Quinn Stuebner ’21 Blazes a Trail with Amazon

When Quinn Stuebner ’21 started his senior year at Colby-Sawyer, he had already lined up a job after graduation as an area manager with Amazon in his hometown of Boise, Idaho. Now, two years later, he has relocated to Jackson, Mississippi, to accept a promotion as a trailblazer financial analyst for Amazon.

Quinn, who graduated with dual degrees in business administration and sport management, was offered the area manager position after completing an internship with Amazon in the summer of 2020. It was one of three internships he completed. The first two had a sport management focus, and though he didn’t pursue that path, he said the experiences were still valuable to him.

“All three (internships) contributed lessons as to how I can fail as well as exceed expectations in my current job,” Quinn said. “They gave me the opportunity to create and execute projects that added value to the organizations.”

Quinn said they also prepared him to step into an active and highly engaging work environment immediately after graduation.

“After I graduated Colby-Sawyer, I started work as an area manager (AM) in Boise, Idaho,” Quinn said, explaining that AMs lead teams of 20-100 associates in a fast-paced warehouse environment, striving to provide a safe and high-performing job experience.

Because of his success in the AM position, Quinn said he was invited to participate in the Trailblazer Leadership Program, a development rotation program that brings area managers into the finance organization for one year. He explained that the program is designed to improve the trajectory of high potential leaders’ career paths within Amazon Operations and Operations Finance.

“I will complete executive leadership training with elite universities, design and execute a team-based project, further my technical skill development and learn the financial impact of business decisions,” Quinn said. “It's a tremendous program where I am able to partner with senior leadership of the building in order to drive operational and financial performance.”

Quinn credits his Colby-Sawyer experience for preparing him for the fast-paced work environment he entered, by helping him develop concrete skills in operations and finance while also developing skills in self-advocacy, professionalism and meeting high expectations.

“Every single day I apply lessons learned at Colby-Sawyer, whether big or small,” Quinn said. “Professors set a high bar in the way students need to be professional in the classroom as well as the quality of work they expect. The small habits I've learned as a result of these expectations have set me up to often exceed expectations in the workplace. The push Colby-Sawyer made for me to complete internships as a part of my curriculum has given me an advantage of additional experience prior to completing college.”

The outcomes reports from the Harrington Center for Experiential Learning indicate that, like Quinn, 99% of the Class of 2021 and 100% of the Class of 2022 were employed or in graduate school within six months of graduation. Read more about Colby-Sawyer graduate outcomes.