Love Of Business Leads Bellevue University Graduate to Pursue Master’s Degree
Tamala Shepherd fell in love with business after receiving a scholarship and starting her education journey at Bellevue University in 2014.
Originally a biology major, Shepherd decided to switch gears and pursue a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree after discovering she loved all things business.
Shepherd, 25, who currently lives in Omaha, Neb., with her husband, Matthew, and their chihuahua, Rowdy, works full-time as the associate buyer of party and wedding decor and supplies at Oriental Trading Company. She also owns an event decor business called Balloons For Days. The company creates, delivers and installs balloon creations ranging from table displays and personalized balloons to balloon columns, arches and garlands.
When considering which school to attend, she said it was ultimately her brother who helped influence her decision because he had a great experience at Bellevue University while he completed his undergraduate degree.
“Like my brother, I quickly developed a love for Bellevue University after starting my undergraduate degree,” Shepherd said. “The class sizes, one-on-one time with professors, flexibility, great classmates and endless resources made my time at Bellevue University very enjoyable.”
After completing her undergraduate degree in 2018 and taking two years off to learn and grow, Shepherd enrolled in the Master of Business Administration program in 2020 and is now set to finish in the spring of 2022. Outside of being a student and a full-time employee, Shepherd became a business owner six months ago after starting Balloons For Days.
“I chose to complete my undergraduate degree and now my master’s in order to advance in my career and learn more about business,” Shepherd said. “Many topics I’ve learned about in both programs continually apply to running my business on a daily basis.”
Once Shepherd’s graduates, she hopes to continue to climb the corporate ladder and eventually manage her business full-time when the time is right.
“Once I graduate with my MBA I plan to continue to manage Balloons For Days and continue to utilize the skills I am learning in the program and apply them to not only my business, but in my full-time corporate job, as well. I highly recommend Bellevue University because it’s an excellent school.”