Business Administration & Accounting Department

Melissa S. Oakes, C.P.A., C.F.E., M.B.A.
Department Chair

 moakes@thiel.edu
 724-589-2046

Academic Center 29

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  • Damen Taylor ’95

    Damen RMS 2024

    Damen Taylor ’95 was the featured speaker at the February 28 Ruth A. Miller Senior Business Seminar. Taylor has 25 years of experience in the field of non-profit and governmental accounting. He also serves as the vice president of the Thiel College Alumni Board and has been a frequent speaker on campus, both in this class and at other venues.

    “As a first-generation college student, his choice to pursue accounting stemmed from a pivotal moment in ninth grade when he failed American civics. During a summer spent grounded, he stumbled upon his mother's old accounting books and immersed himself in managing the finances of ABC Golf out of sheer boredom.” Jackson Pletcher ’24

    “Like myself, Damen is a first-generation college student who attended Thiel in 1991. During his time here at Thiel, he was a double major in business administration and accounting with a minor in religion. He was also a part of the football team, a part of OBC, and the band as well.” Taya Sykes ’24

    “Damen shared his story with us from his childhood in Pittsburgh, to his coming to Thiel, to his winding career. Along the way, he would be the 1995 Thiel Homecoming King, a jazz trombone player, avid Star Wars fan and scrabble player, and Vice President of the Thiel Alumni Association.” George Tice ’24

    “Taylor placed great importance on keeping participants engaged and having fun. He made the seminar interactive and made sure everyone had a good time.” Yeryoung Kim ’24

    “During his presentation, he was very enthusiastic and made a point to keep the audience engaged throughout the duration.” Julianne Slagle ’24

    “The presentation was different from what we are used to. He made it very interactive to show us something important to him. The Thiel family is where you make lifelong friends. He was very sincere with the presentation as it came from his heart. You were able to tell this from the emotion he expressed.” Jacob Traupman ’24

    “Damen began by engaging us, having us stand up, and arrange ourselves based on our first names. After that, we were asked to arrange by our birthdays, but we couldn’t use words. This made it harder, but in the end, we figured it out by using other forms of communication. Concluding the exercise, Damen emphasized the importance of knowing your team because these individuals are the ones you’ll spend most of your time with, and communication is key.” Hailey McClain ’24

    “The final simulation was with three volunteers who held up signs that said: Cheap, Fast and Good. This interaction was my favorite because the lesson tied into his life motto about hard work and hustling. The lesson was that you can only have two of these qualities. For example, something can be cheap and fast, but it will not be good. Damen made it clear that you want to be good and fast, but you are NOT going to be cheap. The idea is to know your worth and value your abilities and skills to hustle and work hard to charge a lot for your services.” Connor Lovic ’24

    “Taylor then moved on to talking about his four Fs, which are Focus, Family, Faith, and Finish. He says that our current focus is to graduate from Thiel. He then brought up that only 37% of Americans have a college degree. This shows that we know how to finish what we started, even when things get difficult.” Alex Martin ’24

    “Overall, I learned from Damen that there are four important things in life, and these are focus, faith, family, and finish. It is important to stay focused and work hard toward your goals and never let distractions get in your way. In terms of faith, he believes that it is important to believe in yourself and trust what you know. He also talked about family and how his main goal is to make his deceased family members proud. Finally, he also emphasized the importance of finishing what you start and never giving up.” Madi Yurich ’24

    “Although Thiel brought Damen lots of amazing experiences, he experienced some hardships as well during his time at Thiel. He lost both his grandparents, a close friend at home, and even his father at the beginning of his last semester. Like anyone else, Damen struggled with these hurdles in his career, but he never gave up his grind. Damen didn’t allow himself the option to give up, and that is what has always kept him going.” Taya Sykes ’24

    “One part stuck out to me the most and that was he was a part of a program called Muscle Mentors which helped kids learn math.” Zach Bergstresser ’25

    “He credits his professors for not taking it easy on him and pushing him. He says because of that, he is who he is today with his personality and resilience in his work life and home life.” Nick DiLullo ’24

    “When asked about his favorite memory from Thiel, he mentioned the moment he walked across the stage at graduation.” Emma Hatfield ’25

    “Taylor, now a father of four, finds profound inspiration through his children, seeing reflections of his good in them. He tirelessly upholds his family's legacy and has dedicated 25 years to nonprofit accounting, including a significant role at an adoption agency. Despite facing job losses, Taylor's unwavering beliefs propelled him forward, swiftly transitioning from seeking employment to weighing multiple job offers.” Jackson Pletcher ’24

    “Something that I noticed in Damen that I will always keep with myself is that never-stop attitude. In life, we are bound to experience things that don’t work in our favor, but if we constantly let these things hold us back, we will never succeed or become the person we hope and wish to be.” Taya Sykes ’24

     Lessons Learned

    • “Have friends that bring out the best in you.” Abraham Hochstetler ’24
    • “Seek new opportunities by believing in yourself and your abilities.” Yeryoung Kim ’24
    • “You have to believe in yourself and trust what you know.” Nick DiLullo ’24
    • “Your focus will determine your reality.” Jacara Green ’25
    • “Some things you know, everything else is solving for X.” Alex Martin ’24
    • “Be good and fast… then you won’t be cheap.” Julianne Slagle ’24
    • “If you’re going to make a mistake, make a different one.” Hailey McClain ’24
    • “There will always be challenges, you will either rise from them or be consumed by them.” Zach Bergstresser ’25
    • “Look adversity in the eye and tell it to kiss your bum.” George Tice ’24
    • “FAIL = First Attempt In Learning.” Hailey McClain ’24
    • “Working hard is an essential in life.” Madi Yurich ’24
    • “Stay on your grind.” Isaac Sasala ’24
    • Balance is important in life, but it is okay to have work and life intersect.” Abigail Sefton ’25
    • “Act like you own the room.” George Tice ’24
    • “’Imagine what you’ll know tomorrow,’ is a quote he used from Men in Black.” Abigail Sefton ’25

    Dinner “Dishing”

    • “I had the honor of sitting with the speaker of the hour, Mr. Damen Taylor, and Mrs. Ruth A. Miller, the namesake of the class. It was more than an honor to break bread with them, hear encouraging words, and listen to stories about Mr. Taylor's experiences at Thiel and his insights into what we will accomplish after Thiel.” Jacara Green ’25
    • “For the meal, Connor was our dinner concierge and chose a Greek menu. I was pleased to be able to have a full Greek experience during this dinner. One of the students [Yianni Panagiotopoulos] who attended our dinner has a Greek business and has family that resides there. It was a very cool experience as he explained the dishes that were served in detail. Overall, it was one of the best dinner experiences that I have attended.” Julianne Slagle ’24
    • “I must note about the actual meal since I was the Dinner Concierge. The meal was fantastic and surpassed my expectations. I am glad that the chefs were able to pull it off!” Connor Lovic ’24
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