Director of Graduate Career Management, Leeds School of Business
At heart, John Helmers is an explorer who actively pursues the path less traveled. As director of the Graduate Career Management office at Leeds, he encourages students to do the same.
After graduating from Miami University of Ohio with a bachelor’s degree in marketing, he watched his friends take jobs at Midwestern corporate accounting and consulting firms. But he knew that wasn’t for him. Instead, he moved to Breckenridge, Colorado, where he worked as a hotel bellman and notched over 110 days on the slopes.
“My time in Breck was a formative part of my career because I got to do what I loved every day,” he says. From that point on, he vowed to pursue his passions and settle for nothing less.
After several years in a professional role with a ski tour operator, he decided the best way to set himself up for a fulfilling future was to get an MBA. With a focus on marketing and entrepreneurship, he graduated from Leeds in 2007.
“I came to CU because I knew I would never regret investing in myself. I knew the MBA would open a whole lot of doors for me—and it did,” he says. His degree allowed him to gain valuable marketing experience at IBM and at PhoCusWright Inc, a travel industry market research company. He gained something else, too: a lust for traveling.
To date, Helmers has set foot on all seven continents and has visited 49 states. His favorite travel experience was in Antarctica in 2008, where he spent ten days on a Russian icebreaker traversing the “nauseating” Drake Passage, with a reputation of having caused over 800 shipwrecks.
Life lessons inform career callings
He hopes that his resolve to make life an adventure shows students that a tenacious mindset can lead to great achievements, especially in your career.
At the helm of the career advising team, Helmers teaches graduate students how to make meaningful connections in life and business. But he also inspires them to lean into their strengths and passions, as he has. He encourages them to embrace an entrepreneurial spirit of openness and exploration, emphasizing that the best way to succeed is by being yourself.
“It’s really rewarding to connect with people, and it’s really about investing in relationships.”
John Helmers (MBA’07)
His impact extends well beyond students. The MBA Career Services & Employer Alliance (MBA CSEA) is the global leader and premier provider of education and expertise for the support and development of people in the MBA career management and employment professions.
As a volunteer, he held multiple roles, served two terms on the Board of Directors, and recently completed a 3-year term as president of the organization, where he was able to represent both Leeds and the board at the annual conferences in Asia, Europe and the U.S.
”Our industry and association are unbelievably willing to share best practices and innovations with one another, which means I’m able to bring ideas and practices from top MBA programs around the world to support Leeds students,” he says.
A man of many talents
Colleagues call Helmers “the mayor of Leeds,” citing his keen aptitude for making meaningful connections wherever he goes.
“It’s really rewarding to connect with people, and it’s really about investing in relationships,” he says. He has maintained personal connections with more than 16 years of Leeds MBA graduates.
Not only is he the mayor, but he’s also the office instigator, as evidenced by his legendary, impromptu staff dance parties. And he’s an avid cycler. He’s ridden his bike to work every day—in rain or snow or sweltering heat—for 14 years. After work, he pedals up to Sunrise Amphitheater or hikes Mt. Sanitas.
It’s one of the best ways, he believes, to keep the adventure alive.