Julian Spivey ’24, a senior finance major at the Barney School of Business, is an inaugural member of Stanley Black & Decker’s scholarship program. This relationship led to an internship and, later, a full-time job offer from the company.
Stanley Black & Decker launched a new scholars program that makes scholarships, mentoring programs, and early career opportunities available to University of Hartford business students. Julian was one of the six students to be selected for this scholarship in its first year. As a scholar, he is part of the MLK Program Committee.
As part of his internship experience, Julian was an intern under the IT Finance Budget Team. “This experience was very positive for me because I was able to experience the corporate side of the business world,” he explains. “At first, I was unsure about the internship because I wanted to try and become a financial advisor coming out of school.” This would have been an extensive time commitment for Julian, since he would have had to take the CFA exam and apprentice at a financial firm. He still has these aspirations, but by being at Stanley Black & Decker, he can gain a better understanding of finance and how it is applied to a Fortune 500 company. “I also learned that there are many opportunities within the corporate world as well, so that is definitely beneficial if I decide to stay my whole career at Stanley,” Julian says.
Throughout his internship, Julian was able to grasp what life would be like post-graduation and he believes that narrowing down what you want to do is a fundamental part of any internship. Another key lesson he learned was how to properly network and establish relationships with people, especially upper management. “I used to ignore whenever someone would say to ‘always ask questions,’ but that is actually amazing advice,” Julian observes, “because it shows your interest and want for a deeper understanding of what someone is teaching—so now I’m always asking questions.”
Julian says he was able to solidify his knowledge from his Barney coursework and apply it to the work he does, as well as learning concepts and procedures directly from the company. His job offer from Stanley Black and Decker will make him part of its Stanley Leadership Program. Julian will be relocated to the company’s corporate headquarters in Towson, Maryland.
“The Barney School was very beneficial in helping me,” he says. “The thing I liked most about the UHart/Barney experience was the community aspect of it. I have been in the same finance classes with the same finance majors since my sophomore year. By having them in every class with me, we are able to help each other out in different ways because we have built up that rapport and relationship. That was very helpful, because if I didn’t understand a concept or problem, maybe one of them did and because of our relationship, I wasn’t hesitant to ask for help and vice versa.”
Julian credits Barney School faculty member Samuel McGee for being an impactful professor to him. “Being a black male, there aren’t that many professors that look like me,” Julian explains, “so by seeing him as a professor and a successful business owner just instilled in me that it was something I could achieve for myself as well. He always kept it as real and blunt as possible with different things going on and really shared with me that if I wanted something, it would not come easy, but by having the perseverance and aptitude, whatever I am striving for will be in my reach. I am forever grateful for him.” Julian also praises Celia Lofink, assistant dean of career ready programs and clinical assistant professor of management, as he says if it wasn’t for her and BAR 211, he would not have been in the position to receive his internship. The key skills that she taught in that class are “indispensable” and he will carry that with him for the rest of his career.
On campus, Julian is extremely involved as a member of the Barney Leadership Council and treasurer for the Black Student Union. “Being a part of the Black Student Union executive board has helped me apply the skills that I’ve learned from my internship and classes in order to forecast and help out the club with their finances so they can distribute their funds adequately,” he says. Julian had always strived to be a part of the Barney Leadership Council, but his GPA was not quite at the organization’s required criteria—so he pushed himself to get to that mark. Last year, he was inducted into the club and is extremely grateful for the opportunity. “The Barney Leadership Council has helped me solidify my confidence in myself because it was something I strived for and was able to achieve, so now I have confidence in other things that I pursue as well,” he proudly says.
Julian’s advice to incoming students is to take advantage of every opportunity. “You don’t want to graduate thinking ‘Oh, I wish I could have tried that out,’” he advises. “These are the best years of our lives to actually go out and try things that we are afraid of. I’ve applied this to myself and am about to graduate being grateful for all the things I’ve been through, both good and bad, because it made me into who I am today—even though I am continuously growing and changing.”
Julian Spivey, Finance, Barney School of BusinessI wouldn’t change anything about my Barney experience, because everything that happens is for a reason. I am very content with how things have turned out.