A Word From Alumni: Maddie Jacobs

About Maddie

As our lab members prepare for graduation at the end of this semester, we wanted to follow up with some of last year’s grads to see how they’re doing! We recently reached out to Maddie Jacobs, last year’s Marketing Lab president, to see how her first year post-MBA has been. She and her husband recently relocated to Indiana for her job at Johnson & Johnson. She is currently part of the US Hip(pest) Marketing team, a role within J&J’s Medical Device Orthopedic Company, DePuy Synthes. Maddie is in her first rotation in their two year Marketing Leadership Development Program. Here’s what she had to say:

What is something you love about your job or the company you work for?

I love that the products I work on actually make a significant and valuable difference in people's lives. Internally, I love being involved in Employee Resource Groups that help me to connect and learn more about other people's experiences. Ever since my internship, I have also seen how the J&J Credo isn't just words - it's something that guides initiatives and decisions within the organization from top to bottom, including the team I'm on.

What is something you love about your new town?

We live on a lake so I wake up every day with a lake view. Working from home, that's been the most refreshing thing to have daily. We even bought a canoe!

What is one lesson or skill you learned/developed in the Marketing Lab that has helped you in your first year of work post graduation?

Presentation is huge! I put together a good amount of presentations/proposals/ideas in my role, and my time in BYU Marketing Lab made for great practice learning to do this effectively: In the Marketing Lab, we not only presented to potential clients and made sure our message and services were understood, but at the end of the project, the findings that you relayed were most valuable if you presented a clear story –it's not enough to present information, but how are you presenting your solution? How are you getting them on-board? It's so important to have a clearly communicated story and objective.

Do you have a favorite marketing or business book you'd recommend to aspiring marketers?

I really liked How to Win Friends and Influence People. I'm currently reading Range, recommended by fellow BYU MBA alumni Ben Anderson, and it's super fascinating so far! My overall recommendation is really to just read whatever sparks your interest.

What advice do you have for students heading into their first jobs after graduation?

Look at it as a next step – whatever job you get into next, you may be there for a long time or a little time, but either way, you'll learn something, and that has value. You don't need to have it all figured out, and you don't have to stay there forever. Enjoy the journey and always seek learning opportunities.