Shannon Mostrom earned dual Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Utah, her BFA in Ballet and her BS in Business Entrepreneurship from the David Eccles School of Business. 

While at the College of Fine Arts, Mostrom was included on the Dean’s List and took part in the Business Scholars Program, the David Eccles School of Business (DESB) Exchange Program in South Korea and Paris, the Women in Business Club and the Ethics Club. After graduation, she went on to earn her Masters in Finance at the Hult International Business School in London. She wrote a piece on the Hult blog on how ballet prepared her for business.

Mostrom currently lives in New York City and works as a Media Associate at VaynerMedia. We caught up with her to learn more about how her path has progressed since her time on campus.

You double majored at the U in Ballet and Business. What made you choose this blend of studies and was it always the plan in your mind?

I have always loved to dance, I started at the age of two and began taking it seriously around twelve. I knew from a young age that I wanted to study it in college and I was attracted to the University of Utah's ballet department because I knew I would receive intense technical training and ballet performance opportunities. Another aspect of the U that I liked was that I was able to double major. I come from a business family so I was interested in learning more about business and enjoyed the creativity behind the Entrepreneurship degree. For a while, I struggled between choosing to study marketing or entrepreneurship but when I learned that I was able to fit the entrepreneurship degree in four years it weighed heavily on my decision. 

Favorite memories of the U?

• Performing in "Serenade" freshman year
• Studying abroad in Paris and South Korea with DESB
• Teaching at the University of Panama with the School of Dance
• Skiing, camping, and hiking on the weekends in SLC
• Weekend choreography rehearsals with friends

What was your mindset when you graduated? What influenced your decision to pursue a Masters in Finance? 

I was looking forward to continuing my business education and living in a new city upon graduation. The majority of my time was spent on training and performing while in Utah and I was excited to focus on one area. I knew that I wanted to study Finance in graduate school because it is the backbone of business and it helped me understand the big picture.

What does dance mean in your every day now?

Every day I use skills that I have developed over the years from dance, some of them being discipline, openness, and resilience. Dance taught me the importance of pushing through failure, exhaustion, and self-doubt, which directly translated to learning difficult subjects, presenting material to a class, pitching ideas to a client and interviewing for jobs. At the same time, dance taught me self-awareness and openness. Dance exposed me to a variety of backgrounds and experiences that pushed me to develop empathy and compassion for people that were different from me. This has helped me relate to strangers in new cities, connect with coworkers and classmates, all of which helped with my moves over the past several years.

What is your favorite place to live so far?

While I miss living in the mountains I would have to say that London and New York have been my favorite places to live. I love the energy of the city, culture, and the mindset of the people working here.

Proudest moment from your career?

One of my goals in going to graduate school was to position myself on the east coast to get a full-time job in NY. Landing a full-time job here last March was a milestone that I was very excited about.

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