Love What You Do

PROVO, Utah – Apr 20, 2018 – Prior to his current career as a marketing faculty at BYU Marriott School of Business, Mike Bond worked for the consumer goods brand management industry. For more than eleven years, Bond managed the strategy, the innovation, and the problem solving of consumer problems, and loved every minute of it—whether it was dryer sheets, infant formula, or, as Bond puts it “the sexy world of canned pasta.”

“Love what you do and do what you love” is a lesson that Bond learned at a young age and a motto he has always tried to live by.

“My father was a biology professor at BYU-Idaho, and I knew he never dreaded going to work,” Bond says. “He loved to teach and interact with students. Whether we were hiking or fishing, it was always a lab experiment. He was always teaching and quizzing me on different types of plants and animals. He truly had a passion for his job, and I wanted to feel that way about my future career.”

Bond was able to navigate and find a career he was passionate about, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t experience a few sudden stops and U-turns along the journey.

Bond’s love for the sciences initially motivated him to study optometry. His course was set—or so he thought. Two classes away from completing his prerequisites at Utah State University for optometry school, Bond found himself questioning whether he had made the right career choice. With feelings of self-doubt swirling in his head, Bond decided to take a step back and explore the world of business.

“I remember taking economics and accounting at USU and loving it,” Bond says. “It was so different than any classes I had been taking. It was more collaborative, and I really enjoyed the principles taught.”

A change in major would mean losing his scholarship at USU. So Bond moved south to attend the BYU Marriott School of Business.

“At BYU Marriott, I discovered that I enjoyed all of my business classes, and with mentoring from professors, I decided to focus on marketing,” Bond says. “Marketing encompasses all of business.”

Bond graduated from the business school in 1998 with an emphasis in marketing and immediately entered the world of brand management working for companies such as HenKel, ConAgra Brands, and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Each experience gave Bond a taste of the many aspects of marketing and important professional and personal lessons.

“I had amazing bosses and supervisors who taught me how to run businesses and to think strategically,” Bond says. “One of my bosses, John Plasso, taught me the importance of owning my business. He had total faith in me which gave me confidence in my work. I learned with John that how you do business is just as important as your actual business.”

BYU Marriott took note of Bond’s successful marketing career and invited him to serve on the school’s Marketing Advisory Board. This position allowed him to meet students and get to know the professors very well.

Five years after being placed on the board, Bond was offered a full-time position as a professor.

“With a family background of acadamia, I thought I would really enjoy the classroom experience and I have,” Bond says. “But the part that I have really enjoyed are the students. Getting to know them in- and out of the classroom and trying to help them has been so much fun.”

At the end of each semester, Bond shares with his students a list of personal goals he created as an undergrad, hoping they can find inspiration from his journey.

“I spent a lot of time in prayer about my career path and made a list while I was a student at BYU knowing that I needed a game plan for the future,” Bond says. “I found this list the week before I came to teach at BYU. I had accomplished every goal. It was humbling to find the list because I gained a firm testimony that even though we will have frustrating days at our jobs and moments of self-doubt about the path we choose, if we try to do what is right and counsel with the Lord, and have faith in Him, everything will work out.”