Chris Kornelis, The Wall Street Journal Journalist Profile

Articles

Traveling Sales Reps Share Their Biggest Trade Secret: Bathrooms

1 week ago | wsj.com | Chris Kornelis

Veterans of the profession swap strategies honed over years on the road; ‘my toilet mentor’When James Williams wanted to get into sales, an industry veteran named Tommy Monette was his guide. Monette got him his first job. He accompanied him on sales calls. And perhaps most importantly, he taught Williams the importance of knowing where to go. “He was my toilet mentor,” said Williams, who travels the country selling footwear, apparel and other products. Copyright ©2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Robert Monks, Who Laid the Groundwork for Activist Shareholders, Dies at 91

2 weeks ago | wsj.com | Chris Kornelis

The founder of Institutional Shareholder Services, Monks understood that corralling shareholder power could provide a counterweight to managementWhen Robert Monks finally got a meeting with Sears Chief Executive Edward Brennan, one of Brennan’s lieutenants accompanied Monks during the long elevator ride to the CEO’s suite on the 68th floor of the Chicago tower bearing the iconic company’s name.
Hasna Maznavi, Co-Founder of the First Women-Only Mosque in the U.S., Dies at 39

3 weeks ago | wsj.com | Chris Kornelis

Maznavi recruited, trained and encouraged women to take traditionally male leadership rolesOn a Wednesday evening in April, seven women gathered on a beach near Los Angeles to pray maghrib, the fourth of five daily Islamic prayers. It was their way of paying tribute to their friend Hasna Maznavi, the co-founder and driving force of the city’s Women’s Mosque of America, who liked to break her fast during Ramadan by praying at the beach before going out to dinner.
Richard Bernstein, Who Pioneered Diabetics’ Self-Monitoring of Blood Sugar, Dies at 90

4 weeks ago | wsj.com | Chris Kornelis

Ignored by the medical establishment, Bernstein went to medical school in his mid-40s to gain credibilityRichard Bernstein was flipping through a medical trade journal in 1969 when he saw an advertisement for a device that could check blood-sugar levels in one minute with one drop of blood. It was marketed to hospitals, not consumers, but Bernstein wanted one for himself. He had been sick his entire life and was worried he was running out of time.
Roslyn Jaffe, Discount Retail Pioneer Who Co-Founded Dressbarn, Dies at 96

1 month ago | wsj.com | Chris Kornelis

Along with her husband, she created a retail empire with thousands of stores, addressing the needs of women entering the workforceThe year 1962 belongs in the annals of discount retailing history. Sam Walton opened the first Walmart, S.S. Kresge opened the first Kmart, and Dayton Co. opened the first Target. And in an abandoned shoe factory in Stamford, Conn., Elliot and Roslyn Jaffe opened the first Dressbarn (which at the time was styled as Dress Barn, two words).
Sven Coomer, Father of the Modern Ski Boot, Dies at 84

1 month ago | wsj.com | Chris Kornelis

He said he was determined to make ski boots ‘comfortable and supportive, which they had never been’Learning to ski has never been easy, but getting into the sport used to be a real pain. You could place a lot of blame on the boots. The leather ski boots that were standard issue through the 1960s would quickly break down and lose their support—especially the rentals that many beginners wore on their first trips up the mountain.
Melody Beattie, Author Who Introduced ‘Co-Dependency’ to Millions, Dies at 76

2 months ago | wsj.com | Chris Kornelis

One of Nichole Beattie’s most vivid childhood memories is the day she heard screaming coming from the basement. It was her mother. The basement of their home in Stillwater, Minn., is where her mother, Melody Beattie, did her writing in the mid-1980s. All day and through much of the night, she sat cross-legged in a cement-walled, windowless storage room—a cigarette perpetually stuck between her teeth—typing on a Kaypro computer with green text that marched across its tiny screen.
David Myers, a Conservationist With the Mindset of a Developer, Dies at 73

2 months ago | wsj.com | Chris Kornelis

When David Myers would walk home from school as a child, he’d often take a detour to explore a gully filled with lizards, frogs and snakes. One day he saw bulldozers filling in the gully, so he grabbed as many lizards as he could and brought them to the screened-in porch of the family’s home in Orange County in California. It was an early glimpse of who Myers would eventually become: a conservationist on a scale that has few rivals.
Edward Leamer, Economist Who Said Economists Were Doing it Wrong, Dies at 80

2 months ago | wsj.com | Chris Kornelis

March 14, 2025 9:00 am ETOne day in elementary school, Edward Leamer noticed that his teacher had written the wrong answer to a math problem on the blackboard, so he stood up and told her so. His teacher took another look and assured him that it was correct. Again he protested, so she asked him to take his seat. “He refused to sit down,” his brother, the author Laurence Leamer, said in a gathering on Zoom to celebrate his brother last month.
Edward Leamer, Economist Who Said Economists Were Doing It Wrong, Dies at 80

2 months ago | wsj.com | Chris Kornelis

One day in elementary school, Edward Leamer noticed that his teacher had written the wrong answer to a math problem on the blackboard, so he stood up and told her so. His teacher took another look and assured him that it was correct. Again he protested, so she asked him to take his seat. “He refused to sit down,” his brother, the author Laurence Leamer, said in a gathering on Zoom to celebrate his brother last month. “His whole life, he’s refused to sit down.”Leamer, an economist who died Feb.