Luke Swan
Texas Christian University, Neeley School of Business
“Chasing competition, creativity, and connection. Athlete-turned-Nike-marketer, who lives to learn and inspire.”
Fun fact about yourself: 1-time NCAA champion, 3-time TCU intramural champ. Titles come in all sizes.
Hometown: Wichita, Kansas (originally Bristol, England)
High School: Wichita Collegiate School
Major: Marketing
Minor: Finance
Favorite Business Course: Business Chinese
Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles During College:
- TCU Dean’s Scholar
- TCU Men’s Tennis Student-Athlete (SAAC Representative)
- Neeley Fellows Student Organization
- John V. Roach Honors College
- TCU Pickleball Club (Co-Founder)
- Bingo in the Park (Outreach Chair)
- Beta Theta Pi (Recruitment Team Chair)
- Neeley NIL Coach
- TCU Young Life
- Barstool TCU (Creative Director)
- TCU Outstanding Senior Award Finalist
- Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) All-Academic Team (2023, 2024)
- Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Student-Athlete Council
Where have you interned during your college career? (List Companies, Locations and Roles)
Company: Nike Inc.
Role: Running Brand Marketing Intern
Location: Los Angeles, California
Date: Summer 2024
Company: Swan Brand Labs
Role: Marketing Brand Consultant/Owner
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Date: Summer 2024-Present
Company: Cloutdesk (Startup)
Role: Remote Executive Operations Intern
Location: Toronto, Canada
Date: Summer 2023
Where will you be working after graduation? I have accepted a full-time role with Nike as a Brand Marketing Specialist. Awaiting to hear my location but will be starting full time in August 2025.
Who is your favorite business professor? It is really challenging to choose only one professor because they have all been so incredible in different ways and have all had such a positive impact on me. If I have to choose one, it will have to be Professor Kevin Smith as he has inspired me in so many different ways. During our very first class with Professor Smith, he went around the room and spoke with every student individually. He asked questions, listened attentively, and found a connection with each student. He had taken time to learn about each of us before our first class, read our LinkedIn profiles, and demonstrated genuine interest in each of us. This really resonated with me and is a valuable trait that I am trying to replicate as he has the amazing ability to make you feel important and seen.
Professor Smith does a phenomenal job of bringing outside professionals in to speak with our class, so we constantly benefit from talks and presentations from business experts who share real-life experiences. He also genuinely values the perspective and insights of our age group and is always available to listen and share thoughts and ideas. He has taught us the importance of short, concise presentations that have maximum impact which has been a huge help to me when presenting or being interviewed.
Professor Smith is just an all-round incredible person, businessman, and professor who has instilled in us the importance of making a difference and having a positive impact on the world and he is the very best role model.
What advice would you give to a student looking to major in a business-related field? One of the best pieces of advice I can give to a student looking to major in a business-related field is to introduce yourself to your professor on the first day of each class. This simple act sets the tone for how you want to engage in the course and establishes a connection that can be incredibly valuable throughout the semester. By taking the initiative to introduce yourself, you not only make a strong first impression, but also create an open line of communication that makes participation feel more natural. Professors are more likely to notice and support students who actively engage, and this early introduction gives you a foundation to build a relationship that could lead to mentorship, networking opportunities, and even future career guidance. Business is all about relationships—start practicing that from day one in the classroom.
Looking back over your experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently in business school and why? If I could do one thing differently in business school, I would have taken more classes across different fields. While I love marketing, I wish I had the time to explore more supply chain and analytics courses to broaden my perspective and skill set.
What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What is one insight you gained from using AI? During my senior year, I had the opportunity to take Marketing AI and Automation, a course dedicated to exploring the rapid growth of AI in the marketing field. The fact that my business school offered a class specifically focused on AI’s impact within my major was an incredible advantage. Throughout the course, I gained hands-on experience with various AI platforms, including Midjourney for creative design, and HubSpot for AI-driven marketing automation. However, the most valuable lesson came from my professor, Dr. Elijah Clark, who emphasized that AI is not a shortcut to skip learning, but rather a tool to enhance understanding, creativity, and efficiency. He instilled the mindset that AI should be leveraged to assist, not replace, human insight.
My fascination with this balance between AI-driven automation and human authenticity ultimately led me to write my thesis on the intersection of the two in the marketing industry.
Which academic, extracurricular or personal achievement are you most proud of? I am fortunate to have been involved in a so many different aspects of college life at TCU, which have provided me with fantastic academic, extracurricular, and personal achievements. The standout achievement for me though is being part of the TCU men’s tennis team and winning the NCAA National Championship in May 2024.
I decided to try out as a walk on for the men’s tennis team at the beginning of my sophomore year despite my really demanding academic schedule. I must have had at least 10 meetings with Coach David Roditi to convince him that I was serious about joining the team and had the work ethic and skill set to become a valuable team member.
Coach was cynical about whether I really could be a valuable team member, but I persevered, worked hard and eventually, with the support of my teammates, was invited to join the team. I could not have possibly imagined the impact being on this team would have on me and the impact I would have on the team. I was never in doubt that I would rarely get to play matches for the team, but I still wanted to develop my leadership skills and be a team member who could motivate, support, and lead by example.
Coach Roditi has given me the ultimate honor of describing me as the team’s MVP when we won the NCAA championship last summer. He recognized my ability to understand the needs of the individual team members and work with them to help get the best from them, on and off the court. He respects my work ethic and athleticism and how I have been able to encourage and push the team to train harder and smarter. He respects my level of emotional intelligence and how I have developed and utilized my communication skills to be an inclusive, collaborative, and charismatic leader for the team. For me, I have learned to put any ego to one side to be the best team member I can. It doesn’t matter that I am not winning matches as I am helping the individual players to compete to their full potential and to learn from losses as well as the wins.
Which classmate do you most admire? There are many different attributes that are important to me when it comes to classmates, but I must single out Joshua Caldwell—incoming Supply Chain Manager at Cisco. His attention to detail is second-to-none. He is so trustworthy and reliable and has taught me the value of preparation and taking time to understand. I have this saying for Josh – he’s just “so clutch”. He is just an awesome human being who is supportive, collaborative, thoughtful, considerate, engaging, reflective, present and so incredibly hard-working and knowledgeable. He never takes anything for granted and has a fantastic work ethic and positive, can-do attitude to everything. We have a lot of classes together and I am often absent due to my tennis commitments. Josh is the first person I go to catch up on lectures or study notes. He is always there for me, selfless and willing to help me in any way he can.
Who would you most want to thank for your success? TCU and specifically the Neeley Business School has changed my life. It has been the most incredible experience to be a student in the Business School and the Neeley Fellows program. But first and foremost, I must thank my parents, who have instilled confidence in me to go and do my whole entire life. I am eternally grateful for their love and support.
From the Neeley School of business, I must thank the incredible, Meg Lehman. Meg is the Program Director for Neeley Fellows and is one of the most inspirational, supportive people I have ever met. Meg has always been there for me and has supported me through every challenge. She understands how many things I juggle, particularly being a student athlete, yet she is always encouraging and always has time for me. She has allowed me to be flexible with my schedule and has been an outstanding mentor. She has the ability to challenge, support, and encourage me to be the best version of myself. She is so charismatic, authentic, and so loved. She ensured I had the best possible mentor through Fellows who will be someone I will be working with at Nike in the future. She is also an awesome human being! Thank you, Meg, for everything. I could never have achieved everything I have at TCU without you.
What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? I believe that you learn so much from other people. For me professionally, I love to learn from other people’s experiences and stories. I want to understand where they started and how they got to where they are now, what they learned along the way, and what makes them tick. So, I think it is important for me to listen, observe, ask questions, and take time to learn from others.
I also want to focus on how best to navigate your professional career in your early 20s. We have such high expectations and expect to achieve so much so quickly. How do we manage this against the need to learn the basics, take our time to build our knowledge, experience, and reputation? How do we ensure we gain credibility and make a difference to our employer as well as our community? I am ambitious but keen to learn, so I must ensure I take time to really understand my role and how to perform my job to the very best of my ability.
If I can look back in five years and feel that I have really learned from others and taken time to truly navigate my career, add value, and consistently exceed expectations, I will be incredibly content.
What made Luke such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2025?
“Luke Swan is a force at TCU. From his leadership on the TCU national champion tennis team to his work as a founder of the largest club on campus – the TCU Pickleball club – and his work with his fraternity, Luke is an amazing mentor and example for other students. You cannot walk into Neeley without someone saying hello to Luke, and Luke stopping to check in to talk. Much of his academic identity comes from the Neeley Fellows Program, where he has been instrumental in building his cohort and connecting with younger Fellows. He approaches everything with enthusiasm and curiosity. As a marketing major, Luke is constantly looking for ways to level up his skills, which led to his interning in brand management at the Los Angeles office of Nike this summer and then working with them at the US Open in August. Luke has a “say yes” attitude that has led him down many interesting paths and broadened his journey here at TCU, including working with Barstool and NIL, and even helping his teammate to launch a professional tennis career.
Luke served as the first teaching assistant in my Marketing Fellows course. He led several professional development opportunities for students, coaching them for their presentations, meeting them for coffee to chat and acting as a coach as they enter their Neeley Fellows journey. He has a passion for people and helping them find their own passion. He is an incredible leader and upon graduation will join Nike full time.”
Stacy Landreth Grau,
Associate Dean of the John V. Roach Honors College and Neeley Fellows
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