Based in a college town, Bandalier has the privilege of leveraging the large pool of up-and-coming talent from our local colleges: Binghamton University and SUNY Broome. We enjoy seeing our student employees grow, succeed, and eventually graduate!  We decided to check in on five graduates of the Binghamton University class of 2018, all former Bandalier team members, to see what they are up to today!

Moira Ungerleider:
Moira joined the Bandalier team in February of 2018 and was among the first handful of B.U. students to work with us part-time. Since graduating, Moira has moved to Florence, Italy where she’s been working and traveling around Europe.

Currently, she’s working as a sales and marketing associate for Smart Trip Europe, where she sells trips throughout Europe to American students studying abroad. During the week, she builds a clientele around Florence via social media, direct sales, and marketing tactics. On weekends, she leads groups of up to 150 students to exciting destinations. 
“My position as an associate and tour guide allows me to travel almost every weekend. This is an aspect I love, I’ve been to about 13 countries and all around Italy leading tours since August. This May, I’ll be continuing my travels to Southeast Asia, mainly participating in work-trade schools, retreats, sustainable farms, and more.

Her time at Bandalier has had a measurable impact on her success at her current job. “Bandalier’s sales training with Matt allowed me to learn tactics to use when presenting a product or what to do when rejected. The market of my company is pretty competitive, so having the skills Matt taught me has been extremely beneficial.”

When asked about her time at Bandalier what still sticks out to her are the people and open work environment. The company’s value of continuous improvement (kaizen) allowed her to apply her supply chain major in a way she never imagined. “I’m still very grateful for this lesson and I intend to incorporate it in every job I have in the future.”

Kali Benjovsky:
After graduating from B.U., Kali stayed with Bandalier for the summer before heading back to school to pursue her Juris Doctor at the University at Buffalo, School of Law. “Law school is the best challenge I have ever taken on. It is hard, especially your first year, but I would never change it for the world.”

While in school she also works as a law clerk focusing in civil defense at NYCM Insurance and will be participating in an NYC finance program this coming fall. She is keeping her options open in regards to what type of law she pursues but is highly interested in copyright and intellectual property with a particular focus on the fashion industry.

Reflecting on her time at Bandalier, Kali says that her favorite part about the job was the strong relationships she was able to build with fellow employees as well as clients. “Bandalier is a great place to build your skills for any career. It’s where I learned how to be comfortable on the phone, adjust to a client’s needs, and write an amazing email. Any job you will pursue requires these skills and I’m so thankful I was able to learn from the guidance of Jeremy and Matt.”

Zachary Gaskill:
Zach has been busy professionally and personally since graduating from B.U. Professionally, he decided to make the switch from working part-time to full-time at Bandalier, saying that he “knew it was a great opportunity to help a startup grow, and to be there from the bottom floor was too good to pass on.” 

Since transitioning to a full-time employee, he has risen to join the ranks of management, working as an Associate Sales Manager. His role consists of conducting interviews for prospective employees and training for new hires, acting as the point-person for full-time employees, and mentoring staff through role plays and one-on-ones, all while racking up demos for his 2 client accounts. When asked what it’s like being in a position of leadership Zach said “I enjoy working with everyone and being able to help shape the culture of the company. Being a leader is something that I really enjoy. It is hard to manage your time and get everything done, but it is also very rewarding.”

Personally, he’s continued his passions of writing music and poetry, and has had his poetry published in various journals across the country! “Getting published in so many journals has been so cool. To see your poetry in a book is such an amazing feeling.” He also enjoys raising his three children while renovating the house he has purchased for his family.
Looking towards the future, in five years Zach sees himself as “Bandalier’s Imperial Emperor.” On a more serious note, he does see himself in senior management while continuing to make music and poetry, hoping to have a book published by then. Having watched the company grow so much in his time with Bandalier, from three people when he interviewed to nearly 40 now, has been surreal. He encourages everyone to consider applying to Bandalier to experience the great startup culture while learning sales skills that are transferable to all parts of life.

Tyler Sherven:
Tyler worked for Bandalier during his last semester before graduation. He now works for Community Options, working on a partnership with several local businesses including Lourdes, Shumaker, and other STEM-related businesses where he works to generate internship programs.

His experience at Bandalier has given him invaluable skills that transferred well into his current role. “The culture of accountability fostered through the weekly goal setting, kaizen philosophy, and end-of-day “stand-ups” allowed me to see what it was like to work in an environment that helps you truly better yourself.”

Andrew Schlottman:

Since graduating from SUNY Oneonta last May, Andrew has been enjoying his time as a full-time, fully-dedicated Bandalier employee. Excited about the amount of growth he witnessed during his first few months working part-time, he made the decision to stay in Binghamton and go full-time after graduating. His role as the Sales Operations lead entails overseeing lead generation, multi-channel outreach, CRM troubleshooting, and any other technical issues that may come up.

One of Andrew’s favorite Bandalier memories is when the team moved into its new office at the Koffman Incubator. “I felt that it really represented the amount of growth Bandalier had seen given that we outgrew our first office in less than a year. What’s even more exciting is that less than a year later we’re now reaching a point where we’re outgrowing our current office!”

We here at Bandalier are so proud of our grads! As they continue to grow in their lives, whether at Bandalier or elsewhere, we wish them the best of luck as they work to become the best that they can be!