Some people might call 15 water bottles excessive, but for Trove Brand human resources manager Blake Marchant, it’s just another aspect of his life where he’s all in. From when he was participating in BYU clubs to now repping his Blender Bottles from work, the 2015 BYU Marriott School of Business alum has always been fully committed.
“I’m an all-or-nothing type of person,” says Marchant, who graduated with a business management degree with an emphasis in organizational behavior and human resources. Marchant has had the sights and sounds of BYU bouncing around his brain since he was a child. “My mom loved waking up me and my siblings by singing the BYU fight song,” he recalls. During his years at BYU Marriott, Marchant emulated the same enthusiastic behavior his mom exhibited at six in the morning. He adds, “I eventually learned to love the Cougar fight song when it was no longer being used as an alarm clock.”
When Marchant started at BYU, he knew he loved relationship management, problem solving, and making things better. “As I explored different programs at BYU, I tried to figure out which major I could find those three principles in,” he says. Marchant explains that the clubs and classes he participated in at BYU Marriott helped him make the connections between what he loved and what he needed to study.
“I knew real-world experience was going to help me figure out my major,” shares Marchant. “I knew I needed an internship.” Through friends, Marchant found an internship helping a small business with its finance and marketing. “I had the opportunity to interact with the entire company, and I realized that I loved working with people,” he says. From his experience, Marchant discovered that human resources (HR) was the right career path for him.
Not one to give partial effort to something, Marchant jumped right into the HR world after being accepted into BYU Marriott. “I didn’t just show up to school and sit in the back,” he says. “I did things to get my feet wet quickly.” Marchant shares that soon after enrolling in his HR classes, he joined BYU’s Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) chapter.
After Marchant’s first SHRM meeting, he walked up to the presidency and said, “I want to learn about HR, what do I need to do?” The SHRM officers put Marchant to work immediately.
“The members of SHRM saw I was not only willing but also wanting to help, so they gave me opportunities to participate in leadership roles within the club,” says Marchant. He immersed himself in his responsibilities within the club. By Marchant’s senior year, he was the president of BYU’s SHRM chapter. Marchant also helped SHRM become more involved in case competitions. "My unsung legacy,” he remarks.
Marchant continues to go above and beyond at his workplace as the HR manager at Trove Brands, the parent company of BlenderBottle, Owala, AVANA, and Whiskware. He provides resources for employees to become involved with the company and their coworkers. “I want to help our employees do their best work,” says Marchant. He is a firm believer of naps and walks at work, and is also intent on providing activities, such as Super Smash Bros. Tournaments on the Nintendo Switch, that appeal to other employees.
Summing up his philosophy toward his school and work life, Marchant says he lives by the advice his friends at BYU SHRM told him the first time he walked through their door: It’s better to be involved.
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Writer: Liesel Allen
