Owl Have You Know

Owl Have You Know is Rice Business’ podcast created to share the experiences of alumni, faculty, students and other members of our business community – real stories of belonging, failing, rebounding and, ultimately, succeeding. During meaningful conversations, we dive deep into how each guest has built success through troubles and triumphs before, during and after they set foot in McNair Hall. The Owl Have You Know Podcast is a production of the business school at Rice University (Rice Business) and is produced by University FM.

Owl Have You Know is a business podcast hosted by Unknown Host, with 0 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

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  Episode #72

  Don’t Take a Job Just Because It’s Available feat. Henry Richardson ’09

  Aug 5, 202642 minS4

  Henry Richardson, a former national champion diver, has built a career centered around health, wellbeing, and community. After earning his MBA at Rice Business, Henry founded the fitness studio chain, DEFINE body & mind, a nod to a professor’s words about defining your role in this world. Henry’s work with DEFINE has since evolved into Define Living, apartment communities with health and wellbeing at their core. In this episode of Owl Have You Know, hosted by Brian Jackson ‘21, Henry shares his journey from all-star athlete to entrepreneur, how he’s creating environments that shape behavior and improve wellbeing, and why he believes business, at its best, is a spiritual practice. Episode Guide: 00:00 Meet Henry Richardson 00:55 Life in Tepoztlán 02:40 From Diving to Teaching 05:33 Yoga Turning Point 09:19 Choosing Rice MBA 10:39 The Moment That Sparked DEFINE 14:29 Environment Shapes Behavior 16:34 Define Living Community Model 22:10 Leadership in Real Estate 25:14 Positive Psychology Proof 27:26 Feronia Retreat Vision 31:56 Business As A Spiritual Practice 35:46 Advice for Disconnection 38:10 Defining His Role Today The Owl Have You Know Podcast is a production of Rice Business and is produced by University FM. Episode Quotes: The lightbulb moment Henry knew he had to build something of his own [11:34] I was in business school 2007 through 2009, and that was literally the time of the Great Recession. And so my first semester of my second year was when everything just essentially was bleak. I remember one of my professors, he said, "Look, last year 75% of students at this point had job offers, and this year only 25%. So it's a complete flip, right? And so things aren't as hopeful as they perhaps were over a year ago.” And he said the phrase you just mentioned. He said, "Listen, don't take a job just because it's available. Take something that's going to define your role in this world." And I just, like, stopped in my foot track, like, this may not be exactly what I do, but if I do, if I open up a studio, a fitness studio, I'm calling it Define.That's exactly the thing I needed. And I actually have to admit, I cut my next class, which I am not one prone to do. I feel like I'm a good student, right? But I cut my next class, and I filed my DBA for Define in Harris County. On why Henry sees business as a spiritual practice, not just a hustle [32:12] Business is actually a very spiritual process. It is discipline. It's devotion. It is connecting to something that's bigger than yourself so that you can be better than just the individual self that you are. And I think business is very much like that. I feel like if you are working in an industry that you're passionate about, that you want to contribute to, it can be something that can be utilized for the good of humanity. You know, doing well by doing good, that whole mindset. His calculated approach to big leaps like taking the plunge at Rice Business School [13:17] I'm creative, and I'm adventurous for sure. I mean, I used to dive from a 10-meter platform. But I'm not just, like, blindly foolish in anything I do. I'm pretty calculated in terms of the approach that I take to most things. Like in diving, you start on the one meter, and then you go to the three, and then you go to the five, and then you go to the seven, and then you go to the ten. And so there's these steps that take you along this path, and the exact same thing happened with me at business school. And it was so powerful because Rice was the quote-unquote "platform" for me to dive and jump into my business, and it gave me the path and the training to feel confident. Show Links: Define Living Feronia | Retreat and Event Venue Breathing Life Back in Business, Henry Richardson | TEDx Transcript Guest Profile: Henry Richardson | LinkedIn Henry Richardson | Rice Business

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  Episode #71

  A New Chapter for the Rothko Chapel feat. Alecia Harris ’23

  Jul 22, 202634 minS4

  For Alecia Harris ’23, art is as essential as breathing, and it’s something everyone deserves to have access to. So she’s turned that belief into a career that sits at the intersection of art and business, with a mission focused on making art accessible. After years working in arts programming and visitor engagement at Rice University’s Moody Center for the Arts, she earned her Professional MBA from Rice Business, then pivoted into private wealth management at J.P. Morgan, where she built a client book of art collectors and museum donors. Now, as chief development officer at the Rothko Chapel, she’s channeling all of that experience into leading fundraising and development for one of Houston’s most iconic cultural institutions, during a pivotal moment in its history. Alecia joins co-host Brian Jackson ’21 to discuss her winding path from art history to finance and back, what “radical hospitality” means in practice, how her MBA gave her the 50,000-foot view she needed, and why Houston’s next generation of patrons must step up to steward the city’s world-class cultural institutions into the future. Episode Guide: 00:00 Meet Alecia Harris 01:09 Finding Art History 02:29 Art Without Intimidation 05:02 Radical Hospitality 06:26 The Rothko Chapel 07:39 Renovation and Light 09:13 Why Get an MBA 12:21 From Arts to JPMorgan 14:26 MBA Learning Curve 15:46 Art Advantage in Banking 21:37 Development Role Day to Day 23:43 Leadership Across Sectors 28:17 Travel for Art 31:08 Houston Hidden Gems The Owl Have You Know Podcast is a production of Rice Business and is produced by University FM. Episode Quotes: Why arts shouldn't be a luxury 5:41: If you stand in front of a piece of work, often Rothko paintings, like people talk about having your Rothko moment, like people are moved to tears. They have these transformative experiences in front of it. Why shouldn't that be available to everybody? And for me, even when I was working in, at JPMorgan, and I was working in finance, I had to have access to art every day because for me, it's like breathing. And I think good art holds a mirror up to society. It helps you process universal truths. It helps you connect to people. It's so important to me. It's not a luxury. It's something that I think everybody has to have access to it. And so anything that I can do to make people feel as if they also have an ownership over this, they have a right to access it, that's something that I'm very motivated by. The 50,000-foot view of leadership 23:15: I never would have had that 50,000 square foot view or really been able to understand how all the different pieces came together if I hadn't gone to business school. So I'm so, so fortunate that I have that perspective. One, just the scope of programs that we learned at Rice, but then also getting that experience working at the bank and now being able to bring all of that to this very worthwhile organization is incredibly meaningful. Why curiosity makes better leaders 23:55: For me, there's not really the qualities that I look for in a leader that I don't look for and think are worthwhile in just general human beings. Like this curiosity and openness, a willingness to listen. I think we can learn so much from unexpected places, take inspiration from unexpected places. I'm somebody that's a big info gatherer, and I'll take something and it's like I don't really know what I'm going to do with that or why I needed to know that right now, but I'll put it, you know, in my back pocket. And then those moments when you're able to make the connection later and it kind of unlocks new meaning or new opportunity, those are always really rewarding. Show Links: Rothko Chapel Moody Center for the Arts | Rice University Transcript Guest Profile: Alecia Harris | Rothko Chapel

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  Episode #70

  How a Side Project Became Texas’ Best Coffee Roaster feat. Kenzel Fallen ’12

  Jul 8, 202642 minS4

  After building a career in enterprise risk management and rising to senior leadership in banking, Kenzel Fallen ’12 and her husband Tio turned a shared passion for specialty coffee into Three Keys Coffee — a roastery and cafe focused on sustainability, creativity and music. What started as a side project during COVID has since landed on the shelves of Trader Joe's and been named Food & Wine's “Best Coffee Roaster in Texas.” As CEO of Three Keys Coffee, Kenzel is combining her Rice MBA training with her risk management mindset to navigate the daily challenges of owning a rapidly growing business. On this episode, she joins co-host Brian Jackson ’21 to chat about the inception of Three Keys Coffee, why entrepreneurship was a surprising path for her, and how Rice Business provided the right launchpad. Episode Guide: 00:00 Meet Kenzel Fallen 01:02 How Love Brought Her to Rice Business 05:27 From Risk to Coffee Entrepreneurship 09:13 Shopping Your Values 12:00 Working as a Couple 14:59 COVID Launch and Growth 18:08 Sourcing and Supply Chain 21:35 Jazz Brand Inspiration 25:03 Awards and Recognition 30:41 Coffee Impact and Purpose 35:04 What's Next for Three Keys 37:31 Distinguished Alumni Honor 39:10 Advice for Aspiring Founders The Owl Have You Know Podcast is a production of Rice Business and is produced by University FM. Episode Quotes: Your network is your education 04:36: Sometimes when people hear that, you know, your network is your net worth, it's almost more of a sense of, someone can just get you an introduction, or they can get you in a room. And it's not so much about having adjacency to people. I think that's more, that's like social climbing, right? But when you network, I see that as sharing. I see that as exchanging information and insights. And so, for me, when I think of that phrase, like "network is your net worth," I look at that as enhancing your education, enhancing your perspective, enhancing how deeply you understand the world and society that we live and work in. And sometimes you do have to rely on a lot of different experiences and perspectives. And for me, that's how that network expands. Bringing the cafe experience at home 22:50: Jazz was actually one of the genres that helped with the advent of, you know, vinyl albums. You know, people wanted to be able to take that live music experience but be able to enjoy it and celebrate it at home. Prior to some of the early jazz recordings, there really was just, like, classical music that had actually been put on vinyl. And so jazz allowed people to bring home that concert and that live band experience, and that's the same thing that we kind of wanted to do with coffee. It's like, "Hey, you don't have to go to a shop. You get the right beans. You understand how to make them. You can have that cafe experience at home." And so kind of drawing that parallel as well in the way that we wanted to create coffee and share coffee with people. The email that changed everything 25:25: I remember getting an email that was like, "Hey, we're thinking about doing, you know, highlighting different coffee shops. Can you send us some pictures of your shop?" And it was from Food & Wine, but I'm just thinking, "Oh, they're just going to highlight a bunch of folks." I had no clue. I truly had no clue until the announcement was made that we were named. They had us on the list as the best in Texas. We were just, I mean, mind-blown. Show Links: Three Keys Coffee Transcript Guest Profile: Kenzel Fallen | Rice Business Kenzel Fallen | LinkedIn

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  Episode #69

  The Startup Using AI To Rethink Energy Storage feat. Emma Konet ’24 and Jacob Mansfield ’16

  Jun 24, 202640 minS4

  Two Rice alums are shaking up the renewable energy world with Tierra Climate, an AI-powered energy storage platform that’s quietly reshaping how the power grid works. Co-founded by Jacob Mansfield (BA ’16) and Emma Konet (PMBA ’24), Tierra Climate is driven by a shared belief that the transition to clean power needs to happen faster. Both have been passionate about the energy space since early in their careers, and when they saw an opportunity to use AI and software to accelerate the deployment of storage on the grid, they committed fully, leaving stable careers behind to build something that could make a real impact on climate change. They join host Brian Jackson ’21 to trace their unlikely path from Citibank trading desks to startup life. They open up about the underlying anxiety of early-stage founding but why entrepreneurship is still worth it, how large-scale batteries are being underutilized on the grid, and the ways the Rice network keeps showing up. Episode Guide: 00:00 Introductions & Origin Stories 06:29 Founding Tierra Climate 11:39 Customers & the Energy Storage Market 16:36 The Startup Journey 23:11 Taking the Leap & Building with AI 29:29 The Rice Network & Industry Trends 35:33 What's Next & the Texas Pilot The Owl Have You Know Podcast is a production of Rice Business and is produced by University FM. Episode Quotes: Magic happens when you commit 20:13: [Jacob Mansfield] I had a professor in business school that said that magic happens when you commit. There’s some sort of like lucky space of serendipity that you invite, and you talk to people, and you clearly come from the space and you understand their pain points, and yet you’ve kind of left all of that world to try to solve the problem. I think that’s pretty compelling for folks. I think it’s committing at inception, but it’s like a continual process of commitment throughout the entire journey. On finding the courage to go all in 18:48: [Emma Konet] I think going into that program, I’m not sure I ever would’ve quit my job and foregone health insurance and taken the big risk, because I was scared. I mean, I was genuinely like, "Oh, like, that feels really risky. I’m not sure my risk tolerance is there." But through the process of my MBA, I think because Rice is so focused on entrepreneurship, that’s kind of in the veins of the MBA program throughout. I basically got convinced that it wasn’t as big of a risk as I thought, and I think throughout that program, it just made me realize, you know what? Just do it. Like, it was kind of the "just do it, just take the leap" mentality that pushed me over the edge, and I’m very glad that I went full-time on this. On building something that matters 16:11: [Jacob Mansfield] Emma and I used to joke early on this concept of existential dread, which I’m sure founders can relate to. You know, when you work in a big organization, it may get some little nervousness around, like bonus day or when you hear, there’s going to be some reorg. But generally speaking, I wasn’t concerned, going in day in and day out, that Citibank would be in existence. It was one of the largest companies in the world. And so I think the difference is when you start a company, you do have, like, those butterflies in your stomach or that kind of like, okay, like, I want to make sure that what I’m building is going to amount to something and be meaningful. Show Links: Tierra Climate “Clean Energy’s Missing Link” | Rice Magazine Transcript Guest Profile: Jacob Mansfield | LinkedIn Emma Konet | LinkedIn

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  Episode #68

  Why Every Med Student Needs an MBA feat. Pablo Coello ’25

  Jun 10, 202627 minS4

  When Pablo Coello began his medical training, he noticed a persistent gap in healthcare: clinicians and administrators often weren’t speaking the same language, and the result was inefficiency that directly affected patient care. That realization ultimately led him to pursue a dual MD/MBA through Baylor College of Medicine and Rice Business. Now an orthopedic surgery resident at UC Health, Pablo brings a dual perspective to medicine — one grounded in clinical practice and another shaped by business training. That combination allows him to think not only about individual patient outcomes, but also about system-wide decisions that affect hospitals and communities. In this episode of Owl Have You Know, hosted by Maya Pomroy '22, Pablo shares why more physicians need business fluency, how teamwork at Rice reshaped the way he practices medicine and what it means to look beyond the exam room to the health of an entire community. Episode Guide: 00:00 Meet Pablo Coello 01:14 Why Pursue an MBA Alongside an MD 03:26 Early Path to Medicine 04:13 Harvard Research Summers 06:33 OR Inefficiencies Spark Change 11:00 Inside the Rice MD MBA 13:28 Biggest MBA Takeaways 17:01 Advice for Med Students 22:16 Defining Success Long Term 25:33 Closing Thoughts The Owl Have You Know Podcast is a production of Rice Business and is produced by University FM. Episode Quotes: Why a hospital is an entity in a community 17:51: Medicine is so much more than just what you do in a clinic, in the OR, in the hospital in general. A hospital is an entity in a community. It's not just a place you go. I've noticed this even…especially now that I'm actively practicing and training. There are people that actively need your help. And if you broaden your skills, eventually your level of impact is not just going to be on a patient-to-patient basis. It's on a community as a whole. And that's why I got my MBA, and that's why I would argue as any med student in the Houston area, any med student in general that has access to a business school, especially one as good as Rice, in their backyard or anywhere close, should ideally, if it's financially possible and the timeline works out, get an MBA so that they can have that impact in their community eventually. Medicine is a team sport 14:02: Medicine is a team sport. You hear that all the time because we interact with other teams all day, every day. As an orthopedic surgery resident, our field is very specialized. So as a result, we get called by a lot of people, and we have to also call a lot of other people to help us manage things that we simply do not know how to manage. And I think having learned what I learned in the MBA helped a lot in terms of managing a lot of different things at once, different voices, if you will, in the clinical setting, which I did not really expect, to tell you the truth. But it helped because I learned also to not rely on myself as much. On fixing the structures that fail patients 08:53: The supportive structures around the OR and other clinical aspects are simply not where they should be; we are failing the patient, and we are doing that over and over and over and over again. And it's affecting the overall health of the community. It's affecting the overall opinion of the community on the healthcare system, and it's costing the hospital—whatever hospital—thousands of dollars a day, every day for eternity. So I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I got this MBA because I wanted to be like this knight in shining armor, and I was going to solve all the problems, because I'm not. That's unrealistic, and I get it. But I want to be part of the solution, if you will. Show Links: Transcript Guest Profile: Pablo Coello | LinkedIn

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