BYUH graduate Landon Hullinger says he looks to the future with hope and hard work
Landon Hullinger, a recent graduate from Utah who graduated in April 2023 with a degree in business management and finance, said his dedication to his family drives him to work hard and be the best person he can be. He said he has hope for the future despite not always knowing what life will bring to him.
“The most important thing to me is to be a son of Heavenly Father. I need to be a representative of Jesus Christ, and that takes me to, ‘I need to be a better man, a better husband, a better father.’ I need to constantly be learning and be kind and helpful. I think just being a good person in general is the most important thing.”
He said, “Obviously life happens and crazy things will just show up, but I don’t let it affect me, especially for a long period of time. If something insane happens in my life, I absorb it, I take it in, and then I move on from it and move forward. Nothing will break me."
Reflecting on his final semester of college, Hullinger looked back when he began school at BYU–Hawaii in 2018. After a semester, he said he left on his mission to Cauayan, Philippines, and returned to school during the COVID-19 pandemic.
From his time at BYUH, Hullinger said his favorite part of being a student was getting to learn from his professors’ experiences. “I really enjoy learning about what people who have already lived successful lives did with their lives.…I feel like that’s where I learned the most,” shared Hullinger.
Coming to BYUH
During the end of high school in Riverton, Utah, Hullinger said with the exception of BYUH, he applied exclusively to colleges in Utah. While he was planning on attending another university, Hullinger said he received an acceptance letter from BYUH, and he decided, spur-of-the-moment, to enroll.
He added coming to BYUH took a bit of adjustment, but said, “Luckily, here in Laie, everyone is basically still a member of the church, so that experience was pretty similar. But it was awesome to be able to meet all of these people from different cultures. Being able to talk with them and see how a lot of different people have a lot of different perspectives, and in turn, putting that back into myself. I need to remember not everyone is just a random person from Utah. Other people have different backgrounds.”
Returning home from his mission amidst the pandemic, he said he was grateful for his missionary service and how it helped him be more adaptable. “I noticed that I was more able to make decisions about living arrangements and how to work with other roommates, whereas a lot of my roommates didn’t really have that experience. They’d struggle here and there and have different stressors that would hurt them,” said Hullinger.
Beloved husband, father, and friend
Daryl Snelson, a sophomore from Malaysia majoring in exercise and sports science, said he had seen a lot of growth in his friend. “When I first met [Hullinger], his baby was only 3 months old. I’ve seen how he’s grown to be a loving father. The fact that he loves his kid so much that he would do anything to help his family have a better life,” said Snelson.
When he first came to BYUH through the I-WORK program, Snelson said he knew he needed to find a job. Through a connection with his district president in Malaysia, he said he managed to secure work at the Polynesian Cultural Center kitchens, where he worked alongside Hullinger. Hullinger, at the time, was the sous chef, and Snelson said the two of them quickly began hanging out and going to the gym together to work out.
Snelson explained, “He was constantly finding business ideas to make sure his family did not suffer financially.” Snelson said to Hullinger, family was the most important thing in his life, citing his work ethic as evidence. “We go to the gym at 6 a.m., then he goes to classes and then he goes to work for about eight hours. Then he comes back and sees his baby for a couple of hours,” Snelson explained.
“That’s a lot of things to juggle on your plate, but yet he still does it.” He said Hullinger also holds a calling as the second counselor in the Elders quorum of his ward but is willing to do everything he does because he loves his family.
Snelson added his friend keeps him accountable, especially because of how the two go to the gym early every morning. “I know if I were to wake up and feel tired, I can’t say no to him. … He makes me push myself because if I don’t go to the gym, he’s not going to go to the gym,” said Snelson.
Snelson also has ambitions to start his own online business centered around nutrition and wellness after graduating when he returns home to Malaysia.
Saane Lonetinisi Hullinger, an alumna from Tonga who married Landon Hullinger in 2020, said her husband is responsible and caring towards her and their daughters, Liani and Mele. Mele was born on May 31, 2023.
Regarding her husband, she said, “I love that he has ambitions about life. … When he makes a plan, he does not like having a plan B. When he says something, he just goes for it. And also, he’s a good husband, the best one.”
She added how he possessed many qualities that made him a good husband, chief among them being patience. “He works a lot, and he’s also a full-time student. But when he comes home, he cooks for me. I can’t cook,” she exclaimed with a laugh. “He’s always there for me, on my bad days and good days.”
“At first, he was my husband, but then we had the baby. I watched him be a father. He is the best one. He is the sweetest, always there for the baby. He’s like, ‘For now, I’m only working for you and the baby. Not for me',” shared Saane.
She continued, “Now that he has a family, I know that everything he does is mostly for me and the kids.”
Important things in life
Landon Hullinger said he has to carefully balance his responsibilities of being a husband and a father with his job, as well as being a student and an entrepreneur. To maintain this balance, he said, “I’ve basically cut out every distraction. Like, my schedule basically goes: Wake up at 6 a.m., go to the gym with Daryl [Snelson], and then from 7 [a.m.] to 8 [a.m.] I get ready for classes and do homework. …Then I go to work and classes all day from 8 in the morning to 7 at night.”
“If I have any free time,” he continued, “I’m basically working on businesses or different ideas, trying to push myself in that aspect.” He emphasized the delicate balance only existed because of the absence of distractions he had removed from his life.
He said much of his self-discipline comes from his mission, where he learned to schedule appointments and activities in an efficient manner. “After doing that for two years, you kinda gain that mental resilience. …You lay down at the end of the day and you’re exhausted, but it feels kinda great. It’s almost like building up a streak,” said Hullinger.
Business ventures
Landon Hullinger shared about his business Pro Sweets, which he co-founded with Snelson. During their work at the PCC kitchen, both professed their love for food, particularly treats, but knew they could not be very healthy if they were eating too many desserts.
“So we tried to put them together,” Landon Hullinger said. “Put desserts into something that’s healthy.” Pro Sweets’ product line is made up of desserts, such as cookies, brownies, banana bread and ice cream made with less than five grams of sugar per serving and high levels of protein.
Previously, he had run several other business ventures, including a taco stand, which he said was very successful. However, he said he knows businesses are always changing and decides to learn what he can from the moment to apply to his next business in the future.
“Honestly, I probably won’t invent the next Facebook,” he said jokingly, “but I can keep pushing myself until maybe one day I can do that.”
“I started doing a business because of him,” Snelson said, commenting how Landon Hullinger’s entrepreneurial mindset rubbed off on him. He said the two of them plan to help Asian and Pacific Islander athletes receive more attention from sports recruiters. Snelson said both of them have strong connections to Asia and the Pacific, with himself being Malaysian and having served his mission in Singapore, and Hullinger married to a Tongan and having served a mission in the Philippines.
“We know the people, and we know how much potential they have, but people just don’t know it. So we want to be the middleman, to help Asians and Pacific Islanders have a chance in sports leagues,” said Snelson.
As he looks towards the future, Landon Hullinger said he has a very go-with-the-flow mentality. “Everything that I can control, I will control to a tee. That’s where it comes down to the daily schedule,” explained Hullinger.
For anyone who wants to succeed in life, Hullinger advised they needed to be willing to constantly learn. Students may begin life at college and believe they know everything they need to know, he explained. To be humble and recognize there is more to be learned was the key, he said. “Once you accept that, then you can start learning at an exponential rate. And that will be able to help push you to become successful.”
Professing to be amazed by his friend's work ethic, Snelson said the gospel was key to his success. “Despite everything that he has on his plate, [Hullinger] still goes to church. And I think that’s a truth that I learned from my mom as well. When you put the gospel first, everything will somehow work in the end. … Somehow, some way, he’s gonna make it. And I feel like that’s also my responsibility to know that I’m not going to let him fail. … Giving up is not an option now. There’s too much at stake to give up," concluded Snelson.
While Saane Lonetinisi Hullinger acknowledged the future could be scary, she said she and her husband talked openly about it, and then compromised. While they know they need to save up money for the future and work for success, she said they did what they and other Latter-day Saints had learned in Primary as children, which was to simply “pray together” to receive direction in life.