Today, we met with two distinguished members of the local Pittsburgh community. Their names were Joe Pietropola and Chef Nima Sherpa. Joe was the former CTO of Dick’s Sporting Goods and shared insights from his career leading technology and innovation. Chef Nima Sherpa was the owner of Grapow, an Asian street food restaurant in Oakland near Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)

Both of them had very compelling professional journeys. Joe Pietropola was a tried-and-true corporate worker. Started after college and went through many different roles and seemed to excel in all of them. He began his career at Koffmans, which was a Pittsburgh institution that has since gone bankrupt and been acquired by Macy’s. He then went to work for Dick’s Sporting Goods and stayed there until a few years ago. The one thing that surprised me was how his team managed to implement curbside pickup during Covid-19 in under 48 hours.

Later in the day, we had dinner and met with Chef Nima Sherpa. This was the first dinner that we had as a group on the Haller Fellowship. Now Asian street food wouldn’t usually be my first choice, but the wagyu burger that I got was delicious, and the fries were crispy. But it was nice to sit down as a group and connect. Ray Jones was there, and he was a lot of fun to talk to.

But what I took away from both of these conversations was that you don’t have to stick to one job; you can change and see what you like. Chef Nima and Joe are two examples of individuals who pursued their passions. Additionally, from Joe, it was emphasized that teamwork is crucial to creating. He and his team created curbside pickup in 48 hours. Also, you could tell how they were telling their stories; they were passionate and wanted to see us succeed. 

Lately, we had the Ireland pre-departure meeting with Dr. Phil, who reviewed everything we needed to know for our trip to Ireland. It also answered all the questions I had, such as the amount of time we would spend in Dublin. We are only there for a short time and then take a bus up to Belfast. Also, we received the schedule, and we will be seeing a lot of things. What I am looking forward to most is seeing the Northern Ireland parliament and meeting the Lord Mayor.

Overall, today was another enjoyable day in Pittsburgh, one that most people never get to see or experience.