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EmailSalwan Yaqo loves people.
He makes shopping experiences better for them as an Associate Buyer at Meijer. He explains post-college options to current AFRE students as a returning alumnus. And, among other activities, he brightens people’s days through comedy as a member of several improv troupes in Grand Rapids.
“It’s all about freeing people from their concerns,” said Yaqo. “I like to do that in every aspect of my life.”
Originally from Iraq, Yaqo and his family moved to California first, and then to Michigan, where he found his love for Michigan State University.”In sixth grade, I was given an MSU Basketball jersey as a birthday gift. A couple of months later, I watched the basketball team cut down the nets after beating Florida for the National Championship. I remember dribbling my basketball in the living room pretending to be on the court and deciding at that moment that I wanted to be a Spartan,” said Yaqo. “That dream started to become a reality when I started working as a golf caddy the following summer.”
Salwan Yaqo presenting to an AFRE classroom
After working as a caddie for many summers and getting excellent grades throughout school, Yaqo received the full-ride Evans Scholarship to Michigan State University. Not knowing exactly what he wanted to study, fellow Evans Scholar and then-Food Industry Management (FIM) student Zach Olsen suggested Yaqo check out AFRE and FIM. A meeting with Larry Zink was all it took for Yaqo to declare his major and dive head first into AFRE and the food industry.
“I’m so glad I found AFRE when I did,” said Yaqo. “The professors always connected what we were learning in class to what was happening in our field of study, and classes were always engaging and gave me a strong foundation to build off.”
Yaqo held internships with Daymon Worldwide, an Own Brand Sales & Marketing Firm, on the Spartan Nash account and a retail operations internship with Meijer during his summers at MSU. Before graduation, Yaqo realized he was interested in sales, and decided to join Enterprise-Rent-A-Car’s sales training program. After two and half years, Yaqo wanted to get back in to the food industry to become a buyer, and landed back at Meijer.
“I reached back out to Meijer and after a few interviews, I accepted the role of a Merchandise Associate at the headquarters in Grand Rapids,” said Yaqo. “Meijer has a career path that leads you to a Buyer role, which I’m currently on. Aside from the Merch Associate role, I’ve been a Business Analyst, Business Analyst II and I was recently promoted to the Associate Buyer role.”
In his previous role as a Business Analyst II, Yaqo made sure each shelf in his department had efficient inventory levels, and each store received the right product. Now, as an Associate Buyer in Health & Beauty Care on the Hair Care category, he’s responsible for choosing the assortment of product in that category and developing the promotional plans for the year, as well as creating mPerk offers for Meijer customers.
In his position, Yaqo uses tools like Excel daily, which was the topic of his talk during his most recent visit to campus. Each semester, Yaqo and a fellow Meijer employee talk to AFRE students in ABM 203, Data Analysis for the Agri-Food System, about how they use analysis tools and what it’s like to work as an analyst at Meijer.
“Coming back to present to MSU students is one of my favorite things to do,” said Yaqo. “I remember when I was a student in AFRE, I always learned the most as a student when an alum would come back to speak to us. Knowing that, I try and come back several times a semester for all different types of engagements to work with students, like serving on career panels, speaking to the Food Marketing Association about networking tips and giving career fair advice, or taking sales pitches from seniors for the senior capstone class.”
“I’ve stayed in contact with many students over the years and I try to make myself available when they reach out via LinkedIn or email to ask questions. If I can leverage my network to help them progress, I will,” said Yaqo.
Salwan Yaqo performing with his improv troupe
And when he’s not striving towards improving the Hair Care assortment at your local Meijer or helping current students land a job, Yaqo is performing with his improv troupes in Grand Rapids, trying to make people’s days a little more fun.
“I’m currently in two improv troupes here in Grand Rapids — Fictional Friends Improv and Tiny Breakfast — and perform weekly,” said Yaqo.“I like the responsibility of positively influencing a person’s day, whether it’s through a one on one interaction or performing a scene on stage in front of 40+ strangers.”
“Through everything I do, I hope I can inspire others to bring more optimism to the world,” said Yaqo. “How you view situations will influence how you react to them. Being optimistic will help you take on challenges in the most efficient way possible. You don’t get to choose the outcomes in life — but you get to choose how you react to everything that happens in life.”
