Experience Design and Management News 

After taking classes for three potential majors at BYU and not finding what he was looking for, Joshua Beacham discovered the experience design and management major at the BYU Marriott School of Business. Now a senior in the program, Beacham came to realize the major was the perfect fit for his career goals.

A recent study co-authored by BYU Marriott professor Camilla Hodge finds that the U.S.’s Every Kid Outdoors program, which gives families with fourth graders free access to national parks, is leading to an increased frequency of hiking with children.

At the end of every academic year, BYU awards one professor from each college with the Inspiring Learning Award. Experience design and management professor Ramon Zabriskie is the 2022 BYU Marriott School of Business recipient for the student-nominated award. The honor recognizes a faculty or staff member’s dedication to student growth through active mentoring.

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.

When the Great Recession in 2008 caused his startup real estate company to fold, Case Lawrence thought he knew what failure was. Years later, however, the COVID-19 pandemic put his trampoline park company on the verge of another business failure. As a mentor with the Rollins Center at BYU Marriott, Lawrence uses his experiences with failure to help young entrepreneurs be better equipped for the road ahead.

Roaming the streets of Provo, you can find all sorts of places promising exciting experiences: candle-making shops, hatchet-throwing companies, escape rooms, and soda shops. A new class offered by the experience design and management (ExDM) program at the BYU Marriott School of Business—ExDM 490R: Current Trends and Opportunities in the Experience Economy—dives into why these experiential businesses often find success.

When Camilla Hodge graduated from BYU with a degree in communications, she never imagined she would return to the university 14 years later as a professor. Hodge's life has been characterized by meaningful connections, including those that led to her career change and new teaching position at BYU Marriott.

The Brigham Young University Marriott School of Business welcomes nine new professors this fall.

After graduating from the BYU Marriott School of Business in 2013 with a degree in recreation management, Miranda Oliver started working as a wedding planner, which she thought was her dream job. However, after a few years, she realized she wanted something different. Oliver used her knowledge of experience design, which she gained during her undergrad at BYU Marriott, to successfully transition to a career in human resources.

Completing an internship is a graduation requirement for the experience design and management program (ExDM) in the BYU Marriott School of Business. Because of the importance of these positions, the ExDM program helps its students—including seniors Andrew Manger, Melissa Jensen, and Madeleine Pitcher—to be prepared for their internships beyond just checking off a requirement.

While attending a freshman career exploration class, Brooke Taylor was searching for a major in a friendly community that would also develop her personal skills. The current BYU Marriott School of Business senior discovered the experience design and management program through that class and now strives to create and support communities as she uplifts herself and others.

When experience design and management (ExDM) alumna Katie Allred started studying at the BYU Marriott School of Business, she knew she wanted to own and create her own business someday. With strength and determination, she has accomplished what she set out to do. Allred believes BYU Marriott prepared her for her current role as director of her nonprofit company, Pivot Adventure, a unique eight-week resiliency training course that helps students develop skills to navigate life's challenges.

A unique course offered at BYU Marriott is helping to teach students about the importance of diversity and inclusion.

Becoming a fly fisherman takes time and practice. Professional fly fisherman Ramon Zabriskie might also propose that applying diversity, equity, and inclusion takes just as much practice. His life experiences as a fly fisherman, recreation therapist, and professor at the BYU Marriott School of Business have given Zabriskie a unique opportunity to develop patience, empathy, awareness, and to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

Every year, each department in the BYU Marriott School of Business selects one outstanding student to receive the Bateman Award, which recognizes excellence both inside and outside the classroom. The award is named after Merrill J. Bateman, who served as the dean of BYU Marriott from 1975–79 and the president of BYU from 1996–2003. 

Whether he is coursing down river rapids in a raft, hiking through the majestic red rocks of Southern Utah, or zipping through the mountains on his mountain bike, Mark Widmer loves being outdoors. Now, as a professor of experience design and management at the BYU Marriott School of Business, he finds ways to combine his love of wilderness exploration with the principles of experience design.

As a fourteen-year-old experiencing Disneyland for the first time, Macie Briggs Duncan knew her life was forever changed—something inside her had awakened. As she walked around, inhaling the scents of churros and popcorn, she knew she wanted to create experiences like this in her future career. Briggs Duncan, now an alumna of the Experience Design and Management (ExDM) Department at BYU Marriott School of Business, believes this experience was the start of her journey to the ExDM program.

Most people would not move by themselves to an island they had never visited in the middle of a global pandemic. Stephanie Janczak, a senior studying therapeutic recreation and management at the BYU Marriott School of Business, is not one of those people. Janczak’s internship and graduation plans were altered by the COVID-19 pandemic, so she grabbed the opportunity to explore a new place while completing her final internship.

The Department of Experience Design and Management at BYU Marriott had to get creative this Fall semester when the program welcomed its new cohort during its annual new student orientation.

Ariadna Mateu is no stranger to risk. In 2008, at the onset of the Great Recession, which affected economies across the world, she left her stable, well-paying job to travel internationally for a year. Now, in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, she’s adjusting to her new position as the chief student experience officer in the Experience Design and Management (ExDM) program at the BYU Marriott School of Business, where she helps enhance, enrich and improve students’ outcomes during their time on campus.