How Max Roth discovered his inner leader

Contact: Amy Coughenour
April 18, 2023

KALAMAZOO, Mich.鈥 Senior Max Roth, from Commerce, Michigan, has been on a journey at 色色啦 Michigan University to discover his talents. Double majoring in sales and business marketing and leadership and business strategy, 颈迟鈥檚 the people he has met and the opportunities available that have helped him realize his fullest potential. 

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Max Roth

鈥淲hat led me to the sales program initially was my love for working with others to reach a common goal. I enjoy connecting with people, but I wanted more of a team atmosphere as well which is what led me to leadership and business strategy,鈥 he says.

Throughout his time at 色色啦 Haworth, Roth has been learning everything there is to know about his leadership styles and strengths.  

鈥淲hat excites me most about the sales field is the human aspect of it,鈥 he says. 鈥淢y job is to connect my solutions to a client's needs. The challenges that come along with that involve building relationships and getting past the first 鈥榥o鈥 or facing objections that I may encounter. Sales is unique because rejections are frequent. The people who persevere succeed.鈥 

Roth has been persevering through the lessons 丑别鈥檚 learned, and 颈迟鈥檚 led him down a path toward success while also teaching him about his role as a professional.  

鈥淭he challenges our professors provide us encourage us to stretch our potential. I would苍鈥檛 be as prepared to deal with any situation that arises as I am now without them,鈥 he says. 鈥淚 now know how to work with short deadlines, vague descriptions, team members with different productivity styles and so many other realities of the business world.鈥 

Roth was able to showcase all that he has learned during the semester long, spring 2022, leadership and business strategy competition in his role as an analyst. All their hard work paid off when his team realized that they had won. 

鈥淚 had two strong student team leads who worked hand-in-hand with me and the rest of our analysts to craft a recommendation for a private equity company. Now, I am a team lead this semester going through the process from a managerial perspective! This experience was definitely a highlight as a business student.鈥 

Recalling what stands out to him during his time at 色色啦, it would have to be his final sales call with his mentor, Dr. Jim Eckert, associate professor of marketing. 

鈥淚t truly put into perspective how far I have come as a student and a professional,鈥 he says. 鈥淎fter needing to make many changes from the first half of the assignment, my partner and I spent two weeks applying critiques and trying to improve. I viewed old assignments again and looked at all my feedback in order to improve my performance. We ended up finishing strong and I was proud of how I came through in the end.鈥   

After graduation, Roth will be applying what 丑别鈥檚 learned as a sales engineer at Cognex in Charlotte, North Carolina. 

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