We recently connected with Chris Gonzalez and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Chris thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What was one of the most important lessons you learned in school? Why did that lesson stick with you?

Here are my top 3 things I learned in college as an undergraduate student and in graduate school.

1, Take risks- For me, college was about experiencing and learning new things, but to do so, I had to make a conscious effort to do things that were outside my comfort zone. I came to realize that college was a safe place to learn and express new ideas, and eventually, I learned that most people admired this concept of being a self-learner. It helped me to stand out, as well as helped with my confidence & self-worth. Consequently, providing me with the confidence to make the transition from college student to professional.

2. Never stop moving toward your goals- It’s ok to make mistakes and have setbacks in life or even to change priorities. It’s ok not to feel all put together! I think it is essential to take small steps forward every day and to appreciate the little wins in life, not just the big ones.

3.We are meant to experience full joy, not full schedules- When I first started college I wanted to be as productive as possible. So, I packed my schedule with classes and pretty quickly became overwhelmed. I once heard that one characteristic of modern life seems to be that we are moving at an ever-increasing rate. We all can think up a list of tasks that will overwhelm our schedules. Some might even think that their self-worth depends on the length of their to-do list. It doesn’t. Take time for people, for passions and hobbies.

Chris, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am originally from southern California, but I now live in Utah.

I went to college at the University of Utah and I had an amazing College experience as an undergraduate. In the back of my mind I always thought it would be awesome to work on a college campus. I just never thought it would be so soon.

I currently work at Utah Valley University in the College of Science as the marketing and communications manager for the college. While a lot of my career before this was spent in marketing, public relations, advertising, and I have chosen to focus my talents on higher education.

I enjoy collaborating with talented students and faculty.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

One lesson I had to learn recently was how to say, no.

Early in my career, I said yes to everything, every project and task. This is because I felt like I had to prove myself and that by saying yes to everything and taking on extra task, I would develop a reputation of being reliable and a go-getter.

As I have moved on in my career and gotten more responsibility, I have come to the realization that I cannot do everything myself and that I need to be able to say no to things, I need to manage my time better. But I quickly learned that I just saying no wasn’t enough. I had to say something like, “I don’t have the time right now, but a member of my team can get it done” or “I normally don’t do project like that, John does.”

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Since I don’t work with clientele, I will apply this question to What’s been the most effective strategy for growing student interest?

I love this question… there is a popular quote that is often used in business that you might be familiar with, “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” While most of us would agree with this statement, I think it’s important to keep in mind that this quote does not imply that we should ignore strategy, which I feel is easy to take away.

I have come to rely on strategy. I want procedures and policies in place that can withstand common change that we all experience in our businesses, expertise, and disciplines. I want to be able to say, “wow, this worked for 10 students can it work with 30 or 50.” I have found that if the policies and procedures are scalable, we can set ourselves up for success no matter the changes that are occurring most of the time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.uvu.edu/directory/employee/?id=OGZhZGwzQmF0cFJSejFHY1J4OVJ0UT09
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-gonz/