Uploaded May 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Tune in alongside your loved ones to see our graduates cross the stage and hear from the 2025 Commencement Speaker, Jeremy Padawer (MBA’01).
Jeremy is the Chief Brand Officer at Jazwares. We are excited to hear his insights as we celebrate the achievements of our graduating class. #vu2025
Commencement Remarks from Owen Graduate School of Management Dean Thomas Steenburgh:
"Congratulations to the class of 2025. We're here today because of your ambition, your hard work, and your commitment. You've reached a milestone that deserves celebration, and it's a joy to be with you today.
I'd like to begin today by expressing gratitude to everyone who's helped you during your time at Owen. I want to acknowledge the faculty and staff who have guided, taught, challenged, and supported you. Faculty and staff, please rise so that we can thank you for your impact.
We appreciate your presence on this meaningful day. I also want to acknowledge the family and friends who have given you love, patience, and support. Thank you for being with us and sharing in their success.
Graduates as we celebrate your significant accomplishment, let's also look ahead at what's to come. Transitions present a valuable opportunity to reflect on what truly matters and assess whether we're on a fulfilling path during these moments when we're more open to change. Self direction becomes essential, acting as a compass to help us navigate uncertainty. The choices we make and remake, how we spend our time, which communities we join, what ideas we choose to work on, and what we choose to let go of shape what we become, and the openness that lies between what's been and what's to be enables us to change direction and improve habits. Almost always, when choosing something new, the path ahead will be unclear, and success will feel distant and unattainable.
Every meaningful, positive step I've taken was preceded by moments of significant doubt. I wasn't certain that leaving industry to become a professor was the right career move. I'm pretty sure my family had an even dimmer view. I wasn't sure that the conference I was starting would attract the right speakers and interesting participants. I wasn't sure that when I was leaving cities that my family would be happy where we were moving. I thought I was moving in the right direction, but I wasn't sure. I've come to recognize that unpleasant feeling, that uneasy feeling, is a positive sign, and I hope, if you don't already, that you will come to do so too.
Also, make no mistake, having a clear sense of direction doesn't mean you must do it alone. Self-direction is about volition, not isolation. It's about staying grounded in what inspires you and aligning your ambitions with your core values. This clarity of purpose will help you find communities that expand your ideas of what's possible and deepen your passions. It gives you the confidence to share thoughts that need work and engage with others who can challenge your perspective and strengthen your ideas. Shared experiences with people you respect provide meaning and depth of ordinary work. The world doesn't need more individual contributors. It craves people who have the courage to seek their own path and the willingness to help others realize theirs.
This is where your Owen experience becomes more than just a credential. It's not just what you've learned. It's about helping you decide what you want to become and what to build next. This community, these relations, this foundation, will serve you well, not because they provide all the answers, but because they've helped you develop the curiosity, judgment and confidence to keep exploring the right questions as you move into the next phases of your lives, I hope you find new communities that motivate you to do your best work and enable you to find meaning in the moments along the way. Thank you."
---------------------------
Jeremy Padawer (MBA’01), Chief Brand Officer at Jazwares, delivered the keynote address, where he gave the Class of 2025 6 Guiding Principles on enjoying a fruitful AND fulfilling career.
1) Enjoy the middle.
2) Passion over money.
3) Be authentic.
4) Do what fascinates you.
5) Harness your ambition.
6) Choose your partners wisely.
To read the full keynote address, please visit: https://business.vanderbilt.edu/news/2025/05/12/vanderbilt-business-2025-keynote-address/
Tune in alongside your loved ones to see our graduates cross the stage and hear from the 2025 Commencement Speaker, Jeremy Padawer (MBA’01).
Jeremy is the Chief Brand Officer at Jazwares. We are excited to hear his insights as we celebrate the achievements of our graduating class. #vu2025
Commencement Remarks from Owen Graduate School of Management Dean Thomas Steenburgh:
"Congratulations to the class of 2025. We're here today because of your ambition, your hard work, and your commitment. You've reached a milestone that deserves celebration, and it's a joy to be with you today.
I'd like to begin today by expressing gratitude to everyone who's helped you during your time at Owen. I want to acknowledge the faculty and staff who have guided, taught, challenged, and supported you. Faculty and staff, please rise so that we can thank you for your impact.
We appreciate your presence on this meaningful day. I also want to acknowledge the family and friends who have given you love, patience, and support. Thank you for being with us and sharing in their success.
Graduates as we celebrate your significant accomplishment, let's also look ahead at what's to come. Transitions present a valuable opportunity to reflect on what truly matters and assess whether we're on a fulfilling path during these moments when we're more open to change. Self direction becomes essential, acting as a compass to help us navigate uncertainty. The choices we make and remake, how we spend our time, which communities we join, what ideas we choose to work on, and what we choose to let go of shape what we become, and the openness that lies between what's been and what's to be enables us to change direction and improve habits. Almost always, when choosing something new, the path ahead will be unclear, and success will feel distant and unattainable.
Every meaningful, positive step I've taken was preceded by moments of significant doubt. I wasn't certain that leaving industry to become a professor was the right career move. I'm pretty sure my family had an even dimmer view. I wasn't sure that the conference I was starting would attract the right speakers and interesting participants. I wasn't sure that when I was leaving cities that my family would be happy where we were moving. I thought I was moving in the right direction, but I wasn't sure. I've come to recognize that unpleasant feeling, that uneasy feeling, is a positive sign, and I hope, if you don't already, that you will come to do so too.
Also, make no mistake, having a clear sense of direction doesn't mean you must do it alone. Self-direction is about volition, not isolation. It's about staying grounded in what inspires you and aligning your ambitions with your core values. This clarity of purpose will help you find communities that expand your ideas of what's possible and deepen your passions. It gives you the confidence to share thoughts that need work and engage with others who can challenge your perspective and strengthen your ideas. Shared experiences with people you respect provide meaning and depth of ordinary work. The world doesn't need more individual contributors. It craves people who have the courage to seek their own path and the willingness to help others realize theirs.
This is where your Owen experience becomes more than just a credential. It's not just what you've learned. It's about helping you decide what you want to become and what to build next. This community, these relations, this foundation, will serve you well, not because they provide all the answers, but because they've helped you develop the curiosity, judgment and confidence to keep exploring the right questions as you move into the next phases of your lives, I hope you find new communities that motivate you to do your best work and enable you to find meaning in the moments along the way. Thank you."
---------------------------
Jeremy Padawer (MBA’01), Chief Brand Officer at Jazwares, delivered the keynote address, where he gave the Class of 2025 6 Guiding Principles on enjoying a fruitful AND fulfilling career.
1) Enjoy the middle.
2) Passion over money.
3) Be authentic.
4) Do what fascinates you.
5) Harness your ambition.
6) Choose your partners wisely.
To read the full keynote address, please visit: https://business.vanderbilt.edu/news/2025/05/12/vanderbilt-business-2025-keynote-address/
