On the first official day of BYU Marriott’s 2011 Europe Business study abroad, two students took a photo together at a windy lighthouse in Edinburgh, Scotland.
As the trip progressed—with stops in the UK, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy—the two students sat next to each other on long bus rides and went sightseeing together. “Traveling in a big group can be chaotic. In Amsterdam, we made a deal that we would keep track of each other,” says Kandace Pope Hyland, who earned her BS in management with an emphasis in marketing management in 2011.
Kandace’s travel buddy, Chad Hyland, eventually became her travel hubby; the two married in March 2012. “Because we had all of these insane experiences together in Europe, I was nervous when we started dating after the study abroad,” Kandace says. “I wanted to spend time with him in very normal situations and make sure we still enjoyed each other’s company.”
The couple—who had followed the no-dating-on-a-study-abroad rule—planned a casual first date when they got back to Utah. “We went to Costco, and then we got snow cones,” says Chad, who earned his BS in management with an emphasis in finance in 2012. “And we realized we genuinely liked being together.”
The Hylands’ professional journeys have also taken them across the country together. Upon graduation, Kandace began working in marketing at Certiport, first in Utah and then remotely from Minnesota when Chad took a job at Target’s corporate office as a business analyst. They volunteered as copresidents of the Minneapolis Chapter of the BYU Management Society until 2015, when Chad accepted a job at Home Depot in Atlanta. “It was -20 in Minneapolis with windchill the day we moved,” Chad says. “My dad and I drove a moving truck to Atlanta where it was over 80 degrees—more than a 100-degree change.”
Kandace and Chad loved their time in Atlanta, especially the warmth and sunshine. While there, Kandace began working for Internap, an IT services company. However, in 2022 the couple decided to pack their bags again and return to Utah. Chad continued with Home Depot as a regional live goods merchant until Traeger offered him a role to lead product management for its grill category, a job he began in July 2023. “Home Depot gave me some incredible opportunities, but when I was offered the Traeger job, I couldn’t turn it down,” Chad says.
Kandace also made a career move in 2020 when she landed a position at Salesforce, where she is now director of field marketing. The company encourages its employees to volunteer, and Kandace uses that time to oversee marketing and public relations for Their Story Is Our Story, a nonprofit that collects and shares refugees’ experiences. “We utilize their stories to correct misconceptions and to drive action,” she says. “We’re working on different legislation to help refugees, and we offer internships and free curriculum for schools that connect students with the people behind the ‘refugee’ label.”
The Hylands, who now reside in Draper, Utah, enjoy playing with their puppy, visiting local restaurants, and smoking food on their Traeger, but traveling is still their favorite hobby. They have returned to Europe multiple times, even recreating photos from their original adventure together. “We’ve had a lot of great experiences since our journey began on the study abroad,” Kandace notes, “and we’re looking forward to many wonderful adventures ahead.”
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Written by Emily Edmonds
This article was highlighted in the Alumni News section of Marriott Alumni Magazine's fall 2024 edition.
