Mark
See how Mark built an entire journalism career on the job, all without a bachelor's degree.
Mark began his journalism career at 18, four years earlier than planned. Two weeks into his first semester, he realized that full-time school and a full-time job were more than he could manage. He withdrew from school with the intention of saving enough money to return the following year. Instead, he landed an entry-level position at the local flagship newspaper, and never looked back. “The ‘couple of semesters’ I took off have lasted about 40 years,” he says.
Embarrassment over his lack of a college degree has given way to gratitude. Mark says that although he didn’t realize it at the time, learning his trade from practitioners was a blessing. “Newspapers were very profitable in the 1980s and 1990s, with large staffs that passed institutional knowledge down from one generation of reporters and editors to the next,” he said. “All of my training was and continues to be on-the-job. My ‘professors’ were colleagues who mentored me, and bosses who challenged me.”
Mark’s career trajectory took him from newsroom clerk to TV columnist and eventually into management – as a features editor, managing editor, and after 32 years at the paper, its Editor-in-Chief and Vice President of Content, overseeing the paper’s transition to digital. After the sale of the paper, Mark transitioned to a journalism-adjacent position leading the communications team at the state department of economic development. He sees his new career as a natural – and necessary – extension of his prior one. “I’m responsible for telling the story of our state’s economic performance and potential to a variety of audiences – from CEOs and business relocation advisors to residents and elected officials,” he says. “The goal is the same as it was in the newsroom: to be accurate, engaging, timely and present wherever people seek information.”
Mark explains that the digital disruption of the local newspaper business requires new ways of communicating. He wants to build a new model for communications and marketing operations with integrated content, creative, digital and marketing teams. For this he wants highly collaborative workers who are natural internal and external relationship builders. He sees STARs as key to this strategy. “It’s impossible to be an effective communicator in the digital era without having exceptional soft skills – stuff you can’t learn from a textbook,” he says. “I’ll make sure the door stays open for STAR storytellers who, like me, chose self-education over college graduation.”
Read more STAR stories
See how an associate degree and a state agency internship launched a career for Paige dedicated to expanding opportunity for others.
Paige
From cashier supervisor to Creative Project Manager, Dau'ne turned every role into a stepping stone and proved that perseverance and real-world skills can take you further than a four-year degree.
Dau'ne
Read about how Sara's STAR status and 45+ years of experience in accounting, legal support, and state government prove that resilience and self-belief can carry you further than any degree.
Sara
Find out how Mario built a career as a legal tech Account Solutions Manager on skills and results alone — no degree required.
Mario
Discover how local support and sheer determination helped Brandon build a thriving career in Tulsa without a four-year degree.
Brandon
After building a career across accounting, healthcare, and banking — all without a bachelor's degree — Georgette now channels every hard-won lesson into empowering STARs to own their value and lead with courage.
Georgette
Discover how Charmagne's adaptability and drive took her further than a degree ever could.
Charmagne
Kelly cultivated a career in marketing by following her curiosity — now she designs campaigns that champion the skills and stories of STARs across the country.
Kelly
See how Navy veteran Cale's hands-on expertise is now helping change what it means to be qualified for a job.
Cale
Read about how Jon's STAR status took him from working two jobs at 16 to becoming an analyst at Trane Technologies... without a bachelor's degree.
Jon
See how Alisha's relentless curiosity carried her from engineering to HR to compensation analyst at Trane Technologies.
Alisha
See how Shanel manifested her role as a General Bakery Manager through her passion for baking.
Shanel
Find out how Sheronda built 80+ county applications on the job and opened doors for small and minority-owned businesses without ever earning a bachelor's degree.
Sheronda
See how Darryl turned early setbacks and a lifelong passion for electrical work into a leadership career — no bachelor's degree required.
Darryl
Discover how perseverance carried Jay into both workforce development and mental health without completing a bachelor's degree.
Jay
Find out how Lawrence's work ethic earned him a thriving career without a four-year degree.
Lawrence
Find out how Sheree earned five promotions and built expertise across tech, counseling, and Salesforce despite degree discrimination and layoffs.
Sheree
Read how Ansaer's grit and perseverance built him a tech career without a bachelor's degree.
Ansaer
With an associate's degree and a stack of trade licenses, Jonte stepped into a Recruitment Training Manager role at a billion-dollar company and never looked back — proof that the skilled trades can lead anywhere.
Jonte
Read about how Jonathan's STAR status took him from foster care to Security Manager, building leadership skills rooted in empathy and adaptability... without a bachelor's degree.
Jonathan
Read about how Casey's STAR status took him from door-to-door sales to retail leadership and jewelry making, as he builds toward a business that serves people of all backgrounds... without a bachelor's degree.
Casey
Read about Taylor's STAR status and how her self starter approach is guiding her career path from the ground up.
Taylor
Find out how Ali turned a teenage hustle into a thriving company and became a champion for skills-based hiring without a college degree.
Ali
Find out how Dani built a hospitality career just having having grit and a genuine love of caring for others — no bachelor's degree required.
Danielle
See how Meghan combined creativity, technical skill, and exceptional people skills to build a hairstyling career — and a loyal clientele.
Meghan
Find out how Army veteran Micah built his own business from the ground up and how problem-solving became the foundation of everything he's built.
Micah
See how Sean's STAR status led to his thriving career as a 3D chalk artist and ice and snow sculptor on his own terms.
Sean
See how Lakisha built a successful administrative career through sheer work ethic and the hard-won confidence to know her own worth.
Lakisha
Find out how a childhood love of food inspired Mark's culinary management career, built entirely through empathy, practice, and hard work.
Mark
See how Dalton is building two careers at once through hands-on learning and how he's channeling his emergency response skills into a growing media platform.
Dalton
Read about how Erika's STAR status and hands-on experience earned her a quality Technician role and how she continues to defy expectations every day.
Erika
See how Sam applied decades of relentless curiosity and hands-on learning into a career that defies any single job title.
Sam
Read about how Thaddaeus's STAR status landed him a position as a university IT Specialist, where his self-taught tech skills and passion for helping others are his greatest credentials.
Thaddaeus
See how Army veteran Kent built an entire tech career through mentorship, persistence, and problem solving.
Kent
Find out how Katy made one of the most unexpected career leaps around, and now helps others do the same.
Katy
See how Lynnette turned a hobby into a business while embracing entrepreneurship in retirement.
Lynnette
Find out how Barbara's STAR status guided her career within the nonprofit sector and how lived experience can be the most powerful credential of all.
Barbara
Find out how Carmen is building toward owning her own home health agency, one skill at a time, without a four-year degree.
Carmen
See how military veteran Quinn is challenging employers to value experience over credentials.
Quinn
Read how Daquan's self-taught skills as a home health aide and carpenter built a career that no one can ever take away from him.
Daquan
Find out how Tadarius turned a moment of crisis into a calling, guided by lived experience and hard-earned certifications.
Tadarius
Read about Mary's philosophy on people-first leadership and how integrity and empathy can define a career, even without a degree.
Mary
See how Elizabeth found her calling as an employment counselor, helping formerly incarcerated job seekers reclaim their futures.
Elizabeth
Find out how self-advocacy and a self-taught mindset launched Debrena's QA engineering career.
Debrena
See how learning to fail became Ricky's secret to building a career in acting and coaching.
Ricky
See how Robert's work ethic carried him from a skate shop to corporate merchandising and shaped him into an empathetic leader.
Robert
See how Carol built an art business entirely on her own terms by utilizing her strong work ethic and on-the-job experience.
Carol
Read about how Reyna's STAR status is leading her path toward computer science and a dream of building a platform for low-income youth, powered entirely by grit and on-the-job learning.
Reyna
After observing how firms overlooked colleagues without degrees, see how Sharon transitioned into her role as Billing Coordinator by investing in herself at every turn.
Sharon
Read about how Erin's STAR status landed her a position as an Internal Audit Manager... without a bachelor's degree.
Erin
Write your story
Every time STARs speak out, more people realize they're part of this 70-million-strong community.