Meet Trailblazer Connor O’Brien: student, athlete, and entrepreneur

PLU junior Connor O’Brien ’27 is juggling a lot — soccer, school, and his own business! He’s a finance major with a data science minor, plays midfield on the soccer team, and somehow still finds time to run 360 Home Services LLC, a home maintenance company he co-founded with his friend Luke Smith.

“I wasn’t a good high school student, but I really found my place during college,” Connor says. “Now I’m in my third year on the soccer team — a midfielder. I train four times a week, play two games a week, and work with athletic trainers to strengthen and recover from injuries. Plus, I run the business.”

That business started as a brainstorm between two friends. “Me and Luke were training together and came up with the idea,” Connor says. With help from their mentor — PLU alum Surafel ‘Surf’ Wodajo ’12 — they launched a one-stop shop for gutter cleaning, window washing, power washing, and more. “He suggested that we make a service that does it all,” Connor says. “We do the stuff people don’t want to do.”

With all of this responsibility, Connor is grateful for the support of professors who are always in his corner. “I can ask them questions that don’t relate to class,” he says. “They are helpful in life and entrepreneurship.”

Even with everything going on, Connor’s all in. “My teammates are my brothers,” he says. “I enjoy PLU from top to bottom — the faculty, the students. My family loves PLU, too.”