After returning home from her mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Emma Houghton resurrected two pre-mission interests in unexpected ways. Her dancing talents reignited in the form of clogging, and she pursued a major that fueled her passion for bringing people together: the experience design and management (ExDM) program at the BYU Marriott School of Business.
Houghton started at BYU in 2017 then left for her mission in Lima, Peru, in summer 2018. Before leaving for her mission, Houghton took an introductory experience design and management course—ExDM 300: Creating a Good Life—at the recommendation of a friend. Houghton immediately resonated with the concepts in the class and entered the major after she returned home in 2020. She is currently a senior in the program, and one of her favorite classes so far was ExDM 404: Experience Design, which teaches students skills such as design thinking and experience mapping.
“I met almost all of my friends in the ExDM program while taking ExDM 404 from Mat Deurden,” she shares. “The class taught me how to be creative in different ways and how to use the talents of other members of my team to solve problems. At the beginning of the class, I was placed into a group, and we identified a problem in the community. Our group was challenged to creatively come up with a way to solve that problem. Throughout the semester, we worked together to develop a prototype solution.”
Houghton’s group chose to design a solution for people who have a difficult time finding roommates or places to live in Utah County. Her team created an application similar to a dating app where users can find someone to live with who shares their needs and interests.
The skills Houghton learned in this design-thinking class prepared her for her time as a recreation and activities intern at Grand Palms Resort in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, in summer 2021. “I used the creative problem-solving skills that I gained in my design-thinking class whenever we encountered a problem at the resort,” she says.
The internship also helped her cultivate better customer-service skills. “I frequently helped at the front desk, and I learned how to ensure customers were taken care of and that they had an enjoyable experience,” she adds. “I know my customer-service experience will be useful throughout my career.”
Houghton, a native of Fort Collins, Colorado, applies her customer-service skills in her current job in the advisement office at BYU Marriott. She helps pre-business students who are unsure about which major to pursue. “Often the students don’t know which program is the best fit for them, or they have questions about the application process and which classes to take,” she explains. “As a student employee in the advisement office, I help students plan out their future class schedules and try to find a program they will enjoy.”
Houghton feels lucky to have found a program that she loves. “What I love about the business majors at BYU Marriott, specifically my ExDM program, is that the available career paths after graduation are endless,” she says. “The ExDM program has prepared me for dozens of different scenarios, because I’ve taken everything from venue-management and marketing classes to hospitality and sports-management classes. All of these courses help me develop a unique skill set.”
Outside of class, one of Houghton’s current hobbies is clogging. She danced for 11 years before coming to college, but the sport became too time consuming, so she eventually quit. However, during her freshman year at BYU, Houghton took a clogging class because the course sounded fun.
“When I came home from my mission, I found out that my clogging professor had a studio and team in Orem, so I decided to join his team,” Houghton says. “We have four competitions a year, mostly in the springtime, and other events are spread throughout the rest of the year. I have so much fun performing and competing.”
Whether she is performing a clogging routine for an audience, manning the front desk of a four-star resort, or helping students plan out their future classes, Houghton embraces opportunities to positively impact the lives of those around her. The ExDM program has helped hone her skills and talents so she can do that more effectively. “The ExDM program is the perfect fit for me, because I love working with other people and making people happy,” she says.
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Writer: Sarah Calvert
