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VOICEOVER: This is Alumni Aloud, a podcast by Graduate Center students for Graduate Center students. In each episode, we talk with the GC graduate about their career path, the ins and outs of their current position, and the career advice they have for students. This series is sponsored by the Graduate Center’s Office of Career Planning & Professional Development. 

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JACK DEVINE, HOST: Welcome to another edition of Alumni Aloud. I’m Jack Devine, and I’m here with Christian Martinez. Thank you so much for joining us on Alumni Aloud. 

CHRISTIAN MARTINEZ, GUEST: Thanks for having me. I’m so excited to be here. 

DEVINE: So before we get into your career and what you’ve done after the CUNY Graduate Center, I’d first like to dive into sort of research and learning experience you had at the GC. So what questions drove your research at the CUNY Graduate Center? 

MARTINEZ: That is a great way to start. So first, I started my degree in 2019 in the fall, and I had such a fantastic time throughout my time at the GC. Beforehand, I was really interested in the sexual dimorphism in autism. And I had done some research and saw that the GC had a cognitive neuroscience program would fit exactly what I was trying to go with. And then there was some research, autism research specifically happening at the College of Staten Island. And I thought, okay, maybe there’s a way for me to study cognitive neuroscience, do some research at the College of Staten Island. And that’s exactly what ended up happening. 

DEVINE: That’s really fascinating. So you had this, you were really kind of into studying autism. You wanted to figure out what was going on there. And there was this program at the College of Staten Island, which is part of the larger CUNY system. Interesting, you mentioned that I actually teach history over there. And so you kind of found this connection through the Grad Center and just pursued your research there. That’s Really interesting. So when did you first make the decision to pursue a career as an entrepreneur, and what steps did you take along your path to end up founding your own businesses? 

MARTINEZ: Yeah, that’s a great question, too. So I graduated from the Graduate Center in 2021, and I got my degree during COVID, which had some trials and tribulations, but there are also some fantastic parts about that as well. I then worked for a startup in the same year. So 2021, in May or June, I graduated. And then maybe August of that year, I started working for a startup company that was looking to match people with clinical trials. And that was a fantastic time. I learned a lot. And the best thing about working for a startup is it is fast-paced and you can kind of put yourself anywhere. You’re hired for one job and you have to do many. And some people are not trying to do that at particular stages of their life. But I was hungry and interested to learn. So then I worked for that company and did some other jobs.  

And then in terms of entrepreneurship, there was really just opportunities that I saw that I thought could fill a gap. Kind of the way I think about it is Harvey Dent in Batman, where he’s like, I make my own luck. In the scene where he gets arrested and he flips a coin, it turns out to be a double headed coin. Same side. I kind of think of my career like that, whereas I saw opportunity that and I said, all right, like, let me make my own. For example, there was opportunity for me to work with a colleague of mine using R. So I had been doing some subcontracting work for her, and I thought, okay, like, instead of me just doing random ones, why don’t I just make my own business? Let me see if I can create my own LLC, become a little more official, and not be afraid to fail, see what’s going on. And that’s how it started at all, really just seeing opportunities, putting myself out there, and deciding to take the leap. 

DEVINE: That’s really great. So you had been working at a startup, and you enjoyed the experience. You liked how you got to work in a variety of roles, that you weren’t just constrained into doing the same thing every day. They hire you for one thing, but in that environment, you got to be flexible. But you wanted to seize your own opportunities. You wanted to take advantage of what you could bring to the table. And as you say, you wanted to replicate what Harvey Dent said in The Dark Knight. You want to make your own luck, although hopefully things end up better for you than in that movie. 

MARTINEZ: Yeah, hopefully I’m not fighting Batman soon. 

DEVINE: Yeah, I don’t think you’ll have Batman coming after you, and you’ll be– you’re not going to be two-faced. I’m not worried about that. 

MARTINEZ: I appreciate it. 

DEVINE: But so you kind of were working with a former colleague, and then that inspired you to kind of start up your own operation. But were there any other career paths that you considered? 

MARTINEZ: Oh, I think that after I graduated, there was almost every single career path I considered. There. So going back to the GC, I actually think it does a phenomenal job of providing opportunities for students and allowing students to explore in different ways, at least in my program. So I was part of the cognitive neuroscience Master’s program. I was the second cohort. And for example, one thing that they did was they provided a stipend back for students for doing their own research. So it gave some financial flexibility. So you’re able to explore. They also gave incentive to do your research. And I’m sure like most other programs, the cognitive neuroscience program allows you to find your own research, what you want to do, reach out to labs and then do that. So I was very thankful that I got to work with Dr. Jennifer Wagner at the College of Staten Island, but I could have worked in any of the other CUNYs. And what I mean by that is it’s great that the GC And really the CUNY ecosystem is so diverse and connected that you can do all these different things.  

I’d say another career opportunity that how I was also inspired by career opportunities was the fact that you can take classes at any of the graduate, excuse me, at any of the other colleges, not just the GC. And so I ended up taking classes like at Queens College and meeting other people. And neuroanatomy was so much fun at Queens College that I thought about maybe getting into neuroanatomy.  

But then also, for instance, every single department at the GC, every single program needs a student representative for the doctoral and graduate student council. So kind of me flipping my own coin. I put my name in the hat and I nominated myself and I was the only one that ran for my department. And then I also nominated myself to be the officer for funding for the doctoral and graduate student council. So I think I had an opportunity to work, you know, to work in politics or at least student government and see what it’s like. And that gave me a real opportunity to explore that career path, get a little bit of a taste. And I had such a great time as officer for funding. And I also thought that going into more government afterwards and even thought about running for assemblyman for my district in Queens, it didn’t happen, but you never know, maybe one day. 

DEVINE: That’s a really compelling narrative. So in the sense that kind of the Grad Center is a sort of centrifugal force in the CUNY ecosystem, provided all these connections to other campuses where you could work and do research or take classes. And this inspired you to maybe potentially pursue down that line of research, kind of different than the cognitive neuroscience that you’ve been doing. It also kind of getting involved in the DGSC inspired you to think think maybe I want to get involved in politics. And you still can, maybe I’ll be on the lookout for you running for office sometime in the future. So you were already hitting on this in a certain way by talking about the GC and it’s all those connections. But what role did the Graduate Center have in your intellectual development? And how did your experiences at the GC transform you into the entrepreneur that you are today? 

MARTINEZ: I would say that it has everything to do with my success. I really had such a fantastic time, not only from an intellectual standpoint, from a communication and a social standpoint. I’d say all of my opportunities stem from the GC. I think that it provides anything that you need and/or want, even so much so that, like, I am a graduate as of right now, and I could still go to the library. So there’s still a place for me to utilize resources and connect with people. But when we’re talking more hard evidence, if I can give you an example, so I was in my first year, my first semester, and I had the opportunity to pick my classes and which ones I want to do. And there was a statistics class, and I thought, okay, that’s probably going to be the most impactful as of right now. I could learn statistics, learn R, the programming language that was going to be taught using that class, and see what I can do. Right now, at that point, I’d only been using Excel or some basic graphics. So why not? I took R with Dr. Wei Wang at the GC, and that was maybe the most transformative class I’ve had. Now that I was able to learn R and learn a programming language, I felt like I was more prepared for anything else that I was going to do. And this turns into right now. Part of the entrepreneurship has led me to be teaching at CUNY. John Jay in previous semesters and currently in the master’s psychological research master’s program at Brooklyn College. So I’m now teaching at the graduate level and I’m actually teaching students are exactly what I learned.  

So not only am I able to get a job because of the skills I learned from the GC, I’m also able to find something that found something that I love to do that helped me in other career paths and As of maybe a month ago, I’m technically now a R developer. I developed my first package in R called New York City Open Data, and it’s meant to connect any R user with the New York City Open Data platform. So you don’t have to write any API code or anything crazy. You could just download the package, call any of the functions, and now you have open civic data available to you and it’s free, open. And I’ve been able to synergistically merge all of my career paths because I am now an R developer because I was able to make my package. I’m able to teach R and utilize that package to help my students grow. They’re even using that package to submit projects to New York City Open Data Week 2026, upcoming in March. And without the GC, without all the things that it provided me and the opportunities in the classes, I would never even be here. And never have the opportunities available. 

DEVINE: You’re making a really great sales pitch for the Graduate Center. That it’s not just sort of intellectually, although it seems very much so, but also socially that it’s established sort of communication networks and relationships that have enabled you to excel in a variety of ways that kind of learning this skill through statistics class that kind of this programming language, this R technique program has not just opened opportunities in kind of your own business career in developing this, but you also are now kind of, the student has become the master. You’re going back, you’re teaching at John Jay, at Brooklyn College, and you’re in as part of the CUNY system. So that’s really great to hear. So what were some of the challenges you encountered as you transitioned from graduate school to your career in business? 

MARTINEZ: Oh, man. Probably the biggest challenges is getting no’s. I think life is filled with, with what some people would call failure. I’d call is opportunity. I think of Winston Churchill when his famous quote, I never lose. I either win or learn. And you have to get comfortable with being vulnerable and put yourself out there. And this is outside of entrepreneurship overall, just in a career path that you are going to be told no when you, especially in today’s job market and even back then in 2021, it is grueling to apply to jobs and apply to jobs and apply to jobs and apply to jobs and even from an entrepreneurial perspective now there’s so many times I go into businesses or send emails and they tell me no and you just have to shrug it off okay like that was just one no on to the next one and and not ruminating on it so I think the biggest challenge is not taking the nose as serious and personal. 

DEVINE: As someone who is currently on the academic job market, I know exactly what you’re talking about. It’s very important to not take it personally when you don’t hear back or you get a no or you’re not hearing what exactly what you want to hear. But instead of thinking of it as a failure and perseverating over it and kind of being unable to move on, you take it as a learning experience. You grow from there. You continue to work towards your goal. You set up kind of these other opportunities as well, and you’re going to build connections. And maybe it didn’t work out in that moment, but it could work out in the future. So what would you recommend to current graduate students interested in pursuing a career as an entrepreneur? 

MARTINEZ: Current graduate students, I would say I’d actually recommend getting involved with the DGSC. I think that it gives you opportunities to really take command of either your, of what’s going on in your college and your department. This may sound not as important, but it really provides you opportunities outside of your lab and outside of school. So I think part of being an entrepreneur is really being that Swiss army knife. So if you can gather any amount of skills, you may not think they’re that important, but they may come in handy in the long run. I think in terms of entrepreneurship as well, smile and have fun. If you see an opportunity, this is, this is all supposed to be for you and maybe for other people and filling a gap creating or implementing your own opportunities. And it’s gonna be tough, and you may have to work a long time, and you may not get what you want, but it’s still yours, it’s still an adventure, and to make sure you enjoy the adventure. Does that answer your question? 

DEVINE: Absolutely, I think that’s some really unique, but very great advice that you’re providing for our listeners. Getting involved in kind of the student representation, student politics, and the sort of skills you can develop in doing that and going beyond the classroom and kind of learning how the structure of the university works in a certain way and how you can translate that outside of the CUNY system later on. And then just maintaining a positive attitude. That’s always a great thing to have no matter what you’re doing, whether you’re in academia, you’re in business, entertainment, whatever you’re doing, it’s always good to stay positive. and maintain kind of an outlook that doesn’t kind of get you down and kind of get you mired in kind of your own personal stalemate. So I want to thank you so much for joining us on Alumni Aloud. We really appreciate your perspective. 

MARTINEZ: Awesome. It was so nice to be here. And really, I’d love the Graduate Center. I think that there’s so much opportunity and for any students listening, you’re doing a great job. 

DEVINE: It’s a perfect way to end it. Thank you very much. 

MARTINEZ: Thank you. Talk to you soon. . 

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