Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to the "Who Are You?" 

• 0:30 Who is Mila Iuteri?  

• 0:49 What led Mila to Quinnipiac 

• 1:40 How the 3+1 business program is shaping Mila’s career path 

• 3:47 Mila’s key connection with a professor  

• 4:26 Mila’s work as a marketer and content creator  

• 6:42 Mila’s takeaways from her work at Quinnipiac  

• 7:23 Hosting the 2025 GAME Forum in New York City  

• 8:14 How Quinnipiac prepared Mila for the professional worl

Transcript

Joel Vanner: Welcome to the second episode of “Who Are You?” podcast, where I'm joined by college students who are up to some seriously cool stuff outside of the classroom. My name is Joel Vanor inside the podcast studio at Quinnipiac University, and I am joined today by Mila I Teri. Welcome to the show, Mila. 

Mila Iuteri: Hi, thank you for having me. 

Joel Vanner: I bet you can guess by the name of the podcast what my first question to you is going to be. And that question is, Who are you? 

 Mila Iuteri: Obviously, my name's Mila. I'm a third year marketing major and business analytics minor in the three plus one accelerated program, and I'm from North Brantford, Connecticut. 

Joel Vanner: From Connecticut. Something we have in common. So being from Connecticut, we're at Quinnipiac, which is in Connecticut. I'm wondering how Quinnipiac came into the picture for you. 

Mila Iuteri: So, I always grew up with Quinnipiac events. I have a cousin with Down syndrome, and he was in a program where we always got tickets to different sports games. So it's yeah. I've absolutely loved it. I went to, like, hockey games, basketball, even, like, the tumbling tournaments. So I really enjoyed just always being around here. So growing up, I was like, This is home. This is where I'm going to be. 

Joel Vanner: So you're familiar with Quinnipiac. How did you end up becoming a student?

Mila Iuteri: So, I went on different tours to a bunch of different schools, and there was one school that had a business tour, and they had marketing as one of the divisions. And I met this professor there who was actually previously a marketer for Martha Stewart, and he just blew me away with his presentation, and I knew I wanted to do marketing, but it had to be at Quinnipiac. Joel Vanner: Tell me a little bit about the marketing program and your experiences you've had so far. 

Mila Iuteri: I mean, I've absolutely loved it. I'm in my third year, so I'm almost done with the three for the three plus one. But I've been in all sorts of amazing classes. I've had professors that I've absolutely loved. I've made friends along the way, and it's really just been a great opportunity for me to grow my skills as I'm getting ready for my career. 

Joel Vanner: So now you said you're just finishing up your third year in the program. What's been your favorite marketing course that you've taken so far? 

Mila Iuteri: Definitely my MK 332. 

Joel Vanner: What does that mean? 

Mila Iuteri: So that is advertising and integrated brand promotion. I had it with Christine Smith, and it was just so awesome. I mean, I would recommend that class to anyone that is thinking of taking marketing. 

Joel Vanner: What's the biggest takeaway from that class? 

Mila Iuteri: I mean, that class was everything that I wanted for myself wrapped into one thing. I was able to do fake campaigns. I was able to do little social media posts, learn about the different ways that you could actually market products or schools or activities, anything in general. And the fact that I had a professor that was able to be in the industry while teaching was just really cool to me. 

Joel Vanner: That's really cool. You said she's in the industry. What does she do? 

Mila Iuteri: So she works at Quinnipiac University for the Office of Marketing and Communications. So it was really cool to see that she can have a career in that industry, but also teach it at the same time. And also, one thing about me is I always like to stand out in class. I sit front and center in all my classes. 

Joel Vanner: That's nerve-racking. 

Mila Iuteri: It definitely is. 

Joel Vanner: The seats always open when Mila walks in. 

Mila Iuteri: Yep, I'm sitting right there. And the reason I do that is to make a point. No matter what class I'm in, I want to be the one that shows my commitment. And even on the first day of school and the last day of school, I shake every professor's hand, and definitely the same happened for her because I wanted to make sure that she knew who I was, and I wanted any professor to know I'm here for a purpose, and I'm here because I want the best for my career. 

Joel Vanner: And how have those connections you've made with your professors helped you outside of the classroom? 

Mila Iuteri: So with Christine Smith, I mean, every single class, I would talk to her before class, after class, and we would just have conversations about anything, whether it be school of business or just the class in general, I would have conversations with her just to make sure that I'm knowing exactly what I need to do. And when it came to finding a job for myself in the summer, I felt comfortable enough to turn to her and say, I'm looking for a job of some sort over the summer. Can you help me? 

Joel Vanner: It's awesome to have that connection right there with. 

Mila Iuteri: I mean, I felt comfortable enough to do it because I put myself out there from day one. So I asked her, What can she do for me? She sent me a link to Quinnipiac Productions. 

Joel Vanner: Oh, Quinnipiac Productions. That's the in house photo and video production house for the university. That's really cool. I worked there when I was a student, too. 

Mila Iuteri: Oh, my God. 

Joel Vanner: Yes. Yeah, I worked there for 3.5 to four years. It was really awesome experience, but I'm sure it's grown a lot since I've been there. What do you do there?

Mila Iuteri: I mean, everything that happened in that MK 332 class is pretty much what I do for every single day work. 

Joel Vanner: I mean, well, balancing your classwork and everything else you have going. 

Mila Iuteri: Oh, absolutely, absolutely. So I do all sorts of social media ads. I also do different campaigns that happen throughout the school. I help out with all sorts of production from the pre-production to the middle distribution, all the way to the end. So I'm really just from start to finish all about marketing. 

Joel Vanner: And what's been your favorite campaign to work on so far? 

Mila Iuteri: So my absolute favorite was the Quinnipiac Student Choice Awards, and that's basically where students get to vote on their favorite places, whether it be favorite coffee spot or favorite New Haven pizza place. So I did so much with that project, and it was so nice to actually lead a project on my own. 

Joel Vanner: Right, and that involved the community, too. So going out to the different areas around here would be the students’ choice. 

Mila Iuteri: Yeah. So we started off by having the students vote on their favorite places based on the different categories that we had. And then when we actually got all of the results, I had to look up all of the places addresses, phone numbers and give them all a call. I mean, it was really about kind of having that sales into it as well, just being like, Hi, congratulations. Like, you just won Quinnipiac's 2024 Student Choice Awards. 

Joel Vanner: So, kind of, like, cold calling them.  

Mila Iuteri: Absolutely. Yes. Because you have to be prepared for any reaction that they're going to have. And then it came down to booking with them a good time that works, having the video crew, the camera crew that are ready for us to have students come in. I had to recruit people. So I was really there for every single piece, just making sure that everything went smoothly, presenting the awards, and then also helping edit the footage. 

Joel Vanner: Yeah, that's all really cool. What's the number one thing you learned in that process about yourself? 

Mila Iuteri: It definitely made me feel more confident as a woman in business. I mean, being able to lead a project on my own. Here I am never really having something that I took lead on in marketing. And then my boss, Peter Gale, said, Here's an assignment. It's up to you. And then having the confidence to put it all together is honestly the most rewarding thing that I could have done.  

Joel Vanner: I hate to ask you because it sounds like the student choice awards have taken up a lot of your time, and that's been a pretty big project. What else have you worked on that may be cool? 

Mila Iuteri: So I'm actually really excited to finally announce that I am going to be a co-host/MC for the Quinnipiac GAME Forum. 

Joel Vanner: Congratulations. 

Mila Iuteri: Thank you. Like, to say that I am astatic is an understatement; I mean, this thing is huge. 

Joel Vanner: And you're not shy, as we know. 

Mila Iuteri: I mean, no, I definitely love to be bubbly and enthusiastic. And now I get to do it for the world's largest student run financial conference, and it's absolutely ginormous. We have over 1,500 students from all over the world. We have guest guest speakers from Wall Street. I mean, this thing is ginormous in the heart of New York City. So to say I'm excited, it's definitely definitely definitely an understatement. 

Joel Vanner: So you've been able to have all of these experiences during your time here at Quinnipiac, but you're gonna graduate soon, and you're gonna be out in the real world. How do you think all this is helping prepare you for that? 

Mila Iuteri: I'm going to put it like this. If I didn't do everything that I've done with making connections with the professors on the first day of school, speaking up with Christine and asking for an opportunity for a job and that's a connection for life right there. Oh, absolutely. I mean, I consider her a friend now, as well, and it's so nice that I have a professor that I've been so close with that I can actually now call a friend of mine and also a coworker. So one thing that's really cool as well is if I didn't take this job at Quinnipiac Productions, I wouldn't be able to say that I'm a co host for the World Lurgis student run conference. I wouldn't be able to say that I took on a project my first month of having a job here. I wouldn't be able to say that I'm a part of so many different campaigns. So I definitely think that all of these experiences combined formed me. It made me a better businesswoman. It made me a better person. And I feel like I am so prepared for whatever comes my way with my future career. And I feel like if anything were to go wrong, I now know how to handle it. And if I didn't do everything I did before this moment, I wouldn't have known. 

Joel Vanner: And so if you could look back on your time, reflecting on your experiences for those who may be in the position you were in three years ago, deciding where to go to school, what to study, what's your parting words of wisdom for them? 

Mila Iuteri: Be the person that sits front and center. And even though it's very nerve-racking, even if you don't want to be the person that's front and centre. 

Joel Vanner: We're gonna run out of center seats in classrooms. I know. 

Mila Iuteri: I know. But even if you're not the one that's front and center, be the person that makes that statement. I mean, be the person that shakes your professor's hand. B the person that raises your hand and asks a question. B the person that shows your enthusiasm because you might just find your next. 

Joel Vanner: I think what's hard about that is doing it the first time, right? You have to shake your professor's hand for the first time. You have to be the first person in your class to do that. Your classmates may see you do that, maybe a little weird. But I think overcoming that, once you overcome that and do it once, it's fine going forward. 

Mila Iuteri: Absolutely. I mean, if you don't ever try it, you're not going to know what's going to happen next. 

Joel Vanner: Well, that is a rap for this episode of “Who Are You?” Thank you, Mila, for joining me today and letting us get to know who you are. 

Mila Iuteri: Thank you. It's been a pleasure to be here. 

Joel Vannner: If you like today's episode, be sure to like and subscribe and find us on Apple and YouTube and wherever else you get your podcast and be sure to join me right back here next time when I ask my next guest, who are you?