A Similar Heart: Why the Rockhurst Alumni Network Works

In 1997 Merritt Neil was about to graduate from Rockhurst with a degree in Communication Studies. Like other seniors, she needed a job.

她当时并不知道，多亏了罗克赫斯特的一位校友，这扇门打开了，她说这是“我一生中最伟大的礼物之一”.”

这位校友就是鲍勃·梅里根(Bob Merrigan)，他是罗克赫斯特学院第一位传媒专业的毕业生，1976年毕业. In 1990 he started a marketing agency called Merrigan & Co. 七年后，他打算在学年结束时雇佣第一个全职员工. 在系主任韦斯利恩·马丁打电话给他之前，梅里根面试了3-4个传播学专业的学生，并说他们有一个非常适合他的人.

“我说服梅里特在她还在上学的时候做兼职，她做到了，”梅里根说. “我想，后来我让她分心了很长时间，不去找其他工作，所以她留下来了. She was eager to learn and a quick study.”

Neil tells a slightly different story.

“我走进韦斯利恩的办公室说，‘我需要找份工作，’”她回忆道. “我有不同职位的简历:我有一份公关简历，一份内部销售简历. Weslynn said, ‘I’ve got this alum…’

“所以我第一次和鲍勃通电话时，他说，‘我在直销领域工作. You know what that is, right?’ And I was like, ‘Of course I do!’” Neil said. “然后我想我需要弄清楚什么是直接营销，因为我不知道.”

接下来的几年很艰难，但尼尔觉得她已经做好了充分的学习准备. Merrigan helped with the rest.

她说:“我认为罗克赫斯特给了我一个很好的工作基础，以及如何处理事情。. “I credit Bob with teaching me pretty much everything I know. That connection was incredibly important in my life. It was hard. 鲍勃一开始很强硬，他帮我塑形，从那时起就开始了.”

作为罗克赫斯特的毕业生，梅里根知道从前老鹰队进入职场的人身上寻找什么.

“坦率地说，我认为好奇心是吸引人们来罗克赫斯特的众多原因之一，”他说. “它是想要学习，想要发现，以及对成长的意愿和兴趣. A level of initiative. So, all of those things, how do you package that? 这就是野兽的本性——商业的本性就是你必须站在自己的立场上思考, 你必须诚实，真正为客户的利益服务, which requires a certain level of integrity. 这只是一些基本的价值观，我认为是在罗克赫斯特所做的核心, who Rockhurst students are.”

这种成长的主动性和意愿促使尼尔从一名初级员工晋升为中层员工，最后晋升为副总裁. 公司的业务在不断增长，员工也从原来只有她和鲍勃变成了越来越多的员工.

也正是在这个时候，该公司开始将重点转向非营利性客户.

“当我开始为鲍勃工作时，365滚球APP更像是一家拥有客户的综合代理公司——B2B客户, 不同类型的客户-然后365滚球APP开始获得更多的非营利客户,” Neil said. “Today our business is mostly all nonprofit. I loved the direction of the business, obviously loved working with Bob, and had developed significant, outstanding relationships with clients.”

梅里根看到了这种热情，觉得是时候制定接班人计划了. 这导致了所有权的转移，尼尔和同事莫妮卡·蒂凡尼从梅里根手中买下了该公司，并在他们之间建立了50-50的合伙结构. Merrigan didn’t go anywhere, however. 他签了一份雇佣合同，至今仍是公司的重要一员.

尼尔说:“很多企业……很难让原来的所有者还参与进来。. “365滚球APP能够做到这一点，是因为365滚球APP对彼此有着深深的尊重、友谊和爱, to continue that relationship. He's now my employee, which is funny, but oddly it feels right. And we actually just kind of settled into our new roles. He's invaluable.”

Merrigan said the transition was in his best interest.

“It was more of a retention strategy,” he said. “你让一个人成长、学习、发展各种能力……你如何留住他们?? So that's where that started.”

The Kansas City Business Journal wrote a story 在三位同事身上，他们在如何“平稳所有权过渡”方面获得了专业知识.” Spoiler alert: Nothing matters more than trust.

尼尔说:“365滚球APP一切都照章办事，还聘请了顾问对公司进行估值。. “鲍勃非常慷慨地帮助365滚球APP制定了财务条款. It’s one of the greatest gifts of my life.”

Neil comes from a family of entrepreneurs. 她的父亲拥有一家小公司，她的母亲已经去世，她的母亲拥有一家小公司. In fact, Merrigan & Co., now referred to as M&C, 这家店就在尼尔祖父的一栋楼里，就在罗克赫斯特街55号和特罗斯特街交叉口的拐角处.

Neil和Merrigan都住在Rockhurst附近，而且不仅仅是在附近工作.

Neil teaches on campus as an adjunct instructor of Nonprofit Leadership Studies in the College of Business, Influence and Information Analysis. Merrigan is a frequent guest speaker.

“She makes me teach a class once a semester,” he said.

Neil’s work ethic has extended from M&C to the classroom.

她说:“我真的非常努力地担任兼职，与学生保持联系。. “我已经教了足够多的课，现在我是很多学生的定期导师，并为他们提供了工作机会. 当他们在寻找下一个机会或需要处理工作中的困难情况时，他们会来找我. That's one of the things that I've valued most. 最令我欣慰的是，看到我教过的所有罗克赫斯特学生都脱颖而出，并走上了自己的职业道路.”

从本质上讲，尼尔之于罗克赫斯特的新学生就像梅里根之于她一样 an alum who can open a door to new career possibilities.

“At Rockhurst, 校园很小，教育也很独特，所以当我找到另一个罗克赫斯特的毕业生时, it means something to me, and it means something to them,” she said. “And there really is this sense of service and paying it forward. When I look at my life, 当你在这种情况下，你没有看到趋势的视角, because I was trying to find my first job, and it was ‘I guess I'll go work for this guy.’ But the fact that he was at Rockhurst, and he came recommended to me… I think at Rockhurst, people have a similar heart. And I think that's why it works, and it's continued to work.

“我告诉我的学生，你没有意识到你的指尖有多大的力量, just with other Rockhurst people in this community,” she continued. “I think it matters in Kansas City. 这让我在很多方面受益，很明显，无论是个人还是职业.”