From Home to Rome: Taking the First Step Abroad

The Geography of Opportunity

In this episode of Gumbo of Opportunities, we preview Loyola University New Orleans College of Business’s upcoming conference on the geography of innovation, knowledge spillovers, and entrepreneurship. Building on ideas from last year’s discussions, we explore how timing, place, and policy shape the way investment turns into entrepreneurial opportunity.

From Home to Rome: Taking the First Step Abroad

In this episode, Nina Drozd ’27 joins guest host Samantha Guillotte ’26, CIB marketing intern and Rome Summer Session alum, to reflect on Nina’s first-ever experience traveling outside the U.S. and studying abroad in Italy. Nina shares how family played a key role in her decision to study abroad, and why the Rome Summer Session felt like the perfect stepping stone on her path toward becoming a lawyer. From pre-departure nerves to daily life in Rome, she offers an honest look at what it’s really like to live, learn, and grow abroad for the first time. Curious what your own experience in Rome could look like? This episode gives a firsthand perspective on taking that leap.🎧 Learn more about the program at studyabroad.loyno.edu [http://studyabroad.loyno.edu]. Applications for 2026 close March 1st!

Makeup, Markets & Missed Opportunities: The Global Sephora Gap

In the final episode of the Fellows Podcast series, Eldana Tesfaye and Isabella Castillo compare the beauty industries in Honduras and Ethiopia, uncovering why major cosmetic retailers like Sephora still aren’t there. They discuss affordability, cultural beauty norms, and the barriers shaping access to makeup.

Location matters. Main differences between Spain and the U.S. through the eyes of college students.

In the fourth episode of the Fellows Podcast series, International Business Fellows Pablo Marquez Martinez and Santiago Lorenzo Gallo discuss the main differences between Spain and the U.S. through the eyes of college students. They compare food, college life, work–life balance, social culture, and more in this fun and insightful debate on what it really means to be a student on each side of the Atlantic — and what both countries can learn from each other.

The impact of study abroad on students’ global competence

In the third episode of the Fellows Podcast series, International Business Fellows Amber Harp interviews Mr. Craig Howat discussing how study abroad programs can impact global competence and career prospects of college students.