By Jill Hisey (’95)
Both of Jarred Herman’s (’14) grandfathers served in the military, which influenced him to set his sights on joining the U.S. Navy. But one of his grandfathers convinced him to get his college degree first, and then, if he was still interested, he could enter the Navy as an officer.
Heeding this advice, Herman, who grew up in Nevada City, California, attended University of Nevada, Reno, majoring in math. After graduating he knew he wanted to join the submarine corps and determined that becoming a nuclear engineer would offer a perfect mix of science and military service. But first he would attend Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Florida, followed by six months at the Nuclear Power School in Charleston, South Carolina — which he says entailed an intense academic program — and six months at the Ballston Spa NPTU Prototype in Saratoga Springs, New York. Finally, Herman spent six months in submarine school in Connecticut. All told, he spent 1½ years in training before reporting for duty.
Jarred was stationed in San Diego — momentarily, as it happens: As soon as he landed, he flew to Okinawa, Japan, where a tugboat took him out to a submarine, the USS Asheville (SSN-758), for the last three months of its deployment. Following his extensive and peripatetic training, Asheville would be his home for the next three years. He followed that tour by signing on for two years aboard the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), a Nimitz-class, nuclear-powered supercarrier that counts among its capabilities humanitarian relief during the 2011 tsunami in Japan.
While Herman found purpose in the Navy, he felt a strong desire to do something different after eight years of service. In his spare time on the aircraft carrier, Jarred studied for the GMAT and later applied to UCLA Anderson. When he confirmed the good news he had been admitted, he pursued a job as a UCLA ROTC officer instructor at UCLA and taught courses in engineering, navigation and operations.
Anderson’s Fully Employed MBA program was the perfect match for Herman. Since he didn’t have a business background, he was looking for a program that would teach him about different industries, learning in large part from his classmates who brought their daily work perspectives into the classroom. Herman joined a variety of student clubs and connected with classmates working in tech, finance and consulting. He chose a consulting path, which he followed for two years after graduation, and found that it allowed him to continue his learning experience.
Eventually, he found he yearned for a longer term perspective within a business, wanting to stay engaged with the company when his recommendations turned into implementations.
In 2016, Herman went looking for a business that was still in its nascent stages, but that had garnered some funding and had a strong team. Candy Club, a CPG startup launched in 2015, was the perfect reward to his search. He was offered an operations role, and quickly rose to COO. As COO, he handles all of the company’s day-to-day involvement in e-commerce and tech.
Candy Club’s main differentiator is that it sources candy from all over the world to bring top-quality sweets to the consumer’s door. With a good foundation of B2C, their next step is B2B.
Herman feels that his experience in the military was the perfect predecessor to a career in business. “Accountability and teamwork are two key skills you learn in the military,” he says, “and both translate perfectly to the business arena. Not getting the job done is never an option. Decision making and people management are skills that you have to learn by being part of your unit.” He notes that from the very first day he climbed off that tug boat into a submarine, he was in charge of a group of people and, at that time, probably knew less than everyone there. “You learn how to get the most out of the people you are managing, and that you don’t have all the answers.”
While Herman found a second career at UCLA Anderson, there was an even greater benefit to his time in the FEMBA program: He met his future wife. Today, Herman and Beth Brody (’14) are busy raising their new baby, Sierra, while juggling two demanding but rewarding careers.
Nice Post
Posted by: alamin | 01/26/2018 at 09:52 PM