Jess Maffe '25

Why Bryant?

Bryant has a curriculum where a major in business has to have a minor in the liberal arts or sciences — and vice versa. They make sure that when you leave this campus, you’re a well-rounded person.

I also like the location: You're 45 minutes from Boston, which is where I want to be when I'm older. The campus is beautiful, too, and it’s a great community. Bryant has this charm about it. You step on campus and just feel this overwhelming sense of belonging, like you're meant to be here.

Why did you choose your major-minor mix?

I like the consumer behavior aspect of marketing; that's where my major and minors all tie into one. Consumer behavior is learning why a consumer purchases things the way that they do, and what psychologically influences them in their purchases.

When I first started thinking about a minor in sales, I was hesitant because of the stereotype of the car salesman. What changed my mind was Professor Stefanie Boyer's Personal Selling class. She explained that sales is about helping people, not about being manipulative.

Sales skills are transferable to almost every aspect of your life. If you're giving a presentation, those skills are going to help you stand up and present confidently without stuttering. It helps with your confidence.

You’re president of Bryant’s Sales Team. Tell us more. 

We go into real-world situations and learn what a career in sales is like before we decide, ‘This is what I want to do.’

Companies come to campus to work with us and tell us about their sales programs. They know that Bryant has a good program, so they send their campus ambassadors to meet us. We also have regular meetings to talk about interview skills, presentations, and the sales competitions we can attend.

My first competition was down in Georgia competing in a speed sell, which is like a 60-second elevator pitch with an employer. You’re basically explaining who you are. We compete against schools from all over the country, getting real-world experience in what a traditional sales pitch would look like. It's exhilarating.

You recently used your sales skills to help homeless dogs. 

Yes! Our vice president came up with an idea to do a collaboration with the Hotel for Homeless Dogs. We thought, ‘What if we went and walked the dogs and played with them and wrote little sales pitches to help them get adopted?’

The dogs I worked with were two pit bulls, Max and Ruby. Pit bulls don't get adopted as much because people fear them, but they were just the sweetest dogs ever. We wrote pitches for them, posted them on our Instagram and tagged the hotel, and Max and Ruby were adopted a few days later. It was the best feeling ever.

You’re a Bulldogs cheerleader as well?

It's difficult, but so fun. I’m on a team of 25 and we're all working toward the same goal: to win the nationals in Daytona in April. We’re working together, failing together, and succeeding together. It's a big teamwork collaboration. It feels good when we do well, and there’s an opportunity to have a little bit of fun, too.