The HPU Connection: Alums help others launch careers.

Virginia Ellis has a friend in the furniture business. Fellow High Point University graduate Victoria Valentinas made sure Ellis knew about an incredible job opportunity at Bassett Furniture in Bassett, Va.

"Tori helped bring me into the position," says Ellis. "She let me know of the opening--and it's exactly what I wanted to do--which is visual merchandising with the opportunity to travel."

Ellis, who graduated in 2013 with a degree in interior design and a minor in home furnishings, scored the job as visual merchandising coordinator for the open market side of Bassett and HGTV Furniture, and has been busy ever since. She works with her colleagues to set up galleries for Bassett and HGTV all over the country, as well as showrooms for the High Point and Las Vegas furniture markets.

Her success is proof that making connections and...