Featured Alumnae

Meet the Featured Alumnae of the UBWA Blog

These outstanding alumnae of The Ohio State's Undergraduate Business Women's Association are influential resources and great connections. Feel free to learn more about them below, add them on LinkedIn, or if you want to get in touch, use their listed emails!

“Investing in Your Future: Essential Ways to Stand Out, Set Personal Goals, and Market Yourself as an Undergrad”
1/8/2020

Beth Blue (UBWA’s Founder!) beth.blue@cardinalhealth.com
I grew up in Columbus and knew Ohio State very well, as my father was faculty there and I figured skated at the OSU ice rink a few days a week. So, by the time I graduated high school, I was so comfortable with the size of Ohio State, that I couldn’t imagine going anywhere smaller…and you can’t get much bigger! And it was the diverse array of academic, leadership and social opportunities that made Ohio State’s size so appealing.

Fisher opened my first year of college, so I was the first class to spend all four years in the beautiful facility. I must admit that I was lured to the business school, in part, because of the building. I entered the Business school right away and found my way to the Honors Accounting Program, which was a format that suited me well. The small class size and focus on critical thinking was a great way to make a huge university feel very intimate. Unlike most of my classmates, I never intended on working in accounting, but felt that it would be a great foundation for a variety of career paths. I graduated in Dec 2003 with both my Bachelor and Master degrees in accounting, and moved to Cincinnati to work for Procter & Gamble. There I worked in variety of “FP&A” (Financial Planning & Analysis) roles in both Cincinnati and Minneapolis. My goal was to have a broad scope of assignments, working in finance from a number of angles…Corporate, customer-facing, brand-building, etc. I spent most of my time working in Health Care businesses, both Pharmaceutical and over-the-counter, and realized that I wanted to explore Health Care further. And that’s what brought me home to Columbus…to work for Cardinal Health. I’ve been there since 2012 and have held six different roles in those 8 years!

Along the way, there were a number of experiences that UBWA provided me that I believe assisted me in my career. Founding UBWA showed me that I am an innovator…I love to come up with new ideas, but also operationalize those ideas and make them a reality. UBWA also allowed me a safe place to practice leadership skills…how to attract talent, retain talent, develop others, energize others, delegate, and simply lead a large organization. I lead a team of 60 individuals now, but in UBWA I led a team of over 100! UBWA also gave me space to practice communication skills in a variety of formats. I am so proud of the organization that UBWA has become. I am absolutely thrilled that this current set of leaders reached out to me. To have built something that has sustained for 18 years…it’s just incredible. Which brings me to my final leadership lesson…UBWA taught me to be the type of leader who can build a strong foundation for the team and business, such that it can continue to succeed and grow long after I am gone.

Nicole Balkenbusch n.balkenbusch@gmail.com
Hi! My name is Nicole Balkenbusch and I work in Amazon Finance, specifically as the Americas Customer Service Operations Finance Leader. I’ve been here for a little over 1 year, having spent >11 years at Procter & Gamble across a variety of roles in Finance and Accounting. My degree is in Accounting from Fisher and I graduated in 2007. While on campus, I was very involved in UBWA, as well as Delta Sigma Pi, gave Fisher tours on Friday’s, and volunteering. UBWA was the organization where I felt at home – I could be myself without worrying about what others thought (or as we say in the working world, I brought “my full self” to this org). While in UBWA, I served as the Secretary, President, and VP of Alumni Relations, which gave me the ability to meet a ton of new people and stretch my leadership abilities. I met my college roommate for Junior and Senior year at UBWA when she volunteered to help me at my first meeting as Secretary and it was “love at first sight” with becoming best friends. We also met two other girls via UBWA (learned all about each other while cleaning up the Schott!) who became our “tribe” and have supported each other since, with 4 weddings located across multiple states/countries and 7 babies! The part I enjoyed most about my UBWA experience (besides meeting my best friends) was learning about different companies / industries as I was thinking through my job search. It also made me realize the importance and power of giving back and passing it on to others. One clear UBWA meeting for me was when Charlotte Otto, then VP of P&G’s Communications, speak at one of our events and talking about how she had 4 kids while working at P&G. I remember thinking “I’ve never heard of this company but any company who supports a working Mom sounds like a great place to work” and then I researched about the company and decided to then intern and join for full time employment. This is why I love coming back to speak at UBWA now – I understand the importance of these interactions and how much the members can learn from each speaker! I also am very passionate about helping younger business women succeed, whether at Amazon, P&G, any other company, or while still in college – I mentor many women and am dedicated to helping them as others have helped me. Lastly, I should mention that I’ve been happily married to Matt, for 11 years (he works for Boeing) and we have 2 daughters (Arya – 5, Lyanna – 2).

"Company Culture: The Key to Finding Success and Happiness in your Work"
1/19/2020

Kristin Sembach sembach.1@gmail.com
I graduated in 2007 with a double major in marketing and operations. On the advice of Dr. Mark Christobek, I added operations about a year before graduation and still finished on time. It was the best decision I’ve ever made. I’ve spent my career in Supply Chain and I really enjoy it.
I joined UBWA my sophomore year and around that time, the group was transitioning from ABWA to UBWA. I was the first official recruiting chair (or at least that’s what my friend told me…maybe she just wanted to make sure I’d join ;). I remained a member through graduation.

Kaylee Nutter Kaylee.Nutter@worthingtonindustries.com
My name is Kaylee and I graduated Ohio State in May of 2019 with a degree in Finance. I joined UBWA my sophomore year and went on to join the executive board my junior and senior years as Treasurer and VP of Programming, respectively. My favorite memory from UBWA was getting to travel by plane for the first time in my life for the executive board’s annual conference and getting to spend time with an amazing group of women. UBWA provides so many opportunities to build skills, relationships, and prepare you for professional environments. The organization gave me the confidence I never would’ve had before, to apply to jobs I may have felt unqualified for, network, and it was truly the single organization at Ohio State where I felt like I fit. Being surrounded and encouraged by so many passionate and driven women truly inspired me. After graduation, I went on to work in my current role as a Treasury & Risk Analyst at Worthington Industries in Columbus, living with my fiancé whom I get to marry in September 2020!

"Networking: The Power of Creating Meaningful Relationships"
2/2/2020

Sarah Burger burgersarah10@gmail.com
I just graduated from Ohio State this past May (2019) and got my degree from the Fisher College of Business with a specialization in finance. I was a member of UBWA all four years that I was at Ohio State and absolutely loved it! . I was a general member my freshman year, on the BuckeyeThon Committee my sophomore year, the VP of Member Relations my junior year, and finally I was President my senior year. I have so many amazing memories from UBWA but a couple of my favorites were all of the fall socials, being part of the mentorship group, and some of the events that we did for the first time last year like the case competition and the diversity career fair. Being a member of UBWA is still one of the best decisions I made in college. I think one of UBWA's best qualities is that it can help you develop professionally by connecting you with a variety of companies and giving you the skills and confidence you need to get a job and you can also find amazing friendships within the organization. One of the best things that I got out of UBWA was a job! A recruiter from General Motors found my resume through UBWA's resume book and reached out to interview me for the internship. I completed a finance internship with GM after my junior year and received a full-time offer after the internship. Currently I'm a financial analyst in the General Motors Finance TRACK program, which is a 3-year rotational program. My first rotation is supporting GM's Global Purchasing & Supply Chain Group and in this role I support around 75 buyers as they buy the parts from suppliers that go on GM's cars. GM spends billions and billions of dollars each year purchasing nearly all of the parts that go on the car so it's really cool to work on these high value projects.

"How to Navigate New Technology in the Marketing Field, While Maintaining Customer Experience & Satisfaction"
2/16/2020

Ashley Urbansky aurbansky.2@gmail.com
I graduated OSU in 2012 earning a BSBA with a specialization in Marketing. During my time at OSU, I was involved in UBWA and was the VP of Alumnae Relations for a year - it was amazing to work with such a strong team of women, make friends, network and have fun. My favorite event was when we got to pie professors in the Fisher courtyard! Since graduating, I've held a variety of different marketing jobs on both the brand and agency side, helping companies from local businesses to Fortune 500s to eCommerce startups achieve their goals. This allowed me the opportunity to gain experience across a wide range of marketing functions and learn how businesses of different stages operate. I'm currently Digital Marketing & eCommerce Manager for a startup called Healthy Height (a kids shake mix developed by pediatricians), where I've gotten to apply all my past knowledge into one role and be a part of a small team striving to scale a business. It's very exciting!

"Creating Inclusive Environments: Advocacy and Promotion in the Workplace"
3/15/2020

Sarah Prill sarahprill22@gmail.com
Sarah Prill graduated in December of 2018 with her degree in Marketing from the Fisher College of Business. She joined UBWA in her sophomore year and went on to join the Diversity Career Fair Committee in the Fall of 2018. She loved working on the committee and being able to become more involved in the organization. Sarah has many memories from UBWA, but one of her favorites includes spending time with members at the Fall Social.

Through networking opportunities at UBWA, Sarah connected with Alliance Data and currently works for Epsilon Data Management, a subsidiary of Alliance, in Boston as a Business Systems Analyst. She is now one year into her professional career at Epsilon and is excited to develop more technical abilities and grow professionally.

Joy Schwartz joy.schwartz@gmail.com
Joy Schwartz is a seasoned Talent Management professional, with over 16 years experience across the disciplines of Talent Acquisition, Career Coaching, Diversity & Inclusion (D&I/DEI), Learning/Organizational Development, Counseling, and Consulting, both within organizations and as an independent consultant. Joy has a Masters in Counseling, an MBA with a focus on Management and Organizational Behavior, an Executive Coaching Certification from Southern Methodist University. She is also a proud Buckeye, having graduated in December 2003 from the Fisher College of Business with a major in Marketing. As a co-founding member of UBWA, Joy especially enjoyed brainstorming ideas for unique programming, including a roundtable with an all female-owned and operated auto repair center in Columbus! Joy's passion for coaching others to elevate their careers began early on as an undergraduate career coach in the Fisher College of Business and she has continued to pursue work in this area as a recruiter at PricewaterhouseCoopers, as a university career coach at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, as a Talent and OD leader at Texas Instruments and RealPage, Inc., and as an independent consultant. Joy also has a podcast called "The Collective Voice" on iTunes, started with another Buckeye and ambitious working mom, Natalie Siston. Natalie and Joy have interviewed numerous women, entrepreneurs, and others who speak to gender, communication, and courage in the workplace. On a personal level, Joy currently resides in Jerusalem, Israel with her husband (a student in the Rabbinical program at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion) and very independent six year-old daughter. They are excited to be relocating to the greater Los Angeles area in the coming months, amongst mountains and palm trees!

"4 Major Ways to Stand Out in the Accounting Field"
3/29/2020

Samantha Borchers slborchers20@gmail.com
My name is Samantha Borchers, and I am a 2013 graduate of OSU and proud alumna of UBWA. I graduated with a BSBA, specializing in Accounting, and I was involved with UBWA all four years of school with executive positions in 2011/2012 (Secretary) and 2012/2013 (Vice President). UBWA was crucial in my professional and personal development those years, teaching me leadership skills, time management, and the importance of surrounding myself with supportive women. In addition to all the learning opportunities provided by UBWA, I loved the social aspect of the group. One of my favorite memories was my senior year when we participated in a cooking class (and the food was really good!).

Upon graduation, I went the non-traditional route into corporate accounting instead of public accounting. I received a full-time job offer from the company that I interned with during school, and it was a great first experience. About a year later, I received a new job offer from my current employer, Safe Auto. I’ve been there as an Accountant for around four and a half years, and I mainly focus on month-end closing tasks and financial reporting.

"Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace: Why it Matters & Why Many Companies are Making this a Large Part of their Mission Statement"
4/12/2020

Melissa Trejo TREJOM1@nationwide.com
I grew up a little bit everywhere as my dad was in the Air Force. While at OSU, I was heavily involved in multiple organizations including the OSU Rowing team, Alpha Kappa Psi, the National Association of Black Accountants, and UBWA. While in school, I also interned at Nationwide for half of my junior year and all senior year.

My involvement with UBWA was always a general member as I held leadership roles in other organizations and I had my internship. With that said, I still received a lot of benefits from being a general member. One of my favorite memories was a when we had a speaker named Mary Beth Fisher. Mary Beth is a successful local lawyer who was also the aunt of a UBWA board member. She gave us her life story and was open about the challenges of being a woman in a male dominated field. Her presentation sticks out to me because she was so candid and real with everyone. I really appreciated UBWA bringing in someone who was open to being themselves, which is not something you always get in other general meetings.

After graduating in May 2015 with a degree in Accounting and Economics, I began my full-time role in the Financial Reporting Controls team at Nationwide. This was a great role as I got to learn about Nationwide and what is critical to financial reporting for Nationwide at a high-level. After being on that team for about a year and a half, I wanted a role that was more technical accounting, so I moved to the Separate Accounts Reporting team for two years. On the Separate Accounts Reporting team, I learned a lot about Separate Accounts (a life insurance product) at a very granular level and worked on numerous interesting projects such as an SEC Audit and implementing a robot to prepare financial statements. I now work in Investments on the Close, Analysis and Regulatory Reporting Solution’s team where half my role is Investment financial reporting and the other half is project work.

"5 Tips for Looking After Your Mental Health in the Workplace"
1/9/2021

Kayla Dargay
Kayla is a May 2020 graduate of the Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science in Consumer and Family Financial Services (financial planning). She currently serves as a Financial Professional for Equitable Advisors from September 2020 to present. She currently holds licenses in Life, Accident, and Health in the state of Ohio. While at Ohio State, she was a member of UBWA and prides herself on her Buckeye past.

Emma Galasso emma.galasso.6@gmail.com
I was born and raised in Worthington, OH (15 minutes north of OSU) and was a freshman at OSU in 2013. I graduated in 2018, but I was supposed to graduate in 2017 - I took 3 semesters off to work on Avengers. I was a Marketing major, and the only club I was active in was UBWA! My favorite memory was sophomore year’s trip to the pumpkin patch/corn maze etc. I was also elected for a leadership position in UBWA but I honestly can’t remember what that position was because I never got the chance to take up the position due to going to work for Marvel! UBWA was a great experience for me to contribute to the OSU community and find friends in my classes at Fischer. I don’t think I got as much out of it as I should have, but it took me awhile to really get into it and start being active in the group. It’s a great organization!

Currently I’m a Stunt Team Assistant (Stunt Assistant) for a Stunt Coordinator on a Netflix movie filming in Atlanta, GA, but as I said, I previously worked for Marvel and DC Comics. I started out as an unpaid intern (those don’t really exist anymore thankfully!) on Captain America: The Winter Soldier and did a good enough job that three years later when I cold contacted my old supervisor, I was hired on the spot to work on the two biggest movies ever created!

I’m currently living in Atlanta and hopping from film to film with my coordinator, which is how most people are in this industry. As many people will tell you, it’s all about networking!