“Look for your problem [to solve]. And once you find it, don’t ever let go.” That was Christina Lomasney’s advice to aspiring entrepreneurs at this morning’s Leaders to Legends lecture at the University of Washington Foster School of Business. Lomasney is co-founder, president, and CEO of Modumetal, which manufactures nanolaminated alloys for the oil and gas industry.

The problem Modumetal is solving is corrosion, which poses a huge threat to our infrastructure—4% of the U.S.’s gross domestic product is spent on corrosion. They do this by manufacturing alloys that are corrosion resistant. Their patented manufacturing process allows them alter the architecture of the metal, which makes it stronger and lighter than steal and more corrosion resistant than galvanization. Additionally, Modumetal is able to manufacture this new class of metal at a competitive cost.

Lomasney, who was named one of Fortune’s Most Promising Entrepreneurs last year, spoke about the challenges Modumetal faced and how they overcame them.

First the team discovered that the technology they thought they invented had already been invented and patented by a company called Delphi. But at the exact same time Modumetal was starting, Delphi was going through bankruptcy. Timing can be everything. This opened the door for Modumetal to buy the patent for the technology.

Another challenge they faced is getting their product into the oil and gas industry, an industry historically unreceptive to innovation. But the Modumetal team worked hard to make inroads and connections in the industry. In 2015 Modumetal received the New Horizons Idea Award at the World Oil Awards. The award recognizes a game-changing product, technology or idea that redefines the industry’s thinking.

Then another setback—their manufacturing plant on Lake Union burned down in 2013. But even that disaster didn’t diminish Lomasney’s dedication to making the company a success. Drawing inspiration from the likes of former Alabama football coach Bear Bryant, Lomasney maintains that failure only happens when you just give up. Instead of giving up, she and her team simultaneously started manufacturing parts in the lab to fulfill existing orders and set up a new manufacturing facility in Snohomish County in 2014.

Through all this Lomasney learned that, “Entrepreneurship is a team sport.” She said, “I thought it was all about the technology, but that’s not true. It’s all about the team.”

Lomasney holds a BS in physics from UW. While at UW, she took financial accounting from Bill Wells and said that understanding how to read income statements and balance sheets is what made it possible for her to create this business.

Christina Lomasney was one of UW Foster School of Business Dean Jim Jiambalvo’s guest speakers at the monthly Leaders to Legends Breakfast Lecture Series, which include notable leaders in an array of industries from greater Seattle and around the country.

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For many, the notion of change can create fear, uncertainty, and doubt, but for Robbie Bach, Former President of Microsoft Entertainment & Devices, change is another word for opportunity. On Wednesday, January 18, Bach presented at a special Leaders to Legends lecture co-sponsored by the College of Engineering. He examined the concept of change in the context of strategy, innovation, and leadership, using numerous examples from his experience working at Microsoft. Play the video above to watch the full presentation.

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Mark Hadland, Founder and CEO of Level 11, is an expert on how people experience brands at a holistic level. On Wednesday, November 30, Hadland presented at Leaders to Legends and explained the journey of Level 11, from a general technology services firm to an experience design engineering firm.

Hadland examined two important case studies—Walt Disney World and the Magic Band, and Philips and the Lumify (a portable ultrasound device)—to explore how Level 11 reimagined the customer journey. By leveraging connected ecosystems, wearable technology, and the Internet of Things, Level 11 was able to transform each stage of the customer experience, from planning to remembrance. Watch the video above to see the full lecture.

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The rise, fall and epic renaissance of iconic Seattle retailer Eddie Bauer were examined in detail at the March 1 “Leaders to Legends” presentation at the UW Foster School of Business.

President and CEO Michael Egeck (MBA 1983) guided the audience through the company’s 96-year history, from its 1920 founding by outdoorsman Eddie Bauer to its decades of innovation and supremacy in the technical outdoor apparel industry to its “misplaced” shift to casual wear in the 1990s that eventually landed the firm in bankruptcy.

“With all of the perspective of hindsight,” he said, “the company pivoted into a shrinking market at just the wrong time. And it pivoted away from its heritage authenticity, which is really what drives a brand in the long term.”

Egeck then offered a remarkable behind-the-scenes tour of the company’s ambitious turnaround campaign that has been in the works since he joined in 2012. “Heritage is an asset, not a strategy,” he said, citing one of the company’s guiding maxims.

But Eddie Bauer’s heritage happens to align perfectly with one of retail’s strongest areas of growth: performance outdoor wear.

So the company is making a vigorous return to its rugged roots. Egeck outlined Eddie Bauer’s recent efforts to:

• Set the strategy then gather the team to execute.
• Complete a deep ethnographic study to understand its customers, “who view the outdoors as a playground, not an arena,” he said.
• Refocus the brand on technical outdoor sportswear.
• “Edit and amplify” its online presence.
• Reinvent the store experience from a “lodge” toward a “gear shop” that offers tactile extras such as climbing walls and an “Ice Box” for testing foul-weather gear.
• Launch the “Live Your Adventure” national marketing campaign, creating 8.3 billion impressions over the past few months.

Egeck reported that sales are up since the campaign began airing. The comeback expedition is on track. The brand is being restored. But the future is still unknown.

“Is it going to work? I really hope so,” he said. “We’ve put a great team together, and we believe we’re doing all the right things. It’s a very challenging time in retail. We’ve had some ups and downs. But I’m gratified to say that since this holiday season, business has been quite good. We think we’ve turned the corner. I’m encouraged. We’re fighting the good fight.”

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Retired General Barry R. McCaffrey has tested leadership strategies under extreme conditions. After 32 years of service in the US Army, he retired as the most highly decorated serving General, having been awarded three Purple Heart medals, two Distinguished Service Crosses, and two Silver Stars for valor.

On Wednesday, March 29, McCaffrey shared his decades of experience in leading complex organizations as part of the Leaders to Legends lecture series at the Foster School of Business. McCaffrey provided insight on topics ranging from factors of effective leadership, to managing change, to leading during a crisis, while recounting stories from his own personal experience.

Watch the video above to see the full lecture.

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Endre Holen is a top Senior Partner at McKinsey and Company, the world’s leading management consulting firm. In his 25+ years as a consultant, he’s successfully led the global Tech Media and Telecom practice and been a leading advisor for some of the world’s most influential CEOs.

But Endre’s humble beginnings of growing up in a small town in Norway were far from the world of executive coaching and global management consulting. Persevering through set-backs and personal limitations, Endre embodies what it means to step outside your comfort zone and achieve far beyond what you ever dreamed possible.

In the video above, Endre will take you on a journey of his professional and personal perseverance and adventures – sharing the lessons he’s learned that he wished he knew as a college student and how to put those skills and mindsets into practice today.

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Phyllis Campbell is the Chairman, Pacific Northwest for JPMorgan Chase & Co. She is the firm’s senior executive in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho across businesses, representing JPMorgan Chase & Co. at the most senior level to clients.

Phyllis holds an EMBA from the Foster School, a B.A. from Washington State University, and is a graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School at the University of Washington, as well as Stanford University’s Executive Management Program. Phyllis also holds honorary doctorates from Whitworth University and Gonzaga University.

In the video above, Phyllis examines the importance of corporate culture as it relates to her own personal history, her work as a business leader, as well as several macro trends happening in the world over the past few years. The discussion includes several questions from the audience and topics range from diversity and inclusion to the #MeToo movement.

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Colleen Brown is the founder and CEO of Marca Global LLC, an award-winning online reputation management firm. She has served as an adviser and board member to many public and private companies and select digital start-ups, including True Blue, Delta Dental, American Apparel, CareerBuilder.com, and many others.

In the video above, Colleen draws on her years of experience as a CEO leading companies through “turnaround” situations, serving on corporate boards, and working in the reputation management field, to share stories and insight on the qualities of a great leader.

For Colleen, the three most important concepts for future leaders are responsibility, reputation, and resilience. Everything you do, as a CEO or simply as a person, speaks to your character, and in the digital age everything you do follows you forever. In the face of constant scrutiny, it’s more important than ever to be able to pick yourself up and try again.

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Phil Mackintosh, the chief economist of the Nasdaq stock exchange, demonstrated his extraordinary range at the March 6 edition of the “Leaders to Legends” breakfast series at the University of Washington Foster School of Business.

Mackintosh opened with a satellite-view analysis of macroeconomic trends that effect the world’s second-largest stock exchange (and the investors and firms who meet there). He offered his take last December’s market turbulence, which he blamed on the entangling domestic and global concerns over the government shutdown, uncertainty over Brexit, a growing trade war, the decelerating Chinese economy, and fears of the Fed raising interest rates.

He admitted that most of the world was still struggling to dig out from the financial crisis, but remained cautiously optimistic about the US economy. “We can’t ignore global challenges,” Mackintosh said. “But we actually have a pretty strong economy here. People are getting jobs, salaries are going up, consumers are still confident. Provided we can keep that going, the US economy should stay pretty stable. We might be able to insulate ourselves. The dynamics that keep us going shouldn’t be affected so much by global trade.”

After a trip to the macro, Mackintosh effortlessly zoomed in—way in—to the microeconomics of the equity markets, including a discussion of ETFs (exchange-traded funds), HFTs (high-frequency trading) and that most precious asset and costly liability of modern investing: speed.

He began with a trip down memory lane, to a time not so long ago when floor traders would hold a phone to each ear, toggling between customer and market in a real-time effort to accelerate trading as a competitive advantage.

Fast forward to today, when trading occurs at breathtaking velocity. “Computers have created a much more efficient feedback loop and the information gets out to the market much more quickly now than it ever used to,” Mackintosh said.

How quickly?

He reported that in 2007, the Nasdaq could print stocks to the tape inside a quarter-second (about 250,000 microseconds). Today, it takes only 17 microseconds from instant a trade is made to the instant that it appears in the market.

He added that this ever-increasing speed does have one ultimate physical limitation. Since most equity transactions take place at data centers in New Jersey, the distance between them and the leading markets in New York City adds microseconds to any trade, even traveling at the speed of light. This “natural geographic latency” means it’s physically impossible to synchronize the market.

“This is why so many high-frequency traders have physics degrees,” Mackintosh said. “Because they get this stuff.”

Next up in the Leaders to Legends series: Nancy Zevenbergen, President & Chief Investment Officer of Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC (April 10), and Etienne Patout, CEO of Theo Chocolate (April 24).

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Nancy Zevenbergen is President & CIO of Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC and a Foster alum, having graduated from the University of Washington in 1981 with a BA in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance.

Once named by Forbes as “The Best Investor You’ve Never Heard Of,” Nancy takes a forward-thinking approach to investment that plays the long game, growing her firm to a market-beating $2.4 billion in assets through savvy early investments in iconic names such as Amazon, Netflix, and Tesla. In this video, she speaks with Foster Dean Jim Jiambalvo on shifting technological, cultural, and financial landscapes, recognizing pivotal moments, and “voting with her feet.”

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