Raising the Bar

JAYLEN AMAKER ’15 was a fresh Bucknell graduate only a few hours into his first full-time job with the finance team at Ralph Lauren when his new boss put him on the spot in a meeting. “She asked me what the current exchange rate was from U.S. dollars to pesos,” he says. “I had to admit that I had no idea. She said, ‘If you’re going to be my finance guy, you need to know these things.’ ”

Amaker could’ve felt embarrassed or deflated. Instead, he felt inspired and energized. “I realized I was going to learn a lot from her,” he says. His ability to recognize the value of people who push him — and his willingness to rise to the challenge in response — has helped him forge a successful career path in which he’s always eager to learn and grow.

The political science major had planned to go straight to law school after graduation. But an externship with Don Shacknai ’83, then-general counsel for the New York City Fire Department, in 2013 made him consider an alternative path. Shacknai and his colleagues suggested Amaker accumulate more work experience first. While not initially keen on delaying his legal aspirations, Amaker appreciated and accepted their collective wisdom. He ended up spending four years working in corporate finance for Ralph Lauren and Condé Nast before applying to law school.