Marketing Department

From SFSU to the University of Washington's M.S. in Business Analytics (MSBA) program: Qiwen Cai (MSBA candidate, '25) is turning dreams into reality. As she prepares to graduate with a double major in Marketing and Information Systems, she reflects on how SFSU helped her launch her e-commerce brand and secure admission to the competitive MSBA program at UW.

Qiwen’s entrepreneurial journey began in her Social Media Marketing class, where she ran a full campaign. “Seeing real engagement from my posts was exciting,” she shares. “It made me realize how powerful digital marketing can be.” Inspired by her love for animals, she co-founded PawRise, a pet supplement brand, in May 2024. “Studying Marketing and Information Systems gave me a unique perspective,” she explains. “I learned not just how to promote a product but also how to analyze customer data.” This experience strengthened her MSBA application, where she will deepen her expertise in business analytics.

As she looks ahead, Qiwen is eager to apply her analytical skills in tech as a data analyst while growing her business. Her advice? “For grad school, focus on what makes you unique—your GPA, projects, or experience. For business, expect challenges. Things rarely go as planned, but persistence is key.”

Foo-Nin Ho has been a professor of marketing at San Francisco State University since 1993. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Mississippi and his teaching interests include marketing research and consumer behavior. Currently, Professor Ho teaches both graduate and undergraduate marketing research, consumer behavior, and principles of marketing. His research areas include ethics, healthcare marketing, ethnic marketing, international business, luxury marketing, and consumer behavior. He is also the recipient of the 2023-2025 Lam Larsen Distinguished Research Professorship Award.

Gülnur Tumbat, Professor of Marketing and Director of Lam-Larsen Community Engagement Initiative, is an internationally renowned marketing ethnographer focusing on risk marketing and consumption. Tumbat’s main research interests lie at the intersections of risk discourses, consumer culture, and technology. She published in top outlets such as Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Marketing Theory, Consumption, Markets and Culture, Journal of Consumer Behavior, and also in Advances in Consumer Research, European Advances in Consumer Research, and Handbook of Research on Digital Media and Advertising. She has also climbed the Seven Summits, the highest mountain on each geographic continent (and is the first and only Turkish woman to do so) and thus, as an elite endurance athlete and a business behavioral scientist, she provides a unique perspective on risk taking, pushing boundaries, planning and proactive thinking, teamwork, managing fear, leadership, and project management.

John Gumas is the founder and CEO of Gumas, an advertising and branding agency based here in San Francisco. Having graduated from SF State with a Bachelor of Science in Business, with concentrations in Marketing and Advertising, in 1984, John went on to run his company for 39 years and counting. By equipping brands with marketing strategies to challenge industry giants, John has changed the way people think about marketing. He currently serves on many boards, including the San Francisco Giants Community Fund, the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and the Elios Society. If you’re interested in learning more about John, his company, and what advice he has for students, click “Learn More” to watch his on-campus interview.