On October 23, Pepsi Day at Quinnipiac kicked off as Walsh and Kurek returned to the Mount Carmel Campus to talk with students about their pathways from Quinnipiac to PepsiCo and to discuss career opportunities for ambitious Bobcats through Pepsi’s Campus Development Program.

The alumni met with School of Business students in the classroom of Hans Nguyen, assistant professor of marketing, and later joined a panel of PepsiCo representatives speaking to the broader Bobcat community at The SITE during Common Hour. The panel discussion shared insights about the program, career growth at Pepsi, and advice for students interested in exploring opportunities in the company.

The Pepsi team attended a variety of other meetings throughout the day, while students also had the opportunity to sample a variety of their product lines within the School of Business.
Pepsi Day at QU adds another layer to the university’s ongoing partnership with PepsiCo.

The October 23 event was hosted by the iQ Career & Experiential Learning Lab.

“Pepsi Day at Quinnipiac is one of many Pepsi/QU collaborations to ensure students are aware of and connected to experiential learning and early career opportunities throughout the Northeast and beyond,” said Brooke Penders, Quinnipiac’s director of employer relations, career and experiential learning."

Penders said many Bobcats, like Walsh and Kurek, have found rewarding careers at Pepsi in areas like sales, marketing, and supply chain.

Currently Director of Retail Sales, Kurek oversees PepsiCo’s beverage products in all BJ Wholesale Club stores in the United States. Walsh is PepsiCo’s New England “Own the Streets” Market Lead, overseeing the beverage brand’s offerings in all independent convenience stores across New England.

Speaking with Quinnipiac students, both alumni discussed PepsiCo’s remarkable opportunities for career growth.

“Fourteen years ago, I was sitting in your seats, thinking I was coming out of college selling high-end women’s shoes for my uncle,” said Kurek.

Instead, at the Quinnipiac career fair, he connected with PepsiCo representatives. From there, Kurek was offered the opportunity to get his start with Pepsi’s Campus Development Program.

“It was an offer too good to pass up,” said Kurek.

Designed to give cross-functional training across PepsiCo’s business units, the program builds credibility and understanding of multiple aspects of operations. It emphasizes leadership development through hands-on management experiences. Participants often start as frontline managers and progress into strategic roles.

The company also offers opportunities for relocation across regions with strong company support for transitions and moving logistics.

Walsh got her start working for the company by relocating to Buffalo, New York.

“Off to Buffalo I went the summer I graduated, in 2012. Our program back then was a little different - we started as front-line sales reps - so I owned my own sales route. About a year and half of route ownership, I moved into my first leadership role,” said Walsh.

“I started in New Hampshire as a utility sales representative, basically covering sales routes when people were out on vacation, sick, or injured,” Kurek said. “I then relocated back to Stratford, Connecticut, where I took up a full-time sales route covering Fairfield County. I took that sales route from the worst-performing sales route in New England to number one in ten months.”

Walsh noted that PepsiCo also offers summer internships. The 10- to 12-week program at a field location exposes interns to the full-circle process of getting products into the marketplace, immersion in a problem-solving project with solutions to be implemented by the company, and networking opportunities.

Walsh and Kurek said PepsiCo could be a great next step for ambitious Bobcats with diverse interests. The opportunities include cross-functional training across sales, operations, logistics, and supply chain; experience in the art of selling and managing profit and loss; and exposure to different roles, teams, and leadership styles within the organization.

The company emphasizes public speaking and networking as key success skills.  As a global brand, working at PepsiCo provides visibility and responsibility early on in one’s career. The company also promotes a people-first, team-oriented culture; a commitment to health, safety, and sustainability in operations; and exciting opportunities to see and contribute to new product launches.

New employees first will become grounded in the process, vernacular and culture of the company, then will likely enter into sales people-leader positions within six to ten months of beginning training, Walsh explained.

“It’s a pretty cool opportunity just coming out school,” Walsh said. “There are lots of cool critical experiences that you aren’t going to get just sitting behind a computer. It’s really hands-on and a really great place to learn, work and build your professional and personal skills.”

Nguyen said Walsh and Kurek helped his students to think about opportunities with companies which offer career-forward initiatives like Pepsi’s Campus Development Program.

“Working in the rotational program, they spent time with the sales team and with other parts of the company so that they have a big picture of the different parts of the business and how you can connect them so you can accelerate within the organization,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen said it was extremely beneficial for students to be able to hear from Quinnipiac alumni who have applied what they’ve learned as they’ve grown in their professional roles.

“It opened up the opportunity for the students to look beyond the scope of the class into the real world and what they can apply to different jobs; and also what are some transferable skills that they can carry with them,” said Nguyen.

Learn more about strategic partnership opportunities at qu.edu/partnership.

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