{"id":1206,"date":"2014-05-06T13:48:05","date_gmt":"2014-05-06T18:48:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/business\/?p=1206"},"modified":"2014-10-16T12:56:53","modified_gmt":"2014-10-16T17:56:53","slug":"a-all-star-transition-from-football-to-finance-for-dooley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/business\/a-all-star-transition-from-football-to-finance-for-dooley\/","title":{"rendered":"An all-star transition from football to finance for Dooley"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Grant<\/a>As a receiver for the Muleriders, Grant Dooley could not catch a break from injuries. But his performances in Southern Arkansas University\u2019s College of Business have caught the attention of executives at Wal-Mart Corporate.<\/p>\n

Dooley, senior from DeQueen, landed a competitive internship at Wal-Mart\u2019s Corporate Headquarters in the summer of 2013. And he did so well as an intern, he earned a coveted spot in Wal-Mart\u2019s Merchandising Leadership Program (MLP).<\/p>\n

Dooley gives credit to his parents, Mary and Jay Dooley, for introducing him to the business environment. They own the DeQueen Ford Chrysler dealership, and he remembers always respecting their \u201centrepreneurial spirits.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBy owning their own business, they controled their own destiny,\u201d said Dooley. \u201cIf you\u2019re in the College of Business at SAU, you\u2019re not limited. When you get your business degree, you can do anything you want with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

After walking in SAU\u2019s Spring Commencement Friday, May 9, 2014, Dooley will be moving to Rogers, Ark., and starting this 18-month MLP program that will prepare him to be a planning analyst for Wal-Mart Corp.<\/p>\n

Joel Parrish, SAU alum and product development director at Wal-Mart, introduced Dooley to the benefits and opportunities of the Wal-Mart internship program. Parrish, the 2014 Distinguished Young Alum at SAU, is not unlike other successful College of Business alumni in that he often returns to campus to visit with current business students.<\/p>\n

Dooley said that he sent in his resume for the internship program, and was accepted after talking with the recruiter and making it through four rounds of interviews.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was put in Product Development, which was awesome because I learned so many things,\u201d said Dooley.<\/p>\n

His manager became his mentor for the summer, until she had to go on medical leave.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to take the lead some projects, so it ended up being a great opportunity for me. I got to work with suppliers from several different countries and got to see the lifecycle of products going from the idea to putting them on the shelf,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He even had an idea for his primary internship project that was estimated to save the corporation millions of dollars in packaging. In the end, he said the SAU College of Business was crucial in his internship successes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t feel intimidated one bit by anyone, whether they were from an Ivy League school or a Big Ten school, there was no one that intimidated me with their level of education. That really speaks volumes for the education we get here at the SAU College of Business,\u201d said Dooley.<\/p>\n

\"Grant<\/a>For his senior year, Dooley incorporated some of the leadership and creativity skills he gained from his corporate experiences at Wal-Mart. He headed up a community involvement project for Enactus, the Walgreen\u2019s Superhero Showdown, in which dozens of area children learned the value of healthy living. Dooley was able to secure funding for the initiative. He even got to use his own active lifestyle take on the role of the superhero to lead the kids through the activities and obstacle course while avoiding the temptations of the evil junk-food villains.<\/p>\n

The Walgreen\u2019s Superhero Showdown was incorporated into Encatus\u2019 national competition presentation. The group had a strong finish at nationals, making it to the top 40 among the hundreds of schools competing.<\/p>\n

Dooley was a part of the team that presented to corporate executives who served as guest judges. One executive happened to be from Wal-Mart, and was impressed with Dooley.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe [Wal-Mart] recruiter told me the executive called him and said, \u2018SAU has this guy, Grant Dooley, and I think we should hire him,\u2019\u201d said Dooley, recalling that he and the recruiter laughed because Dooley had already been hired.<\/p>\n

Dooley came to SAU on a football scholarship and played for three years as a receiver. After a broken leg and three other knee injuries, he decided to focus his attention on academics and his finance degree program. He was inducted into the College of Business\u2019 honor society, Beta Gamma Sigma, and served on the Business Student Advisory Council and the Business Student Investment Advisory Council.<\/p>\n

Students who possess an \u201centrepreneurial spirit\u201d like Dooley will be interested in the new Entrepreneurship major and minor programs to start Fall 2014 at SAU\u2019s College of Business. Also kicking off in the fall is the Supply Chain Management track of the College of Business\u2019 popular MBA program, which can be completed online, on campus, or a through a hybrid of the two.<\/p>\n

To find out more, visit www.SAUmag.edu\/Business<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a receiver for the Muleriders, Grant Dooley could not catch a break from injuries. But his performances in Southern Arkansas University\u2019s College of Business have caught the attention of executives at Wal-Mart Corporate. Dooley, senior from DeQueen, landed a competitive internship at Wal-Mart\u2019s Corporate Headquarters in the summer of 2013. And he did so… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":1209,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[16964,10604],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1206","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cob-profiles","8":"category-student-profiles","9":"entry"},"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/business\/files\/2014\/05\/DooleyBP.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/business\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/web.saumag.edu\/business\/feed\/podcast\/lets-talk-careers-2","embedCode":"

An all-star transition from football to finance for Dooley<\/a><\/blockquote>