Expanding His Family and His Horizons

PROVO, Utah – Nov 11, 2020 – Many university students often work to balance their classwork with social fun and work responsibilities outside of school. However, BYU Marriott School of Business entrepreneurship senior Braiden Day juggles more responsibilities than the average university student. On top of school and full-time work, Day is also a father to four children, a two-year-old and newborn triplets.

The Day family doubled in size when Day’s wife gave birth to triplets, two boys and a girl, in May 2020. Life was busy before the triplets, but with the addition of three little babies, Day is busier than ever. Most mornings start with Day waking up at the crack of dawn and staying busy until midnight.

“Before the triplets were born, I would usually wake up around 5:30 a.m. and drive up to Provo from our home in Payson. I took morning classes, went to work, and came back home to do homework until midnight,” he says. “Now that my wife and I have the triplets, my schedule looks more like working when I can, going to school when I can, and feeding the babies when they’re hungry.” Beyond fulfilling his paternal responsibilities to make sure that his children feel loved and that they grow up with good values, Day hopes to pass on his love for BYU football.

“I would love for my kids to grow up and be Cougar fans like their dad. Besides the two years I spent serving a mission, I haven’t missed watching a BYU football game since I was five,” says twenty-six-year-old Day. Even when the Cougars aren’t playing, Day finds ways to follow the team, analyzing the team’s players and strategies. “I research every single BYU football player,” he says. “When I take any tests that have anything to do with numbers or memorization, I associate numbers with BYU football players.” Day credits his love for BYU football as inspiration to come to BYU for school.

After Day arrived at BYU, the Fillmore, Utah, native explored his options in different majors ultimately deciding that the programs at BYU Marriott would be the most impactful in his everyday life. When he started taking classes in the Tanner Building, he saw how what he learned in class could be applied to his work as a full-time manager at Modern Missionary, a clothing store for missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “I wasn’t sure that I wanted to study business at first, but as I applied what I was learning to my daily work, I realized that I could relate everything that I was learning in class to my job,” he says. “Everything became much more interesting to me.”

Finding time for schoolwork isn’t easy for this father of four, but Day finds fulfillment in the things that he’s learning at BYU Marriott. “I like studying and practicing entrepreneurship because it involves producing something,” he says. “Students need to be able to study and take tests, but they can’t learn entrepreneurship just through taking tests. I’ve enjoyed working in group projects to create something because it feels like we’re a hired team coming together to make something work.”

During the Winter 2020 semester, Day and a group of BYU Marriott students designed an online platform for college athletes to coach high school athletes. While extenuating circumstances forced them to put the project on hold for the time being, Day would like to create something similar in his future career. “Owning my own business is my real goal,” he says. “I don’t view myself working at a corporate level or being a CEO. My goal is to build and sell many companies.”

No matter where his career takes him, Day remains certain that his future will be focused on his family. “My proudest accomplishment is my family,” he says. “I love being a part of my family and being able to keep my kids happy and healthy.”