Harper College

Harper Talks Podcast

Harper Talks Alumni PodcastA co-production of Harper Alumni Program and WHCM Radio.

Listen in as Harper alumni share their stories , experiences , and life journeys. Through Harper Talks conversations led by Associate Professor of Communication Arts Brian Shelton , Alumni are invited to share how education, career successes and failures and human connection have impacted them along the way.

Harper Talks is a co-production of WHCM 88.3 Harper Student Radio and Harper Alumni Relations. WHCM students assist with editing and production of each episode. Original podcast theme music composed by former Harper College student Aidan Cashman.

Harper Talks episodes can be found on all podcast streaming services including Spotify and Apple Podcasts, or other platforms and downloaded below. Learn more about WHCM and support radio students.

Roberto Lopez

Harper Talks Show 17 - Roberto Lopez

Harper Talks welcomes Roberto Lopez who speaks about how his time at Harper College provided the foundation for his current career as a consulting director at CCS Fundraising. Lopez attended DePaul University for his bachelor's degree in finance and the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago for his master's degree. Lopez received the Outstanding Recent Alumni Award in 2021, and he has dedicated his career to philanthropic work and helping others prosper through adversity. Listen to Episode 17

Tom Schnecke

Harper Talks Show 16 - Tom Schnecke

Tom Schnecke, Emmy winning Vice President and Director of Operations and Engineering for CBS2 Chicago, joins Harper Talks to discuss the experiences that have led him to his current career. Schnecke was named a Distinguished Alumni honoree in 2009, and he worked as the faculty advisor of WHCM for 17 years, which played an integral role in his future within broadcasting. Listen to Episode 16

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Harper Talks Show 15 - Mike Terson

Mike Terson, Superintendent of Communication and Marketing for the Buffalo Grove Park District, joins Harper Talks to discuss his time as public address announcer for both the Chicago Wolves and Cubs, being named a Distinguished Alumni honoree, his time as student at Harper in the 1990s and how his experience at WHCM and as a speech team student helped lay the groundwork for his future career. Download Episode 15 Transcript. Listen to Episode 15

Kristina Gaardbo

Harper Talks Show 14 - Kristina Gaardbo

Assistant Professor of Communication Arts Brian Shelton is joined by Harper Alumna Kristina Gaardbo, who graduated from the Nursing Program at Harper College and now co-owns the incredible Chicago Culinary Kitchen after pursuing her passion for culinary arts. Gaardbo received her Certified Cicerone certification from Siebel Institute. Gaardbo helped her husband, Greg, with his Shockwaves Promotional Apparel business and they always shared a passion for barbecue which started with backyard entertaining. The pair decided to turn their culinary love into a catering company in 2012, and then opened the award-winning Chicago Culinary Kitchen in 2016. Gaardbo’s restaurant has been rated the best barbeque in Illinois by Money Magazine and received numerous accolades. Gaardbo now has a food truck and has recently opened a new expanded restaurant location in Palatine. Join Gaardbo and Shelton in their conversation about Gaardbo’s journey from a Harper College student to a successful business owner. Download Episode 14 Transcript. Listen to Episode 15

Genevieve Frey-Moylan

Harper Talks Show 13 - Genevieve Frey-Moylan

Assistant Professor of Communication Arts Brian Shelton speaks with Genevieve Frey-Moylan, who is a graduate of the Harper Nursing Program and is currently the Director of the Cardiac Care Unit of the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Illinois. Moylan has a Master of Science in Nursing and is both a Registered Nurse and a Certified Pediatric Nurse. Moylan began her journey at Harper College in 2001 and she graduated as the valedictorian of her nursing class in both her undergraduate and graduate degrees. Moylan became a Harper Distinguished Alumni in 2016 recognized for her excellence and important role in the field of nursing as well as an inspiration for students, staff, and faculty at Harper College. Join Moylan and Shelton for an inspirational conversation about her incredible accomplishments and perseverance through adversity. Download Episode 13 Transcript.> Listen to Episode 13

Michael Nejman

Harper Talks Show 12 - Michael Nejman

Assistant Professor of Communication Arts Brian Shelton is joined by Michael Nejman, who is a man of many talents all ranging from being an author, agent, music connoisseur, master conflict resolver and notably a 2013 Harper Distinguished Alumni. As the first of his family to go to college, Nejman made the most of his experience at Harper by getting involved at the student newspaper, The Harbinger, and taking advantage of the many on-campus events hosted. This experience combined with his passion for music led him to his role as the campus concert chair where he booked a wide array of notable talent from John Prine to Journey. Nejman eventually moved into the role of director of student activities where he implemented several programs aimed to benefit the student body he was once a part of. All of this included him bringing curricular infusion to the campus that offered students a crossover of arts and academia, implementing revolutionary diversity programming and of course, offering an array of events to get students involved on campus. With an impressive list of accomplishments behind his name, Nejman retired after serving Harper’s students and staff for over thirty years. Even still he remains a part of the community. During COVID Michael and his wife pulled together a scholarship fund for nursing students at Harper, allowing for those who want to serve people within the healthcare field to have access to the tools and resources they need to do so. Join Michael and Brian in conversation and soak up the invaluable perspective Nejman has as both a student, staff member and devoted alumni. It’s a conversation you won’t want to miss! Download Episode 12 Transcript. Listen to Episode 12

Jim Gallo

Harper Talks Show 11 - Jim Gallo

On this month's episode of Harper Talks, Associate Professor of the Arts, Brian Shelton, is joined by Harper’s own distinguished alumni, Jim Gallo. Gallo reflects on his time at Harper, how he stayed detached from the experience and community as a student and how his own educational, professional and personal journey eventually led him back to Harper where he became highly involved in the community years later, acting as a board member and as a distinguished alumni. In this episode, Gallo shares his episodic journey, from suffering an accident his freshman year of college that led him to be paralyzed from the waist down causing him to transfer to Harper, to his professional trajectory and how his experience as an accountant pushed him to transition into journalism, all the way to his wheelchair basketball days at UIUC and how that lead him to forming one of the nation's largest youth wheelchair basketball programs. All of which share a common thread, how Gallo has taken the challenges he has faced and reshaped them into fruitful opportunities, much of which he credits to his time at the “hidden gem” that is Harper. Tune in this week and soak up the plethora of advice and guidance Gallo has to share not only about his own life and experience, but also the impact Harper has had on him and how that experience isn’t finite, there are tools and lessons offered that can be applied far beyond student's time on campus. Download Episode 11 Transcript. Listen to Episode 11

Laurie Turpin-Soderholm

Harper Talks Show 10 - Laurie Turpin-Soderholm

On this month's episode of Harper Talks, Assistant Professor of Communication Arts, Brian Shelton, is joined by Harper's own distinguished alumni and community pillar, Laurie Turpin-Soderholm. Currently acting as Senior Project Manager of Global Access Meetings, Turpin-Soderholm revels about how her time at Harper led to not only her academic success, an alumni of both Georgetown and Northwestern respectively, but also her eventual success in this industry and what led her to it. Join the pair in conversation as they relish in her worldly experiences and how it has all led her back to Harper, where she serves as co-chair to Harper's Alumni Committee as well as her involvement with Harper's Giving Committee. Tune in and learn from how her time at Harper, or her self-proclaimed "launch pad", had led her to where she is today. Download Episode 10 Transcript. Listen to Episode 11

Jacob Sadoff

Harper Talks Show 9 - Jacob Sadoff

Jacob Sadoff is co-owner of Restore Hair and an active coach of Harper College's Speech Team. His time at Northern Illinois University was spent learning and opening a toy distributor with his twin brother Jordan. Over time the pair would found even more companies such as Goldmax and Restore. Tune in as Jacob and Assistant Professor of Communication Arts Brian Shelton discuss philanthropy, the communities we are from, and serial entrepreneurship in this episode of Harper Talks. Download Episode 9 Transcript. Listen to Episode 9

Laura Pulio Colbert

Harper Talks Show 8 - Laura Pulio Colbert

Assistant professor of communication arts, Brian Shelton welcomes director of theatre, Laura Pulio Colbert on the latest episode of Harper Talks. Laura discusses her own journey from Harper to Harper. Colbert was a Harper College graduate, class of 1983, and eventually made her way back to serve the college as a staff member. Join the pair as they discuss Colbert’s own experience with community college and the transfer process, reflect on Harper then and now, delve into college not only being a place for education but also a place for personal development, the value of arts education and one of her greatest revelations had over a buffalo chicken sandwich. There’s so much to gain from Colbert’s honest, insightful and humorous retelling of her own career and life path, all laid out in this months episode of Harper Talks. Listen to Episode 8

Last Updated: 8/8/24