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Lindsey Hoffman always knew that she would return to the East Coast after graduating from Leeds, but she took with her the valuable connections and insights she gained, and these have propelled her toward success.

Though she’s across the country, Hoffman continues to hold onto the connections she created at Leeds. One of her strongest connections is Laura Kornish, the associate dean of undergraduate programs, whom she met for coffee when she was in town this past January.  She also keeps in touch with her Leeds classmates, whom she can share stories with about career challenges.

“I think keeping these connections is important,” she said. “You want to build your network when you don't need it so you can use it when you do. That way you can always have someone to fall back on if you need help.”

Lessons to lean on

Originally from Connecticut, Hoffman found herself at CU because of the accessibility to skiing. She studied business analytics and operations management, then began looking for jobs after graduation. With the help of Kornish, she found a two-year program with Epsilon, a global advertising and marketing technology company where she’s a client coordinator for advanced television and media.

“You’re always jumping from one thing to another in a job,” she said. “Leeds does a great job of preparing you to juggle multiple things and manage your time.”

Even years after graduating, she still hasn’t forgotten the important skills that Leeds classes taught her, from the business modules to BASE.

“Many teams work cross-functionally now,” she said. “The business mods help give a foundation of each department of business and show what problems they’re uniquely facing.”

There are also many skills from BASE that she utilizes in her career.

“I was given a lot of technical background from Leeds but was also shown the importance of writing an email that was straight to the point,” she said. “It’s something that you don’t realize the significance of until you enter the workforce.”

"You want to build your network when you don't need it so you can use it when you do​."

Lindsey Hoffman (BA and OpMgmt’21)​

There are always differences between being in a classroom and being in the workforce; for Hoffman, she noticed this through the lack of feedback at her job, where she had to learn to have confidence in her work without someone checking it.

“Your work will only be checked if it’s absolutely wrong,” she said. “I had to get used to asking how my work could be improved and not rely on instant feedback from anyone.”

From these Leeds lessons, she has many opportunities to advance her career further. She plans to remain in the marketing and data spaces and possibly work for another agency associated with Epsilon in the future. For students looking to go into a similar career, she encourages them to start networking early.

“I’ve always loved meeting Boulder students and telling them about what I do,” she said. “It’s so important to start meeting leaders in the industry you’re looking into to get pointed in the right direction.”