By the time Brent and Reece Mabry transferred to Radford University to study business,
in the fall of 2023, they had already logged a wealth of hours in the working world.
The two brothers – fraternal twins who grew up in Fairlawn and who stand upwards of
6 ½ feet – managed to earn their associate degrees from New River Community College
at the same time they were working full-time shifts on the assembly line at Volvo
in Pulaski.
Even earlier than that, as Radford High School students who played both football and
basketball, each also held two jobs – an outdoor gig working together, for a local
tree care service, and separate positions at area restaurants.
Reece’s early stint as an assistant manager at Little Caesar’s when he was just 16
made a long-lasting impression on him.
“That kind of opened up my eyes into the world of business and how it operates, and
I knew that was something I wanted to learn more about and see how I could go into
a company and be in a leadership role and better develop myself and other people I’m
working with,” he explained.
Both siblings are now well on their way toward those goals.
As a Radford student, Brent’s visits to Firm Night, the annual job fair presented
by the Davis College of Business and Economics, led him to a pair of student internships,
first at the financial advisory firm Ameriprise and then at Kollmorgen in Radford.
Meanwhile, Reece interned at Fastenal, the Christiansburg-based supply distributor,
and later with the Virginia Department of Transportation. He said the classroom training
he received on Excel made that work possible: “If it wasn’t for that class, I really
would have struggled … because they had me build multiple Excel sheets.”
Reece, who is the vice president of professional activities with the business fraternity
Delta Sigma Pi, just finished his degree in management with a minor in economics.
Brent, the vice president of finance within Radford’s Student Managed Investment Portfolio
Organization (SMIPO), is graduating with a major in finance and a minor in accounting.
Things aren’t slowing down anytime soon for either of them. Brent was recently hired
as a financial analyst for Kollmorgen, while Reece just accepted a job as a buyer/planner
for Regal Rexnord. After graduation, the brothers will earn their MBAs through Radford
at the same time, which should fill out the margins of their already crowded work
schedules.
Then again, they’re used to multitasking.
“At Volvo, we were working 40 to 50 hours a week and going to New River full time,”
Brent said. “This MBA will be all online, so it’ll be in the evening. It’ll be a lot
of work, but I think we can handle it."
To learn more about Radford University's commencement ceremonies, visit www.radford.edu/commencement.
