To senior Seth Knowlton, the president of the Marketing Association (MA) at the BYU Marriott School of Business, succeeding in a leadership role isn’t about being a natural leader—it’s about being passionate, involved, and invested in helping others do their best.
Brigham Young University was far from Knowlton’s mind—he hadn’t even applied when the BYU track and field coach reached out to him to offer a scholarship. After his whirlwind of an application process and arrival on campus, he struggled through his early semesters at BYU. “I was an exercise science major,” Knowlton says. “The anatomy and physics classes really hurt me. Those classes were rough, and ever since then I've been trying to get my GPA up.”
When Knowlton returned after serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he decided to switch majors and began to explore different options. “I started going to MA events and activities. I was learning more about what marketing is, and I felt like I belonged there,” Knowlton says. “The more I went to things, the more I wanted to be there, and the more I wanted to do the major.”
As he became more involved in the MA community, he put in the effort to apply to the marketing major. “I worked really hard to get my GPA up high enough to apply for the program, and I was able to get in,” Knowlton says.
Knowlton continued to participate in MA and began helping out with the events and meetings. “I ended up being the guy that was just always there,” he explains. “I mean, I'm not an incredible leader, but I like to go to events, and I like to be there a lot. My passion turned into leadership and put me into this role as president.”
During Knowlton’s junior year, the previous president encouraged him to apply for president. It was a difficult decision: compete in track and field for one more year or take a running leap in a different direction. “I knew if I chose to be president, I was going to have both feet in rather than juggling both sides—either I’m going to be president, or I’m going to be an athlete.”
Despite his worries, he’s happy with his choice. “I took that step away from sports and athletics to see if this is the dream that I want to follow, and it's been awesome,” he says. “I've loved it—it was such a good decision.”
When he became the president of the MA, Knowlton started making changes to the structure of the academic association to allow for more direct and efficient communication between students, MA members, and faculty. He also worked with the association to put on a completely new event. “I had this idea for a large event called the ‘marketing showcase,’” Knowlton says. “I pitched it to the professors when I first came in last year, and it didn't go so well. It got shot down.”
After this initial rejection, Knowlton knew he would have to adapt. “I went back to the drawing board, and I wrote up a new pitch,” he says. “A couple months later, it was a better time to try to pitch it again—and the pitch was a success.”
Once they got approval and set a date, the MA only had a little over a month to organize the event and find companies who were hiring and willing to come see the students’ work. “It was incredible to see what we could accomplish in such a short time,” Knowlton says. “I’m grateful to be on such a committed and hardworking team. The MA family really came together to make this vision a reality. I’ve learned so much from working with them and watching their examples.”
The first ever marketing showcase took place this March, and Knowlton is proud of what he and the MA accomplished. “In such an unknown job market, we wanted to create a stimulus event that would foster in-person connection between recruiters and students,” Knowlton says. “I think we were able to showcase our students to the companies that attended.”
Knowlton’s passion for being involved and helping those around him has helped him make positive changes in the MA. He hopes to use his skills in marketing to improve both his own skills and his future workplaces. “I've always wanted to change the world, and the I feel like the greatest way to change people and help people is through marketing and stories,” Knowlton says. “I just want to be able to share a story that's going to help people be their best selves.”
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Written by Melissa Een
