Alumni making giant leaps in health care, aviation industries

Alumna Katie Regan (NUTR ’16) is using her degree from the College of Health and Human Sciences to take the message of better nutrition to the masses in a leadership role for San Francisco startup ModifyHealth. For Luken Smith (CSR ’16), a love of flying, combined with an innate skill for sales and sales management, are pairing perfectly now for his role as a regional sales director based in the Chicago area for Textron Aviation.

Hear the stories of how Regan and Smith have quickly translated their many small steps in the pursuit of an HHS degree at Purdue University into impactful young careers, fulfilling their own giant leaps in the health care and aviation industries.

Delivering better nutrition message to the masses

Alumna Katie Regan plays leading role in San Francisco startup ModifyHealth

Katie Regan (NUTR ’16)

Katie Regan decided on a career in dietetics to help other people. She could have followed a traditional path and helped individual clients. But Regan was thinking bigger — she pursued a position with the potential to reach millions of clients.

Regan added a master’s degree in business to her strong education in nutrition science and has worked her way up to a key account manager position at ModifyHealth, a San Francisco Bay Area startup that provides specialized meals for people with serious gastrointestinal issues.

Working with health care providers across the country, she has the potential to help millions of people whose quality of life depends on a well-planned diet.

Q: What's an experience at Purdue that made a lasting impression on you?

A: Working in Mackey Arena was a really good time, either working closely with those athletes or in the sports dietetics program, or just going to some of those basketball games with friends. And now I get to interact with a lot of the Purdue alumni in the Bay Area through watching Purdue basketball games, which reminds me of those experiences I had as a student.

Q: What's an experience in the HHS program that most helped you in your life and career?

A: Barb Mayfield’s nutrition communications class helped me understand how to communicate simply and effectively. I’ve done presentations for Head Start in Chicago and a virtual presentation to 2,000-plus dietitians. That class gave me the groundwork to really tailor the message to the audience.

Q: Can you describe a giant leap you've made in your life or career?

Katie Regan explored Australia and New Zealand for six months, spending time to learn more about herself, before joining ModifyHealth.

Q: What important developments in HHS do you expect in the future?

A: When I was at Purdue, we had really good research programs, and I think that research is going to continue to grow. Dietitians will need master's degrees in the future. Purdue is going to continue to grow those graduate programs to really set up alumni for success in their fields.

Q: How have you been involved in the alumni community since you graduated?

A: Joining the alumni clubs was very helpful to me just to get a good sense of who's all out here in the Bay Area. That was helpful from a networking standpoint. There were a number of people that I've met through the networking events that were very valuable or just really helpful when I was looking for a new role.

Q: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected what you do, both personally and professionally? How are you adapting?

A: COVID-19 has impacted the life of every American. I consider myself very fortunate to still be at a job I love, working with a team so passionate about improving patients’ gastrointestinal health through food. Before quarantine, I was supposed to be traveling 50% of the time and working remotely the rest. Due to the current situation, I have not been able to travel and work as closely with some GI physician groups as I had wished. However, I’ve been fortunate enough to work very closely with dietitians and grow connections within this gastrointestinal (GI)/registered dietician (RD) community.

Personally, I’m a huge extrovert. At the beginning of quarantine, I was very much enjoying the time to myself and the time to reset. But now, there’s nothing I want more than to be surrounded by friends and family.

Q: How do you think the pandemic will affect your future?

A: This is hard to say since so much is continuing to adapt. I don’t believe I’ll be making it into a doctor’s office for work until 2021, but I’m thankful this pandemic has taught me to slow down and enjoy puzzling.

Reaching new heights in sales

Alumnus Luken Smith brings love of selling, flying to role at Textron Aviation

Luken Smith (CSR ’16)

Luken Smith loves airplanes. He loves to talk about them, fly them and sell them. It’s no wonder he gravitated toward a degree in selling and sales management, and is now working on his commercial pilot’s license.

With Textron Aviation, Smith has worked his way from sales positions in Kansas and Florida to Chicago, where he is a regional sales director. Smith credits a rigorous education for giving him the foundation necessary to sell airplanes that cost a half a million dollars or more.

Q: What is a Purdue experience that made a lasting impression on you?

A: All my experiences at Purdue were the same thing — hard work is going to get you where you want to go. I go back to cheerleading (Smith was part of the Purdue Cheer Team for three years); and I had never cheered before in my life. Little did I know that it was going to become such a big part of my life. But you take a guy that's got zero experience, and you give him a chance at athletics and see where he goes. Senior year, we were the No. 2 team in the nation. Look at three years of blood, sweat and tears, making the sacrifices to be the best, bleeding gold and black and representing the University. I would say that my cheer experience was the ultimate preparation for life.

Q: What's an experience from HHS that has helped you the most in your life and career?

A: The selling and sales management degree puts a big emphasis on relationships with customers. I would go spend time working with Dr. (Anita) Dale on our sales pitches for sales competitions. I didn't really know a whole lot then, but the thing that stuck with me was being a nice guy and making people feel the way that I would want to feel if I was being sold to. That's what they instill in you. The program and the degree, it's set up so well.

Luken Smith was a member of the Purdue Cheer Team for three years during his time as a Boilermaker.

Q: What kind of connection have you had with Purdue since you graduated?

A: I'm fortunate because my dad lives in West Lafayette. So, anytime I go home, I call it going back to Purdue because home is Purdue. I want to give back, so I’m a member of the John Purdue Club and its young professionals division. Our fraternity (Smith was a member of Sigma Tau Gamma fraternity) has an alumni chapter that I'm active in. I've been a volunteer at Greek IV, an intervarsity Christian Fellowship Program for college students.

The really cool part about being a cheerleader at Purdue is our alumni are so rooted in the program. We go back for alumni events, and every other year we get to go out on the field and cheer with our old teammates, and I did that this fall, which was a ton of fun.

Q: What do you see in the future for HHS or your school in the college?

A: I think that it's only going to continue to grow. Relationships become everything, and I think there's a lot of value in the sales world for programs like what HHS has —  not only the sales development divisions, but the hospitality and tourism program as well. We see that every day in our worlds.

Q: Can you describe a giant leap you've made in your life or your career?

A: I knew when I started with Textron that my goal was to sell airplanes in the Midwest and be a pilot. And I can proudly say today that I'm just a few hundred hours from becoming a commercial pilot. I'm in the position now where I'm living out my dream. I'm extremely fortunate and blessed that God has put me into this role where I have so much passion and desire for airplanes, for helping people and for sales, and I can have this perfect blend.

Q: How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected what you do, both personally and professionally? How are you adapting?

A: COVID has been a unique challenge to deal with early in my career. I wasn’t sure how to approach it since I hadn’t been in the “real world” during a past recession. With guidance from my mentors, I adapted to the new way of life and adjusted my strategy. My job is normally 75% travel, and that has been the biggest change. I’ve seen great success in the last few months, and 2020 is turning out to be my best year yet.

Personally, the virus has affected my travel as well. Not being able to travel to Florida to see my girlfriend has been difficult. The lockdown provided a great opportunity to work remotely from my parents’ home in West Lafayette for two months. I really enjoyed the quality time with them and being able to spend more time with my black lab, Painter. (Named after Matt Painter, our Purdue basketball coach, of course)

Q: How do you think the pandemic will affect your future?

A: I think this virus has changed the future for all of us, and it will take a little getting used to. But even now, going to the store with a mask on isn’t that big of a deal because we’ve adjusted. I hope that through COVID and the election, our business continues to remain strong. I am optimistic that ’21 will be an even better year for me personally and in my career.