SDSU Classmates (Eventually) Find Their Happily Ever After
Through the years, there have been many couples who found their forever Valentine when they met as students at San Diego State University. For some, it was love at first sight.
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But that was not the case for Adam and Ashley Riggs-Zeigen.
The two initially met at SDSU’s Fowler College of Business during a marketing class while they were pursuing their graduate degrees, but the sparks didn’t fly until several months later while both were working at Qualcomm.
“We casually knew each other from our graduate programs at SDSU,” said Ashley, who currently volunteers at SDSU in the Aztec Mentor Program. “But we really got to know each other after running into each other at Qualcomm and hanging out with mutual friends. This eventually led to our first date.”
After a few years of dating, the two were engaged and they were married the following year.
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“After working at Qualcomm for seven years, I learned how a Fortune 500 company operates,” he said. “But I realized I was better suited for building on ideas in a small company, so I combined what I learned from my MBA program, my work at Qualcomm and my experience as a DJ to form Rock My World Media.”
Surrounding his passion for music, technology, health and business, Rock My World Media, launched several platforms surrounding fitness and entertainment, including RockMyRun, a patented technology that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to sync a user’s heartbeat or steps to the music of their choice.
While Adam was in the process of launching his company, Ashley was being promoted through the ranks at Qualcomm until she reached the level of marketing manager within the organization. In 2018, she left Qualcomm and began a global marketing position at the San Diego office of HP (formerly Hewlett-Packard) where she continues to work today as a campaign and strategy lead.
Two years after Ashley joined HP, Adam shifted positions as well, leaving Rock My World Media to join Founders First Capital Partners as the company’s head of programs and technology. Established to provide resources to entrepreneurs from underserved communities, Founders First Capital Partners was established by another graduate of the Fowler College of Business, Kim Folsom, who earned her degree in management information systems.
While Ashley and Adam have SDSU to thank for their introduction, they both say that their experience in Fowler’s graduate program has impacted their lives and careers in other ways as well. “Adam and I met many people at SDSU that we are still friends with today,” said Ashley, “It also helped me to launch my marketing career and it’s part of the reason I stay connected with SDSU.”
“The opportunities provided by SDSU — especially as an entrepreneur — really helped shape the course of my career and gave me experiences I never would have had without my MBA,” said Adam. “It was an incredibly valuable experience that I still think about, and I use some of the lessons I learned from my MBA program to this day.”
For those SDSU students who are hoping to find their Valentine either on-campus or off, the Riggs-Zeigens have some words of advice:
Ashley: “They say you find love when you least expect it, which was true in our case. College is a great time to meet lots of people. My advice is to make time for hobbies and interests and get to know other people with the same passions. You never know when you’ll find your lifelong partner.”
Adam: “Create a list of 3 – 5 key qualities you want in a partner and let that guide you. Once you find that person with those qualities, you’ve found the right person and everything else melts away!”
