I am a philosophy major at BYU but an entrepreneur at heart. While in college, I started my career in real-estate investing, learning how to flip houses and lease vacation rentals. It was both exhilarating and exhausting.
![Jonathan Engle](https://brightspotcdn.byu.edu/dims4/default/b1f085c/2147483647/strip/true/crop/750x750+0+0/resize/750x750!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbrigham-young-brightspot-us-east-2.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2F46%2F3d%2F36834dd7407593c8df9439d70aa6%2F1640-jonathan-engle.jpg)
My business trips consisted of attending the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, flying to the Dominican Republic, and then continuing my travels to Haiti and Hawaii. In each country I worked with property owners and clients, matching them with the vacation rental or home of their dreams. However, amid all my travels, I realized that this realm of the business world may not be the most fulfilling way of doing good or making a meaningful difference in the lives of individuals, which is what I ultimately want to do.
While contemplating my career path at the time, I signed up for the Ballard Center’s Social Entrepreneurship Lecture Series and spent a semester learning about what a social entrepreneur was. With my working background, I had learned all about the title of entrepreneur, but I never imagined that role could be focused on solving deep social issues.
I was astounded to find out that there are people in the workforce who use business tactics to make systemic social change and do it for a living. It was as if my two passions in life merged into one.
I went on to take the Ballard Center’s Impact Investing class, which teaches students the ins and outs of making investments that are impactful and financially viable, and I realized that there was a concrete opportunity at BYU to start making a difference immediately through business. That singular class turned out to be the most engaging experience I had at BYU.
Soon after the class ended, I left my real-estate business and was eventually offered a job opportunity through the impact investing class. That opportunity launched me into a career of doing social good.
Looking back, I recognize that the Ballard Center provided a crossroads for me between what I was learning in school and what I genuinely wanted to do. As I continue my career in independent consulting work, I am grateful for my ability to look at things in a different way because of what I have learned at the Ballard Center.
I have applied the principles of thinking critically, asking insightful questions, and measuring impact in my work and all other aspects of my life. As a result, I have felt—and continue to feel—fulfilled every day. I have always believed that doing good better should be a way of life, not just a catchy tagline. This is the reality I have found at BYU Marriott’s Ballard Center.
To find out how you can use your major to do social good head on over to ballardcenter.byu.edu.
Jonathan Engle is a philosophy major and got involved at the Ballard Center through the Social Entrepreneurship Lecture Series.
_
Writer: Jonathan Engle