Innovate Carolina and b-school entrepreneurship partner for On the Heels of Innovation podcast

College campuses are known for being places of progress and innovation, but Innovate Carolina and the Entrepreneurship Center are taking these themes to the next level with their podcast — On the Heels of Innovation. 

On the Heels of Innovation is a collaborative effort between individuals at Innovate Carolina and the Entrepreneurship Center at Kenan-Flagler Business School. 

“Innovate Carolina is the University-wide initiative for innovation entrepreneurship,” Brock Pierce, marketing and communications manager of Innovate Carolina, said. “Our goal to move a greater number of valuable ideas into the world faster so they can make the greatest impact possible.” 

Pierce said the entire Innovate Carolina team works with faculty, students and alumni by providing them with the tools and resources needed to make their ideas a reality. 

On the Heels of Innovation is produced by Ted Zoller and Akib Khan. The podcast is available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

“A professor, Ted Zoller, is the voice of the podcast in terms of interviewing guest lecturers who participate in his course in the business school — his entrepreneurship course,” Pierce said. 

Zoller, T.W. Lewis clinical professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship and director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, began the podcast in conjunction with the Entrepreneurs Genome Project and his class at the business school. 

“I wanted to understand the myths of entrepreneurship,” Zoller said.

Zoller hosts the segment of the podcast that consists of interviews with entrepreneurs themselves. 

“We bring in thought leaders from across the country in entrepreneurship, who have generally written books, but most of them are entrepreneurs,” Zoller said. “We bring them to campus, and part of the course, they actually do the podcast.”

In addition to an average of 12 authors a year being interviewed on the podcast, UNC alumni are interviewed.

Khan, a graduate of UNC, produces the podcast. He also works specifically on the Next Gen segment of the podcast, which includes interviews with student entrepreneurs who are working on new ventures. 

“He captures the student voice side of the podcast,” Pierce said.

Callie Brauel, assistant director and center marketing of the Entrepreneurship Center, works with Zoller and Khan on the podcast initiative. She said a lot of students wanted to hear from student entrepreneurs. 

Brauel said the inspiration for the podcast came from a desire to share conversations and information about entrepreneurship with the broader campus community. 

“There's a lot of noise out there that is conventionally known, but conventional wisdom isn't always correct,” Zoller said.

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