BYU-Idaho is full of success stories with its students and graduates, and none more so than graduate Jed Rawson. Rawson said “My dad was a seminary teacher. I didn't come from much. I’m from Blackfoot. However, in hindsight, I don't know how many founders have raised ten million or more and been successful entrepreneurs.”
Rawson is one of many success stories that is a product of BYU-Idaho. He studied marketing and business economics while attending school. He spoke about having many experiences and professors that helped him on the way to success outside of school. “What I liked about the education at BYU-Idaho is that the teachers and the learning [were] geared around giving you valuable tools that you can use,” Rawson said.
When asked about what parts of his education helped him prepare for success out of school, Rawson also mentioned the connections he made during his time at school. He mentioned multiple professors by name and said that he has been able to stay connected with them over the years.
However, it was not only the small classes and great professors that provided Rawson with an excellent quality education. The combination of economic and business principles along with spiritual principles helped set him up for success in the real world. “You learn principles, and not just spiritual ones, but economic and business-related ones. Those principles have influenced my career to a great degree.”
All of Rawson’s time at BYU-Idaho was not easy and carefree, though. It was the failures as well as the successes during school that helped him learn how to be successful. Those failures fostered growth and progression.
“It was some of the early failures and early exposure I had at BYU-Idaho. People think you must be successful out of the gate. Most of us aren't. Most of us fail out of the gate. If you can learn from those failures, and iterate quickly, the faster you learn, the faster you can progress.”
His study of business and marketing as well as some internship expeditions helped Rawson to get a job with Morgan Stanley, a global financial institution. Though it provided him with valuable experience, he quickly learned that finance was not his mission in life.
Six months after leaving Morgan Stanley, Rawson started his own company, which manages Amazon for brands and is one of the only private, equity-backed Amazon agencies. This has proven an extremely successful business and from it, Rawson has seen several blessings in his life. “I'm probably one of the few BYU-Idaho students who can say I've written a seven-figure tithing check. I've been extremely blessed and fortunate, and I think that there's something in that story that's encouraging.”