Pamplin alumnus charges students with career advice
Pamplin College of Business hosts John Emery ’86 to speak with students about his career.
From Virginia Tech to global CEO, John Emery ‘86 spoke with students about launching a career from college.
Hosted by the Department of Management in the Pamplin College of Business, Emery spoke to students as part of the Day in the Life speaker series on Sept. 16, 2025.
“There is so much that happens during those four years of college and it is an incredible launching or starting point for your career,” Emery told the audience of students. “From there, careers are for accumulating relationships, skills, and experiences.”
In addition to encouraging students to take advantage of their time in college, he also talked about the importance of teamwork and team building, putting in effort, understanding yourself and maintaining a good attitude, being straightforward with everyone you interact with, and being open about their future careers.
“What you end up doing in your career may not be around today,” Emery said. “Think about artificial intelligence, five years ago it wasn’t that big of a thing. Now, there are millions of potential careers because of it. When I was in college, indoor water parks were not a thing. However, with the right team, we were able to scale and grow Great Wolf Lodge.”
He led both of those companies to becoming public through an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. Currently, he is the CEO of Alpine-X, a role he has held since 2021. Alpine-X is a year-round indoor snow sports resort that is growing across the United States with its first location being built in Northern Virginia. Emery is also currently the Managing Partner of Stone Circle Holdings, a privately held lifestyle real estate-related investment company.
He attributes his success to the teams he had a hand in building, noting that different personalities force business leaders to take different approaches. Emery encouraged students to not let their personalities limit them in their time at Virginia Tech and in their careers. Instead, he doubled down on his belief that college is an incredible opportunity to launch a career full of building relationships, developing skills, and creating new experiences.
