started working locally and globally in public health. I was interested in having a population and policy level impact, and spent a lot of time figuring out how to distribute the burden of improving health across multiple sectors, including public, non-profit/non-governmental and private.

My work on various public-private partnerships led me to see the type of impact the corporate sector has on people and I started to explore how this impact could be used to improve social outcomes. I came to Anderson to learn how social innovation could benefit businesses, and so working at Anderson as the social innovation director seemed like a natural joining of my previous experience with my current interests.

I chose LA because there’s a lot of innovation happening in California. I wanted to merge my passion in global health with business principles. I was inspired by the rigor of the curriculum here at Anderson, and the ability to collaborate with like-minded professionals to create a better world to live in. 

How would you describe your responsibilities as director of social innovation initiatives? 

I manage social innovation programs for the Price Center at Anderson. What that means is essentially any program that enables the business world to create a social impact. Social innovation refers to any innovation (process, product, or program) that addresses and attempts to solve the most complex problems of our society in an effort to create positive social, environmental and economic change. You’ve probably heard of things like triple bottom lines, benefit corporations, mission-driven businesses, one-for-one, corporate citizenship, impact investing, social enterprises – these are all part of the solution. There’s a trend towards shifting corporations to think about more than just an economic impact, and my role is to promote thought leadership, partnerships and experiential opportunities for students at Anderson.

I’d like to put Anderson at the forefront of the discussion. We have the opportunity to shape the future generation of leaders, and stay ahead of the curve in the shifting role of business.

What are some of your goals to make an impact at Anderson?

I believe Anderson can help expose students to the ideologies of other graduate programs here. This helps break down silos. Sharing mindsets across disciplines makes it easier to work across different sectors!  The more we learn to think in different ways, the more we can innovate and solve crucial problems.

Will Housing People Solve the Health Care Crisis?

Mitchell H. Katz, director, Los Angeles County Health Agency

Addressing the complex housing and long-term health care needs of our rapidly growing senior population — particularly those who are homeless now — presents daunting challenges. How will we pay for it? What are the political implications? How do we incorporate vital community-based services?

In March, UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate and Mercy Housing followed up on the success of their inaugural forum on affordable senior housing and long-term care delivery — held last February under the theme “preparing for the senior tsunami” — by presenting a timely forum titled Housing as Health Care. Experts explored how our current health and housing systems are preventing or limiting us from arriving at affordable solutions to the complicated problems of caring for seniors.

UCLA Anderson FEMBA Sheeva Sairafi on Social Impact and Enterprise

Through triumphs and uncertainty, bootstrapping a startup and launching a formal first round of funding, entrepreneur and Wolfen Spirit Award winner Sheeva Sairafi (FEMBA ’15) finds that none of it feels like work if she makes her passion a priority. UCLA Anderson’s Entrepreneur Association spoke with Sairafi about her socially conscious home décor company, Local + Lejos.

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The EA’s CREATE Conference takes place on April 29, 2016.

Social Innovation Week returns to UCLA Anderson April 18–21 under the theme Ignite Impact.

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Q: Tell us about your business and the inspiration behind it.

Local + Lejos creates contemporary product in collaboration with artisan women abroad. Traditional fair-trade products do not take changing market trends into consideration, and we provide our artisans with the tools they need to create products for a younger consumer. I had been working for the TJX Companies for seven years in merchandising and buying, and was seeing shifts in consumer demand for products with a social impact. After spending time abroad in countries like Peru and Argentina, I knew there was product out there to fill that demand, but it needed an update to fit modern taste. And thus, Local + Lejos was born.

Q: How has the Silicon Beach startup community in L.A. impacted your business?

Silicon Beach has impacted our business mainly because of the number of founders/advisors/collaboration opportunities that exist in such a small radius. I’ve become close with a few e-commerce founders that are further along in their businesses, and it’s been extremely helpful to hear their insight on what has worked for them, and their advice on the most important places to spend (and not spend) precious capital. At the end, you still need to make the decision about what is right for your business on your own, but it is helpful to have some guidance.

Q: How did you receive funding?

I haven’t! We bootstrapped our first year and are raising our first round now.