Head Sherpa Leads Students to MBA Summit

PROVO, Utah – Jan 10, 2019 – Jesse Myrick, a 2013 BYU grad and former documentary filmmaker, decided to come to the BYU Marriott School of Business MBA program because he wanted doors opened in his career. However, Myrick got a lot more than a career launch out of his MBA education; he gained the confidence and assurance that he is capable of realizing his dreams. 

As a kid from a small town in California, Myrick loved making short films with his friends. His family didn’t place a lot of emphasis on college education, but Myrick decided to apply anyway. To him, gaining the degree was about increasing his opportunities, a philosophy he stands by today. 

Myrick’s passion for filmmaking got him into the media arts major at BYU, where learned how to tell inspiring stories through documentary films. He worked on a TV series produced by BYU called Beehive Stories and on a film called Peace Officer which ended up on a long list of potential Oscar nominees and won the audience choice award at the South by Southwest Film Festival in 2015. 

A few years and a lot of experience later, Myrick was reinventing an online program for Stringham Schools, an online realty program. He loved what he was doing, but he wanted to do it on a larger scale. He decided to go back to BYU for an MBA within the year. 

As part of the application process to be accepted into the BYU Marriott MBA program, applicants are required to complete the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), which tests understanding of reading comprehension, writing, and mathematics. Myrick hadn’t taken a math class in years, so to prepare for the GMAT, he hired a tutor. On the first session, Myrick's tutor evaluated his math skills and told him that he had major reservations about Myrick’s ability to be accepted into an MBA program that year. Myrick was determined to stick to his plan and resolved to succeed. Despite the lack of confidence shown by his tutor, Myrick did surprisingly well on the GMAT and he was accepted to BYU Marriott that year. However, he didn’t begin his program with complete confidence. 

“I came into the program feeling like I was way behind, like I was unqualified to be there, and like I was fooling people,” Myrick says. But all that changed when he met his Sherpa, Erica Nash. In the BYU Marriott MBA Sherpa program, second-year MBA students mentor first year students, helping them find their internships. Nash helped Myrick realize he was smarter and better prepared for an internship than he thought. “You can do this,” she told him. “Let’s go get you the best job possible.” 

Myrick’s insecurity and doubt were quickly transformed into confidence. “I went from feeling like I didn't have the necessary skills I needed and feeling super self-conscious about myself to being hired for an internship at Amazon in the course of three months,” Myrick says. “That transformation is why I came to the BYU Marriott MBA program—the experience, the jump, and the career pivot.” 

Myrick loved the Sherpa program so much that he decided he wanted to be a part of it. He is now the head Sherpa in the program and he wants to do for others what Nash did for him. As head Sherpa, Myrick’s vision is to not only give first-year students an education, but to also build their confidence and find them their dream jobs as well. 

As for Myrick’s post-graduation plans, he isn’t sure what he’ll be doing yet, and he’s okay with that. “I am realizing that I don’t have to commit to one specific industry,” Myrick says. “I am more versatile because of my MBA from BYU Marriott.” While Myrick isn’t sure where he will end up, he’s looking for a fun place that’s going to give him exciting problems to solve. 

The Sherpa program taught Myrick that the only thing he was lacking was self-confidence. “It was so empowering to know I had that confidence inside me,” he says. “It changed everything.”