Stetson University’s top-ranked business students and faculty, along with business, performance and tech experts, welcomed the first Collegiate Sales Management Invitational (CSMI) cohort of business students from across the United States and Canada to campus Oct. 22-24 for a first-of-its-kind competition.

Developed by Stetson’s nationally recognized Centurion Sales Program, CSMI was created to address a gap in competitive opportunities for students to test their skills and abilities to lead high-performing sales teams. Industry leaders participating in the competition pointed to Stetson’s expertise in sales education and strong business partnerships as key reasons the university was uniquely positioned to launch the invitational.

“We’ve hired a number of Stetson grads who are very successful people so students coming out of a Stetson-led competition are of great interest to us,” said Hyatt Brown, chairman of the board at Brown & Brown, a global insurance brokerage with more than 22,000 employees worldwide. Brown is also a member of Stetson’s Board of Trustees.

Tommy Shavers, founder and CEO of Orlando neuro-strength training firm NESTRE, kicked off Friday’s session with a presentation on high-performance leadership. Shavers has worked with many high-profile athletes as a behavioral and performance consultant.

Brian Bachelder, chief development officer at NESTRE, previously worked with seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady at TB12. Bachelder spearheaded the creation of the TB12 Body Coach Certification Course to provide a framework for new employees to consistently apply Brady’s training program at TB12 fitness centers around the world. He also focused on scaling the growth of the clinical side of the business.

Developing Skills for Sales Team Management

“Competition is what it’s all about and we often hire students from competitions like CSMI,” said Jon Archard ’91, senior vice president of sales at Love’s Travel Stops. “As an alumnus, I knew heading into the competition that this would be a real career kickstarter for attendees to be able to draw on the school’s extensive sales management experience and its prominence at the forefront of sales competitions. Some of the key skills we look for in sales leaders is the ability to work with other people and be part of a team. You don’t have to have played sports to be successful in sales, but it helps and we see that many of our salespeople are former athletes.”

Matt Wilson of Brown & Brown agreed: “Our culture at Brown & Brown is very sports-driven. For example, we are not co-workers; we are teammates. In the words of our board chairman, we’ve banished the vertical pronoun from how we speak here.”

Brown further explained the company’s interest in providing opportunities to young people who are able to compete because of their ability to sell themselves, products and ideas. “If you want to be a leader you must first be a salesperson because you’re either selling yourself to your team or a product to a potential buyer,” said Brown. “Many people don’t make that connection between the two, but they are very connected.”

CSMI Gets Students Ready for Careers

“The success of the inaugural CSMI reflects the dedication of Dr. Riggs, Dr. Hale, our faculty, staff, alumni and student volunteers who welcomed participants with the collaborative spirit that defines Stetson,” said Yiorgos A. Bakamitsos, PhD, Dean of Stetson’s School of Business Administration and professor of marketing. “We’re proud to create opportunities that connect students with industry leaders and get them ready for careers in sales and sales management. We look forward to welcoming your teams back to CSMI next year!”

The competition gives students an opportunity to develop sales management skills, perform under pressure and gain practical experience before entering the workforce. Many of the business leaders involved in the competition said they wished they had access to similar experiences as students and valued the opportunity to help prepare future talent for successful careers.

It was clear the attendees were taking the guidance of experienced sales management professionals to heart. At Friday’s social at the Top of the B rooftop lounge at Brown & Brown world headquarters in Daytona Beach, student competitors were engaged and invested in creating a high-functioning team and an enjoyable competition environment.

Networking for the Future

While the day’s high point put many attendees on the hiring side of a job interview as well as networking with potential employers, the students also valued the opportunity to network with one another. “You honestly can’t beat social hour here at the Top of the B,” said Chloe Vinson, a student from Kennesaw State University who captured the championship title. “I also loved the time we all got to spend together walking around Stetson’s beautiful campus.”

The camaraderie came after a day of competition surrounded by the technical capabilities of the state-of-the-art Centurion Sales Labs. Attendees will be able to access their competition video clips alongside scoring rubrics to further refine their sales management skills after the competition.

As competitors prepared to take new skills back to their campuses, Steve Farmer, regional managing director at Brown & Brown, challenged them to embrace the opportunities around them: “Say yes, and then say yes again and again. In this world, you’ve got to take risks. You have to do things that make you uncomfortable to grow. We have a saying around here at Brown & Brown: Get comfortable being uncomfortable.”

The inaugural competition concluded with growing enthusiasm from attending institutions and industry partners, reinforcing CSMI’s role as a new destination for sales management education and competition.

2026 CSMI Award Winners

Championship Round:
Chloe Vinson, Kennesaw State University

Top Networking:
Kezia Griffith, Southern Utah University

Top Talent Acquisition:
Alexandra Ateniese, Florida State University
Brayden Bennett, Southern Utah University
Chloe Vinson, Kennesaw State University
Kezia Griffith, Southern Utah University

Top Coaching & Development Role Play:
Ava Fedje, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Emma Parson, University of North Alabama
Chloe Vinson, Kennesaw State University
Ben Grahame, Toronto Metropolitan University

Top Case – Team 4:
Fabian Arcila, University of Central Florida
Kezia Griffith, Southern Utah University
Aiden Hedley, University of Georgia
Josh Call, University of Texas at Dallas

Overall Top University & Coach:
Toronto Metropolitan University
Dr. Karen Feesker
Team: Ben Grahame; Raphael Peralta

Many thanks to our sponsors who helped make CSMI a success!
Signature Sponsor: Brown & Brown
Premier Sponsor: Love’s Travel Stops
Associate Partners: Gray Media, Intelligent Video Solutions, NESTRE and Domu

-Deb Lovett