By Ansley Grayson
Special to The Times
In February of 2020, local officials cancelled school with no return date in sight as the media flooded with news about the Coronavirus. Just three months after the world essentially shut down, Bron Cates put on his cap and gown and walked off the Lynchburg square with his classmates, taking one final stand together as they stepped into adulthood during a pandemic frenzy.
Bron’s first step into the adult world was college. Distillery officials awarded him a Jack Daniel’s Co-Op Program scholarship. He attended Motlow State for a while then transferred to MTSU. He can strike up a conversation with just about anyone, which helped him thrive at Miss Mary Bobo’s Restaurant, where he worked as a scholarship student.
“My greatest asset is the ability to yap,” Bron jokes.
That natural ability served as a guiding factor in choosing his college major, communications — since his greatest asset was his ability to talk. It comes naturally to him.
“Having to narrow it down was quite a challenge,” Bron says.
{Editor’s Note: Ansley Grayson is a Moore County native and 2021 Moore County High School graduate who is currently attending the University of Tennessee in Knoxville studying communications with a concentration in broadcasting and journalism. Her Raider Round-Up series in The Lynchburg Times is part of an internship for her degree path.)
After graduation, Bron took a job as an assistant retail store leader in Nashville, where he knew no one. While leaving home and relocating to the Music City felt hard, Bron says he decided it was the best decision both career-wise and socially. Though it wasn’t his first choice. He dreamed on moving to Charleston, South Carolina, but later decided it was more of a place to visit than to live.
“I knew I was always meant for a big city with bigger opportunities,” he says.
The transition of learning a new job, being away from home, and being in a new city took a toll on him. With strict and unruly management, he discovered that his new job was not what he had envisioned. He struggled to find joy in it and began looking for a new place to use his assets.
With a tight job market, he ended up moving to a new retail store until he could find the right fit. It wasn’t perfect, but it led to connections that landed him in his current position as a technical recruiter, serving as the liaison between hiring managers and the talent for Actalent Engineering and Sciences Talent Solutions, a civil engineering recruiter. He specializes in architecture and civil engineering positions.
The job involves meeting with hiring managers to narrow down exactly what they’re looking for in the position as well as what they’re offering to the talent. Then, he searches for talent to fill those positions.
Bron jumped into this career with no experience in this field, and he says he is “proud of the success” he’s experienced so far.
“Talent solutions is a unique skill set,” Bron says
Bron says Moore County prepared him for life after graduation in many ways, but most importantly, it equipped him with a solid community foundation.
“The great people of Moore County played an undeniable hand in where I am today,” Bron says.
Bron says support from MCHS staff prepared him for college and the working world, and he’s not sure if he would have taken the leaps that have led him to his success today without them.
Bron plans to continue to grow with this company and dreams of having a penthouse overlooking the Gultch in Nashville and a villa in Greece one day but mostly he just wants to enjoy life and have fun. Next up on his goals list is adopting a Dachshund puppy.
When we ask what advice he would offer to current students, he’s quick to answer.
“Do not doubt the power of imagination and possibility and do not let yourself be limited by realistic expectations. What’s realistic to someone else doesn’t have to be for you. You decide.” •
About the Lynchburg Times: The Lynchburg Times is Moore County’s locally owned, independent news source. Our reporting is supported by readers, small business partners, and underwriters who believe community journalism matters. If this story was valuable to you, consider becoming a supporter at lynchburgtimes.com.