Sam Borja Truax

University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management

“I am just happy to be here.”

Hometown: Eden Prairie, Minnesota

Fun fact about yourself: I run an Instagram account for my dog and he went viral. He got over 6.5 million views!

Undergraduate School and Degree: University of Minnesota – Twin Cities (Business Management, Spanish, and Communications Studies)

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Integrated Staffing Solutions, Operations Director

Where did you intern during the summer of 2025? Post Consumer Brands, Brand Marketing Intern

Where will you be working after graduation? General Mills, Associate Brand Manager

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

• Graduate Volunteer Consultants, President
• Social Committee member
• Carlson 4 Community, VP of Corporate Sponsorships
• Phillips Neighborhood Clinic, Spanish translator
• Carlson MBA Ambassador
• Carlson Consulting Enterprise, Principal

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I am most proud of my first project with the Carlson Consulting Enterprise, which was for an ITaaS company looking to create a new pricing model. The work was incredibly fast-paced, I was unfamiliar with the industry, and I had never done a pricing strategy project before. It was a massive 12-week project, but with the help of my incredible team (thank you Sam O., Chris, and Sofiia!), my principals, and UMN faculty, I was able to deliver real, meaningful results to our client.

This project was a test that validated my work ethic, leadership, and problem-solving; it gave me the confidence that my experience prior to my MBA and everything I had learned since then prepared me to take on any problem.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? While I was the Operations Director for my family business, we, along with the rest of the world, were thrown into the chaos of a global pandemic. Suddenly, our operations ground to a halt, and we had no clue how we were going to survive. Shortly afterwards, our offices burned to the ground during the civil unrest in Minneapolis. We had lost everything, with no clear path forward.

Despite these setbacks, I never gave up. I worked tirelessly to reinvent the way we did business, keeping my team productive and safe while delivering consistent results to our clients. While it is tough to say exactly when this chapter of my professional career “ended,” I am incredibly proud to say that the business came out the other side with a more robust, profitable model, and did so without laying off a single employee.

Why did you choose this business school? My first criterion when selecting a business school was that it had to be in the Minneapolis area. There are many amazing business schools I did not consider solely because I was unwilling to move away from the city I love so much. I knew immediately that Carlson was my top choice because of the respect the local community has for the school and its graduates.

Minneapolis is an amazing place, and home to some of the biggest companies in the world, and Carlson is well-loved here, so I knew I had to be a part of that.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? Professor Andrew Lainsbury is far and away my favorite professor at Carlson. First and foremost, he brings his kindness, humor, and thoughtfulness to class every day. His years of experience in building brands provide such depth to all of his lectures, making each one more engaging than the last. I had Brand Strategy with him, which I loved so much that I wish I could take it again, and then signed up for his Retailtainment class, which traveled to Japan to learn first-hand about how retail businesses adapt to draw in customers in the competitive Japanese retail landscape.

Even on my hardest days, each class with Andrew felt like a breath of fresh air. I am thankful for him and the impact he had on my decision to pursue a career in brand management.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? Project Management with Professor Peter Thomas taught me all the skills, concepts, and tools I wish I had in my pre-MBA life. While I certainly enjoyed the more conceptual courses, Project Management was focused on my favorite topic: how do we actually get stuff done?

I was not expecting it at the time, but this course significantly changed the way I approach problems both large and small, making me a more effective leader and team member.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? In the Carlson Consulting Enterprise, second-year students volunteer to become principals to help advise first-year students working on their first consulting projects. On my first project, my principal, Abby Pearson, helped me in countless ways. She was a thought partner, a mentor, and my no. 1 supporter, for which I will always be grateful.

Once I entered the second year, I knew I wanted to carry on that tradition and be that person for someone else. The Enterprise programs at Carlson are special, not only because they allow students to work with real clients on real problems, but because they provide us with opportunities to become teachers ourselves.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? Not one thing. I threw myself into this program 110%, and I would not have it any other way.

What was the most impactful case study you had in business school and what was the biggest lesson you learned from it? Studying Ducati in our Strategic Management class was fascinating to me. It perfectly embodies how you can have a great product, but a weak brand, and suffer for it. By revitalizing the ethos of Ducati and turning consumers into a community, they were able to turn things around dramatically. I hope to one day find myself presented with the same opportunity to try my hand at a similar project.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? Many of you have most recently heard about Minneapolis in tragic national headlines. What I love most about Minneapolis, and Minnesota in general, is how in the face of tragedy, we rally together, support our neighbors, and nothing can stop us (especially not -40 degree temps). I see this same attitude reflected on every level in Minneapolis, and yes, even within our MBA community.

What business leader do you admire most? In my previous career, I had the opportunity to work with Paul Marvin, the CEO of Marvin Windows and Doors. Paul impressed me with his humility, his commitment to his community of Warroad, Minnesota, and his belief that business must be a force for the greater good. I continue to be inspired by his example and strive to uphold those same values in my professional career and personal life.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? I was one of the first MBA students to take our AI for Competitive Advantage course with Professor Ravi Bapna, who literally wrote the book on how businesses can use AI. It was a fantastic introductory course into how AI works, what tasks are best suited for it, its ethical implications, and provided discussion on real world examples of AI in business.

One of my top takeaways from the course is that we are still in the rotary phone-era of AI, and in a few short years, the technology will reshape the entire competitive landscape. It is on us today to debate if, how, and why we should or should not embrace it.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? There are many classmates I admire deeply, but Wade Garrison must be at the top of that list. Wade is whip smart, uplifts those around him, and is an amazing dad to his newborn son. He and I were on the same core team for the first semester, spending more time with each other than our families, and became fast friends. During that time (and to this day), Wade pushed me to aim higher, to think differently, and to become a better version of myself.

Wade is the reason I can reflect on my MBA experience and say, “I did it at the right time, in the right place, with the right people.”

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? At the top of my professional bucket list is to build a brand from the ground up. It is the entrepreneur in me that itches to create a compelling story and then bring it to life by combining art and business.

Additionally, I want to become a mentor for the next generation. I have been blessed at multiple points in my career to have been guided by accomplished, respected professionals, and I hope to one day pay it forward by doing the same for others.

What made Sam such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2026?

“Sam Borja Truax is simply one of the best MBA candidates I’ve had the pleasure of working with in my dozen years at the Carlson School of Management. He is smart, but not showy; a true leader, but not bossy; and a wonderful role model for all of the members of the Carlson Consulting Enterprise (CCE)—including us directors! In his three semesters with CCE—first as a consultant and then as a Graduate Principal—he has not only delivered high-quality work for clients, but also taken on a leadership role in mentoring his MBA peers and supporting the development of the CCE undergraduates. As a consultant, he tackled complex business and public sector challenges, serving as the team lead on two projects that were resounding successes for both the clients and the student teams. As a Graduate Principal, he is providing invaluable guidance and support, ensuring that new students—especially the project lead—adapt effectively to the demands of consulting. His combination of thought leadership and personal warmth has made him perhaps the most accomplished member of CCE I have worked with.

As Associate Director of CCE, I’ve had the privilege of watching Sam acquire consulting skills and build on his work and leadership experience over the past two years. I was very pleased to learn that he has accepted a fast-track role at General Mills next year—I am sure that they will be delighted to have him on board. He has earned the universal respect of her peers, faculty, and clients—not just for the quality of his work, but just as importantly for his qualities as a person. Sam is exactly the kind of student who makes Carlson and the University of Minnesota proud—and who makes me want to continue in my role at CCE.”

Dave MacCallum
Associate Director of Carlson Consulting Enterprise

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