Max Hood’s “Chats with Max” became a popular staple on UMSL’s social media channels during his junior and senior years. (Photo by Derik Holtmann)

When Max Hood looks back at his four years at the University of Missouri–St. Louis – he graduated with his BSBA with an emphasis in international business this May – he sees two very distinct versions of his college experience.

“For the first couple of years, I went to school, I took my classes, and I left,” Hood said. “But I knew I wanted to do something more, and I saw that my friends weren’t leaving campus the same time I was leaving campus. I was like, ‘What am I missing out on? I’ve eaten at The Nosh. I’ve done stuff in the Fireside Lounge. But is there a whole other world at UMSL that I don’t know about?’”

For Hood, finding the answer to his question started when he was introduced to former staff member Michaela Wells, who quickly – and directly – told Hood that he should be involved as a student leader with the Office of Student Involvement. That pointed encouragement was a catalyst, along with a few wise words he heard from UMSL Chancellor Kristin Sobolik at an event on campus.

“I remember hearing Chancellor Sobolik say to ‘lean in,’” Hood said. “That was something that stuck with me. Like, you get out of it what you put in. If people actually take it to heart, you can find a whole new world, like I did. I just leaned in, and I found opportunities. I always said yes.”

Starting with the fall semester of his junior year, Hood embraced the ‘whole other world’ at UMSL that he was unaware of his freshman and sophomore years. He dove headfirst into opportunities with the OSI. He worked as the programs chair for the University Program Board. He served two terms as the vice president of the Student Government Association. He started working with University Marketing and Communications creating content for the school’s social media outlets. Along with fellow student Jalen Walker-Wright, he founded the UMSL Influencers club. Wanting international experience to enhance his international business career ambitions, Hood went on a study abroad program to Morocco and Spain.

“OSI’s motto is ‘where people find their people,’” Hood said. “I was that person who was trying to find somebody, and I found them in that Office of Student Involvement. And from there it was almost like they were my management team. They helped me understand opportunities and campus involvement, and every time I was like, ‘Yeah, I want to do that. Yeah, I want to do that, too. Yeah, let’s start up this organization. Wait, we’re missing this on campus, so let’s make this an organization.’”

Hood even had the opportunity to don the Louie mascot from time to time. That was just one of many things that he probably wouldn’t have even considered doing just a few years earlier.

“Honestly, I don’t even know that Max from back then, and I mean that in a respectful way,” Hood said. “It’s just different. It feels like I was just a student, then all of a sudden, I was a student ambassador for UMSL, and that’s led to all of the opportunities that I’ve been blessed with receiving from UMSL. And that all happened in, literally, the last two years of my UMSL experience.”

Valerie Furlong started in her role as UMSL’s social media manager in July 2023, the summer that Hood was resolving to figure out how he could be more involved going into his junior year. He remembers seeing one of Furlong’s Instagram posts on the UMSL account asking for UMSL students who might be interested in creating social content.

He was most definitely interested.

“Valerie does a phenomenal job making content, covering stories, letting people know what’s going on around campus, giving them that kind of FOMO,” Hood said. “That is what I loved about watching her stuff on UMSL social media. I wanted to do ‘Chats with Max’ to try and capture the spontaneity that happens on campus. ‘Chats with Max’ was never supposed to be anything that was rehearsed or scripted.”

Hood’s idea fit right with Furlong’s “Triton Talks” idea, and he started collaborating with Furlong to produce content. Hood quickly became a fixture on UMSL’s social media channels.

“‘Chats with Max’ were a special piece of our UMSL content,” Furlong said. “It was the first content series that was all students, and it was so successful because he is very outgoing and he truly engaged with the other students, making the campus feel more alive and friendly. He was a large part in other content that was not related to ‘Chats with Max,’ too, and did some event coverage for us when our team could not make it.”

Hood started at UMSL as an international relations major through the Pierre Laclede Honors College, but within his first semester he realized that even though he was interested in the topic, he didn’t necessarily see that as a specific career goal.

“I still wanted to learn about things like international diplomacy, but more about how that affects the business world,” Hood said. “That’s exactly what I found in international business. How does the political economy affect the business world? It affects it a lot. And then, let’s take it to the international scale. How does a political economy in Europe affect international imports and exports with America?”

Olajuwon Davis (left) and Max Hood took a moment to relax with a local cat at a medina in Rabat, Morocco, during their January study abroad trip to Morocco and Spain. (Photo courtesy of Olajuwon Davis)

The study abroad program to Morocco and Spain, a two-week trip in January 2025, reinforced to Hood that he had chosen the right major. In addition to soaking up the culture and taking in the sights, Hood took special notice about the way business was conducted in both locations.

For three years during college, Hood worked at Best Buy as an Apple Master – selling exclusively Apple products – and he wants to go into sales on an international scale. The more personal approach to business that he observed in Spain and Morocco struck a chord with how he had always tried to approach sales.

“I’m very connection-oriented,” Hood said. “Like, tell me about yourself, then we can talk about this product later. It’s not all about the glitz and the glamor of the specific product, the very materialistic wants. It’s more of, who are you as a person? I’m going to try to find something that is actually significant for you. It’s a lot like storytelling, asking those discovery questions. That translates well into sales. Trying to build relationships with customers on a deeper level is something that I’m taking as a personal journey in my business growth.”

As he knows from experience, you get out what you put in. Hood is definitely ready to “lean in” to career opportunities as they arise.