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If you visit the Pizza Hut in Charlevoix, Michigan, make sure you order a pie with ham and pineapple. That鈥檚 Carrie Will鈥檚 favorite. She鈥檚 the Restaurant General Manager and recent graduate of Excelsior College with a Bachelor of Professional Studies in Business and Management through Pizza Hut鈥檚 Life Unboxed educational partnership.

It鈥檚 immediately apparent that with her 16 years of experience at Pizza Hut, Will runs a tight ship. She can instantly tell you what her store鈥檚 sales were on this day last year and what the average guest check amount was during the past four weeks. She can tell you, at any given time, who is on her team, what they should be doing, and if they should be offering more breadsticks to customers. She鈥檚 also impressively fluent in regional pizza preferences (Charlevoix prefers BBQ Chicken and Pan Pizzas庐 while residents of Gladwin, Michigan, go for Meat Lover鈥檚庐 Pizza and Supreme Pizzas, in case you were wondering.)

Even more impressive, given her encyclopedic restaurant industry knowledge is that Will never considered herself a 鈥渂usiness-minded鈥� person before earning her degree. With her associate degree in biology, Will was on track to finish her training as a veterinary technician. However, a meeting with Ted Freiburger, Vice President of The Daland Corporation, a franchise organization of Pizza Hut, prompted her to change course after Will asked him about his own educational path. Freiburger recommended she pursue her bachelor鈥檚 through Excelsior College and Pizza Hut鈥檚 partnership. 鈥淗e told me Excelsior and Pizza Hut partnered together and between the degree I had, and the Learning Zone training [on-the-job internal training], I could actually get the bachelor鈥檚 degree done in half the time,鈥� Will remembers. This advice sealed the deal and with two weeks remaining in her vet tech training, she left to pursue her bachelor鈥檚 degree at Excelsior, a move that left many people in her life surprised. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 understand why I would just drop everything and get a bachelor鈥檚 in business, but I said that if my career with Pizza Hut is going to go on further, I might as well do something with that, so I just went through,鈥� Will declared.

Applying Learning Zone training credit as well as transferring in credit from her associate degree meant Will was able to complete her bachelor鈥檚 degree in two years. Going to school online while working full time required discipline and sacrifice, but her family and team at Pizza Hut encouraged her along the way with frequent check-ins on her progress. 鈥淭ed [Freiburger], when I would see him, would ask me 鈥榟ow much time do you have?鈥� or 鈥榟ow are you doing?鈥� He pushed me a lot and I think that鈥檚 what helped. Dan Rich, my district manager, did the same thing. There were days when I would take my laptop to the store and I would show him what I was doing.鈥�

The time proved well spent as Will became the first RGM in her region to have earned her bachelor鈥檚 degree through the partnership program. Being an RGM means that she must combine analytical and problem-solving skills with a keen ability to manage and motivate people. 聽Recently, Will was transferred to Charlevoix, making the two-hour plus commute each way from her home in Gladwin, to turn around a store with slow sales. She鈥檚 been successful, too, in no small part due to her knack for motivating staff, and the team leadership skills she honed while attaining her degree at Excelsior College. 鈥淚 have customers coming in and telling me the store has a totally different atmosphere,鈥� she says. She credits her Learning Zone training with equipping her with the practical, everyday knowledge needed to run a store and manage employees and through her classes at Excelsior, she was able to see how that experience could be applied: 鈥淚 took problems that I solved within Pizza Hut and that鈥檚 what I based my projects through the school on鈥�That was one thing that was nice with Excelsior partnering with Pizza Hut, you can tie a lot of stuff in together.

鈥淭o get my bachelor鈥檚 in business is still like a dream to me,鈥� Will says, noting her education hasn鈥檛 stopped with her degree. 鈥淚鈥檓 still learning stuff every day and I didn鈥檛 realize how much I like to look at the different store鈥檚 numbers and see how they鈥檙e doing. Eventually down the road I do want to move up and do something more with corporate.鈥� In five years, she鈥檇 like to be district manager and she has long-term goal of owning her own store. Now that she鈥檚 graduated, this budding vintner is reading up on wine making and has plans to try her hand at crafting blueberry wine and elderberry syrup from the bushes in her own backyard.

Giving advice to prospective students, Will counsels that having the ability to visualize your future is key. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to take a lot of dedication. If you deep down want to do it, you can do it,鈥� says Will and adds, 鈥淢y personality is to be one step ahead of everybody else. That鈥檚 the one thing that pushed me to get my bachelor鈥檚 was that I didn鈥檛 know anybody else that had this.鈥� Though he might be slightly biased, Carrie鈥檚 dad, Eldon Will, agrees. 鈥淪he鈥檚 a person that is dedicated to what she鈥檚 doing鈥�She鈥檚 a hard worker and she鈥檚 dedicated to it and that鈥檚 what you don鈥檛 find today in a lot of businesses. She鈥檚 doing good.鈥�

With her professional star on the rise, there鈥檚 no question that whatever Carrie Will鈥檚 goals are, she鈥檒l find a way to reach them. In the meantime, Will and her team will be working hard in Charlevoix waiting to take your order. She鈥檒l make sure to start you out with some breadsticks. Learn more about our Bachelor’s Degrees in Business.