R. George Banner graduated from Utah Valley University (UVU) in 2017 with a Communication Degree emphasizing in Public Relations. Like many recent graduates, he was eager to start his career and hit the ground running. His experiences at UVU provided him with an impressive resume, and he knew that he would have no trouble finding a job. George dreamed of working in downtown Salt Lake City and applied to every job he could, throwing one application out to a company based in Utah County. As fate would have it, the only job he heard back from was that lone application to be a Public Relations manager for Dowdle Folk Art based out of Pleasant Grove, Utah. Looking back, George knows that job was precisely where he needed to be at the time. “I was the PR specialist. I worked behind the scenes of the TV show called “Painting the Town with Eric Dowdle.” During his time with Dowdle Folk Art, George worked with the local press in various cities across the state and nation - he coordinated with publications and news outlets to tell the story of Dowdle Folk Art, providing photography, video, press packages, and story narratives.

During his time, George started to migrate more towards the marketing realm. He decided to take a leap of faith by applying to work at a digital marketing agency. George stated that the move “really deepened my career.” The job was stressful. Agency life is sometimes utter chaos and extremely fast-paced. “I learned a lot about different industries. I was surrounded by brilliant marketing minds.” However, George was not passionate about his work and questioned if he was even in the right field. He knew it was time for a change and wanted to go back to school to get a graduate degree in counseling psychology. With this goal in mind, he started applying for jobs at Utah Valley University to put him back into the higher education mindset. He polished up his resume and started applying for jobs. He landed in University Marketing and Communications as the Integrated Marketing Manager. Even though he was still skeptical about marketing and communication as a career path, he was fully engaged and fell in love. He was overjoyed to talk about his job with anyone who would listen and was passionate about the campaigns he worked on.

UVU celebrated its 80th year in 2021, and George was a key contributor to the 80th campaign. He oversaw the overarching marketing campaign for the university, produced countless photo and video shoots, wrote multiple scripts, recruited talent, and worked hand in hand with designers. George was not scared to get in the trenches and roll up his sleeve to get the work done. At any point, you could find him designing sets, painting, curating props, really getting his hands dirty. The 80th campaign was the first campaign of its kind for the university. “It was very deliberate and exciting. I LOVED my job”. He has found his passion and once again could see himself working within the marketing and public relations field again. Like the campaign slogan UVU: A Place for You, George knew he had found his place.

As he was finishing up the last campaign pieces, George was approached by Crumbl Cookies headquarters. Based in Orem, Utah, Crumbl Cookie is the fastest-growing and second-largest cookie company in the nation. The cookie company presented an opportunity that was right up his alley, was something that he could be passionate about, and he knew that he had acquired the skills needed to be successful in this new adventure. Now, George is the Customer Service Manager of Crumbl Cookie. “They hired me to create the world’s best customer service experience, and that is exactly what I am going to do.” His new role will allow him to work with customers from all over the United States. He oversees the customer assist team helps them to think outside of the pink box to solve customer issues and generate loyal customer affiliations. ”It’s a wild experience. I had no idea how much people care about their cookies”. The Crumbl Cookie Instagram account can have upwards of 10K comments on one Instagram post, especially when announcing their cookie menu for the week.

George stated that his time at UVU as a student and employee truly prepared him to transition to this new position. “I feel my skill set because of my degree program, the things I learned along the way, and the experience I had as the Integrated Marketing Manager has put me in the position to create the World’s Best Customer Service Experience for Crumbl Cookie. So, watch out, world. Here I come!”