Former senior vice president of Starbucks Marketing, Emily Chang, will speak at the Distinguished Speaker Series luncheon on Oct. 30 at the Hunter Welcome Center. 

The Distinguished Speaker Series Luncheon is an annual event that seeks to spread a vision to students of what it looks like to live out one’s faith at work. By hosting real-world professionals and allowing them to speak about how they dealt with similar challenges, the luncheon is designed to help reassure some students who are unsure of their major or career while enjoying a four-course meal.

Chang is scheduled to speak at the event and talk about her journey on achieving her past positions and current status with the company. 

Dr. Dennis Marquardt, director of the Lytle Center and assistant professor of management, said Chang’s presentation will not only shed light on what it means to work as a marketer but also give encouragement to students regardless of their major.

“From a practical standpoint, Chang is a marketing officer and so if there are marketing students there, then there is definitely an overlap,” Marquardt said. “No matter where you are, a Bible major or psychology major, we all have to work someday.”

Natalie Benavides, a junior marketing major from San Antonio, said an event like this sounds like a great time especially since there normally aren’t any events tailored towards marketing students. 

“As marketing majors, there’s not a lot for us,” Benavides said. “Like the Griggs Center is more of a management and finance major based groups but, there’s not really a lot of marketing stuff even though it’s like the third most popular major at ACU.”

In the past, the speaker series was predominantly intended for those interested or associated with COBA. However, the Lytle Center has tried to include other students and faculty members to attend in hopes of a higher turnout. 

“The original intent was to give business students an idea of what a career trajectory looks like, so you could be thinking of those things before you get out there,” Marquardt said. “We’ve changed it a little bit to be more inclusive of anyone who is gonna be working soon.” 

The luncheon will start at 11 a.m. at the Hunter Welcome Center. Tickets can be purchased online for $22.