CVHS alum succeeds in finance

For those who are interested in finance and marketing, CVHS alum Blaine Lyerla is the perfect person to answer all your questions. Lyerla is currently the marketing vice president at Synchrony Financial, which is the largest provider of private label credit cards in the United States. He works with well known companies like Disney, Marvel, and Sony. Currently, he is on the team that is working on the promotion of “Black Widow” and “The Eternals.”

As a high school graduate, Lyerla was set on becoming a corporate attorney and even has dual degrees in public relations and political science. Thankfully, marketers are not required to have specific degrees.

 “There isn’t such a thing as a master’s degree or Ph.D in marketing, no chief marketing officer has that so it’s not a must to have an undergraduate degree in marketing,” said Lyerla. 

Marketers are very valuable and essential for every company. 

“We tell stories about why our products are important and they help people reach what they’re trying to achieve,” Lyerla informed. 

Working for a finance firm as a marketer, Lyerla knows quite a lot about the differences between finance and marketing. Those specializing in marketing analytics are good with their words and using that skill to manage data. Those working in finance have the duty of managing the inflow and outflow, spending, and allocation of money. 

The field of business management requires lots of skills and abilities. 

“Having an understanding of where you feel like your aptitude is going to hit is really key. Understanding the gaps you have between where you sit today with just pure interest and a very developed role is kind of a helpful forecast,” Lyerla advised. 

Internships and other opportunities to increase their work experience is something that high school students are always on the lookout for. Lyerla believes that with internships, it is important to be able to recognize whether or not you respond well to a certain work environment. 

Attitude and perspective are two crucial qualities to have when working anywhere. 

“The only two things that we’re in control of every single day in our work experience is how we’re perceiving things, not how we’re perceived, but what we’re taking from it and how we’re approaching things,” Lyerla stated. 

Being a calm and thoughtful person who can listen, understand, and conquer difficult situations can help to become more competent in any career path one chooses to follow.