What ASU alumni are 'Learning from Experience'

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University has launched "Learning from Experience," a podcast that tackles some of the challenges and decisions that recent graduates face.

Each month, the podcast will feature a new alum from The College, and will share personal stories of successes and failures and tips for navigating the real world after graduation.

The College worked directly with current students to get their feedback on what topics the podcast should cover.

The Emerging Leaders young alumni organization also helped brainstorm podcast content and contributed as some of the podcast’s first guests.

“Our alumni in The College’s Emerging Leaders organization are contributing to student success in diverse and innovative ways. Sharing their career journeys and experiences is one way they can support our students and show our community the unparalleled value and impact of a degree in the liberal arts and sciences,” said Patrick Kenney, dean of The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and vice provost for academic enterprise strategy at ASU.

English alum Amanda Ventura Zink, political science alum Steven Slugocki and psychology alum Ashlie Temple are featured in the first three podcast episodes.

Listen to the first episode:

Community engagement with Amanda Ventura Zink

Amanda Ventura Zink is currently the public affairs manager for Waymo, where she leads the public education campaign "Let's Talk Autonomous Driving."

“There’s not a day that goes by at Waymo where it’s not part of my job to think about how we could be giving back with our technology,” Ventura Zink in her interview.

She provides insights on community engagement, work-life balance and redefining career success.

Listen here:

Imposter syndrome with Steven Slugocki

Steven Slugocki was elected in 2015 as the youngest chairman of the Maricopa County Democratic Party and served in that capacity until 2020.

“I had this extreme high of getting elected and becoming a chair, and then I started to see, almost immediately after, the doubts, the emails, the social media posts, that were like, ‘Hey, this guy is way too young. He’s too wild. He has no experience. He’s never done this before. How did this happen? How did he get in this position?’ Slugocki said.

In his interview, he discusses his experience with imposter syndrome as well as how he prioritized his passion for politics.

Listen here:

Taking risks with Ashlie Temple

Ashlie Temple manages clinical services across five different states as the patient care services manager for Albertsons, Safeway and Vons pharmacies.

“Deciding your career path for what you feel like is the rest of your life can be a really daunting task, Temple said. “I was that way. When I started as an undergrad at ASU I wanted to be a lawyer. I quickly learned that’s not my forte.”

A master’s degree, a doctoral degree and a pharmacy residency later, she shares her personal experience with adapting, pivoting and finding the perfect career fit.

Listen here:

The "Learning from Experience" podcast launches new episodes the first Wednesday of each month. Alumni from The College can reach out to Allison Connell if they wish to be featured in an upcoming episode.