Steve Mau, Midwest Regional Director, Dean Foods, Lake Forest MBA Class of 1996
Steve Mau trusts his instincts. Having worked several years for Marigold Foods, he felt the time had come to get an MBA. "I started looking for a program in the spring of 1994. I looked at DePaul, NIU and Kellogg," he said. Then, he attended an open house at the Schaumburg campus of LFGSM and "liked what I saw in terms of the people, the location and the environment. I walked in and said ‘this is the school I should attend’."
Mau also appreciated the option of Saturday classes. "My philosophy was to treat Saturday like it was a sixth work day. I got up, took a shower and headed out the door just like a normal work day," he said. "In fact, I was attracted to the Saturday option. I felt I could handle that more easily than trying to go to school after working all day. If I just sacrificed my Saturdays for two years, I’d have my MBA and be done."
Spending Saturdays with his study partners instead of his wife, Maureen, was less of a trial for Mau than some MBA students may find. The couple had just returned from almost three years in Europe where, for one and a half years, he lived in Holland while she served in the U. S. Army in Germany. Today, they live in Lake Zurich with their son, Austin, and daughter, Annika.
"Lake Forest really gives you a liberal arts education at the MBA level…When I’m in a room with marketing professionals, or accountants, or sales people, I can appreciate what they are trying to communicate."
Mau has seen his career take off since beginning his MBA studies. At Marigold, which he joined directly after receiving his bachelor of arts degree from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN, he moved from an account manager position to warehouse account manager and eventually to regional sales manager.
In 1998, opportunity found Mau when Dean Foods recruited him to become sales trainer for the Dairy Division. "Like many industries, the dairy industry is consolidating and Dean is one of the ‘gobblers’," he said. "With all of these acquisitions, we’ve got sales people coming in who have varying degrees of sales training, depending on where they came from and what was important to the acquired company. My responsibility is to ensure that the Dean sales force is educated, sophisticated and brings a common message to our customers across the United States."
Mau believes his MBA studies have prepared him well to work with a wide variety of people in a range of business disciplines.
"Lake Forest really gives you a liberal arts education at the MBA level," he said. "When I’m in a room with marketing professionals, or accountants, or sales people, I can appreciate what they are trying to communicate. I have a greater understanding of issues everyone is involved with and how things impact their business unit. With an MBA from LFGSM, you can participate fully, you can make a contribution and there is legitimacy to your comments."
Back