“Being a homegrown Los Angeles native, I thought of no better school to go to than USC. I really wanted to double down on my education and increase my business acumen,” adds Konialian. In his role now, he focuses on market management, including operations and strategy, as well as HR initiatives such as hiring and onboarding for employees.

Prior to Alto, Sarah worked for the Los Angeles Rams as a Partnership Marketing Manager, where she developed and managed physical and digital activations for multiple brand partners. While working in the sports industry, she was approached to become one of Alto’s Marketing Managers, to oversee the Los Angeles market’s customer acquisition and growth strategy and execution.

“It was really enticing to work at a startup like Alto, the camaraderie really called my attention. It is a collaborative environment where everyone across markets works closely together towards the common goal of growing the company. It is really fun to have the opportunity to try new ideas and marketing tactics to see what resonates with Alto’s customers,” she adds.

While at USC, Sarah was a part of the Women’s Tennis team and was a student athlete ambassador. She studied Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing and Leadership and Organization. She was a member of the Sports Business Association during her tenure.

She offers her advice to current students: “Talk to as many people as possible, meet as many people as you can. Upon graduation from Marshall, everyone is doing amazing things and you never know what connection is sitting next to you in one of your business classes. Maybe your paths cross 10 years down the line and the best part of being a Marshall alumni is that we want to help each other and see each other succeed. Anything you can do to make those connections while you’re in school is so important,” adds Teichner.