![\"Ray](\"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/07\/Liu_inside.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBefore you explain what the numbers mean, you have to understand your audience,\u201d he explained. \u201cWhat\u2019s their day-to-day like? What challenges are they facing? Once you really listen, you can translate the data into something relevant to them. That\u2019s how real decisions get made.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Liu, the soft skills \u2014 listening, communicating clearly, and seeing the bigger picture \u2014 were sharpened at Wabash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWabash taught me to think critically and speak with purpose,\u201d he said. \u201cI took philosophy, economics, Cultures & Traditions, each one pushed me to see the world through a different lens. That mindset helps me every day in business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What mattered most wasn\u2019t what he learned, but how he learned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAt Wabash, you can\u2019t hide in the back of a lecture hall. You are expected to show up, think deeply, and talk about things that matter. That prepares you for real-world conversations,\u201d said Liu, now based in San Antonio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He still draws on advice from one of his favorite professors, Peter Mikek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2018Explain it to your grandpa,\u2019 he would say. If you can take a complex idea and make it simple, that\u2019s when you really understand it,\u201d Liu said. \u201cI use that with my team all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Liu appreciates the way the Wabash faculty connects with its students. Office hours, faculty dinners, and routine conversations at campus events or while crossing campus, home games, and other events all emphasize meaningful conversation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI really value personal interaction, and when I spoke with professors at Wabash, I could tell that education and personal development were truly their top priorities,\u201d he said. \u201cIt felt substantial, like I wouldn\u2019t just be gaining knowledge and skills, but also building meaningful relationships. That combination means so much more to me than just the degree.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Liu\u2019s career has taken him through companies large and small, across cultures and industries. Whether it be working with suppliers in Vietnam, China, and Thailand to prepare two new business units at while at Roku, or traveling to Mexico to work with Toyota affiliates and dealers for material handling, the common thread has always been human connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBusiness is all about relationships,\u201d he said. \u201cYou don\u2019t succeed alone. It\u2019s about who you work with, who you learn from, and how you help others grow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Liu offers this advice to students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFind a place that will challenge you, support you, and teach you how to think \u2014 not just what to think. Your major doesn\u2019t define your future. Your mindset and the relationships you forge along the way do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Think a successful business career requires a business degree? Rui Liu \u201911 wants you to think again. \u201cI didn\u2019t have a grand plan,\u201d Liu admitted with a laugh. \u201cI studied economics at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":3696,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"w_featured_image_url":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/07\/Liu_inside.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3695"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3706,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3695\/revisions\/3706"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/fyi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}