Former OSU athlete Jalen Grimble attributes the economics curriculum to helping him thrive in today’s business world
Jalen Grimble
By Emily Willis, CLA Student Writer - June 28, 2024
Born and raised in Las Vegas, Jalen Grimble, ‘15, started his football career at the University of Miami, where he was also a business and finance major. Still wanting to pursue a career as a professional football player, he transferred to OSU to play defensive tackle for the Beavers. Grimble played for former head coaches Mike Riley and Gary Anderson and started for the Beavers before a knee injury threw him off track.
“I was devastated,” recalled Grimble. “I realized then that professional football may not be a possibility for me, so I started leaning into my studies.”
It was Scott Spielgelberg, director of Beyond Football at OSU, who helped Grimble realize that there’s more to life after football, which opened his eyes and gave him the confidence he needed.
While Grimble was cheering on the Beavs on the sideline in a knee brace, he was working towards earning his bachelor’s in economics and has since forged a successful career in consulting and helping others pursue an education in business.
“I’m a very analytical person and I always like working with numbers,” Grimble said. “Math has always been that one subject that my parents could count on me to excel in. It just comes naturally to me.” This being one of the reasons he ended up choosing economics as his major.
After graduating from OSU, Grimble entered an MBA program and started working as an auditor and financial analyst. Now, Grimble consults with Nike on their global supply chain team as a manager at Percipio Consulting Group in Portland.
In addition to his consulting work, Grimble is also an instructor at Portland Community College and Portland State University. Inspired by his mom who was a schoolteacher, Grimble uses his expertise to provide helpful insight to those who may be struggling with the analytical-side of the business and finance fields.
“When teaching,” Grimble explained, “I get personal gratification from helping others and seeing that lightbulb click in their heads. It gives me joy when in the moment you start to see the student make sense of things. I like watching other people learn.”
“Maintaining that curious mind and wanting to be a life-long learner is so important,” Grimble continued. “Our schooling system is not designed to keep us interested, which results in many people becoming burnt out. I try to connect with students and discover their interests, which helps me in my instruction.”
Jalen attributes his success in consulting and business to the economics degree program at OSU for providing the analytical and technical skills needed in today’s world. “If you are serious about wanting to work in analytics, become well acquainted with Excel or different data visualization platforms. Those classes at OSU gave me a step ahead and the sooner you can bring those skills to your tool belt, the better off you’ll be.”