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BYU Marriott alumna Krislyn Powell has a knack for creating connections, whether as a yogi, an administrator, or a volunteer.
As a student at BYU Marriott in the then-fledgling ExDM program, Breck Laing developed transferable business skills to broaden his career opportunities.
Rebecca McCarron Greenhalgh is no stranger to smart wordsmithing, so it was unusual when she was suddenly speechless during an important Zoom meeting.
It was a business proposition that would change the life of Stewart R. Walkenhorst. A colleague was closing up shop and asked if Walkenhorst would be interested in taking over some outstanding retail orders.
Tracey Evelyn Haslam, a 2001 BYU Marriott management grad, was shocked when she took her four children to visit the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC.
BYU Marriott recreation management and youth leadership alumnus Brandon Gilliam can think of few things better than helping young people develop their passions.
Brooke Bradford, the events and programs coordinator for the School of Accountancy (SOA) at BYU Marriott, helps bring accounting students, faculty, and alumni together.
Alumna Jasmine Townsend was able to pursue her passion for teaching and the outdoors through a master's degree in youth and family recreation from BYU.
BYU Marriott recreation management alumnus Nalu Medeiros embraces opportunities that allow him to positively influence the lives of those around him.
After landing what she thought was her dream job, BYU Marriott recreation management alumna Miranda Oliver discovered new passions and interests and successfully pivoted to a new career.
Almost everything is a learning curve when you’re starting a business, and Sandy Whitaker, a 2003 business management alum, acknowledges that there can be plenty of bumps and detours along the way. But as she and her husband, Tim, a physical therapist, worked to realize their long-term goal of opening a physical therapy practice, Whitaker found that navigating the curve was easier because of knowledge and skills she had gathered along the way—from her formal education, her past jobs, and even her hobbies.
When Stephen H. Russell reflects on his life, he is struck by the way seemingly small decisions and ordinary situations have blossomed into extraordinary opportunities. “None of this was part of a strategic plan,” he says, “and I feel grateful when I see all the times Heavenly Father has blessed me.”
BYU Marriott ExDM alumna Katie Allred isn't only providing young people in Utah with adventures to experience, but also with skills to help them overcome some of life's biggest challenges.
Born and raised in Honolulu, Thomas Y.K. Fong has long loved learning about the earth’s natural processes. He originally planned to earn a bachelor’s degree in geology at BYU and then pursue graduate studies in oceanography. But during one midwinter geology field trip to St. George, Utah, a sandstorm blew through the group’s campsite, prompting Fong to reconsider whether his studies had brought him too close to nature for comfort. “Halfway through that cold, sand-blown night, I’m thinking, ‘Is this really what I want to do for the rest of my life?’” Fong recalls.
In 1968 more than 150 students graduated from BYU Marriott with degrees in business management. Kristi Taylor Lawrence was one of the few women in that graduating class.
After BYU Marriott ExDM alumna Macie Briggs Duncan went on a trip to Disneyland, she set a goal to help create enjoyable and memorable experiences for others.
A painter, dancer, and designer, Kari Durrant describes herself as a primarily right-brained person. She intended to major in dance at BYU, but after encountering recreational therapy as part of a class assignment, Durrant eventually made the switch to recreation management. Her new major, she discovered, would enable her to use her creative side in ways she hadn’t expected.
Just before heading to the University of Iowa to join the university’s swim team, John Fellows discovered a copy of the Book of Mormon on a bookshelf in his parents’ home in Boise, Idaho. He packed it in his bags, and before long he called the missionaries wanting to know more. The combination of his baptism into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a swimming-prohibitive injury led him to transfer to BYU, where he joined the Army ROTC and discovered what would become his lifelong career.
Almost every May, between four hundred and seven hundred people, attend a Norwegian Constitution Day celebration at the International Peace Gardens in Salt Lake City and enjoy traditional Norwegian lefse flatbread and Solo orange soda. For more than a decade, the chair of the event’s committee has been 1995 business management grad Steve Affleck, who doesn’t have even a bit of Norwegian ancestry.
Hearing a mix of languages was commonplace for Everet Bluth, who grew up speaking both Spanish and English on his family’s farm in a Latter-day Saint settlement in northern Mexico. Life at home, Bluth says, “evolved around family, church, work on the farm, school, and sports.” He says he had a typical childhood—except that he started driving farm equipment when he was eight.
Emily Codling accomplishes what she sets her mind to. The secret to living your dreams, she says, is asking for the opportunity to do so.
Living without a washing machine and other conveniences was hardly what Kim Kimball Fale had in mind after graduating from BYU. She had earned a bachelor’s in business education in 1977 and a master’s in business education with an emphasis in organizational behavior in 1979. But when her husband, Tevita, suggested they move to his native Tonga for a few years, Fale agreed.
Two women from BYU Marriott's therapeutic recreation major have teamed up to help adolescent girls strengthen themselves and themselves and their families.