by Morgan Reah
While many 21-year-olds know the feeling of cramming for exams, few are also juggling board meetings. Meet Reine Bissember, a first-year CTMBA student and future CEO of DDRC Marketing, a young professional redefining what ambition looks like.
From Instability to Inspired Leadership
Bissember’s journey is far from typical. While her life may seem stable now, her childhood was anything but. Living out of a van with her bipolar father and younger siblings, she learned early on the uncertainties we face in life.
However, Bissember soon discovered there was one place where she could escape the noise and channel her energy.
“School was the only place that I had control of my life,” she recalled. “I could excel. I could be recognized for my work. I could get away from everything else and just focus.”
That focus propelled her through an unconventional rise, with instability turning to leadership. Today, Bissember balances graduate school with her role as brand growth manager at DDRC, a position created specifically for her after a standout internship.
Much of Bissember’s growth stems from her time in the National Millennial and Gen Z Community, a leadership program connecting young professionals with executives across the U.S.
“The goal was to show that our generation is ambitious and determined, they wanted to break stereotypes,” she said.
Through the program, she traveled to Los Angeles, meeting industry leaders and learning firsthand how modern workplaces are evolving. But perhaps her most defining lessons came closer to home, in a college classroom at Eastern Oregon University, when a professor who would later become her mentor saw something in her that others hadn’t.
During a team exercise, Bissember found herself silently disagreeing with a domineering classmate. Her professor pulled her aside and challenged her to speak up.
“She told me, ‘You need to go in there and tell her that what she’s doing is not right and make a change,’” Bissember said. “I was terrified, but I did it. And when I did, the whole class backed me up.”
That moment cemented her confidence as a leader. That very same professor would later become her boss at DDRC Marketing, pushing her to take on new challenges: including managing veteran employees as the youngest member of the team.
Confidence and Future Vision
Dr. Shari Carpenter, head of DDRC Marketing and professor at Eastern Oregon University, has placed significant confidence in Bissember, but that confidence is no gamble.
“Reine immediately stood out as a student who took her education seriously, approaching every class with intention,” Carpenter said. “Consistently attentive, arriving early and prepared, she demonstrated professionalism and a genuine interest in the material.”
That early discipline has translated into real-world responsibility. Despite her age, Bissember is already being viewed as a future leader at the company.
“I see Reine moving confidently into a leadership and management role in the near future,” Carpenter added. “With her dedication and drive, I believe she will continue to grow into a trusted leader at DDRC and within the broader marketing community.”
For Carpenter, the message is clear: Bissember isn’t just promising, she’s ready. But for Bissember that opportunity comes with a heavy sense of responsibility.
“It’s a huge jump,” she admitted. “I’m still trying to prove myself, but also trying to position myself as someone they’d listen to if I were to take over her role.”
For Bissember, leadership isn’t about power, it’s about influence and empathy.
“You can force somebody to follow you, but you can’t make them want to,” she said. “So I’m focusing on building relationships, showing that I’m competent, and inspiring people rather than commanding them.”
Redefining Success
Yet the intensity of her schedule, juggling two jobs, graduate coursework, and leadership development, comes at a cost.
“I don’t really have time for anything else,” she said. “I work or study every day, including weekends. It’s not that I don’t enjoy it, I just need a break sometimes. But if I take one, I feel like I’m losing out on an opportunity.”
For someone who has spent her life striving forward, the idea of slowing down is foreign to Bissember. But as time passes and her surroundings stabilize, she is starting to question what success really means.
“I’d love to have a family someday,” she said. “But how am I supposed to be a CEO and not work every day? That’s something I’m still figuring out… what balance looks like.”
Bissember’s strength lies not just in her ambition, but in her ability to redefine it. She doesn’t measure success by comparison, only by her own evolving standards.
“The expectations I have to live up to are things that I write myself,” she said. “I set the goals and then I achieve them.”
From a childhood of uncertainty to the boardroom of a growing agency, Reine Bissember’s journey isn’t just about her own rise above adversity. It also serves as a broader reminder that your story is not defined by your roots. Rather it’s written by you; one goal, one lesson, and one hard-earned moment at a time.