Jarenn Murakami, a Nordstrom Company senior program manager, credits her ability to build and maintain relationships to her time at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Shidler College of Business. She earned a bachelors of business administration focusing in human resources in 2013.
“Some of the experiences I had at Shidler really have impacted my career today,” Murakami said. “I think No. 1 was relationship building, which was a really important part of my social life but also my academic life. I was really involved in different business clubs too.”
A connection through the Business Executive Society of Tomorrow (BEST) helped her secure an internship at the Boeing Company. That led to moves to the Walt Disney Company and then Nordstrom.
“Without that first connection at Shidler, I don’t know that I would have been here today,” she said.
She encourages students to make the most of their college experience by getting involved in clubs or projects.
“Building those relationships is important, but also learning how to work with others and collaborate,” she said. “Those are all really good skills that you’ll need to apply to the workplace in the future.”
Her time at UH also taught her valuable lessons when it comes to operating as a human resources professional and programming project manager.
“We can learn things by the book, but things can be interpreted or leveraged in different ways,” she said. “You could remember or memorize things as rules, but when you apply them in real life or in a project, it may play out differently.”
Read more about Murakami and other outstanding UH Alumni.
