REXBURG—For many art graduates, the path to a fulfilling career is rarely a straight line. For BYU-Idaho alumna London Hall, finding her professional niche meant returning to familiar grounds, but with a completely fresh perspective.
Hall grew up working for Rocky Mountain Supply, her family’s business in Idaho Falls, but her early years with the company were far from creative.
"I grew up working for the company, but I was a yard girl," Hall said. "So, I was the one operating forklifts and pulling orders. I was mostly outside."
When she graduated with her bachelor's degree in art in 2023, returning to the family rock and brick yard was the last thing on her mind. She set off to study abroad and even relocated to Utah in search of work. Eventually, she returned home to teach art at a local elementary school, but the role left her feeling unfulfilled.
Realizing she needed a change, Hall took a leap of faith and returned to Rocky Mountain Supply. This time, however, she stepped into a new role that blended her creative background with the family trade in ways she never foresaw. Today, her art degree has become her greatest strength as she helps customers design landscapes and select bricks, stones and pavers.
"The classes and stuff that I had in college talked a lot about color theories, which really helped as I transitioned into the selling of rock and brick," Hall said. "Some of the skills that I brought from my art degree were just the ability to be able to, I guess, see differently."
Stepping into the corporate side of the business hasn't been without its challenges. Hall has had to quickly adapt to the steep learning curve of the industry's vast inventory.
"I have to learn all of the different types of rock and brick and all of the different manufacturers that we go to," Hall said. "And there's a lot. We sell a lot of different varieties of different stones, so learning that along with the pricing of things and the different vocabulary."
Beyond the product catalog, Hall also has to navigate a unique workplace dynamic: her boss, Justin, is also her father. Balancing a professional relationship with a parent can occasionally create a mix of signals.
"We'll have conversations and it'll be like, OK, is this coming from a father's perspective or from my boss’s perspective?" Hall said. "Sometimes he'll just be like, 'Hey, listen, you did this incorrectly. I'm telling you this as your father and your boss.’"
Despite the occasional comedic hiccup of a family-run operation, Justin remains incredibly supportive of his daughter. He regularly looks to her for the artistic expertise he doesn't possess, welcoming her unique insights to help modernize the business.
"I'll shout out ideas of different products that we might want to start carrying more of," Hall said. "My dad is also very good about letting people try to throw out ideas and see things from new perspectives in order to progress the business and to bring in new clientele. All options are definitely always heard."
For current creative students harboring anxieties about their post-grad job prospects, Hall’s journey serves as a powerful reminder that an education in the arts builds highly adaptable, real-world skills.
"Things are constantly changing, and opportunities are opening up in a lot of different fields that involve skills that you've learned from your major," Hall said. "At first glance, working at a brick company doesn't seem like it really meshes very well with art. But when you start working and looking at all these things that we do, it's constantly involving the skills that I've learned. It's a mix of two worlds that I really enjoy."