Featured Alumnus: Bryan Farrell ’05
The first ever Avon Alumni Career Day took place on Saturday, with several alumni returning to campus to share their wisdom and advice with current juniors and seniors. One of the alums in attendance was Bryan Farrell ’05, who provided his expertise in the design and technology realm. He says he was happy to help provide current students with the opportunity to network and learn with the Brotherhood at large. “Something like this would have been huge for me at their age, so I wanted to come back and help however I could. I’ve already had a handful of recent grads or guys trying to switch into design and tech just reach out through LinkedIn and stuff like that and I give advice out where I can.”
For any students interested in a career in the digital design or technology industries, Bryan was available to answer questions and offer tips specific to his field. He also gave out general advice important for any high school-age student to hear. “It’s good for them to know the path isn’t always linear. Things may change in life, but they’ll find their way.” After all, Bryan knows just what it’s like to be in the students’ shoes.
Although he was born in Connecticut, Bryan and his family were living in North Carolina when he finished his 8th grade year. At the time, the state wasn’t ranked very highly in education, so his parents were considering alternate options. He toured several schools in the northeast, but ultimately chose Avon. “My parents were surprised—a school in the middle of the woods with only boys—but I thought it was the right decision,” Bryan shares.
Like many students before and after him, Bryan arrived at Avon with aspirations of joining the varsity hockey team. However, his focus soon changed as he began to discover his true passion. “Detora was my coach, and he benched me a few times. That’s when I started to focus on music.” Bryan played guitar for the school’s Big Band and Jazz Band programs, but with the conception of the Advanced Independent Project program still a few years away, he had to create his own opportunity to hone his skills. “It’s nice you guys have the AIP program now, but back in my time I had to convince Mr. Driscoll and Mr. LaRocque to let me pursue a music project in place of an athletic commitment. That resulted in me recording and releasing an album of my own.”
To follow that up, Bryan was joined by classmate Trevor Biggart ’06 in organizing what ended up being called ‘Rock Band’ in place of a spring sport. The two then recruited Sean Preece ’05, John Ducci ’05 and a few others to join in on the jam. “We had a concert at the end of the year after the stickball championship. It was great.”
Rock Band would continue at Avon for many years after Bryan graduated, and he continued with it himself, matriculating to the University of Hartford’s Hartt School where he studied music engineering and production. From there, he moved out to Los Angeles working in music production and engineering. While he will always enjoy making music, he eventually decided to take his talents to a new industry and returned to the east coast.
His first job in the product design and tech industry saw him move to Boston where he served as a designer at advertising agency Arnold Worldwide. There he worked on advertising campaigns for major companies like Jack Daniels and Progressive Insurance. From there, he joined AKQA, a digital design and communications agency based in New York City. He was immediately thrust into the making of Verizon’s MyVerizon mobile app, as well as other projects for Facebook (Meta). “That was like moving from the AHL to the NHL,” he says.
He continued to improve his UX/UI design skills in New York with a four-year stint at Rent The Runway, where he worked on high-profile projects. Now, a senior product designer at Shiftsmart, Bryan leads design efforts for their consumer offering, collaborating closely with product, engineering, and data science teams to deliver seamless and impactful user experiences.
Bryan credits Avon with instilling in him traits that have helped him continue to advance in his career. “Maybe it’s our motto of perseverance, you have to be curious and forge ahead. To be able to stick to something and follow through, that’s the biggest thing. It’s instilled in every student at Avon,” Bryan says. “Another aspect Avon gives you—one I didn’t realize until later—is the importance of being part of a winning team. It’s how things get done.”
Despite keeping busy and continuing an upward trajectory in his industry, Bryan still finds time to help out current Avonians, including his role in the recent Alumni Career Day. While Bryan was on campus, he also participated in the highly anticipated Alumni Hockey Game. “It’s fun. We’re just a bunch of beer-leaguers going at it. It’s a nice break from the work week. We all have a common bond of hockey and it’s fun to just get on the ice and have a good time no matter when we graduated.”
It certainly won’t be the last time Bryan visits campus this year. The class of 2005 will be celebrating their 20th reunion this fall. While it will be a big year for those that graduated in years ending in 0 or 5, all alumni are welcome. More information on that event is coming soon.