In cheerleading, Jess Maffe ’24 ’25MBA is what’s known as a “flyer” — the athlete who gets tossed in the air and performs some of the most challenging routines during competitions. It’s a role that takes a lot of planning and training, a natural fit for a young woman who came to Bryant driven to earn both her undergraduate degree and MBA in four years as part of the university’s 3+1 Accelerated Fourth Year MBA program. 

As often happens, however, Maffe’s college journey didn’t glide along exactly as expected.

A multi-sport athlete in her hometown of Wakefield, Massachusetts, Maffe played soccer, basketball, and competed as a gymnast. It was the latter that led her to try out for her high school cheerleading squad, where her tumbling skills were in demand.  

“I made the team as a freshman, and I just fell in love with it,” she says. “I was debating whether to cheer in college, because tumbling and flipping and getting thrown up in the air is easier for younger people. But because COVID-19 occurred during my senior year in high school, I felt like I couldn’t go out like that.” 

Maffe made the Bryant cheerleading team as a first-year. By the time she was a senior, she was the captain of the team — a role she has continued even after transitioning into her graduate-level studies.  

Teamwork and collaboration are among the sport’s biggest attractions to Maffe, which have also been some of the most rewarding parts of her Bryant educational experience as a whole.  

“In a pyramid, if one person is even slightly off or having a bad day, or one person's foot is a little bit in the wrong place, the entire thing literally falls down,” she says. Likewise, Maffe observes, “In class, you’re always collaborating, especially in the MBA program, which is also what the business world is going to be like.”  

Bryant cheerleading has had three top three finishes in the annual National Cheerleaders Association College Nationals in Daytona Beach, Florida, during Maffe’s career. Cheerleading also has given her a front-row view of some of Bryant’s biggest sports achievements, including two March Madness appearances by the Bulldogs men’s basketball team.  

“Part of the reason I picked Bryant was because of athletics. I knew that as a cheerleader I was going to be at those games, and I really wanted to be a part of that Division I environment,” she says. 

“Part of the reason I picked Bryant was because of athletics. I knew that as a cheerleader I was going to be at those games, and I really wanted to be a part of that Division I environment."

Competition has also been part of Maffe’s academic journey, which unexpectedly detoured from marketing to sales thanks to mentoring from Marketing Professor Stefanie Boyer, Ph.D., who recruited Maffe to help revive the university’s Sales Club. 

“I went to a competition with the sales program and Professor Boyer took me aside and said we don't really have a sales club anymore, and would I like to be part of it,” she recalls, adding with a laugh: “I said that sounded like fun, and she said, ‘Can you be the president and run it?’ So, now there’s a sales club again. We meet Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m., and we’ve grown the program a lot since my sophomore year.” 

Maffe took part in the Northeast Intercollegiate Sales Competition (NISC) run by Boyer and credits the Marketing professor for helping to steer her toward a career in sales. Maffe recently accepted a sales position at Boston-based software firm LogRocket, which will commence after she completes her MBA.   

“Professor Boyer has shaped my college experience in so many ways. I would not have even known to apply for a job in tech sales if it wasn't for her,” she says. 

Maffe has done some mentoring of her own, too. As a member of the executive board of Bryant’s Alpha Omicron Pi chapter, she’s partnered with a new recruit as part of the sorority’s “Big and Little” initiative. 

“When I first got into the sorority my ‘Big’ was Carley Edelman ’24, and I loved her because she was smart and academically driven and such a good person,” says Maffe. “I needed her so much; it was really cool as an underclassman to have somebody to look up to. When my ‘Little’ joined, that was rewarding because I never had an experience where I was somebody's direct mentor. I had somebody who did it for me, and now I get to do it for her.” 

Nearing completion of the 3+1 program, Maffe says her Bryant experience exceeded the high expectations she had coming into the university four years ago, including her recent participation in the graduate Global Immersion Experience (GIE) trip to South Korea.  

“The MBA program has connected everything we’ve learned in undergrad — marketing, finance, supply chain — and applied it on a global scale, and then on the GIE we got to experience it all firsthand,” she says. 

Maffe says Bryant students are driven to have successful careers but want to make a difference in the world, as well. 

“This university pushes you, but holds your hand while doing so."

“This university pushes you, but holds your hand while doing so. Part of the reason I came to Bryant was I when I toured campus, everyone held the door for me, smiled, and said hello. After four years, I can still say that everybody is kind and willing to help. It’s just a really good community to be a part of,” Maffe says.