Brian's Story

A Desire to Succeed

 By nature, Brian is a person who likes to have an impact and is not afraid to jump into a new situation. His classmates would call him intelligent, inclusive and charming. Brian is a person rich in both life experience and education. After high school, Brian worked at too many jobs to list. He has experience as a ride operator at an amusement park, a telemarketer, and at a movie theater. Eventually, he ended up working at Kaiser Permanente as an Operations Specialist. But, Brian started thinking that he wanted more, he wanted to earn a Bachelor’s degree. A few years later, Brian had earned three Associates degrees at Chaffey College in Business & Technology, Social & Behavioral Sciences and Business Administration. It wasn’t easy. He had to manage his time and negotiate between work and his professors to make sure he could attend class as his schedule at work changed. Two years later, Brian was awarded his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, graduating Cum Laude from Cal State San Bernardino.

Along the way, he was asked by a friend to be a male model in a fashion show. Brian is the kind of guy who never lets a friend down. But, he’s also the kind of guy who doesn’t like being the center of attention. Making the most of an uncomfortable situation, Brian talked the director into letting him work behind the scenes. She was so impressed with his ability that she hired him to work as a stylist and gave him a supervisory role with wardrobe efforts on three major movies, working for several celebrities, including Van Jones and Snoop Dogg. While he is forever thankful for that opportunity and the management skills it gave him, Brian again wanted to move forward with his education and decided earning an MBA was his next step. That’s how he came To Cal Poly Pomona, and we’re happy he did.

Hands-on Learning

Brian chose the Cal Poly MBA program because of the hybrid format and the hands-on educational philosophy. Having courses that didn’t require him to come to campus every week allowed him to keep his job, spend time with his family and be successful academically.

“I prefer a class where I’m given the opportunity to show what I can do, not simply listen to a lecture.”

Brian’s classmates say that he has a great sense of humor and is able to listen to diverse ideas and then bring them together. In Digital Marketing, his team worked to improve the marketing plan for a non-profit.

“It wasn’t just a simulation, it was giving the company real results. The client got professional feedback and was able to use it to improve her company.”

Brian has a passion for Operations Management, his favorite class in the MBA curriculum. He liked having a professor with a lot of industry experience who could teach the class but, give insight into the types of decisions and issues that managers face every day.

A Bright Future

After looking at a few different opportunities, Brian decided to apply for his dream job, even though he thought getting an interview was unlikely. The job was to be a Business Program Manager at Microsoft. He flew out to Texas for a pre-interview, paying for it himself. To his surprise, he was invited to return for the face-to-face interview. The interview was four hours long with a panel of three people. Brian has an exceptional ability jump into new opportunities. He has a wealth of highly varied experience that gives him wisdom beyond his years. Happily, Microsoft hired Brian and he is moving to Seattle after graduation. He will be joining the Operations Team and is really motivated to get started.

In his spare time, Brian likes to spend time with his family, especially his wife and 2-year old son. In the future, Brian hopes to give back to society by helping people who don’t realize what opportunities might be available to them with an education.