These words sum up Brian Gillette’s appraisal of the skills he learned in his master’s program in rhetoric, composition, and professional communication at Iowa State University. Gillette’s years of success in business put him in a good position to judge.
Photo provided by Brian Gillette
Brian Gillette’s academic path was not a straight line into business success. He claims that he was a bad student in his undergraduate years. A disinterest in his education and a low attendance rate had left him feeling adrift in life until a new professor, Dr. Andrea Frantz, began teaching one of his classes, becoming the first teacher to make him feel appreciated in his work. Suddenly, he found a drive to put more effort into his education, and when that professor recommended he attend graduate school, he chose her alma mater: Iowa State.
After a gap year between schools, Gillette earned an MA in Rhetoric, Composition, and Professional Communication, meeting his wife and eventually graduating in 1993. From there, he began working as a technical writer for Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) before advancing his career to new heights in just over a decade. After 13 years of writing in insurance, Gillette became Vice President of Sales at BCBS Iowa. Under his leadership, the insurance company achieved its highest month, quarter, and year of sales in its history. Still, after that, he would leave to co-own an insurance marketing agency. He spent 12 years managing that agency, using his connections in the insurance industry to skyrocket the agency’s value by 8,000% before selling it at its peak.
Through it all, Gillette attributes his success to his education at Iowa State. According to him, the communication skills he learned as part of his master’s program were the key to his career. “Communication skills are the ultimate transferable skill,” he declares. “They can lead to your success regardless of what your personal and professional aspirations are.” He strongly believes that his time at ISU is what allowed him to find so much success in his career.
For that reason, after selling his agency, Gillette returned to Iowa State to pursue his strongest, most constant passion: teaching. When a position in the English department opened up, he jumped at the chance to pass on the skills he’d learned in the early 90s to the next group of communication students. Nowadays, he teaches English 3020, Business Communication, and Speech Comm 3120, Business and Professional Speaking. He reportedly begins each semester by asking his students if they believe his class will be the most important class they will ever take and spends the rest of the semester trying to prove that it is.