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Eccles Business BuzzAuthor: David Eccles School of Business Language: en-us Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
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S9E10: From Past to Present: The Johnsons on Tradition and Philanthropy at Eccles
Thursday, 26 February, 2026
We’re back for more stories about the impact the David Eccles School of Business has on the lives and careers of our alumni, and today, host Frances Johnson is joined by Steve Johnson and his sons Mitchell Johnson and Alex Johnson, multi-generational alums of the David Eccles School of Business, for an “All Johnson” episode on our season finale.Steve Johnson is CFO at Parker-Migliorini International, LLCm also known as PMI Foods, where he has been since 2006.. Mitchell Johnson joined Big Four accounting firm KPMG in 2002 and currently works there as a senior audit associate. Alex Johnson works in inbound sales at Weave Communications. Frances talks to the Johnsons about their family’s multi-generational ties to the U of U,, the campus’s growth and new facilities, and favorite Eccles experiences such as Alex’s Business Scholars trips (including visits to Boeing and Amazon), Mitchell’s semester abroad in London through Eccles Global and other Business Scholars travel, and Steve’s IBM corporate finance internship. They also discuss the value of staying involved as young alumni—especially for in-person networking and forming long-term relationships. Steve shares the reasons why it is so important for his family to give back through scholarships and endowments, influenced by the scholarship support he and his father received and his experience reading scholarship applications on the University of Utah Alumni Board of Governors. They also reflect on how the Eccles School prepared them for different career paths through programs, professional development, and experiential learning, and offer students advice to slow down, broaden their horizons, and take advantage of campus resources and opportunities.Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University.fm.Eccles Business Buzz is proud to be selected by FeedSpot as one of the Top 70 Business School podcasts on the web. Learn more at https://podcast.feedspot.com/us_business_school_podcasts. Episode Quotes:What does Steve hope for his future generations?[31:28] Frances Johnson: Your sons now all three graduates of the Eccles School, and you have just been so deeply involved as a donor, as an alum at the Eccles School level and the university level. What do you hope that they do to stay engaged with the Eccles School? How do you hope they contribute, and what do you hope they're going to gain from that continued connection in your family?[32:02] Steve Johnson: Well, I hope they'll gain the same enjoyment and satisfaction that I did. The ability to feel a belonging, to continue to pass the torch along. The more involved you get and the more involved you get over time, you have a connection to the community. And it's very important. It is part of our community.The power of the alumni network matters more than digital connections[17:38] Mitchell Johnson: In the modern era, things like LinkedIn always are very beneficial to career advancement and building connections. But I think having the alumni network and having all the real in-person tangible connections just goes so, so far. And I think being able to keep, stay in touch with your old classmates, but also meeting people who have been alums for a long time, or who are fresh out of college. It’s great just to build those relationships, because you never know how far those could actually take you in life.The career advantage of staying open to new connections[20:16]: Alex Johnson: I think you never know at what point, like, the perfect career opportunity might come up for you. And I think you never want to shy away from those opportunities. And I think just continuing to increase your network is a great opportunity. I think sometimes what might happen is sometimes people, they leave college and they kind of get so focused in one area, they kind of shrink their network. But I think as you continue to build your network and meet new people, like even going to some of these alumni events, I have been able to meet new people who I did not know in college. And that is a great opportunity because you might be able to meet someone who has been in your shoes but was not the exact same age as you.Show Links:Steve Johnson | LinkedInMitchell Johnson | LinkedInAlex Johnson | LinkedInDavid Eccles School of Business (@ubusiness) | InstagramUndergraduate Scholars ProgramsRising Business LeadersEccles Alumni Network (@ecclesalumni) | Instagram Eccles Experience Magazine
