The Difference That Matters

Making noise

Jason Moeller, who graduated in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, didn’t wait for graduation to begin his career. In fact, he got started before he ever got to the university. 

While his high school peers dealt with the typical pressures of being teenagers, Moeller, then a 16-year-old Flagstaff native, was busy creating and managing his own company, Peaks Audio Productions, which provides a variety of customers with audio, lighting, and video services. This thirst for success would serve as a launching point for Moeller’s education, and set the stage for his future career in business.

As his business grew, however, Moeller realized he needed to grow, too. So after attending Coconino Community College for two years, Moeller decided to seek the business background his company needed and attend Northern Arizona University.

“I understood the technical side of things, but didn’t understand the business side of things as well as I could have,” Moeller says. “After two years of junior college, I decided to earn a business degree more out of necessity. I needed to know how to run a business.”

Fine tuning

Though he had approximately four years of experience managing his company by the time he made the decision to pursue higher education, Moeller felt a degree in business administration would offer better insights into how to manage his company.

His time in The W.A. Franke College of Business was all valuable, but Moeller specifically credits the BizBlock approach as having been instrumental to his success. Comprised of three courses, BizBlock allows students to work in groups to develop their own business ideas, which can then be pitched, in competition with other student plans, to industry executives.

Moeller says his group’s idea involved providing services for troops stationed overseas, including help with documentation that couldn’t be addressed during their absence. Although his group did not win the BizBlock competition, he believes the experience helped him to grasp the importance of collaborating with others to develop a business plan.

“At the university, you’re evaluated by grades, but regardless of your performance, you learn how to improve,” Moeller says. “On our final project, we learned so much, especially how to manage a team and grow a business.”

Poised for growth

While attending the university, Moeller learned a great deal from his work with SUN Entertainment, an on-campus group that hosts concerts and other events geared towards the student body. Moeller is now rekindling that relationship with the university, which includes working concerts in the Walkup Skydome and Prochnow Auditorium, and providing speakers and other audio equipment for classrooms throughout campus. 

“It helps to know the basics and then grow and modify what you’ve learned from it,” he says. “Northern Arizona University has helped me in so many different areas of my life, and made me realize education doesn’t end with a degree; you keep learning.”