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Featured Alumni Stories

Alumni Spotlight

Seaver Alum Jenefer Taylor
Jenefer Taylor ('08)

Jenefer Taylor calls her time at Pepperdine transformative. The stunning campus and strong sense of community gave her the foundation—and the inspiration—to build a business rooted in creativity and purpose. Looking back, she feels her experience shaped her passions: home, beauty, growth. Jenefer discovered her passion by embracing what she loves most—creating beauty, gardening, and spending time with her dogs. The result was the BLUEM Malibu Bakery, named for Blueberry, Taylor’s beloved border collie. Today, she is proud to have built BLUEM Malibu from the ground up—a brand that reflects her values, vision, and enduring spirit. Her advice for others is both simple and profound: “Get still. Listen. Trust your gut. Protect your energy.”

Seaver Alum Stephanie Riggs
Stephanie Riggs ('85)

Stephanie Riggs is driven by her passion for giving a voice “to people the world forgot,” which she credits with her accomplishment of winning dozens of Emmys, awards and accolades. She approaches her work with the goal of giving people a glimpse into parts of the world few will ever see. Stephanie’s faith, character, integrity and perspective on life was strengthened through her experience attending convocation at Pepperdine. Her meaningful experiences on the Malibu campus, and abroad in Heidelberg, also motivated her to make daily prayer a part of her life and nourished her strong faith. After more than 20 years in broadcast news, Stephanie now loves to use her skills to curate original content on Divine Calling with Stephanie Riggs YouTube. As an advocate for getting out of one’s comfort zone, Stephanie began her news career in Kearney, Nebraska, and went on to work in Fresno, Sacramento, Cincinnati and Denver. During her time in Denver, she contributed to 48 Hours and CBS Sunday Morning. Pepperdine developed her faith in Jesus, and encouraged her to pursue and learn from the road less traveled. Most recently, she produced a documentary about a Colorado grandma who built a school following the genocide in Rwanda. Stephanie cites her most important and favorite assignment in her life as adopting and raising her now 23-year-old son.

Seaver Alum Neal Turnage
Neal Turnage ('84)

Neal Turnage is celebrating a new career accomplishment with his recently published novel, Another Time Another Peace. Neal says the novel “is a story of faith and perseverance and in the end Jesus, which speaks to Pepperdine's spirit. His time at Pepperdine taught him to approach things from a perspective that was wide in scope and continues to guide him in looking at stories from both sides, recognizing that each is valid and important. Reflecting on his best college memory of Songfest, Neal says it provided him with an increased sense of camaraderie, adventure and creativity. He also remembers the most important lesson he learned during his time at Pepperdine was to be a peacemaker. Neal's advice for students hoping to have their best Pepperdine experience is “don't discount what looks like the least. It may be the most.” Neal resides in Malibu, California, and continues to tell interesting stories while using his passion for creativity as a successful professional writer.

Seaver Alum Deidre Powell
Deidre Powell ('83)

Deidre’s connection with Pepperdine began when her mother attended the university at the original George Pepperdine College campus. In 1983, following in her mother's footsteps as a Pepperdine alumna, Deidre graduated from Seaver College with a degree in English. In 1998, she added the title of self-published author of nonfiction children’s books to her long list of accomplishments. Deidre began her career as a customer service representative before transitioning into the field of education, where she worked as an elementary and middle school teacher. Her work in education continued to expand as she took on several roles, including librarian, tutor/reading specialist, author/publisher, high school English teacher, and English learners coordinator. She cites Dr. Lydia Wilburn (Reineck) and Dr. Calvin Bowers as her greatest influences during her time at Pepperdine, and credits Dr. Bowers with helping her discover a passion for genealogy. Her experience at Pepperdine helped her form special bonds with a diverse group of friends and has influenced how she connects with her students and their families. Deidre is currently a teacher for California Connections Academy and resides in Gardena, California.

Seaver Alum Sharlette Hambrick
Sharlette Hambrick ('83)

Sharlette Hambrick is making waves as the newly appointed member of the Board of Directors of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Her experience as a newscaster at the Waves television and radio station fueled her passion for television broadcasting in both news and entertainment. Sharlette’s impressive career began at WRC-TV, where she demonstrated a strong work ethic and seized every opportunity to advance her goals. This dedication led her to appearances on the Today Show, Nightly News, and Meet the Press. Later, she joined Entertainment Tonight, where she worked her way up to Senior Producer of the entire show. Sharlette’s next goal is to produce original content for film, TV, and streaming platforms. In her new role as an independent board member of the HFPA, she is also committed to promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and mentorship for young journalists aspiring to work in an international environment.

Seaver Alum Claire Armstrong
Claire Bloxom Armstrong ('04)

Claire Bloxom Armstrong has a lot to be #PepperdineProud of. She is now in her 11th year with PAVLOV Advertising, LLC, where she currently serves as the Director of Public Relations and Social Media. She is the former president of the Greater Fort Worth Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (2017) and currently serves on the board as the Professional Development Chair. In 2013, Claire was named one of the “40 Under 40” by the Fort Worth Business Press. During her time at Pepperdine (2000–2004), she recognized Pepperdine President Dr. Andrew Benton as her biggest influence, crediting him with helping her discover her talent and passion for public relations.

Seaver Alum Nathan Rix
Nathan Rix ('08)

Nathan leads with inclusion, authenticity, and integrity at the forefront of his decisions. In doing so, he has founded an inclusive organization and strives to be an ally to Black, Indigenous, and Latinx communities, working to make the world a better place for all.

Seaver Alum Clark Souers
Clark Souers ('94)

Clark has led with excellence and passion since organizing Project College during his time at Pepperdine. His career has since included founding Life Revolution and his current entrepreneurial venture, Expert Effect. Click to learn more about Clark’s intentional advice for the Pepperdine community.

Seaver Alum Montell Jordan
Montell Jordan ('20)

Montell’s departure from Pepperdine led him to a career in advertising, followed by a record deal that made him a Grammy-nominated R&B recording artist and songwriter of the year. After pursuing music, he retired to enter full-time ministry and returned to Pepperdine while simultaneously launching a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Marriage Masterpiece, with his wife.

Seaver alumnus Andy Canales
Andy Canales ('08)

Andy’s upbringing and background led him to discover Pepperdine as his dream school. After graduating with degrees in Political Science and Religion as a first-generation college graduate, he has made it a priority to instill in young people the importance of building and managing relationships—just as Dr. Runnels showed him.

Seaver alumna Katherine Sexton Steck
Katherine Sexton Steck ('11)

Katherine graduated from Pepperdine as part of the class of 2011 with a degree in Liberal Arts, taking many lifelong lessons with her along the way. She attributes much of her success as a Thoughtful Consumption Advocate to her experiences at Pepperdine.

Seaver alumna Jordana Moore
Jordana Moore ('14)

Jordan’s love for Pepperdine has only grown since attending her mother’s graduate school graduation at the age of eight. Since graduating, she has attended Fuller Theological Seminary to pursue a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy with the goal of becoming an LMFT.

Seaver alumna Shaina Russo
Shaina Russo ('13)

Shaina attended Pepperdine because it had always been her dream school. Since graduating in 2013, she has become an artist and published several books. It’s safe to say that many more of her dreams have turned into reality.

Seaver alumna Miriam McSpadden
Miram McSpadden ('10)

During her time at Pepperdine, Miriam realized that her talent and dedication would lead to a successful career in the television and film industry. The Emmy Award winner is a champion of following one’s “vocational calling” and believes in finding passion in every career opportunity. She also volunteers alongside her husband with The Kefa Project, based in Rwanda.

Anthony Precourt ('93)
Anthony Precourt ('93)

During his time at Pepperdine, Anthony’s favorite experience was participating in the international program in London, England. Pepperdine taught him that discipline and making authentic, personal career choices would lead to long-term success. The alumnus is now a proud investor and operator in Major League Soccer (MLS), most recently helping to launch the first MLS expansion team in Austin, Texas.

Flora Ekpe-Idang holding Corage Dolls.
Flora Ekpe-Idang ('11)

While attending Pepperdine, Flora participated in numerous initiatives, clubs, and events focused on diversity, inclusion, and social justice. She currently mentors young girls of color, supports initiatives related to economic development, leads the African American marketing strategy at Target, and manages the Corage Dolls line that she launched.

Shannon Cella painting on the harbor
Shannon Celia ('98)

Shannon credits Pepperdine with helping her build a strong foundation as a professional artist. As the founder of the Pepperdine Alumni Art Showcase, she regularly connects with artists who either discovered their artistic wings on campus or developed them later in life. Shannon’s work encourages community compassion and engagement.

Alum Sarah Ketelhut
Sarah Ketelhut ('13)

During her time at Pepperdine, Sarah learned how to put her goals into practice and gained the tools needed to achieve them. As the Manager of Development and Community Relations at Caruso, she oversees community relations strategy and implementation while also managing the Caruso Family Foundation.

Seaver alum Eric Stoen
Eric Stoen ('93)

Eric realized that the world is small and accessible while studying in the Florence program his sophomore year. Regarded as Travel Babbo, he has been named the fourth most influential traveler in the world by Forbes magazine.

Seaver alum Ben Holcomb
Ben Holcomb ('14)

Ben always had a love for telling stories and was determined to pursue his passion. Loving Seaver's proximity to Hollywood, he decided Pepperdine would be the perfect fit. Now, as author of The Pursuit, and assistant director of marketing and digital media in Seaver College Enrollment Management, he helps others share their stories while producing docuseries like Rising Tide.

Seaver alum David Sheftell
David Sheftell ('09)

While studying theatre at Pepperdine, David learned the importance of kindness and service in everything you do. Since graduating, he has pursued and succeed in two diverse career paths: actor and realtor.

 

 

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