# How Jeremy Hentz found a new career path September 03, 2026 • 6 minutes ![Stephanie Hoselton](https://uop.scene7.com/is/image/phoenixedu/Stephanie-Hoselton-headshot-360x360.webp?fmt=webp-alpha&qlt=70&fit=constrain,1&wid=360) Written by [Stephanie Hoselton](/blog/authors/stephanie-hoselton.html) ![Meet our alumni Jeremy Hentz, Bachelor of Science in Business](https://uop.scene7.com/is/image/phoenixedu/blog-hero-alumni-jeremy-hentz.webp?fmt=webp-alpha&qlt=70&fit=constrain,1&wid=700) For the first 12 years of his career, Jeremy Hentz believed that his work in retail operations spoke for itself. He was promoted consistently enough that he didn’t miss having a college degree — until one day all that changed. Here’s how University of Phoenix and its career services helped Hentz unleash his potential in a new industry. ## How Jeremy Hentz built his career in retail After high school and a brief foray in community college — which ended, Hentz admits, prematurely after he partied more than he studied — Hentz found himself joining a large Midwest manufacturing retailer. He started in a part-time role, quickly landed a full-time position and started thinking long term. “I [thought I] could really make a career out of this. I had a lot of good mentors along the way,” says Hentz. Hentz’s girlfriend at the time, Melissa, also worked for the company and was onboard with moving around to pursue new opportunities. So, in 2011, they relocated from southern Illinois to Madison, Wisconsin, where Melissa worked at one store and Hentz at another. Their relationship flourished — they eventually married in 2016 — and Hentz’s career continued to flourish. First, he landed at a $40 million store in the Quad Cities, where he was promoted to logistics shipping receiving manager. When he later led one of the largest store remodels in the company’s history, affecting about 150 stores and finishing a week ahead of schedule, leadership decided to task him with cleaning up a struggling store. This meant another move, but Hentz rose to the challenge. He spent eight months, he says, helping to reshape the store, establish its values and train the staff. It was tough but rewarding, he says. Then, Hentz’s father-in-law was diagnosed with cancer. Hentz and his wife wanted to be nearby, so Hentz took a demotion to relocate to the store closer to home. He spent the next 6½ years managing a team of 40 while traveling two hours back and forth to St. Louis to help bring new stores into that geographical market. The work was intense, but professional connections and Hentz’s determination helped keep his career moving forward. ## Why Hentz decided to go back to school Around 2020, Hentz’s father-in-law entered remission. The St. Louis stores were up and running, and Hentz was ready to take a risk. There was an opening in the corporate office for an assistant director of shipping, receiving and logistics. Hentz had the experience, but he knew it was a long shot. Still, he interviewed with the board of directors and spent a week job shadowing. “I met the people, did my thing, helped out with projects that they were working on. I thought everything was awesome,” he says. The next week, however, Hentz got a call that another candidate had gotten the position. He reached out to the director and learned that the deciding factor for the board was that the other candidate had his bachelor’s degree, never mind that he’d only been with the company for three years. Hentz was devastated. “Twelve years working in the same place,” he says, reflecting on that moment. “All I ever did was run business, do business, work with people, meet with people. That was a striking blow — but it was also the catalyst.” In October 2021, Hentz quit the manufacturing retailer and secured a job with his father’s company as a full-time courier. His HR team introduced him to the University of Phoenix tuition benefit, and by January 2022 he enrolled in the University’s Bachelor of Science in Business program. ## How career services helped Hentz with his job search Going back to school was only one part of Hentz’s career transition. To start, he had to relearn certain skills, like[time management](https://www.phoenix.edu/blog/effective-time-management-strategies-for-working-adult-students.html). He had to remember his why for going back to school in the first place, especially when he was juggling learning with 50-hour workweeks. “There were many, many times that I was going to quit. I had many conversations with my wife, and she would talk me off the ledge,” Hentz says.  ![Melissa Hentz, wife of Jeremy Hentz](https://uop.scene7.com/is/image/phoenixedu/melissa-hentz-headshot-360x360.webp?fmt=webp-alpha&qlt=70&fit=constrain,1&wid=360) Melissa Hentz “It may sound cliché, but hard work pays off,” Melissa says. “My husband is the hardest working person I know, and he proves that you have to work hard to achieve your goals.” A little over three years after starting, Hentz achieved his goal and completed his degree. But even after applying for several positions in logistics, no one was biting. “I thought I could do it all on my own,” says Hentz. “[But] I didn’t get a phone call back. I didn’t get an email.” Hentz decided to take a closer look at his resumé. Maybe it was the way he was presenting himself, he thought. He had the experience. He now had the education. Maybe he needed help with the job search too. So, Hentz clicked on a[University of Phoenix career services](https://www.phoenix.edu/career-services.html)link that he had received. “I got connected with probably one of the most influential people I have ever met in my life, Sheri Bardot,” says Hentz. “She’s a wizard, she is an awesome human. She is so knowledgeable. She was bluntly honest with me, [which] I asked for.” Over multiple sessions, Bardot helped streamline Hentz’s resumé, taking it from its original, long-winded, “sloppy” form to a cleanly structured page that highlighted his major accomplishments. Hentz took his revised resumé and started applying for jobs. This time, he started getting responses. Initially thinking he would land back in logistics, Hentz eventually found a position as the director for community, corporate and workforce education at a technical college. It’s a departure from the world of retail logistics, but he enjoys the thoughtful pace of academia, the people he works with and the opportunity to connect the college to businesses. Hentz is also stepping back into the classroom — this time to facilitate and teach an employability course. “It’s going to teach students … how to show up, how to talk to people, how to write a resumé.” ![Christine Neider, Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Science](https://uop.scene7.com/is/image/phoenixedu/sheri-bardot-headshot-360x360.webp?fmt=webp-alpha&qlt=70&fit=constrain,1&wid=360) Sheri Bardot **Career Advisor at University of Phoenix** Bardot speaks just as highly of Hentz. “Jeremy is a great student who implemented the strategies we discussed,” she says. “His follow-through and naturally positive demeanor helped land him his most recent role.” Hentz’s journey shows how education, experience and the right career support can come together when it’s time to pursue a new direction. ![UOPX logo](/blog/2026/09/how-jeremy-hentz-found-a-new-career-path/_jcr_content/root/container_14213/columns/responsivegrid1/container/container_3768771_co/container_279425874_/container_1111564326/image.coreimg.png/1772059154423/bird-white.png) ## PHOENIX FAST FACTS ![Alumni Matt Rife](https://uop.scene7.com/is/image/phoenixedu/jeremy-hentz-headshot-360x360.webp?fmt=webp-alpha&qlt=70&fit=constrain,1&wid=360) How Jeremy Hentz went from a career in retail to a director role in academic administration ### Job title Director of community, corporate and workforce education  ### Company A community college in southern Illinois  ### UOPX degrees - [Bachelor of Science in Business](/online-business-degrees/business-bachelors-degree.html)(2025) ### Way Jeremy saved [Employer tuition benefits](https://www.phoenix.edu/tuition-financial-aid/employer-tuition-benefits.html)and alternative credits  ### Resumé at a glance - Director of community, corporate and workforce education - Sales consultant - Courier - Shipping and receiving manager - Second and first assistant general manager - Shipping and receiving manager - Assistant shipping and receiving manager - Shipping and receiving team member  ### What advice would you offer a prospective student considering higher education? ![Quotation mark](/blog/2026/09/how-jeremy-hentz-found-a-new-career-path/_jcr_content/root/container_14213/columns/responsivegrid1/container/container_3768771_co/container_279425874_/container_copy_copy__1846530867/container/image.coreimg.png/1772058669328/quotes.png) Higher education is not one-size-fits-all. As my grandfather told me, ‘Do something you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.’ Find_that_path, and higher education becomes the journey, not the obstacle. For me, that path was becoming a facilitator between the business world and higher education. Helping connect students to opportunities beyond the classroom [is my passion].” Read more articles like this: [UOPX Alumni Kamri Banks Alumni Chronicles September 17, 2026 • 4 minutes](/blog/alumnus-kamri-banks-finds-his-calling-in-the-food-industry.html)[Khalilah Filmore Improves Patient Care Alumni Chronicles June 29, 2026 • 8 minutes](/blog/alumna-khalilah-filmore-brings-big-picture-thinking-to-patients.html)[UOPX Alumni Millicent Rone Alumni Chronicles March 13, 2023 • 8 minutes](/blog/uopx-alumni-millicent-rone.html) ![Headshot of Stephanie Hoselton](https://uop.scene7.com/is/image/phoenixedu/Stephanie-Hoselton-headshot-360x360.webp?fmt=webp-alpha&qlt=70&fit=constrain,1&wid=360) ### ABOUT THE AUTHOR Stephanie Hoselton has always enjoyed a good story. She gained an English degree from Texas A&M University with the plan to teach or write. As life happens, she fell into recruiting and didn’t look back. Stephanie spent over a decade in agency recruiting, placing candidates at SAP, Verizon and across financial services and healthcare. She started in Talent Acquisition with the University of Phoenix in 2021. She loves hearing candidates tell their career stories and sharing the story that is University of Phoenix. ![checkmark](/content/experience-fragments/edu/us/en/blog/article-vetted-blurb/master/_jcr_content/root/container_copy/container/image_2120429180_cop.coreimg.svg/1701890876580/differentiators-check.svg) This article has been vetted by University of Phoenix's editorial advisory committee.  [Read more about our editorial process.](/blog/editorial-process.html) ```html ```