Trevor Braaten ’07

Member of Adelphi University’s 10 Under 10
Manager, Worldwide Business Development at Apple

Trevor Braaten ’07 is an expert communicator.

As an upperclassman at Kellenberg Memorial High School, Braaten, a Baldwin native, was offered his first job. “They were just starting to rent out some of their space to host outside events on nights and weekends,” he said. “So, I helped out and eventually I was put in charge of coordinating all outside events and I continued working there even after I graduated.”

Braaten admits that he was anxious after graduating from high school in the summer of 2003. “I wasn’t sure I’d be able to find the same familial atmosphere someplace else,” he said. He chose to attend Adelphi because he wanted to stay close to home and attend an institution that offered an intimate education. “Some other schools I looked at had classes with hundreds of students,” he said. “That wasn’t what I was looking for.” Almost immediately after enrolling in Adelphi’s Honors College, Braaten knew he had made the right choice. “I was very comfortable and I really felt at ease during my transition into college life.”

As a student at the University, Braaten enjoyed the Honors College cultural events and reading sessions. “I was exposed to opera during that time and I became a big fan,” he said. “I still go when I can. Actually, Dean Garner and I have gone together a few times.” Though he had many professors and classes he enjoyed, the class that stands out in Braaten’s memory is the postmodern condition with Professor Marty Haas. “That was by far one my favorites,” he said. “Instead of buying a textbook for the course, every student got subscriptions to New Yorker Magazine and National Review. We would read them and come in prepared to discuss the articles and it was great because Professor Haas was reading it along with us.”

After graduating from Adelphi in the summer of 2007 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management, Braaten went to work for Time Warner as an account service representative (ASR), scheduling commercials for television stations such as TBS, TNT, and Tru TV. “You would not believe the amount of work that goes into scheduling a commercial,” he said. “It was very eye opening.”

After a year and a half as an account service representative, Braaten was promoted to a supervisor position. In this role, he managed a team of 12 ASRs. “Most of the time, these are entry level positions,” he said. “So, my job was to just guide them and help them any way I could. I really enjoyed it. I liked helping hire people and then seeing them learn and grow.”

Two years later, Braaten was promoted again to the role of senior analyst. “That was more on the numbers side, figuring out what is the best placement for commercials, what’s the most efficient way to use funds, etc.,” he said.

A short time later, Braaten left Time Warner after being offered the position of manager, northeast iPhone/iPad sales at Apple. “This was right around the time Verizon started selling iPhones,” he said. “I was recruited by Apple to be one of two people who managed the Verizon account in the northeast region.” For the next year and a half, he traveled across the northeast visiting regional Verizon offices and going to their stores to meet with the salespeople. “It was a real challenge because for years Verizon had been aggressively selling against iPhones. Now, they had to change what they were doing. It was a very interesting time,” said Braaten.

Management then asked Braaten to expand his focus to all North American carrier communications. In 2013 he was named communications manager of North American sales. “They wanted all of the carriers we work with to receive the communications and presentations that up until that point had only been shared with Verizon,” said Braaten.

Two years later, Braaten was asked to join Apple’s worldwide enterprise team. He has since been working to help businesses of all sizes change the way they work. “At Apple, we’ve accomplished a lot in the consumer area,” he said. “I believe that the next big growth opportunity for the company is selling to businesses and really transforming the way people work.”

“The work that I’m doing now in trying to provide, particularly small and medium businesses, real solutions that will save them time and money and will allow them to be more successful is probably the most rewarding thing I’ve done up until this point,” said Braaten. “And, we are really just beginning. So, it’s very exciting.”

Braaten says that it was abundantly clear after he entered the workforce that Adelphi made him much more prepared for his career than many of his peers. “My time collaborating with people in the Honors College, whether it was working on my thesis or something else, learning to interact with people and how to write and communicate I think was incredibly valuable,” he said. “Professional interaction was something that I learned at Adelphi.”

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