Skip to main content
Stories

Alumni

Where will your BYU Marriott degree take you? Read about the careers our alumni are in and the interesting things they are doing.
data-content-type="article"
Alumni Spotlight

Sweet Victories

By Sara Smith Atwood
June 24, 2024
For many people, one marathon is enough to last a lifetime. Not so for Gretchen Olson Montgomery.
12 Min Read
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"
Alumni Spotlight

Finding His Soul Major

June 24, 2024
Brad Hales found his perfect match online. But it wasn’t a dating site he was perusing; it was BYU Marriott’s MPA site. “As soon as I looked at the website, I knew an MPA was the degree for me,” he recalls.
2 Min Read
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"
Alumni Spotlight

A New Field of Vision

June 24, 2024
Blaine Meek’s pivot from finance to farming was kickstarted, quite literally, by a cow. When a cow kicked Meek’s father on their family farm in Idaho, Meek wrapped up his finals and hurried home to help. As he dug into the work, he caught the vision of farming and never let go.
2 Min Read
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"
Alumni Spotlight

Learning in the Long Game

June 24, 2024
As soon as Hefolau Lotononga Lavaka heard about the Close Up Foundation’s Washington, DC, trip for high school students, she immediately knew two things: she wanted to participate, and she’d need to pay her own way.
2 Min Read
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"
School News

Living it, up: BYU Marriott’s 2024 Convocation

May 07, 2024
At the 2024 convocation ceremonies, BYU Marriott MBA alumna Ruth Todd encourages graduates to keep an upward trajectory so they can accomplish the task of transforming a world.
2 Min Read
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"
Alumni Spotlight

Faith and Finance

April 03, 2024
After graduating from the finance program at the BYU Marriott School of Business in 2007, Brandon Egan continues to seek God’s hand as he navigates changes in his career.
3 Min Read
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"
Alumni Spotlight

A Perfect Fit

March 22, 2024
From his childhood in Côte d’Ivoire to his Church mission in Ghana and a year-long stint in China, Stéphane Akoki had seen a lot before he even started college. Yet he discovered that coming to BYU Marriott widened his world—and his impact.
2 Min Read
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"
Alumni Spotlight

Giving When It Hurts

March 22, 2024
EMBA graduate Tema Hunkin Laussen had a lot to smile about in 2023. Her company, closed $20 million in residential real estate sales last year. But as much as she loved closing each deal, Laussen’s real highlight of 2023 was opening doors for students through her family’s charitable foundation.
2 Min Read
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"
Alumni Spotlight

The Beauty of Community amid Tragedy

March 22, 2024
Two months after Katie Cherrington moved to Maui, the deadliest US wildfire in more than a century struck her family’s neighborhood. In the aftermath of Lahaina’s tragedy, Cherrington has observed a community banding together and has seen principles in action that are taught at BYU Marriott.
2 Min Read
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"
Alumni Spotlight

Changed for the Better

March 22, 2024
After being surprised by a question in class that told him he might be in the wrong place, Norm Smallwood traded law school for the MOB program which ended up creating the perfect path for him.
2 Min Read
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"
Alumni Spotlight

The Power of an Open Heart

March 20, 2024
Justin Weiss, EMPA alumnus, has lived a life full of unexpected triumphs and hardships that have led to opportunities for personal development.
4 Min Read
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"
Alumni Experiences

From Patient to Healer: MPA Alumnus of the Year

March 08, 2024
Dale Hull, the 2023 MPA Alumnus of the Year, credits his time in the Executive MPA program for giving him the confidence he needed to help people with paralysis.
2 Min Read
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"
Alumni Experiences

The Practicality of Passion

February 13, 2024
Art student Laurel Galli-Graves never imagined working as a data scientist for the Department of Defense. But her time in the MPA program helped her combine her artistic creativity, passion for public service, and love of analytics and machine learning to help further the public good.

3 Min Read
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"
Alumni Spotlight

Creating Value through Inspired Leadership

December 05, 2023
Awarded a BYU Homecoming 2023 Alumni Achievement Award, MBA alum Christopher Clason explained how inspired leaders create value in their professional and personal lives.
3 Min Read
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"
Alumni Spotlight

Degrees of Impact

November 28, 2023
With two bachelor’s degrees and two master’s degrees, Tricia Seguine is no stranger to learning. She’s learned that she can use her unique educational blend to make a positive impact.
3 Min Read
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"
Alumni Spotlight

A Business School Ballad

By Emily Edmonds
November 28, 2023
You could say that Gerald “Jerry” Petersen earned his master’s degree in marketing from BYU because he loved to sing.
10 Min Read
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"
Alumni Spotlight

Mountain Biking and Moving Forward

November 03, 2023
Sterling Petersen has such a passion for mountain biking, he decided to make it his day job. Since graduating from BYU Marriott’s entrepreneurship program, he’s created multiple startups focused on mountain biking products and has built a collaborative work environment in the process.
2 Min Read
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
data-content-type="article"
Alumni Spotlight

Prioritizing People

October 13, 2023
Since graduating with a bachelor’s degree in information systems from BYU Marriott, John Koelliker has relied on authentic relationships in his life to help start his own company.
3 Min Read
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText= overrideTextAlignment=text-left
overrideBackgroundColorOrImage= overrideTextColor= overrideTextAlignment=text-left overrideCardHideSection= overrideCardHideByline= overrideCardHideDescription= overridebuttonBgColor= overrideButtonText=
Next