The Davis School of Business instructor draws from his years in law, management and entrepreneurship to help students connect class lessons to real-world business decisions
On paper, business law can sound like an intimidating world full of contracts, liability, ethics and risk, shaped by rules, procedures and technical language. In Trace Tyler’s classroom at Colorado Mesa University, however, those subjects start to become more approachable and easier to understand. A lesson that begins with business law concepts can quickly turn into a conversation about judgment, responsibility and the choices people make every day at work.
“Most of my teaching is stories and examples,” Tyler said. “I’ve always had that passion for sharing my knowledge and experience with people.”
Tyler’s teaching style is shaped by the many hats he has worn over the years. His educational background includes law, taxation, estate planning, political science and leadership. His career has included owning an insurance agency, working as a prosecutor, a public defender and a private practice attorney. He currently owns and operates Trace Tyler Law, a faith-based, client-first practice focused on estate planning, probate, business law, criminal defense and traffic cases.
He has also built a business outside the legal world. Alongside his wife, Chandra, Tyler opened Massage Envy of Grand Junction, a business that has grown into a clinic employing 25+ people and serving more than 700 members. Running it has given him another view of the daily realities businesses face, including hiring, customer service, communication, leadership and long-term planning.
Teaching at the college level had always been one of Tyler’s goals. He joined CMU in 2021 as an adjunct professor and now teaches full-time in the Davis School of Business. He teaches various business law and ethics classes at the graduate and undergraduate levels.
Early in the semester, Tyler asks students about their interests, goals and career plans, then uses those responses to guide discussions and examples. Some students are on the Certified Public Accountant track, while others are interested in finance, marketing, entrepreneurship, construction management or law school.
“This is your class, and I’m going to help facilitate where you want it to go with this,” Tyler said.
The result, he said, is a more collaborative classroom, one where students are expected to do more than memorize legal concepts. Through stories, case examples and discussions, Tyler wants them to think through how those ideas appear in real workplaces and real decisions.
“My goal is to teach them how to think critically and also give them some legal reasoning skills,” Tyler said.
That focus carries into the kinds of material he brings into class. Tyler uses real examples, films and discussion-based exercises to help students connect course content to situations they may actually face. He assigns students a viewing of “12 Angry Men” to think through jury dynamics, evidence and the idea of reasonable doubt and also uses episodes of “The Office” to help students identify legal issues in a more familiar setting.
Tyler incorporates what he calls “coaching moments” into all of his classes, using them to connect lessons to practical advice, offer useful feedback and create a learning environment that feels supportive, memorable and useful beyond graduation.
“A coaching moment is giving students constructive feedback,” Tyler said. “It might be positive. It might be negative. It might be a learning opportunity.”
Whether he’s working with students or his employees, Tyler said feedback should help people improve, build confidence and keep moving forward.
“I want them to enjoy the experience. I want them to learn. I want it to be memorable,” Tyler said.
For him, some of the most important lessons in business education extend beyond legal knowledge. He wants students to leave with stronger critical thinking skills, a clearer sense of ethics and a better understanding of how to treat people with respect.
Those priorities have carried through the different chapters of his career. Though being an attorney, manager, business owner and professor may look like very different roles, each calls for the same core strengths of sound judgment, clear communication and the ability to work well with people.
While students may sign up for Tyler’s classes expecting to learn business law, they also hear from someone who has spent years working through the kinds of scenarios they may face themselves one day.