Price Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation

Aleksandr Agapitov

Founder and CEO, X.LA

Aleksandr (‘Shurick’) Agapitov is the Founder and CEO of X.LA, a new enterprise that includes the gaming industry’s leading platform Xsolla. X.LA is an innovation, incubation, and acceleration hub focused on ideas around the use of blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, NFTs, and other vital, inventive solutions in video games and beyond.

Agapitov started Xsolla in 2015 to connect the global gaming community through technology, creativity, experience, and financial components. As the gaming industry’s leading platform, Xsolla connects and adds value and opportunity for game developers, publishers, IP holders, and investors worldwide. Today, Xsolla’s products and services operate in more than 200 countries and territories with the support of more than 20 languages and over 700 payment methods.

Born in 1984, Agapitov grew up in Perm, Russia - a challenging environment within the old Soviet Union. At 15, he drew upon his entrepreneurial spirit, strengths in math, and belief in the power of education to start an online currency exchange service, transitioning into the area of digital gaming and aggregation. He moved to the United States with his wife Yana in 2009. Xsolla continues to grow its footprint across customers, gamers, and the investment community. Agapitov also carries a strong interest and investment portfolio in healthcare science and technology, specifically with life extension.

Agapitov studied Mathematics and Computer Science at the University of Perm with post-graduate education at Harvard Business School, Wharton, and UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Lari Zelinsky-Bloom

CEO, Zelinsky Company

Lari Zelinsky-Bloom is CEO of Zelinsky Company and 100% shareholder, which is a family owned and operated commercial/Industrial painting and drywall contracting company. Lari started with her father’s company in 2002, learned the business and took over operations in 2006.

Lari and her husband John Bloom started working at Zelinsky Company with no formal business education or construction background. Lari’s background was commercial lines insurance and Johns was Sales. Since then Lari and John together along with her father’s mentoring, dedicated employees and hard work has managed to grow the company as it stands today, which is one of the largest painting and drywall companies in Hawaii.

Taylor Bridges

Employee Benefits Broker, Bolton

With a background in marketing, recruiting, and client relations, Taylor Bridges is practiced at curating experience-driven results. As an Employee Benefits Broker with Bolton, she specializes in fostering cultures where employees can thrive through a total-rewards approach. Her knowledge of talent recruitment and retention allows her to effectively partner with companies on the optimization of their benefits programs so that no matter where employees might be working from, they are engaged. Taylor has been instrumental in employee training and development in her previous roles at Bolton, and is passionate about exploring innovative benefit solutions that will create impact. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration from Azusa Pacific University and is active with several industry associations, including the Professionals in Human Resources Association (PIHRA), Hacking HR Los Angeles and Culture Amp Los Angeles Chapter.

Alexandre Caron (‘23)

MBA Candidate at UCLA Anderson

Alex is a first year MBA student at UCLA Anderson. Originally from Montreal, Alex studied industrial engineering and worked at Accenture consulting for four years in the financial services industry. He worked on digitizing multiple different business processes and integrating fintech startups within larger financial institutions where he developed a passion for financial technology. This summer, Alex will be working at Intuit in a Product Manager role to pursue his passion for FinTech. Alex is also involved part-time in his family business focused on manufacturing, consumer goods and investment management.

Celine Casamina

Consultant, BCR Business Consulting Resources, Inc.

Celine was born and raised in Hawaii, and grew up with a strong tie to family values – as well as the family business founded by her parents. Prior to joining BCR, Celine was actively involved in the launch of one of Hawaii’s first co-working spaces, leading the Hawaii division of a larger Southern California based operation. Celine uses her expertise at BCR to help with various clients across the private, public, and non-profit sectors in their Strategic Planning, Leadership Succession and Development, and Operational efforts.

Celine has studied at the University of San Francisco, and the American Business School of Paris, and holds a degree in Marketing and Management from the Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. In her spare time, Celine volunteers at various nonprofit organizations, such as Sustainable Coastlines, and finds relaxation in the form of hiking, yoga, and being in the ocean.

Daniel Chayet

CEO of CODET Vision Institute

Daniel Chayet is an entrepreneurial business professional, experienced across multiple functions, industries, and company life cycle stages. He is currently CEO of CODET Vision Institute in Tijuana, Mexico, which has grown 3x under his leadership since 2016. Before CODET, Daniel held roles at Abbott Labs (Chicago, IL) and Calhoun Vision (now RxSight, Aliso Viejo, CA). He received his undergraduate degree from University of Michigan in 2007 and MBA from UCLA Anderson in 2013.

Karen Gifford

Chief People Officer, Califa Farms

Bio coming soon.

Brian Haloossim

Senior Managing Director

Brian Haloossim is a Senior Managing Director and has been overseeing the West Coast private client practice since 2008. He joined the firm in 2003 as a financial advisor in the Los Angeles office, providing investment planning and management for high-net-worth individuals and families, closely held business owners, and nonprofit groups, and was named Principal in 2007. Previously, Haloossim was the assistant director of development at Campbell Hall, where he was also a member of the endowment finance committee. Prior to that, he was head basketball coach at a college preparatory school and served as assistant men’s basketball coach for Division I California State University, Northridge. Haloossim earned a BA from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an MBA from Pepperdine University.

Holly Han (’02)

Director Of Special Projects and Steinbeck Family Business Seminar, Price Center, UCLA Anderson

Holly Han is an entrepreneur and business strategist who founded and led media, technology, consumer products and fashion businesses in New York and Los Angeles for over two decades. Han began her career at Vera Wang and developed product for Bloomingdale’s and Anthropologie, authoring the Vault Career Guide to the Fashion Industry. She received her MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, where she received fellowships from the Young Presidents’ Organization and Asian Business League. She also holds degrees from the University of California, Berkeley and the Fashion Institute of Technology, with additional studies at Caltech and Parsons School of Design, and was a professor at Marylhurst University’s MBA program.

Han was a co-founder of MyShape, an innovative online retailer backed by Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Tenaya and featured in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. As COO of SmartWear, she developed a new class of patented energy generating textiles in partnership with DuPont, Nike, NSF and NASA. She restructured luxury chocolatier John Kelly Chocolates as COO, with a focus on profitability and targeted expansion. She was a founding account director for the Taproot Foundation in Los Angeles, providing pro bono consulting for deserving nonprofits. As the managing director of 64North, she led business strategy, branding and digital media for clients including MIT, Target, Yves Saint Laurent and Motown’s Berry Gordy. She is the vice president on the board of directors for CHAMPS Charter High School of the Arts.

Ryan A. Martinez, CFP®

Principal, Advisor, Bernstein Private Wealth Management

Ryan Martinez is a Financial Advisor and Principal at Bernstein Private Wealth Management. He works closely with family business owners, entrepreneurs, and corporate executives as their outsourced CFO and confidant. By proactively recognizing issues and opportunities, he empowers his clients to make educated, well-informed decisions that result in a more meaningful life and legacy for them and their families. Prior to beginning his career as a financial advisor, Ryan successfully led a business unit for a Fortune 100 Best Company to Work For. He earned a BS, cum laude, in business with a minor in economics from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. He is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™, and has completed the advanced financial planning program at Boston University. Ryan is passionate about giving back to the community. He serves on the Dean’s Advisory Council at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo College of Business, as well as on the boards of the Latino Deal Makers. In addition, he acts as an advisor to the UCLA Steinbeck and University of Hawaii’s Family Business Center, and was the past president of the Los Angeles Estate Planning Council. His involvement in these organizations helps him develop key learnings, best practices, and resources that he can share with his clients. Ryan resides in West Los Angeles with his wife, Amanda, and their two young sons. They enjoy adventure travel and outdoor activities.

Laura McHolm

Co-Founder, Chief Marketing Officer and Chief of Organized Living NorthStar Moving Corporation

One of the few women at the helm of a moving company, Laura McHolm had an unlikely start as co-founder of NorthStar Moving Company.

Laura began university at the age of 16. After graduating from the University of California at Berkeley she taught basic programming on Apple computers, then worked in marketing for Atari while the company was still in its infancy, and after law school, she worked as a corporate intellectual property lawyer. In the mid-1990s she moved away from the Fortune 500 to fulfill her more creative, entrepreneurial spirit and co-founded NorthStar Moving® Company with her husband.

Laura coined the phrase “eco-luxury moving services” and is changing the way we move by selling the red carpet treatment. Her fastest growing privately held company is the go to mover for A-List celebrities, The Getty and other movers and shakers and has been featured in Elle Décor, The Hollywood Reporter, Vanity Fair, The Robb Report, Fortune Magazine, CNN Money, NBC Nightly News and more. Honored with more awards for service than any other moving company, Laura has broken the long-held notion of moving and storage as burly men doing one job – lifting heavy things.

Laura has been consistently nominated for multiple awards including: Los Angeles Times B2B 2021 Inspirational Women Awards, Entrepreneur of the Year 2019 by the Los Angeles Business Journal and Community Leader 2019 by The National Association of Women Business Owners - Los Angeles (NAWBO-LA).

Charles Muranaka

Executive Vice President, Muranaka Farm, Inc.

Charles Muranaka, Executive Vice President of Muranaka Farm, Inc., runs the family business that his grandparents founded in 1947. The farm leads the industry as one of the largest growers and shippers of green onions, radishes, cilantro and other vegetables to retailers such as Albertsons, Sprouts Farmers Market and Smart & Final. Muranaka Farm prides itself on value, the best quality at the least expensive price 365 days a year without compromising quality or consistency.

As a boy, Charles roamed the fields and harvested the radishes with the lowest production yield out of everyone because his little hands were bothered by the prickly tops. Summers were spent on the farm moving irrigation pipe, prepping the land for crops and folding cartons for shipping. After graduating from UCLA with a BA in Economics, he was hired in the purchasing department. His father Roy and uncle Harry ran the business together for many years along with various cousins. Charles learned every aspect of the business from the effect of weather patterns on agriculture to unions on the labor market. Charles hopes that his sons choose to continue the traditions of Muranaka Farm.

Chris Rhyme

Founder and Partner, Business Transition Group

Chris Rhyme started The Business Transition Group in 2015 after practicing law and working at a Denver-based, lower middle market investment bank. He brings this experience to bear assisting closely held business owners in comprehensive exit planning, executive compensation planning as well as personal, business, and estate planning. Chris received his Juris Doctor from Pepperdine University School of Law and was the Editor-in-Chief of the Business and Entrepreneurship Journal. He also speaks nationally for Vistage and other business organizations. In his free time, Chris enjoys spending time with his wife, Whitney, and his three kids – Samson, August, and Rosalyn.

Jacqueline Roth

Director of Employee Benefits, Bolton & Company

Jacqueline Roth leads Bolton’s Employee Benefits division. She works closely with Bolton’s Employee Benefits brokers and service teams to ensure client experience consistency and develop solutions for emerging industry challenges. Jacqueline brings a unique perspective to her role by also being an active Employee Benefits Broker with an established client base she continues to serve. She sets the tone with a client-first focus in evolving Bolton’s Employee Benefits service strategy and approach.

Jacqueline is passionate about fostering personal development and growth within Bolton and is active within the insurance industry with the Council of Insurance for Agents and Brokers as well as serves on an advisory committee with the Council of Employee Benefits. Jacque enjoys the advocacy on the hill she gets to do as an advocate for the business and employers. She also is a frequent presenter on emerging trends, employer insurance and communication. Jacqueline holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication from Azusa Pacific University, and serves on the Immigration resource advisory board.

Amy Siadak

CEO, House of Marketing Research, Inc.

Amy Siadak is the President and owner of House of Marketing Research, Inc. (“HMR”), a data collection and focus group company located in Pasadena, California that collaborates with other research companies and end clients throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. HMR’s specialties include multi-ethnic and multi-lingual research. In addition to English language studies, HMR executes projects in Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Tagalog. HMR serves clients in varied industries and works with clients ranging from closely held corporations to Fortune 500 corporations, including non-profits, consumer products companies, advertising agencies, and national and regional research firms. HMR’s managers and interviewing team have over forty years combined experience in qualitative and quantitative market research.

Amy is a member of the American Marketing Association, Marketing Research Association, Qualitative Research Consultants Association, Filipino American Chamber of Commerce, Asian Business Association, and UCLA Anderson’s CEO Forum.

Chris Welton

Wealth Management Advisor & Managing Director, Silicon Valley, Northwestern Mutual

Chris Welton is a Wealth Management Advisor & Managing Director, Silicon Valley at Northwestern Mutual where he leads a team who work together with their clients to implement a financial plan that integrates risk management, wealth management, tax-efficient strategies, and estate planning. Chris earned an undergraduate degree in Political Science, Magna Cum Laude from Amherst College in Massachusetts, an MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management and holds both Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designations. He and his wife Rosa are avid health nuts, love to cook, and enjoy having people over for lively discussions and good food!