Mentors

Sara Arnell ’82
Senior Managing Director, The Magrino Agency
A global branding and marketing expert with 30 years of experience, Sara Arnell revitalizes brands with an approach that begins with seeing the obvious and results in the development of something obviously distinctive, relevant and successful. Among her recent ventures: Karmic, a social-goodness app that gives users a daily good deed to accomplish or an inspirational quote to read and share, just by shaking their phone.

Andrew Eifler ’07
Vice President, Product Management, AppNexus
Andrew Eifler joined AppNexus, which offers a cloud-based platform that optimizes the purchase of digital advertising, in 2011 and has served the firm in a variety of capacities, from leading mobile product strategy to managing the optimization and analytics team. Authoring a weekly blog on advertising, behavioral economics and product management at andreweifler.com, Eifler also pursues a passion for jewelry making that he developed as a metalsmithing minor at Skidmore.

Christine Juneau ’82, P ’18
Principal, Christine Juneau LLC
An independent business advisor since 2010, Christine Juneau helps business owners and management teams identify and implement relevant performance measurements that tie strategic vision, goals, and objectives to execution and achievement of results. Beginning her career in marketing and promotion, she went on to serve for 20 years in leadership positions with John S. Herold Inc., an independent research firm focused on companies, transactions, and trends in the global energy industry, and IHS Inc., a major provider of global market, industry, and technical expertise.

Lawrence Peck ’92
Managing Partner, Peck Asset Management
With 18 years of experience in the investment industry, most recently managing $450 million as a portfolio manager at SAC Capital, Larry Peck now invests his own assets in both public and private securities. Constantly looking for strong risk-adjusted return opportunities, he describes his investment style as “focused on deep fundamental research and a firm understanding of the business models underlying the portfolio investments.” He also is a member of the board of directors of iDriveThru, a New Jersey-based company that uses toll-tag technology to facilitate mobile payments, as well as serving on the board of advisors to Ruby’s Naturals, an innovative food company.

Kathryn Peper ’78
Physician
A Fellow of the American College of Physicians, Katie Peper had a long and distinguished career in academic medicine with the Yale School of Medicine, Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, and Morristown (N.J.) Medical Center before opening a private practice to follow a philosophy of healing centered on the patient. Board-certified in internal medicine in 1987, she attended New York Medical College. Both her daughters have entered the startup world. Lauren Platt is CEO and founder of Vensette, an on-demand beauty service that brings luxury hair and makeup artists to clients’ doors. Ashley Platt founded Luxholdups, a custom Lucite and brass home furnishings company with workshops in Brooklyn and showroom in Manhattan.

Gregg Smith ’92
Partner, Edison Nation
Since 2011, Gregg Smith has been the chief innovation officer of Edison Nation, an online “innovation marketplace” of independent inventors focused on consumer and medical products, and has produced four seasons of the Emmy-award winning PBS television show Everyday Edisons. Gregg is also a co-founder of several celebrity-backed consumer products companies with Daymond John/Shark Tank, Jonathan Cheban/Keeping Up with the Kardashians and Mel B from the Spice Girls. Smith recently produced the television special with Mel B called Celebrity Inc., which has been called the celebrity version of Shark Tank. Prior to Edison, Smith was an investment banker at Cowen, Bank of America, and Bear Stearns.

Nancy Wekselbaum ’73
Owner, The Gracious Gourmet
Balsamic four-onion spread. Mango/pineapple chutney. Fennel blood-orange tapenade. Such are just a few of the remarkable award winning flavors that Nancy Wekselbaum produces and sells through The Gracious Gourmet, the small-batch condiment maker she established in 2006 after a friend tasted her dried fruit chutney and told her she should build a business around it. Now selling more than 23 products globally, Wekselbaum’s mission is to market all natural sophisticated products that elevate everyone’s favorite dishes and make every meal a special occasion.