We’ve all heard stories
about ‘self-made men or women’ and marvelled at their stories, and wished we
were them. The truth, however, is that very few (if any) people are truly
‘self-made’. Be they negative influences or positive ones, the people in our
lives, from birth to old age, have a large part in dictating who we are. The
people who surround you are the people who also influence who you will be. It
is always a good idea to be selective about the people you choose to let into
your inner circles!
Among the people who can
have massive influences on our lives are mentors and role models – I’d like to
introduce you to one of mine.
I first met Frazer Buntin when I attended
my first Beyond the Gates
weekend at Sewanee. Frazer is a Sewanee alumnus who was assigned to be my
mentor for the weekend. While we were unable to connect over the weekend
itself, as he had to return home due to a family commitment, we found some time
to connect shortly afterward, and I was impressed by what I learnt about him.
Often enough, ‘formal’
mentorships end up not working as well as mentorships that develop over time,
but I’m lucky enough that in my case, with Frazer, the first naturally led to the
second. We stayed in touch, and throughout the years, he has guided me, advised
me, believed in me, and been an invaluable sounding board for when I’ve needed
someone to bounce ideas off of. Most, if not all of the career related
decisions I’ve taken after graduation were taken after consulting Frazer.
Over the four years that
I’ve known him, I’ve always felt that I should share his story with more
people, so that they could also get inspired as I have – and now, I have the
chance! Over the next few posts, I’ll be featuring Frazer as he tells us a
little bit more about his life, his work, and an exciting project that he’s
working on!
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| Sewanee the Light by Stephen Alvarez |
Early childhood and Education
I would
describe my early childhood as “a silver spoon and a brown shovel”. I grew up
on a family farm just outside of Nashville, as the 5th generation of
our family to live on this land. Uniquely, my father was not a farmer but the
farm was an active agricultural farm as opposed to many “hobby farms” that
exist today. As such, the brown shovel side was parts of every summer and
weekend that were spent doing hard, physical labor.
For
those who haven’t been exposed to a farm, don’t think milking a cow but rather,
works such as using a heavy gas-powered weed eater for 8 hours to keep fence
rows clear or loading several hundred bales of hay up into a hot, dusty barn in
late August. These experiences taught me to be tough, to have confidence in my
physical abilities, to want to contribute as an individual, and to “pull my own
weight”. As part of this experience, I interacted with all sorts of people
associated with farm life. Many had minimal education, were poor by today’s
economical standards, and lived simple lives. However, all were kind,
interesting, dedicated, and full of ingenuity. All of them wanted more for
their kids than they had for themselves. This
exposure helped me learn that appearances and education and clothes and houses
don’t define a person. I like to think spending time with Albert, Ron,
Tinnie, Ernest, and Lolla to name a few, helped me be more open to others
throughout my life. It took me a while to come around to that realization – but
I see it clearly now.
As
for the silver spoon, the other half of my life consisted of the best private
school education from kindergarten through to business school. My father owned
his own advertising agency in Nashville so
we drove to “town” everyday – 45 minutes each way where he traded overalls for
a suit and led national accounts for 45+ years as the CEO of a very successful
agency. My siblings and I were lucky enough to attend fantastic schools and be
friends with others in that environment.
One
Saturday might have been shoveling shit on the farm and the next Saturday was a
tennis clinic at a country club. It was very schizophrenic, but it kept me
grounded as well as allowed me to succeed culturally. All my academic and social
life was in Nashville and all my family life was at the farm. It was almost a
50-50 split though. We travelled extensively as a family and covered much of
the globe. My parents firmly believed in investing in experiences and culture
and education.
I
never have driven a new car in my life however, so we were not the “new BMW
with a bow on top for our 16th birthday” type of family. We were more
of “hand me down cars with 100,000 miles on them but then a trip to Africa for
Spring Break” type of family. My father is a bit of a renaissance man and my
mother an absolute rock of a person. Values were part of our lives from an
early age. We were taught to care about things, to make good decisions, and
simply – to be good people.
There
were never career path expectations for me. There was never a push to define a
college major and march toward that field. I was encouraged to find things that
interested me and then bust my ass at them.
University
I
attended college at The University of the South, commonly referred to as
Sewanee. I was drawn to it, as it was a small school with a lot of physical
space. Additionally, the culture and feeling of the school fit me. Probably
most importantly and embarrassingly though, I applied early admission and got
in and I have always chosen completion over accuracy, so I chose the first
school I applied to. I liked the small class size, the formality of the
interaction between student and teacher, the traditions, and yet the ability to
be creative.
I
actually struggled with both finding my interest and busting my ass
considerably though in college, primarily because of the interest side. I am a
super practical person and liberal arts educations don’t match with that type
of wiring. I majored in Natural Resource Management as naively, I thought it
would be nice to be outside during the labs. I know. I am shaking my own head
at that decision-making as well. That is some brilliant freshman year logic!
My
favorite class ended up being Industrial Psychology as it clicked with the
practical side of my brain. Sewanee
prepared me for the real world, not in an academic way, but rather how to
analyze a situation, be accountable for my actions, speak my mind with logic
and preparation, interact with different types of people, and build a network.
These skills are much more ambiguous but are more easily carried throughout a
career.
I
wish I had a do-over at Sewanee though. I don’t regret much in my life but I do
regret not marinating (yes, that’s the right word) in the opportunities at
Sewanee. I missed out on things because I thought I would miss out on other
things. As such, I often chose the wrong things. This regret is part of growing
up though and helps me reflect now to consider what I might be missing out on
because I think I might miss out on something else. What will I see in 20 years
from now when looking back?
After
5 years of career experience after graduating from Sewanee, I found my academic
groove at business school at Vanderbilt when the practical side of my wiring
and the content of the program married nicely. Correspondingly, I learned a lot
more applicable academic content and my GPA reflected it. Although, by business
school, I cared not about the grade but rather the absorption of information.
Keep an eye out for our next
post, where we find out more about Frazer and his career so far!
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