Beth Schaller

Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame

“Former dancer with an affinity for dress-up; now forging a career in corporate retail.”

Hometown: Chicago, IL

Fun Fact About Yourself: My friends and family love board games, so last year I hand-made my own for them to play! Inspired by one of our favorite game makers, Hunt A Killer, I created a murder mystery box. I crafted the storyline, cast the characters, drafted the documents, and sourced the props. I even designed my own logo. Ultimately, I produced a handful of units and distributed them to my community for Christmas.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Bachelor of Arts in English Literature

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: For the last four years, I worked as a Merchant at Abercrombie & Fitch’s home office in Columbus, OH.

When you think of Notre Dame, what are the first things that come to mind? How have your experiences with the Mendoza program thus far reinforced or upended these early impressions? The first thing that comes to mind when I think of Notre Dame is a strong sense of community. Growing up in the Chicago suburbs, I always heard about the school’s devoted fanbase. However, it wasn’t until I matriculated into this program that I experienced that fervor for myself. Students and staff alike don Notre Dame gear every day on campus. We shout, “Go Irish!” at the end of class each week before football games. Furthermore, the Mendoza alumni network goes above and beyond to help current students obtain jobs across the country.

Aside from your classmates, what was the one key part of the Mendoza MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? Grow Irish was a huge component of what drew me to the program. For one week in the middle of each semester, all Masters students at Mendoza have the opportunity to attend seminars on topics beyond their coursework. This fall, I was able to sit through Strategic Communications led by a former McKinsey consultant. Notre Dame doesn’t just give you a great business foundation; the university also provides you with practical skills to be used in your internship and beyond.

What course, club or activity have you enjoyed the most so far at Mendoza? That’s a no brainer – getting to tour Notre Dame Stadium during orientation!

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My biggest career accomplishment thus far is turning around a struggling category post-pandemic. 2020 was a challenging year for the entire retail industry. However, through extensive customer intimacy efforts I was able to identify my shopper’s new priorities and provide her with an assortment that met those needs. If there’s one thing I learned working at Abercrombie & Fitch, it’s that building a strategic playbook rooted in an intimate knowledge of your customer is a recipe for success.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far? I am very proud of the newfound understanding I have of my past experiences in corporate retail. When I began my career at Abercrombie & Fitch, I was a business neophyte. I learned how to be a merchant entirely on the job. Over time, I mastered the processes and the lingo and saw great success with the company. However, my scope was limited to the product-facing division. It wasn’t until I took Notre Dame’s core MBA classes that I grasped the bigger picture. In Accounting I and II, for example, Professor Meyer taught us about the four main financial statements; he showed me how my actions buying and selling merchandise were translated into revenue and expense lines on Abercrombie & Fitch’s income statements to be presented to shareholders.

Mendoza is known as a purpose-driven MBA program that asks students to “Grow the good in business.” What is your mission and how has Mendoza been helping you realize it? My purpose is to connect individuals with clothing that can help them become the best versions of themselves. Working on Loungewear for the Hollister sub-brand, I was fueled by the belief that our high-quality, cozy sets could enable our teen customer to relax after a long day of school and achieve her peak wellness. I seek to continue to positively impact people’s lives in my future retail endeavors.

Mendoza’s MBA program is helping me execute this mission. In my first Marketing class, I learned how to better understand and build products around the psychology of the customer. Furthermore, classes such as Digital Analytics have taught me how to effectively reach the shopper and provide them with what they need.

What has been your best memory as an MBA so far? My favorite memory is watching Notre Dame beat Indiana in the first-ever campus College Football Playoff game! I’ll never forget seeing the team rush out onto the field with green fireworks in the sky with “Here Come the Irish” blaring from the speakers.

DON’T MISS: MEET NOTRE DAME MENDOZA’S MBA CLASS OF 2026

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