The SIP, short for The Coke Scholars Ignite Podcast, shares a taste of the Coke Scholars around the world who are igniting positive change.

Get to know the Scholars we’ll be learning from in our fourth season!

Listen to them here on The SIP.

HOSTING SEASON 4

Jason Shanker

1991 Coca-Cola Scholar

President, Clear Tech Advice

In addition to leading his company, Clear Tech Advice, Jason Shanker is a voiceover artist whose speaking engagements have brought him to clients in 30 countries on five continents. He enjoys lending his voice to the things he’s passionate about — from documentaries and audiobooks to the 2024 Coca-Cola Scholars Banquet and Season 4 of The SIP.

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EPISODE 1

How To Manage Your Finances with Kristina, Bryan, & Justin

Kristina Ellis

2005 Coca-Cola Scholar

Author, Speaker, and Creator of College Ninja

After winning $500K in scholarships and graduating from her dream schools with bachelor’s and master’s degrees, Kristina Ellis set out to help students create their own plan to earn a debt-free education. A speaker and the best-selling author of Confessions of a Scholarship Winner and How to Graduate Debt-Free, she is also a featured expert in Dave Ramsey’s award-winning 2021 documentary Borrowed Future: How Student Loans Are Killing the American Dream.

Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets such as Fox & Friends, The Katie Couric Show, CBN, USA Today, Reuters, Seventeen, and Money. During her tenure as a Ramsey Personality, Kristina was a frequent co-host of The Ramsey Show, which consistently ranked as one of America’s top five most-listened-to radio shows/podcasts, averaging more than 18 million combined weekly listeners. Through articles, live events, online courses, and her work with Ramsey Education, she was able to give young people and their families the tools they need to understand and win with money.

Her newest company, College Ninja, continues the work she has been called to and is carrying forward an expanded mission to help students and their families navigate not just college—but the rest of their lives—without debt. She loves sharing about her personal finance and family adventures on Instagram @iamkristinaellis.

Bryan Rodriguez

2014 Coca-Cola Scholar

Senior Product Manager at Nubank and Financial Inclusion Advocate

Bryan Rodriguez is a Senior Product Manager at Nubank, a Latin American digital banking platform that aims to foster financial inclusion and redefine the way people manage their money through innovative financial technology. Bryan has recently started on this chapter of his career where he will be launching a new product in the Colombian market to improve financial accessibility.

Bryan was previously at Goldman Sachs for six years where he was a Vice President and served as the Head of Financial Wellness Product. Bryan is passionate about financial literacy and striving to help others attain financial freedom. As an outlier from the cycle of poverty that plagues many underserved youth, he has grown to understand how essential an understanding of key personal financial concepts is to achieve financial security and meet one’s money needs. He was able to serve 1.5 million people with their financial journey at Goldman Sachs, and looks forward to improving the financial landscape in Colombia next.

Bryan is a 2014 Coca-Cola Scholar and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2018.

Justin Elliott

2011 Coca-Cola Scholar

Consultant and Finance and Sales Leader

Justin, a 2011 Coca-Cola Scholar and University of Southern California alumnus, brings extensive sales and finance experience, having previously owned his own life insurance agency. There, he led agents nationwide in mastering insurance sales and how to help families protect and secure their finances.

After selling his agency earlier this year, he now advises companies in the wellness space on how to improve their financial and sales strategy.

Justin resides in Chihuahua, Mexico with his wife and 2-year-old son.

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EPISODE 2

How To Start a Business with J.J., Erica, & Nathan

J.J. Jaxon

1994 Coca-Cola Scholar

Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Mission MightyMe

JJ Jaxon is Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Mission MightyMe, a revolutionary food brand on a mission to end the food allergy epidemic, by making it simple for parents to follow new pediatric feeding guidelines that encourage feeding nuts to children early and consistently to prevent nut allergies from developing. JJ founded Mission MightyMe with his wife Catherine and Dr. Gideon Lack, whose research proved that almost 90% of peanut allergies can be prevented from ever developing.

Prior to starting Mission MightyMe, JJ was a private equity investor in Atlanta, a Managing Director of Credit Suisse in New York, and a Fellow of the Thomas J. Watson Foundation in Europe and Southern Africa. JJ and Catherine live in Atlanta with their three children.

Erica Tuggle

2001 Coca-Cola Scholar

Founder & CEO of Cookonnect

Erica Tuggle is a visionary business leader who combines an inspirational leadership style with consumer driven, holistic management of her businesses. After earning her MBA at Harvard Business School, she began her career in the Food and Beverage industry. Erica worked at General Mills and The Coca-Cola Company, leading various innovation and business development initiatives across global brands. While pursuing her career, Erica was consistently challenged to provide the home cooked meals her family loves and deserves. Out of this challenge, she birthed the idea for Cookonnect, a business that connects busy families with accessible personal chefs to unlock access to delicious, nutritious, and convenient meal solutions at home.

Erica is now on a journey to modernize the traditional private chef model in a way that democratizes access to home cooking services. She launched Cookonnect in 2022, which has since been recognized as a Top 25 Startup to Watch in Atlanta by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, featured in Essence Magazine and the Atlanta Journal Constitution, and has raised over $1M in venture capital funding.

After growing up in the Northeast, Erica now calls Atlanta, GA, home for her family, including her husband, their two children, and their beagle.

Nathan Sharp

2004 Coca-Cola Scholar

Co-Founder & CEO of Retro

Nathan is the co-founder and CEO of Retro, an ad-free social app that makes it a joy to share photos with friends again. Before Retro, Nathan was a Product Director at Meta, where he launched Instagram Stories, Facebook Dating, and new verticals for Facebook Groups. He grew up in Kentucky and now lives in San Francisco with his wife and three daughters.

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