Bradley Beaudette

Quick Facts

Program: B.S. in Business Administration
Concentration: Management
Graduation Year: 2015
Current Job Title: Project Manager at United Pacific
Hometown: Newport Beach, CA
Current City: Newport Beach, CA

Life at CBU

Why did you choose your major? What interested you in this particular field of study?
I chose to pursue a business management degree because I’ve always been fascinated with the different ways of managing people.

What did you like about being in this program at CBU?
I loved all the tools and resources that CBU and the business school had available to lead me in the right direction. For example, several of our teachers encouraged us to sign up for Mock Interviews with Mike Bishop, which ended up being one of the most valuable 45 minutes of my life at CBU. He taught me how to appropriately answer interview questions using the “P.E.V.” method and helped me understand my self-awareness. There were also career fairs, professional panels of guest speakers and so many clubs and groups to get involved.

What did you think about your professors?
Every professor I’ve encountered in the Jabs School of Business has gone out of their way to help me learn the material. I really enjoyed the challenging and biblically rooted material. Classes were also very engaging.

Did you complete an internship?
My first internship was with United Pacific, which is the company I’m with today. During that time, I got to work with the marketing department, where I learned how products and promotions were appropriately priced in our convenience stores and the impact this had to the bottom line. The people I was working with were beyond helpful in my journey, however, I knew that this was not the department to pursue long term because I couldn’t find that inner passion in this segment of the business. I’m glad I got to experience this internship because it gave me so many other opportunities and I built many relationships as a result.

Did you participate in anything else at CBU?
I was a cofounder of the CBU Investment Club, along with Mark Jorgensen and Kyra Vukov. Our purpose for starting the club was to bring awareness to the world of investing, risk evaluation, personal investment strategies, and to build meaningful relationships with our peers.

I was also involved with the CBU wrestling team and wrestled at 184 lbs. My coaches and teammates were beyond helpful in my career and I was honored to be a part of a great program.

How did you grow (spiritually, socially and educationally) while in this program at CBU?
Spiritually: The area I grew the most spiritually was before Wednesday wrestling practices, where we would get to ask Brian Zunigha our toughest questions pertaining to Scripture and being a Christian. There were many great clarifications and answers during this time and has made me a stronger believer.

Socially: I made a lot of new friends from many different backgrounds that I’m still in contact with today. Most of the relationships I made were in the business school and with my wrestling teammates.

Educationally: The classes provided a ton of value and were challenging in several aspects. There were many projects that were structured in groups, which taught me to work together on a common goal as a team. This can be challenging because everyone has value to add to the group, but finding it can be a struggle.

Did your major help you figure out your purpose?
This question all began on the first day of orientation at CBU. The CBU motto was to encourage students to live their purpose. It’s a challenging question that took me 4+ years to figure out. My purpose is to serve others with gratitude and love and I’m happy that I get to live this purpose every day. 

Life after CBU

What have you done since graduating?
A couple months after graduating, I landed a job with United Pacific as a facilities coordinator. In the beginning, the position was more of a glorified assistant to VP of facilities management, but as we started working together, we found that my capabilities were much higher. He slowly started assigning me increasingly larger construction projects, where eventually I was able to run them smoothly and report to the highest levels of management of our hard-earned success. Luckily, I had an incredible mentor that invested time to train me on how projects are expected to run and the effect projects have from an operational perspective. About 1.5 years later, the company was now looking for a project manager to oversee all deferred maintenance projects and remodels for our sites. I quickly expressed interest and had proven measurable results, which led me to receive a promotion as the project manager in my first year and a half. I’m fortunate I get to serve my coworkers and customers with the love they deserve.

In addition, I am involved with a YLO group. The purpose of this group is to help proven managers become extraordinary leaders at work, home and in their community. This has been one of the most valuable programs I’ve been involved with for improving my leadership skills and creating meaningful relationships. 

How has your major and time at CBU prepared you for your life and career after college?
Overall, it has challenged me to go outside my comfort zone and take risks throughout my daily life and career.

Is there anything you learned at CBU that you still use in your professional life today?
I’m still using the research methods and strategies we used in our Investment Club almost daily. My key takeaway from this club was learning from one of our guest speakers about intrinsic value investing. 

How are you making a difference in the world? How are you living your purpose?
Our team makes a valiant effort to create a better buying experience for our customers and a better working experience for our store employees. Since most of the work my team is doing includes C-store remodels and deferred maintenance projects, it is rewarding to see how these stores transform and to see the direct results thereafter.