Name: Ethan Miller
Hometown: Houston, Texas
Major: Communication Studies 

Ethan Miller ’15 graduated from Texas Christian University with a Bachelor of Arts in communication studies. Since graduating, he worked his way up to his dream job with the Houston Astros. His current title is season tickets account executive. His day-to-day responsibilities focus on connecting with individuals and businesses to discuss season tickets and suite involvement. He also facilitates business development and employee outings at the ballpark facilities. 

Miller’s role involves extensive outbound calling and face-to-face meetings at the ballpark and business locations. He works games, nights, weekends and occasional holidays answering phones, working sales booths and visiting clients.  

Grateful for his time at TCU, Miller relates his current role to many of the skills he acquired through the Communication Studies department. From a critical thinking standpoint, he said communication studies taught him to approach obstacles with an open mindset. “Sales requires flexibility and awareness to keep the ball moving forward,” he said. 

Miller attributes his ability to achieve the goals of his clients to the listening skills he developed at TCU. “I’ve come to understand that solutions to problems are more than just black and white,” he said. “This understanding has created a successful path for me so far.” 

Miller said the Cultural Communication course was the most influential class he took at TCU. He said that it is often easy to assume an understanding of other cultural groups that may not be rooted in the truth. The concepts he learned in that class translate to his current role and help him better serve his clients. He interacts with people from all walks of life and said, “The class was certainly eye-opening to my perspective on those that hold different beliefs from my own.” 

When asked if he could return to TCU and do one thing differently, Miller said, “My biggest regret was assuming the transition into a job following graduation would be easy.” After graduation, he worked for a couple of different companies and spent a year as a corporate development intern with the Houston Texans. He said the time he took to explore different job opportunities led him to his dream job with the Astros. He started as a sales consultant in January 2017 and was promoted to account executive in July 2018. 

Miller advises students in pursuit of their dream job to be vulnerable and grow as much as they can. “Make yourself uncomfortable and learn from your mistakes,” he said. “Growth cannot happen without this.” 

 In five years, Miller hopes to be in a managerial position. “I want to help others grow as they pursue their career in sports,” he said. “I enjoy teaching and I could think of no other place in the world to do that.”  

Click here for more information on the communication studies major.