Dancing into the Business World

PROVO, Utah – Jul 28, 2022 – For human resource management (HRM) junior Josh Hinton, the BYU Marriott School of Business has influenced nearly every sphere of his life. From his work at a local dance studio to his friend circles, Hinton knows that joining the HRM program has been pivotal for him. 

“I have always wanted to run a small business,” shares Hinton, a native of St. George, Utah. “So when I started at BYU, I wanted to leave with knowledge about the business world.” Hinton says that the HR classes looked the most appealing, so he started exploring the major. “After taking the prerequisites, I felt that HR skills such as managerial leadership and organizational effectiveness would help me the most when running a company,” he says. 

Hinton also felt the most inclined toward the skills necessary to succeed in HR. “I would rather organize people than organize business strategy,” he explains. So far, Hinton does not have any definite plans for his small business, but with ideas ranging from planning live events to planting succulents, he’s determined to make it happen. 

In addition to dreaming up business ideas and taking classes at BYU Marriott, Hinton works as the assistant director for the Dance Centre, a dance studio in Tooele, Utah. He teaches classes and takes care of the administrative aspects of the studio. Hinton has danced since high school, studying everything from contemporary and tap to hip-hop and jazz, but his favorite style is ballet. Hinton’s love of dance, combined with his business acumen and his Excel skills, make him a triple threat for the studio. 

“When I first started taking the business prerequisites, I was also working at the dance studio. I talked to the owner about everything I learned in my classes to see where we could apply different finance and marketing principles,” says Hinton. One of the reasons he felt inspired to study business is because the dance studio’s owner didn't have the skills to run the business side of the studio, and Hinton wanted to help out. 

Hinton is proudest of the processes he put into place to streamline the studio’s finances through Excel spreadsheets. “It seems simple, but doing the dance studio’s accounting has made a huge impact,” Hinton says. “Before I started, the owner finished all the bookkeeping right before taxes were due, which was a painful process. To take accounting off her plate and say, ‘I actually took a class on this,’ has been incredible.” 

This summer, in addition to working at the studio, Hinton is completing an internship with Workers Compensation Fund (WCF) Insurance. A wheelchair user since a bounce-house accident in 2015 left him paralyzed from the waist down, Hinton feels connected to WCF’s mission to provide medical relief to those in need. 

At school, Hinton has found that BYU Marriott is eager to be accommodating. When Hinton first applied to the business school he emailed BYU Marriott's administration suggesting ways to improve wheelchair accessibility in the Tanner Building. Since then, improvements were made in the building to create additional accessible restrooms. These changes did not go unnoticed by Hinton. “The Tanner Building, more than any other place at BYU, is incredibly accessible,” Hinton says.

In addition to BYU Marriott’s accessibility and adaptability, Hinton says that one of his favorite things about the school is the people he meets. “The most fun I experienced in college started once I made it to the HR program,” he shares. “My cohort attends all our classes together, and it’s the first time I’ve actually gotten to know people in my classes.” He and his friends even hang out after school, which is the mark of true friendship, says Hinton. 

“There are so many people at BYU that when I started college, I felt lost,” Hinton says. “Now that I’m at BYU Marriott, I don’t feel lost anymore.”