Staircase to Success

PROVO, Utah – Feb 12, 2021 – To Uros Stampe, operations manager for doTERRA, success is a journey that comes one step at a time. Each experience Stampe has had—from watching his father work in manufacturing to choosing to attend the BYU Marriott School of Business with fellow Cardon International Scholarship (CIS) students—helped him uncover his interests and gain confidence in the skills he worked diligently to develop. 

“When you’re active and work hard on things, the experiences you have tend to create new opportunities and surprises, much like a staircase,” Stampe says.

Stampe began climbing that staircase when he was a young boy in Slovenia. His father’s work in manufacturing piqued Stampe’s interest in the industry. “I fell in love with creating tangible products,” he said. Wanting to follow his father’s footsteps, Stampe attended the University of Maribor, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Maribor, Slovenia. While at the university, he earned his bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering. 

He stepped into the professional world of manufacturing by working for the injection molding company Iskra ISD as a project manager. However, Stampe and his wife, Urska, had a feeling that he should further his education. Because Stampe is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, BYU was the first school he considered. “The university is a great school overall, has an amazing MBA program, and is very close to the standards and beliefs that are dear to my heart,” Stampe explains.

After applying to and being accepted into BYU Marriott’s MBA program, the connections Stampe made as part of the CIS program at BYU Marriott helped him apply for his internship at Dell. “A lot of CIS alumni worked at Dell, so my connection with the CIS program definitely helped me land that internship,” says Stampe. 

The CIS program was created to aid international students such as Stampe. Founded by Wilford A. Cardon, the program helps members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who are not living in the United States or Canada receive leadership and business management education at BYU. During his internship at Dell, Stampe not only learned those essential skills, but he also discovered more about what he was capable of. Although the internship’s learning curve was steep and he was hesitant about his abilities, Stampe soon realized that he was performing as well as other interns at the company.

In addition to helping Stampe build professional connections, the CIS program also helped him develop personal connections. “When my wife and I arrived at BYU, the members of the CIS program became like our extended family here in the United States,” he says. The members were not only considered extended family but also became good neighbors and lifelong friends—many were also learning to live as students abroad with children, just like the Stampe and his wife. 

Just as the relationships he made through the CIS program didn’t stop after graduation, neither did support from the program. While at BYU, the Stampe family had taken their son David to the emergency room. Although he quickly recovered, insurance problems remained. “It was just bad luck,” says Stampe. “Issues with our insurance coverage got complicated.”

It took more than a year to solve the issue, which continued even after Stampe graduated in 2019. But with the help of CIS, they were able to overcome this problem. “Throughout this process and even after I graduated, the CIS staff worked diligently to help us,” says Stampe.

Now living in Germany with his wife and two sons, David and Luka, Stampe continues to climb the staircase to success as an operations manager for doTERRA. Within the company, he has the opportunity to observe the many facets of operations and manufacturing. “I’m still developing an interest for different aspects of the company from vendor management, purchasing, order fulfillment, inventory management and forecasting to manufacturing,” says Stampe. “I’m gaining a breadth of experience that will help me in future roles, maybe on a more senior level.”

Stampe didn’t always know exactly what he wanted to do with his life. His interest evolved from studying and working in industrial engineering to studying and working in business. But because he took steps to discover his interests and talents, Stampe can continue to climb his staircase to success.

Discovering one’s interests is one of the first steps. “Sometimes a job will tell you what you’re not interested in. In my case, it was the other way around. The more I tried new things, the more I seemed to enjoy doing them. That exploration helped me get to where I am now.”