As we continue our hallmark tenth season of the Eccles Business Buzz podcast, we will bring you conversations with notable alumni from the David Eccles School of Business and their stories about the impact the school has had on their lives and careers. In this episode, host Frances Johnson talks with Jhareil Hutchinson, a marketing professional and junior project manager for the NBA’s Utah Jazz. Jhareil, a 2024 David Eccles School of Business marketing graduate and First Ascent Scholars alumnus, describes some of the barriers he faced coming to college as a first-generation student, and how the First Ascent cohort helped him build a sense of community and belonging. Jhareil credits the program and Eccles with teaching him networking, getting him involved through internships and campus roles, and allowing him to be vulnerable enough to ask questions. Jhareil and Frances discuss his career path, from Jazz team attendant to Cotopaxi intern, to his first job with the Olympic Legacy Foundation, and then back to the Jazz. He discusses aiming to work for the NBA, mentoring current students with his wife Julie, and advises students to not be afraid to pursue opportunities. Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University.fm. Eccles Business Buzz is proud to be selected by FeedSpot as one of the Top 70 Business School podcasts on the web. Learn more at https://podcast.feedspot.com/us_business_school_podcasts. Eccles Business Buzz is a production of the David Eccles School of Business and is produced by University FM. Episode Quotes: How the people you surround yourself with and the choices you make shape your future [20:56] One of my favorite athletes of all time is the late Kobe Bryant, and he said good coaches tell you where the fish are. But great coaches teach you how to find them. And I think that when I think about that, I kind of just think about the people that are around you, the people that you kind of surround yourself with. People will tell you, “Hey, I have this car; I got this really great promotion. You know, just showing off all these extravagant things, or yeah, like look, kind of just like, look at me, look at me, look at me." And I think that in order to kind of succeed and find those fish and tell you, you know, to have that coach tell you exactly where those fish are, you need to surround yourself with people who are going to be honest with you with tough love but also be like, "Hey, if you want to go down this path, let's do it together." I'm here in your corner to support you. Let's talk about it, let's research it, and let's come up with a plan to actually take action and do the thing that you want to do. I feel like I've always wanted to know exactly where I want to go or where I need to achieve the things, and it's always just about having those people in your corner, but then it's also up to yourself to go out there and do the research. On guiding students toward proactivity, while staying accountable himself [37:50] There's so many different paths to go down in sports, whether that's with sales, marketing, game presentation, whatever it is. So I think it's like a really cool opportunity just because we had some amazing mentors. We had some really cool people to kind of reach out to and ask questions. So I'm wanting to do the same for these students that are in this program. And so far it's been really cool to talk with these students and hear about all the different career paths that they're watching to go down, because it's not all the same. And we don't have the same advice for every student. But, I think the thing that we always tell students is to, again, like we've talked about, like don't be afraid to get involved. Don't be afraid to ask questions. And I think the thing that I get out of it the most is kind of—it's just like a reset point for us, or at least for me. Just kind of like, okay, this student is doing this, and, you know, I'm telling them to make sure that they're reaching out to folks and making sure that they're getting involved and making sure that they have their checks and balances. But am I holding myself accountable for those checks and balances? So it's kind of like a reflection. Like make sure you're telling them to, you know, do all these things for their sake, because we want them to have good grades, we want them to excel. We want them to have a great career, but then we also want that for ourselves. The struggles of being a first-generation student [03:33] I think another barrier that I faced coming into college was just the sense of belonging. Being a first-generation college student, none of my family members had ever even gone to college. So I was the very first one, and I had no clue what to think. I had no clue what to say. I had no clue what to ask. I had no clue who to reach out to, didn't know anything about classes, [and] didn't know anything about internships or, you know, just everything that had to do with college. I had no kind of support system in that sense. And so that kind of put me like, I kind of took a step back, and I was like, "Man, is this really for me?" Like, I don't know anybody; no one else knows about this. Like I'm really here on my own. So it's really up to me to figure out exactly what I need to do. I know there's individuals out there who have had the privilege of, you know, their parents went to college or their brother went to college, and so they kind of had that support system for someone to reach out to, and they had someone to say, “Hey, this is where financial aid is," or “Hey, this is all the clubs that you could be a part of,” and, you know, so on and so forth. It was really tough at first because again, like, I had no one to reach out to, and I had to figure it all out on my own, which was kind of a positive and a negative with my experience coming into college. Jhareil reflects: Wishing his younger self had more courage [31:06] I think the thing that I probably would tell myself is to not be afraid, to not dig my hole before it even, like, starts. I think a lot of the times, like, in high school, like, I was super, super shy. So, coming into First Ascent, having to share, you know, a room with another person, and let alone the whole house with 10 other students, I was like, "Okay, I guess I have to. Just don't be afraid to get out of your comfort zone. Don't be afraid to ask those questions." And I think a lot of the times a lot of students are like, "Oh, like, this is probably not going to happen for me, so I'm just not even going to pursue it." Or, "Oh, like, they're just going to tell me no, so I'm just not even going to do it." And I wish I would've told myself to just don't be afraid. Like, the worst thing people can tell you is no. Show Links:Jhareil Hutchinson | LinkedIn ProfileJhareil Hutchinson | InstagramUtah Jazz | NBA TeamFirst Ascent Scholars | Eccles SchoolDavid Eccles School of Business (@ubusiness) | InstagramUndergraduate Scholars ProgramsRising Business LeadersEccles Alumni Network (@ecclesalumni) | Instagram Eccles Experience Magazine
