Jared Tate would rather build ties with his family than put on a tie every morning to go to work.
So Tate, a 2016 graduate from the strategic management program at the BYU Marriott School of Business, has looked for a career that minimizes travel, protects his weekends from work emails, and allows him to participate in activities with his family all week long.
Tate currently lives in the Bay Area with his wife and four children. He works at Bain & Company as a senior consultant in the private equity practice, providing analysis and recommendations to businesses. “I love being an advisor,” he shares. “I enjoy the breadth of work and high-level strategic thinking that I experience as a consultant.”
Running the day-to-day operations of a business, such as wrangling stakeholders, holds less appeal for Tate than figuring out the next steps for a company’s growth. “I’d prefer not to get lost in the details. Instead, I like big-picture conversations,” he says.
Even though management consultants often work 70-hour weeks, Tate takes steps to mitigate the intrusion of his work on his personal life. “There’s a balance between traveling five days a week for work and never clocking in,” he says. “I feel like I have found a happy medium. I may not have a 9-5 job, but I get to do work that excites me.”
One way Tate maintains work-life balance is by setting boundaries. “There are certain things I protect,” he states. “I don't travel for work, I never work on weekends, and I protect dinners with my family.” In his current situation, Tate feels that he can prioritize his family while still meeting his career ambitions and needs.
At one point in his career, Tate applied to and was accepted into a top-tier business school for his MBA. However, he decided he enjoyed the current consulting work he was doing and that he was not looking for a career pivot. Instead, he and his wife invested in their family—putting the money that was intended for business school toward buying a home so their family could settle down. “I’m at a stage in my life where I want to focus on my four kids and build ties with my family,” says Tate.
“The things that make me the proudest are my family, the opportunity we have had to adopt two of our children, and my beliefs,” he continues, noting that one of those beliefs is that God puts people on earth to learn, grow, and influence others.
Tate’s goal is to be part of a company with a cohesive and collaborative culture that’s focused on helping people thrive no matter their family circumstances. The culture Tate has sought after in the companies he works for is the culture he found at BYU Marriott. “I loved the strategy program at BYU Marriott,” he says. “Having a close-knit group of people who were passionate about business and high-level thinking was an incredible opportunity.”
Wherever he works, Tate strives to create similarly tight groups, which are often comprised of BYU graduates. “In my previous job at L.E.K. Consulting, there were 18 people who had graduated from BYU. We formed a close-knit community of people who were progressing in their careers and trying to make an impact while maintaining their spirituality,” he says.
Another legacy leftover from Tate’s time at BYU Marriott is his current involvement in extracurricular activities. “I like to fill my life with activities outside of my core job,” Tate says. “At the business school, being involved in clubs, doing volunteer work, and being spiritually active were more important than just getting a 4.0. That has absolutely translated to my career approach.”
Currently, Tate is a board member of MicroBusiness Mentors, a nonprofit he started working with while at BYU Marriott. He has also volunteered as an advisor for United Way, an organization that fights for the health, education, and financial stability of every person in every community.
“I loved the clubs that BYU Marriott offered while I was at school. I gained a lot of experience working in teams, which differentiated me in the workforce. Even now, extracurricular activities continue to be important, and I’m surprised at how low a priority they are for my colleagues,” says Tate. “At BYU Marriott, I learned that I needed and wanted to be involved. For me, it’s about the communities I build and the people I serve.”
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Writer: Liesel Allen
