Young Alumni

Kayla Emanuelson ’13; Aaron Wakley ’15; Allison Wakley ’16; Louie Karellas ’20 MBA’22; and Kate Sollers ’22 were the featured speakers at the April 24 Ruth A. Miller Senior Business Seminar. Emanuelson is a tax manager at SSB CPAs, Aaron Wakley a financial consultant at PRESTIGE Wealth Strategies, Allison Wakley a human resource and recruiting specialist at LECOM, Karellas a payroll analyst at The Walt Disney Company, and Sollers a production scheduler at Hiab USA.

“Having the opportunity to hear from a panel of Thiel alumni that were recent graduates was a unique and special experience. As many of the students in the class are graduating in May and have a lot of change approaching it was encouraging to hear Aaron, Allison, Louie, Kate, and Kayla discuss their current positions and how they got there.” Julianne Slagle ’24

“Initially pursuing a dual major in Political Science and Business, Kayla discovered her passion for accounting during her freshman year. She excelled as an honors student, participated in study abroad programs, and completed two tax internships.” Ema Hatfield ’25

“Kayla graduated with majors in Business and Accounting and a minor in English and was also able to graduate with 150 credits in four years. She then passed the CPA exam in six months and went four for four on all the tests.” Abigail Sefton ’25

“Emanuelson stated that while at Thiel she was mostly influenced by Professor Witosky, Professor Miller, and Dr. Hall.” Jacara Green ’25

“Aaron came to Thiel in 2011 with a major in mathematics and a minor in communications and coaching. He recalled having some of his best moments here at Thiel. Aaron was part of a fraternity that is no longer here on campus, but he recalled multiple memories and the wonderful opportunities his fraternity brought him during his time here. Amongst all the wonderful memories he had, he also found his wife Allison at Thiel.” Taya Sykes ’24

“I had the chance to ask Allison why she chose to pursue Human Resources and she explained that she had started out going to college for an education degree but soon realized that she was choosing to pursue that path for the wrong reasons. She knew that she was interested in business (as I did also) and she loves where she is at today due to the variety of situations that she encounters every day.” Julianne Slagle ’24

“Allison became a business major with a focus on human resources and was never happier. During her time at Thiel, she was a part of the Chi Omega sorority, holding the treasurer and president positions, studied abroad in Costa Rica with the Vira Hienz scholarship, and did two internships.” Taya Sykes ’24

“During her time at Thiel, Allie got to study in Costa Rica. She also was part of the phonathon, which involved calling alumni for donations. After graduation, she was a resident director for two years while getting a master's in counseling from Youngstown State University. Currently, she works at Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine as a human resource generalist and recruitment specialist.” Abraham Hochstetler ’24

“Before coming to Thiel, Louie did not know what he wanted to do or if he even wanted to come to college. While he was here, he studied business administration. He said Professor Gomolchak had a large influence on him while he was a student here.” Nick DiLullo ’24

“I was very pleased to see Louie Karellas, my fraternity brother, be placed at my table. Louie is a graduate of Thiel class of ‘20. After college, Louie took the opportunity to work for Thiel as a Resident Director and was quickly promoted to Assistant Director of Housing at Thiel College. Six months after graduation, Louie joined Thiel’s Master of Business Administration program as a part of the 2022 cohort.” Austin Siko ’24

“A former resident director, Louie now works at Disney doing risk assessment and auditing for their various branches. A major in international business and business administration, Louie spoke on how he loved his professors at Thiel. While at Thiel he had an internship at Disney which would help him secure a job later on.” George Tice ’24

“Kate began by speaking about when she first came to Thiel, studying business administration with a focus on human resources. Throughout her college years, she was a part of the soccer team, where we played together for two years.” Hailey McClain ’24

“When Sollers first came to Thiel, she did not have a focus on supply chain management, however, she became exposed to that world and decided that she enjoyed working in it. As such she added in the focus on supply chain management, which was relatively new to Thiel.” Alex Martin ’24

“She worked at a transportation company in Cleveland, dealing with freight, but soon realized city life wasn't for her. Seeking a job closer to home, she now works at Hiab USA, which is a load handling company, where they focus on providing smart and sustainable load handling solutions.” Hailey McClain ’24

“Kate recently received a promotion where she now is a production scheduler with aspirations to handle planning inventory management.” Isaac Sasala ’24

“Kayla spoke about proper budgeting to the class. Some of her highlights included that proper budgeting creates clarity and helps you achieve the goals you have. She did mention that although you spend the time to set a budget with goals, sometimes we do go over budget. Kayla highlighted that when this occurs to not get to down about it and just roll with the punches with no negativity.” Damion Grinnell ’25

“During the Q&A session, Kayla offered insights into budgeting. She recounted her initial struggles with managing finances after the birth of her first child, which led her to feel embarrassed and anxious. Through research and advice from others, she adopted zero-based budgeting, a hands-on approach where every dollar is allocated a purpose, akin to envelope budgeting.” Emma Hatfield ’25

“Kayla emphasized the importance of tackling the CPA exam early, she cautions against underestimating its complexity. Unlike traditional exams, cramming for the CPA exam is not a viable strategy. Kayla found the financial portion to be the most challenging, differing from the opinion of Professor Kassalen who considered it to be the easiest.” Jackson Pletcher ’24

“The other big piece of advice Kayla had for the CPA exam is to take a review course. She stated that what is on the CPA exam is not like what you see in school or in your work. Neither experience will adequately prepare you to take the CPA exam alone.” Connor Lovic ’24

“Mr. Wakley discussed saving for retirement. He discussed how it starts with budgeting. A budget can help set aside money for retirement. He advised that when an individual has set enough money aside in their savings account, that individual should get a retirement account. Then, that individual should set aside a portion of their paycheck into the retirement account to let compounding interest and time assist in increasing the value of their retirement account. Also, he advised using a Roth IRA because younger people will be paying the tax upfront in a lower tax bracket.” Abraham Hochstetler ’24

“Aaron explained in greater detail the services that he provides for companies and individual families to aid them in making smart financial goals and walking them through times of financial risks.” Julianne Slagle ’24

“Mrs. Wakley discussed having a good work-life balance. She said to manage your time wisely through to-do lists. This ensures that there can be quality time with the family. Mrs. Wakley also mentioned having constant breaks because they increase productivity. Finally, she mentioned the importance of spending quality time with your children when they are young because they grow up so fast!” Abraham Hochstetler ’24

“Allison and Aaron are hardworking both individually and as a couple. They have both gone on to accomplish amazing things after their time here at Thiel. They are firm believers that your career and your life are what you make of them, not the things surrounding you. It was such an honor to have dinner with them and to hear their stories.” Taya Sykes ’24

“Louie was very real in his discussions while I knew him at Thiel and to see him become successful has motivated me that I can do it too! I think the young panel was much easier to connect with and gave suggestions that I can use immediately.” George Tice ’24

“Kate also emphasized the importance of work-life balance and personal well-being. Engaging in hobbies and spending time with loved ones are key for her. As she continues her journey after college, she remains committed to personal and professional growth. From overcoming challenges to celebrating successes, her speech showed that resilience, patience, and flexibility are needed to thrive in the professional world.” Hailey McClain ’24

“The panel gave us lots of wisdom such as discussing the importance of budgeting and even a tool to do so with the YNAB app. It gave me some hope to hear that one panelist was able to pay off $75k of student debt in 2-½ years. We were also given investment advice (Roth IRA over Traditional IRA) and had the terms ‘debt snowball’ and ‘debt avalanche’ defined to us. As a non-business major, I found this down-to-earth advice really useful and uplifting as I enter the real world with debt and little financial knowledge.” George Tice ’24

“One thing that I personally thought was very interesting was how they would save for retirement and how they would invest for the end of their careers far out in advance. This is a very important skill to learn about especially in today’s state of the world where a lot of people do not have enough money saved to retire.” Aidan Rispoli ’25

“From some of the younger parents in the group, I learned things like making the most of your time at work so you can get home to your family sooner.” Jacob Traupman ’24

“A lesson I thought was very important was learning about work life balance and how important that is in the future and being able to still live your life while working long days. A few of the members of the panel also had young families and they needed to be able to balance their careers along with starting a family.” Aidan Rispoli ’25

“I just thought it was really cool to see what people I went to college with and saw graduate not long ago have been up to and how they are moving forward in life.” Jacob Traupman ’24

“One main message that I got from the panel of speakers was to pursue what you love and what is meant to find you will find you if you are patient.” Julianne Slagle ’24

“Overall, all of the panel provided great insights and advice for all of us that will be useful soon.” Connor Lovic ’24

“All the speakers provided an abundant amount of information that I found helpful as I enter my professional career.” Hailey McClain ’24

Lessons Learned

“Never turn down an opportunity, you never know what or where it could lead you.” Taya Sykes ’24
“When opportunity arises, jump on it!” Madi Yurich ’24
“Networking is key.” Damion Grinnell ’25
“There are lots of jobs out there you do not know about.” George Tice ’24
“When feeling uncertain, step into it, instead of away from it.” Madi Yurich ’24
“Find a good mentor at your place of employment.” Damion Grinnell ’25
“Absorb as much as you can from the people around you.” Isaac Sasala ’24
“Be able to advocate for yourself as an employee.” Emma Hatfield ’24
“After college you are rewarded at a slower rate, so it takes time to move up.” Abigail Sefton ’25
“Make sure that you like the field you are working in before committing to extra certifications for that field.” Alex Martin ’24
“Manage your time and stay focused, don’t overwork yourself. You have to rest to be the most proficient you can be.” Nick DiLullo ’24
“Take your lunch breaks.” Isaac Sasala ’24
“Make to-do lists.” Austin Siko ’24
“Assertiveness ensures that your contributions are recognized and respected, especially in male-dominated environments.” Yeryoung Kim ’24
“The same pot of boiling water that makes a potato hard also makes an egg soft. So, you have to control how you react in each situation." Jacara Green ’25
“You choose how you react to certain situations.” Madi Yurich ’24
“Don’t let negativity bring you down.” Zach Bergstresser ’25
“The Sarbanes-Oxley Act actually matters in the real world.” Abraham Hochstetler ’24
“Time is your friend in the market! Start saving for retirement as soon as you can.” Hailey McClain ’24
“Know the benefits available to you at your job if you don’t find someone who does.” Jackson Pletcher ’24
“Ensure that you contribute to employer matched retirement plans.” Alex Martin ’24
“Time is your best friend when investing.” Emma Hatfield ’25
“’Give every dollar a job’ (zero-based budget).” George Tice ’24
“After college, you have to put in effort to have/keep friends.” Connor Lovic ’24
“Time with a new baby is priceless.” Austin Siko ’24
“Prioritize your health.” Nick DiLullo ’24

Dinner “Dishing”

“We had a dinner that I think it is safe to say was one for the books. I have never had Beef Wellington before, but it was very good, along with the other courses that were served.” Taya Sykes ’24
“Our dinner was definitely one of the highlights of the semester in terms of culinary delights. We enjoyed some delicious wedding soup and Beef Wellington, followed by a decadent dessert.” Emma Hatfield ’25
“I had the pleasure of sitting with Kate Sollers and Professor Witosky, where we all caught up with Kate to see what she has been up to and what life has brought her since her time in this same course two years prior.” Hailey McClain ’24

“During the dinner, I had the pleasure of being seated with Ruth Miller, Louie Karellas, Dr. Hall, Austin, and Allie. This dinner was such a fun experience, and I am so glad that I got to sit with this wonderful group of people. Louie, Allie, Austin, and I were able to catch up and reminisce on our freshman year and we were able to talk about Louie’s current job and about his career journey. We also got to talk with Dr. Hall about our classes and fill Mrs. Miller in on everything that is happening around campus.” Madi Yurich ’24