UAH business graduate Cameron Turner is following a step-by-step plan for success

Cameron Turner didn’t get rich from the moving company he started with a fraternity brother in 2019, but he did learn a valuable lesson.

“If you don’t plan, you’re planning to fail,” says Turner, who graduates from The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) on Dec. 11 with a bachelor’s degree in economics with a minor in finance. “We did this on a whim. We didn’t really sit down and write out a business model.”

At that time, Turner was a student at another regional university. After COVID-19 hit in 2020, he moved back to Huntsville and transferred to UAH, a part of the University of Alabama System.

In the College of Business, he built on his personal experiences and gained the knowledge to plot a strategic path forward. The most important lesson he takes away from UAH: Pay attention to details.

“Understanding the broad sense of a project is important, but really grasping the individual details of each step – whether it’s the economics equation or the thought process behind an investment – is really important. UAH and the professors here have taught me how each step is dependent on the previous step.”

One of Turner’s biggest steps lately took him to the UAH Business Career Fair, which took place on October 13th.

“Mona (Foroughi) from the College of Business office helped prep me with the companies I should talk to. On the day of the Career Fair, she directed me towards Crossflow Technologies. She introduced me to Josh Tyree, and he mentioned that they were hiring.”

Tyree, a UAH alumnus, is director of strategic initiatives at Crossflow.

Turner interviewed with Crossflow, and they hired him. He’s already working there part time. After graduation, he’ll go full time. He calls it “one of the best office and coworker environments that I have ever seen.”

“They’re a defense contractor, so they work on a variety of projects,” he says. “My title is corporate strategy analyst, so I will assist in the bids and proposal process and the analysis of certain projects. From start to finish, we’ll be hands-on from the first thought all the way to the final action.”

Turner is already taking steps to reach his next academic goal, an MBA.

“I’m doing the JUMP program, so four out of my six classes that I’m taking this semester are for graduate credit. While it’s been hectic at times, I think the JUMP program is one of the best things that UAH offers. I’ve learned far more at the UAH College of Business than I have anywhere else.”