Oceanside CA— MiraCosta College Associate Instructor Ali Mohareri likes to introduce the students in his business classes to real-world situations by including guest speakers into his lesson plans. The strategy has been so successful, a number of his students have landed jobs and internships through a burgeoning working relationship with an Encinitas Chick-fil-A franchise.
“It’s been a very good partnership that benefits our students and helps them learn more about the business world,” Mohareri said.

The partnership began shortly after Mohareri began teaching Introduction to Business, Customer Service, and Business Communication at MiraCosta College. Mohareri, who has a master’s degree in business administration from UC Irvine, came to MiraCosta College with more than 20 years of experience from the medical diagnostics industry in various strategic sales, marketing, management and training roles. Fortune 500 corporations he once worked for include Johnson & Johnson, Quest Diagnostics and Bausch & Lomb. He also led smaller and start-up organizations in sales management and marketing capacities, thus bringing to the classroom a broad understanding of how organizations from different sizes, cultures and leadership operate and behave.
His teaching strategy includes bringing business people into his class to share their lessons and experiences. “Students need to see how what they are learning in the classroom is applied in the real world,” Mohareri said. “They need to learn more than just theory.”
Enter Glenn Murdock, owner/operator of the Encinitas Chick-fil-A restaurant, who discusses branding and mission statements, marketing, and the ins and outs of franchising during his guest lectures. Before too long, Murdock found himself hiring some of the students.
“Every time I speak to one of his classes, we get one or two students who end up coming to our company,” said Murdock. “We’re a small business, so everyone who works here wears a lot of hats and gets experiences in a lot of different areas. And usually, the people we hire from MiraCosta College get on the track to a leadership position.”
Last summer, Murdock expanded the relationship by offering a formal marketing and social media internship to a Mohareri student, who earns college credit while being paid. “She’s doing a wonderful job,” Murdock said. “The students who come over here are hard working and industrious and show a high level of maturity. We couldn’t be happier.”