When Sean Burpee went to advertising school at VCU Brandcenter in Richmond, Va., his initial plan was to come back to his career in the ad agency business and move up the ranks to make TV commercials.

But when it came time for a summer fellowship midway through the program, he was drawn to BuzzFeed, where he helped advertisers create content for the site. He enjoyed the creative independence so much that he dropped out of school to accept a full-time job.

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