Jayce Smalley

UC Davis Graduate School of Management

“A passionate young leader looking to blaze new paths for people to follow.”

Hometown: Kaneohe, Hawaii

Fun Fact About Yourself: I graduated in three years while playing Division 1 football at UCLA. With two more years of NCAA eligibility remaining, I am now playing football for the UC Davis Aggies while pursuing my MBA.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of California Los Angeles, Communications

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Analyst, C2 Commercial, Santa Monica, CA

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of the MBA curriculum or activities that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? The faculty made the biggest impact on my choosing UC Davis as a place that I would want to call home for the next two years. I truly believe that what you put into business school is what you get out of it. After talking to Dean Rao Unnava, Assistant Director of Student and Academic Services Jacqueline Romo, and Associate Director of Admissions Jessica Moon, I realized that they all had the same goal, which was to push you to become the best you can be. By surrounding yourself with people who genuinely care about your development as a well-rounded person rather than just your professional career success, an environment is created that encourages you to try things out of your comfort zone and find new passions. With a caring and supportive faculty and staff around you, the sky’s the limit. That is what makes UC Davis special. It is truly a family.

What quality best describes your MBA classmates and why? The quality that best describes my MBA classmates is embracing. From the first day I met my cohort, I was welcomed with open arms. Whether in study groups or after-class activities like virtual happy hours, I have felt a connection and a sense that I could go to anyone of my classmates with a problem and they would be willing to help me.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My biggest accomplishment in my career so far has been graduating from UCLA in three years. It took dedication, strict time management and has led to many great opportunities.

What has been the biggest surprise in your first three months of business school? My biggest surprise in business school is how applicable every class is to the real world. In my undergraduate econ courses, the teaching style focused on hypothetical situations and theories. However, in the economics core course in business school, we examine real-world business problems, such as how a company uses economics to price inventory.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I had an interesting journey, which led me to pursuing an MBA. As an undergrad, I was mainly focused on athletics and dedicating all my time to being the best football player I could be. This led to me changing my major from economics to communications. However, I always knew I wanted to learn business. In my final quarter at UCLA, the possibility of playing football while attending graduate school was presented. This led me to UC Davis, which gave me the opportunity to learn the technical skills that I was lacking, meet and learn from people who had years of experience in the workplace, and simultaneously pursue my athletic career.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? None

What do you see yourself doing ten years from now? Ten years from now, I see myself as a vice president at a private equity firm. Additionally, I want to serve as a resource for student athletes. I want to provide lectures and talks to athletes on the importance of financial literacy and navigating the collegiate athlete experience.

DON’T MISS: Meet The UC Davis Graduate School of Management MBA Class of 2022