Everything Nac

At age 16, Nicholas Mobley of Tomball was the youngest employee ever hired by Mattress Firm. Two years later, the company is investing in Mobley’s general business degree from Stephen F. Austin State University’s Rusche College of Business.

“Though the minimum age requirement for the job at Mattress Firm was 18 years old, the manager in the north Houston district, Patricia Bedoya, told me the self-paced video interview I sent was the best out of a hundred applications,” said Mobley, now an SFA junior.

After getting special permission from Human Resources to interview the 16-year-old, Bedoya hired Mobley to work under the Tomball store managers.

“A few months later, I started traveling to over 10 store locations in the north Houston district, from Tomball all the way to Huntsville, when I got out of high school each day,” Mobley said. “There were many days I would lead our district of more than 40 employees in sales as a teenager and part-time employee. This definitely ruffled some feathers among some of the full-time workers, but my managers loved it.”

When Mobley told Bedoya about his intention to continue with the company and attend SFA upon graduating from high school, she contacted her counterpart in Mattress Firm’s East Texas district at the time, Zahira Gonzalez, who graduated from SFA in 2007. Mattress Firm offers tuition reimbursement to any full-time employee who has worked for the company for at least one year, and Bedoya and Gonzalez found a way to extend that benefit to Mobley.

“Mattress Firm strongly believes in the continuing education and development of our associates, and tuition reimbursement is one way to show our people that we care about their growth,” Gonzalez said. “By truly caring and investing in our people, it allows us to retain the most talented individuals like Nicholas.”

Gonzalez, now a director of Mattress Firm’s events and exposition’s department, asked Mobley if he could handle moving from a part-time role to a full-time associate position called a sleep expert while attending SFA. Mobley said yes, and Mattress Firm began reimbursing him for his SFA tuition.

This required Mobley to take his classes online and drive to Mattress Firm stores in Lufkin, Longview and Tyler, as well as Shreveport/Bossier City, Louisiana. College of Business advisors worked with Mobley to make sure he stayed on track for graduation

“SFA’s College of Business is aware that students come to us from different walks of life, and the availability of online degree programs is a priority,” said Laurel Bleil, an academic advisor in the college. “Our goal is to help design specialized paths that lead students to graduation while balancing their academics, work and personal life. Nicholas has taken advantage of our online Bachelor of Business Administration degree in general business and is proof that you can be a successful student while serving as a full-time employee.”

Once again the youngest in his district, Mobley had to prove himself for a second time, commuting hours each day to fill in at district stores.

Balancing the full-time job with his new life as a college student — taking classes, living in Hall 14 and rushing the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity — was challenging for Mobley, but he made it work. So well, in fact, that he was hired for a new management trainee role over Mattress Firm showrooms in Nacogdoches and Lufkin and then was promoted a year later to the remote position of customer retention specialist.

“In my time at the store level, I sold well over a million in sales, got three other SFA students jobs and learned so many valuable sales skills and lessons I will use my entire career,” he said.

Mobley added that he intends to earn a Master of Business Administration from SFA.

“I want to pursue my MBA to further my career,” he said. “I feel like with my experience and a master’s degree, the sky is the limit.”

And when asked how he’s able to balance all his school activities and homework with a full-time job, Mobley said, “Luckily, I sleep on a Beautyrest Legend mattress from Mattress Firm, so I get a great night’s sleep when I have time to sleep.”

To learn more about SFA’s College of Business, visit sfasu.edu/cob.

Administrators in Stephen F. Austin State University’s Early Childhood Laboratory were pleasantly surprised to learn recently that the lab had been awarded an extra $162,000 in grant funding through the 2022 Child Care Relief Fund.

“I did not expect this,” said Crystal Adams, director of the lab. “Child care workers are leaving the field at a high rate, so the professional development and incentives made possible by the grant funds will be good for recruitment and retention. We owe it to our students to make sure we are investing in our staff. They are why we do what we do.”

Set to be disbursed in summer 2023, the bonus funds are an addition to the $650,827 awarded to the Early Childhood Laboratory earlier this year, bringing the total to over $812,000. The additional funding will be used for the same purposes as the original funding — professional development, supplies, personnel, equipment, facilities and food services programs.

The grant, which is designed to help child care centers recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, is administered through the Texas Workforce Commission. Last year, the commission approved the distribution of $2.45 billion in American Rescue Plan Act funds for direct relief to child care programs. In February, the commission dedicated an additional $1 billion, bringing the total available amount to $3.45 billion.

To learn more about SFA’s Early Childhood Laboratory, visit sfasu.edu/echl.

The Swingin’ Axes and Swingin’ Aces jazz bands at Stephen F. Austin State University will present their final concert of the fall semester when the student ensembles perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

The Swingin’ Axes, directed by Dr. J.D. Salas, professor of tuba and euphonium studies in the School of Music, will be joined on the concert by Dr. Ben Morris, assistant professor of composition, on piano. The Swingin’ Axes will perform works by Sammy Nestico, Tom Kubis, Bob Florence and Freddie Hubbard.

The Swingin’ Aces, directed by Dr. Jake Walburn, associate professor of trumpet, will perform works by Gordon Goodwin, Harry Warren, Charles Mingus and Pat Methany.

Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $3 for students and youth. To purchase tickets, call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or visit finearts.sfasu.edu. For additional information, contact the SFA School of Music at (936) 468-4602.

Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre and Dance will open “Lord of the Flies” Thursday, Nov. 3, for its four-day run in Kennedy Auditorium on the SFA campus. The 1954 novel by Nobel Prize-winning British author William Golding, “Lord of the Flies” is the story about a group of young boys, trapped on a desert island, who discover the darkness of human nature. Rehearsing a scene from the play are, from left, Austin Raymond, playing Henry, Liberty City junior; Kaleb Calton, playing Bill, Katy sophomore; Anthony Krosecz, playing Jack, Sugar Land freshman; David Smith, playing Maurice, Houston sophomore; and Alex Karnell, playing Roger, Austin sophomore. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 3 through 5, and at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 5 and 6. General ticket prices are: adult, $15; senior (62+), $10; youth (high school and younger), $8; SFA faculty/staff, $8; non-SFA student, $8; and SFA student, $5. For ticketing information or to purchase tickets, call the Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407 or (888) 240-ARTS, or visit boxoffice.sfasu.edu.

Students in Stephen F. Austin State University’s advanced beef cattle course will host the eighth annual Purple Premium Cattle Sale at 10 a.m. Nov. 12 at the university’s Beef Center, located at 442 County Road 123 in Nacogdoches.

Attendees can bid on high-quality registered and influenced Beefmaster bulls, heifers and genetics at the sale, which is free and open to the public.

“The advanced beef cattle class has been hard at work preparing for another successful cattle sale,” said Dr. Erin Brown, professor of animal science at SFA who teaches the class. “This is one of the only 100% student-organized sales in the country.”

The class helps students learn through hands-on experiences, said Bryan Bagley, a junior animal science major from Carthage.

“The sale has helped in making me a better team member through all the responsibilities that come with being part of a successful team,” Bagley said.

Students coordinate with businesses, cattle producers and local community members to prepare for the sale. They handle every aspect of the event, from sourcing cattle from producers to planning and marketing the sale. Students gain skills in oral and written communication, explore the seedstock industry, and establish industry contacts throughout the process.

This prepares students for real-word careers, said Emma Ray, a senior animal science major from Alvarado and this year’s sale manager.

“As a student gearing up to enter the workforce, the experiences I have gained have been conducive to understanding production agriculture and how the cattle industry fits into it,” Ray said.

To learn more about the Department of Agriculture in SFA’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, visit sfasu.edu/atcofa.