Brian Tremelling's Story

"DI helped me to get my foot in the door."

Featuring: Brian Tremelling; Trujillo Amy,DI development counselor; Kim Johnson, LearnKey business partner

Brian – It’s a complete turnkey solution, and it’s really based off of what I did at Deseret Industries. My name is Brian Tremelling. I work at LearnKey, and I’m the manager of the Veteran Services program here. In 2008 we had some serious financial setbacks, and we went from being pretty well-off to almost being homeless overnight. I’d applied at every place I could think of, multiple times, and it’s discouraging. And I couldn’t really find anything that was working for me.

My wife, she was at the DI and she was looking at working, and she was talking to one of the associates there. And he said, “You know, get your husband in here. We have this new program they call a business partnership. You can get some education, and you can maybe get a job.”

Trujillo – I remember meeting with him, and he was a little hesitant because he had been successful. But he didn’t just want to get a job as, you know, a cashier or a custodian; he wanted to get a good job.

Brian – He said, “Brian, we can really help you out. I really think what we can do for you is going to be good here.” He talked about things I’ve done in the past, things I’m good at, things that—directions I wanted to go. And he laid out a plan for me: “We can get you some IT certifications.” And he said, “You know, we’ll do this business partnership thing. You’ll work on the loading docks at Deseret Industries, and you’ll take these courses.” And I finally just swallowed my pride and said, “You know what? I’ve got to do that!”

They introduced me to LearnKey, and I thought, “Hey! This is great!” And I knocked out these four certifications so quickly.

Kim – We provide video-based training on applications like Excel or PowerPoint or Photoshop, high-end IT courses. We initially partnered up with the associates in getting them trained using our training. Once they’ve made it through the program, then we found it as a huge benefit once they’ve used our training. They understand our program. We really wanted to hire them and keep them full-time here.

Brian – They said, “We’re going to put you to work in tech support.” I had a little bit—just a little bit—of a background in that. And I said, “I could be happy doing that.”

Trujillo – It was great because first of all, he went in it for the training, and then he liked the company, so he asked us if he could do a business partnership there. The company agreed. It was a win-win for both parties.

Brian – DI helped me to get my foot in the door, and after a few months they hired me on full-time.

Kim – Brian Tremelling’s kind of our superstar. He started in our tech support department after coming through the entire program. And then from there, it kind of grew where we needed him to help us write one of the tests.

Trujillo – He loved sales. He loved computers. And so he found a company that could fit his personality, somewhere that he was passionate about his work, and he was successful.

Brian – I really wanted to be on the sales team. I wanted to share, you know, what it is we do here, because it worked so well for me. And so I eventually, over time, talked them into, you know, putting me on that team. And it’s helping different educators all over the country. But what I really decided to do was to help veterans.

Kim – He actually has started an entire program for us in the veteran space in providing jobs for each of those in getting back into the workforce. So we are extremely proud of what he’s put together.

Brian – We help service disabled veterans to gain certifications and employment. And so it’s a complete turnkey solution, and it’s really based off of what I did at Deseret Industries.

Kim – Being a part of their growth is really awesome. In Brian’s case, it’s come full circle because now what he’s doing is even a bigger scale. So we’ve helped him move into this space, but he’s also now helping veterans. So that part is amazing to watch.

Brian – A lot of these individuals, they come in, and kind of like I was, they feel beaten up. And I know how tough that is. And so what we do is, we try and show them a pattern of success. And if they see that pattern of success in their lives, they’re going to get that ray of hope like I did.