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Hatching a Career

By Jadell Forman 90

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Click Photo to Enlarge David Salyers (center), VP of Marketing at Chick-fil-A and Ignite 2006 speaker, stops for a picture with Ignite directors Jacquelyn Brydon and David Lawrence.

Click Photo to Enlarge Lawrence and Brydon presented an Ignite '06 T-shirt to Tulsa mayor Bill LaFortune when he spoke on campus earlier this spring.

Click Photo to Enlarge This Chick-fil-A restaurant in south Tulsa is owned and operated by ORU alumnus Arthur Greeno.

When ORU seniors David Lawrence and Jacquelyn Brydon stepped up to co-direct the 2006 Ignite Leadership Conference, they didn't know the gig would land them a good employment possibility with a major corporation. But lo and behold...

On Tuesday, April 11, amidst a busy week of graduation activity, the two sandwiched in a day at Chick-fil-A, Inc. By the invitation of David Salyers, Vice President of Store Marketing, the two student leaders took off for Atlanta.

"It was cool," says Brydon.

"They rolled out the red carpet for us," exclaims Lawrence. "Flew us out there, put us up at the Marriott."

How did this opportunity hatch?

According to Brydon, when Salyers arrived on campus back in February to speak at Ignite, he requested assistance with visual aids for his presentation. Using her organizational/interpersonal communications major, Brydon pulled together visuals and ended up on stage as a presenter alongside the VP.

"Afterward he told me, 'I see college students all the time. But very few people made the impression on me that you did.'" She beams, "Wow. That was a big encouragement." Salyers also asked Brydon to consider working at Chik-fil-A. "Then two weeks later, he called and asked, 'If you could do anything in the world, what would you do?'"

"Training and development" was her immediate response. "Training and development was one of my favorite classes." Salyers told her a training position would soon be available.

The VP invited Brydon to "spend a day" at company headquarters. Despite her unease about living far from friends in Tulsa and family in Austin, Brydon wanted to check out her Atlanta nesting options, and agreed to the trip.

Shortly thereafter, her Ignite co-director, David Lawrence, received a similar phone call from Salyers. Lawrence, a business management major, recounts, "We talked about marketing and advertising on the phone, trying to see if this could be a good fit...a career path for me at Chick-fil-A." He also received and accepted the same exploratory invitation.

So a few Monday evenings later, Brydon and Lawrence boarded a plane and flew to Atlanta. Throughout the next day, the career-seeking duo toured company headquarters, digesting nuggets of information. Lawrence says, "I met a lot of people and got a good feel for the environment." Both attended a marketing meeting in which the marketing team planned for upcoming sponsorship of major sporting events. "It was amazing from a marketing standpoint."

Lawrence recounts the closing in which Salyers got to the heart of matter. "At the end of the day, he sat down and expressed that we were the type of individuals who would fit well into the company culture, gave us an application, and said if we wanted to pursue a career at Chick-fil-A, they would pretty much do whatever they could to make it happen." That evening, the two returned to campus with much to consider.

Does the Chick-fil-A career menu appeal to either ORU grad? Possibly. Brydon's next step is a three-and-a-half-week missions trip to Brazil. After that, she wants to "take a break," but will keep Chick-fil-A in mind. "Maybe three years down the road," she says.

Lawrence is considering this opportunity at Chick-fil-A, along with a few others in ministry. He summarizes what he knows for now: "It was an amazing trip...a great experience. I'm grateful the Lord was able to give it to me."