相似的心:为什么罗克赫斯特校友网络起作用

1997年，梅里特·尼尔即将从罗克赫斯特大学毕业，并获得了 沟通研究. 和其他高年级学生一样，她需要一份工作.

Little did she know that the door that would open thanks to a Rockhurst alumnus would lead to what she called “one of the greatest gifts of my life.”

That alumnus was Bob Merrigan博士曾, the first Communications major at Rockhurst and a 1976 graduate. 1990年，他创办了一家名为 Merrigan博士曾 & Co. and seven years later he was looking to hire his first full-time employee at the end of the school year. Merrigan博士曾 had interviewed 3-4 Communications majors before Department Chair Weslynn Martin called him and said they had someone who would be a great fit.

“I convinced Merritt to work part-time while she was still in school, and she did,” Merrigan博士曾 said. “And then I distracted her long enough, I guess, from looking for other jobs so she stayed. 她好学，而且学得很快.”

尼尔讲述了一个略有不同的故事.

“I had gone in Weslynn’s office and said, ‘I need to find a job,’” she recalls. “I had resumes for different positions: I had a PR resume, an inside sales resume. 韦斯利恩说:“我有这个明矾……”

“So I had my first phone call with Bob and he goes, ‘I’m 在 field of direct marketing. 你知道那是什么，对吧?’我回答说，‘我当然喜欢!’”尼尔说. “And then I thought I need to figure out what direct marketing is because I had no idea.”

的 next couple of years were tough, but Neil felt she was sufficiently prepared to learn. 梅里根帮忙做其余的事.

“I think Rockhurst gave me a good basis from which to work and how to approach things,她说. “我相信鲍勃教会了我所知道的一切. 这种联系在我生命中非常重要. 这很难. Bob was tough at first, he got me in shape, and it just kind of flowed from there.”

As a Rockhurst grad himself, Merrigan博士曾 knew what to look for from former Hawks entering the workplace.

“的 curiosity is one of the many things, frankly, that I think brings people to Rockhurst,” he said. “It’s wanting to learn, wanting to discover, and a willingness and interest in growing. 积极主动. 那么，所有这些东西，你如何打包? That’s the nature of the beast – the nature of business is you have to think on your feet, you have to be honest and really operate 在 sincere interest of the client, 这需要一定程度的诚信. That’s just some of the fundamental values that I think are at the core of what Rockhurst does, 罗克赫斯特的学生是谁.”

That initiative and willingness in growing propelled Neil from being a junior employee to mid-level to being promoted to vice president. 的 business was growing, and the staff went from just her and Bob to adding more employees.

It was also at this time that the business started turning its focus to non-profit clients.

“When I went to work for Bob we were more of a general agency that had clients – B2B clients, different types of clients – and then we started getting more nonprofit clients,尼尔说. “如今AG8亚洲游戏国际平台的业务基本上都是非营利性的. 我喜欢公司的发展方向, 显然很喜欢和鲍勃一起工作, 并且发展出了显著的, 良好的客户关系.”

Merrigan博士曾 saw that passion and felt the time was right to incorporate a succession plan. That led to an ownership transition where Neil and colleague Monica Tiffany bought the business from Merrigan博士曾 and established a 50-50 partnership structure between them. 然而，梅里根并没有去任何地方. He signed an employment contract and remains a key part of the business today.

“A lot of businesses… it's very difficult to have the original owner still involved,尼尔说. “We have been able because we have such deep respect and friendship and love for each other, 继续这种关系. 他现在是我的员工，这很有趣，但奇怪的是，这感觉是对的. 实际上AG8亚洲游戏国际平台刚刚适应了AG8亚洲游戏国际平台的新角色. 他是无价的.”

梅里根说，这一过渡符合他的最大利益.

“这更像是一种留住人才的策略，”他说. “You have a person growing, learning, developing abilities and capabilities… how do you keep them? 这就是开始的地方.”

的 堪萨斯城商业杂志写了一篇报道 on the three colleagues, getting their expertise on how to “smooth an ownership transition.“剧透警告:没有什么比信任更重要了.

“We did everything by the book and hired a consultant to value the company,尼尔说. “Bob was gracious enough to help make the financial terms manageable for us. 这是我人生中最棒的礼物之一.”

尼尔来自一个企业家家庭. Her dad owns a small business and her mom, who has since passed away, owned a small business. 事实上，Merrigan博士曾 & Co., 现在被称为M&C, operates out of a building Neil’s grandfather owned – and it’s just around the corner from Rockhurst at 55th and Troost.

Both Neil and Merrigan博士曾 stay close to Rockhurst, and not just by working around the corner.

尼尔在校园里担任 非营利组织领导力研究 在 商业影响与信息分析学院“，. 梅里根是一位经常受邀演讲的嘉宾.

“她让我每学期上一节课，”他说.

尼尔的职业道德从M&C去教室.

“I really worked very hard in my adjunct role in staying connected to my students,她说. “I've taught enough classes now that I'm kind of a regular mentor to a lot of those students and have opened up job opportunities for them. 的y'll come back to me when they're maybe looking for their next opportunity or need to deal with a difficult situation at work. 这是我最看重的东西之一. It’s most gratifying to me is to see all the Rockhurst students that I've taught emerge and go out into their professional roles.”

Essentially, Neil is to recent Rockhurst students what Merrigan博士曾 was to her – 一个可以为新的职业机会打开大门的校友.

“在Rockhurst, the campus is small enough and the education is unique enough that when I find another Rockhurst graduate, 这对我来说很重要, 这对他们来说有意义,她说. “这真的是一种服务和传递的意识. 当我审视我的生活, you don't have the perspective when you're 在 situation to see the trend, 因为我在找我的第一份工作, ‘我想我要去为这个家伙工作.“但事实是他在罗克赫斯特, 他被推荐给我，我想是在罗克赫斯特, 人都有相似的心. 我认为这就是为什么它有效的原因，而且它将继续有效.

“I tell my students that you don't realize what power you have at your fingertips, 只是和社区里其他罗克赫斯特人在一起,她继续说. “我认为这在堪萨斯城很重要. It's benefited me and in so many ways, obviously, both personally and professionally.”