Before BJ Davis ’10 arrived at William Peace University in 2007, her journey to earning a bachelor’s degree had been anything but linear. She had raised two children in Dayton, Ohio, while building a career in real estate and piloting several passion projects, such as a nonprofit school for high school dropouts. Her instincts had always drawn her to working with youth, but she didn’t yet know that Peace would provide the skills to transform those instincts into a global leadership enterprise.
She had started her undergraduate studies in Ohio, but juggling motherhood, a career, and her nonprofit made completing them a challenge. When she relocated to the Raleigh area, Peace’s leadership program caught her attention.
“Peace was the only school [I knew of] at the time that had a degree where you could have a double major,” Davis said. “The professors who were leading the program at Peace talked to me about the courses and what I would get out of it — things that I knew I could put into practice very quickly with my work.”
Although she faced some challenges as a non-traditional student, Davis said Peace’s unique blend of academic rigor and real-world opportunity became the catalyst for something bigger. She double majored in psychology and leadership studies, finding the intellectual framework to deepen work that had previously been driven by intuition.
“What Peace offered me was the opportunity to elevate my work,” Davis said. “It gave me the academic grounding, structure, and intellectual space to turn my lived experience into a deeper, more intentional practice.”
Global Leadership Training at Work
Prior to her studies at Peace, Davis had already founded BJD Leadership Training & Team Development in 2003, built on the idea of “High Performance Play™” — a leadership training framework grounded in connecting people back to their childlike instincts of play. But her time at Peace gave her the academic foundation to scale what had been a local initiative into a global enterprise, now offering virtual, culturally relevant training seminars worldwide.
“The programs I’ve developed over the last 23 years drive our mission, and our mission drives our integrity. It’s always been about bringing people back to play, and each program is steeped in that process,” Davis said.
After establishing a global presence, Davis channels the same curiosity and innovation as she seeks to launch new initiatives, such as the Peace Factory Project™, a student-centered leadership and skills-training course that she will pilot soon.
Reconnecting to Campus
Today, Davis looks back on her time at Peace as a transformational experience. She traveled to Qatar with her global leadership class, studied abroad, and collaborated with expert faculty to learn as much as possible. By staying curious and embracing discomfort, she forged her own path to success as a trailblazing non-traditional student.
“I fell in love with my program. I loved the smallness of Peace, I loved the community of Peace. I felt connected to the women at Peace who were truly looking to make change in the world,” Davis said. “The opportunities Peace gave me instilled a global mindset and the confidence to step into unfamiliar spaces with openness rather than fear.”
Davis encourages current Peace students to stay curious and never say no to an opportunity. She credits those experiences with solidifying her career trajectory.
“Today, whether I’m working with young leaders, international fellows, or communities navigating challenges, I still rely on the same core values Peace strengthened in me. Say ‘yes’ to experiences that stretch you! The world opens when you do.”
