A closet full of his siblings' black and gold attire wasn’t the only reason Blake Schrand decided to attend Mizzou
Blake thrived at Trulaske by winning a Hershey sales competition and an international business simulation. His civic leadership internship at the Missouri House of Representatives ignited both a passion for public service and an entrepreneurial spark: he built an AI-powered legislative assistant platform that helps users understand bills and research legislators in real time. On campus, he directed Homecoming events for 70,000+ people and led Missouri's largest individual canned food drive. Experience-centered learning was the core to his success, and all the experiences at Mizzou drove him to aim high.
Why did you choose Mizzou?
I did not want to go to Mizzou at first. I had three siblings attend Mizzou, so my closet was already full of black and gold from a young age. Growing up, I also got to experience many of Mizzou’s unique traditions through them, whether it was watching my siblings do Tiger Walk through the Columns as freshmen or seeing my sister’s sorority build a campus decoration during Homecoming.
When I started going on college visits and looking at other schools, I could never find the atmosphere that Mizzou had. Every other campus felt empty, like something was missing compared to the energy and sense of tradition I always felt in Columbia. After my third college visit, I realized the only true option for me was Mizzou.
Today, my three siblings and I are all proud Mizzou alumni.
What class, person or experience at Trulaske had the most impact on you?
There were plenty of great professors at Mizzou, but two who really stood out to me were Tim Hill and Graham McCaulley. Tim did a fantastic job helping students begin the transition into college life and building that initial relationship with the university. BA 1500 was a great introduction to the foundational skills of business and, more importantly, how to conduct yourself professionally, which is valuable no matter what career path a student chooses.
Graham showed me the possibilities within the Civic Leadership Internship Program and opened my eyes to a side of politics and public service that I never realized I would enjoy so much.
Because of the opportunities and mentorship I experienced through Trulaske, one of the most meaningful moments of my time at Mizzou was having the honor of inducting Robert J. Trulaske Sr. into the University of Missouri Hall of Fame. It was a full-circle moment that reminded me how much the business school had shaped my personal and professional growth.
What kind of leadership skills have you gained at the Trulaske College of Business?
I gained the ability to communicate effectively and lead teams through both simulated experiences and real-world group projects. Trulaske has a practical, hands-on approach to teaching business, which I believe is one of the best ways to prepare students for leadership in the real world.
One example of this was the Hershey sales competition my team won during my final marketing class. My group created and pitched our own product line extension concept, Jolly Rancher Chamoy, which featured the tagline, “Flavor that works as hard as you do.”
In my International Management class, my team also created the highest-rated simulated foreign market business entry project, Big Bite Saigon. The project focused on creating an international entry strategy for a restaurant startup entering a foreign market and gave me hands-on experience working through real business challenges alongside a team.
The three pillars of excellence are transformative technology, experience-centered learning and having an entrepreneurial mindset, do you have an example that would inspire students or prospective students?
Experience-centered learning is one of the core values at Trulaske and Mizzou. Learning through doing is the Missouri Method, and nowhere gives students more opportunities to do that than Mizzou. I had the opportunity to help direct an event involving more than 70,000 people, and it all started because I attended an information session and decided to try something new. You never know where opportunities will take you at Mizzou. You might make new friends, discover a passion, or even find yourself working in state government and starting a company before graduating college.
Talk about your internship at the Missouri House of Representatives.
I worked in the office of Dave Hinman in District 103, my hometown district. It was an incredible experience learning the ins and outs of how government and the political process truly operate. One of the biggest takeaways from the experience was seeing that many members of our state government are genuinely trying to do what they believe is best for their constituents, and it was meaningful to witness that process firsthand.
I also had the opportunity to watch a bill go from simply being an idea to becoming fully implemented law after seeing the governor sign it into law. Watching that entire process gave me a much deeper appreciation for public service and further strengthened my desire to become involved in politics.
I had opportunities to work for several different offices, but I chose to work for O’Fallon’s representative because I believe many of the most important issues begin and end at the local level. I would love the opportunity to bring the knowledge and experience I gained from state government back to my community and use it to help make a positive impact locally.
Tell us about this new platform that you’ve built because of your experience at the Missouri House of Representatives.
While in this internship, I attended an EDGE event sponsored by Drew Reeves, Director of Transformative Technology, focused on AI agents and workflows that could help improve efficiency in the workplace. Something clicked after that event. Drew taught us how to make Gemini agents, and it completely changed the way I thought about workflows and productivity.
I was also working in the Missouri House and came into the role with not a lot of experience within the political process. Yes, I had worked on a campaign for one of our U.S. Senators out of high school, but the process of passing legislation is much different than campaigning. I struggled to keep up with conversations surrounding the many different bills that came through our office, and I knew there had to be a better way to understand these complex documents more efficiently.
That is when I realized the tools I learned about at the EDGE event could actually help solve many of the inefficiencies I was personally experiencing in the Capitol. I first started by building a Gemini agent and bringing it into the House. Within a day of tweaking it, it was already drastically changing my day-to-day job. Within seconds, I could keep up with conversations over the details of any bill just by having an automated tool I “coded” to help. The tool cut my workflow in half and allowed me to keep up in an environment that moves incredibly fast. After showing it to a few legislators, I was told this was something worth putting real time into developing further.
Then I thought, why stop here? So I started building a website using similar tools I had been exposed to in the business school. After a few weeks of work, it became a fully functional tool that helps understand bills, research legislators, and find legislative vehicles for bills to be passed through. I am excited to further develop this tool, giving resources to constituents, legislators, and anyone else who wants to truly understand the bills that may be passed into law.
What achievement(s) are you most proud of?
During my time at Mizzou, I had the opportunity to be involved in many meaningful experiences both on campus and within the community. As a Homecoming Tri-Director on the 2025 Steering Committee, I oversaw the Service Committee and helped lead the largest individual canned food drive in Missouri state history. During my time as Recruitment Chair for Alpha Gamma Sigma, I helped recruit the organization’s largest recruitment class in over one hundred years.
Outside of campus, I helped lead two mission trips to Harmons, Jamaica, experiences that had a major impact on my perspective regarding leadership and service. This spring, I was honored to receive the IFC Service Impact Award, recognizing the greatest positive impact on the community within the IFC. I was also recently recognized by the state through a formal resolution for my contributions and work within the Capitol through the CLIP program.
What is next for you (short-term and long-term)?
I plan to move back to O’Fallon and continue building my business while also working as a project manager at Patriarch Roofing. During this time, I will continue developing my legislative assistant platform and plan to have it ready for public subscription by the next legislative session.
Long term, I hope to grow this platform into a successful business while continuing to pursue civil service, whether through serving on a city council or potentially working at the state level. I also plan to become involved with the O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce and support the continued success of local businesses and community-focused initiatives.
Many of the opportunities and pursuits I am involved in today would not have been possible without the Robert J. Trulaske Sr. College of Business.