Career Insight Series - Business Strategy

Interested in enhancing your career in or pivoting to corporate strategy?

The KSA E&W Career Management Committee is here to support your efforts! This is our first extension of the Industry Insights Series to include functional area.

Come hear about post-MBA career life through the experiences and career journeys of Kellogg alumni and other working professionals, focusing specifically on:

• State of the function and growth opportunity
• What they love about their role & industry)
• Career navigation advice and post-MBA options (enhance role in current field or pivot to a new industry)
• Necessary and transferable skills for success in post-MBA positions

The event is capped off with a networking hour after the panel discussion; great way to start your weekend!

Short bio of the panelists:

Melanie Beatus (18') - Senior Strategy Associate, JP Morgan Chase
Melanie Beatus is currently a Product Manager for Middle Market Products within the Commercial Bank at JPMorgan Chase. Prior to this role and after completing her MBA, she spent a year as a Senior Strategy Associate in Business Banking, where she led the go-to-market strategy for digital pilots on chase.com. Prior to JPMorgan, Melanie spent the first six years of her career at Morningstar, a financial services software company. She worked in both relationship management roles where she implemented software into clients' workflows and on a pricing strategy & sales support team. She completed her MBA in the evening program at the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management ('18) with a focus in Strategy and Marketing. Melanie was President of the Business Strategy Club during her time at Kellogg. Melanie currently lives in Lincoln Park and is on the Board of Directors for the Young Leadership Division of the Jewish United Fund.

Chris Laures (13') - Director of Strategy, Caterpillar Inc.
Chris Laures recently joined Caterpillar to lead the Strategy team for their Services, Distribution, and Digital division. Prior to that he led Corporate Strategy at Gogo Inflight Wifi and was a Strategy Consultant at McKinsey & Company for several years following his graduation from Kellogg in 2013.

Ruohan Liu (21') - Strategy Project Manager, Bayer
Ruohan joined Monsanto company in 2013, held varies of roles in Research and Development including chemistry, biotechnology and breeding technology. During the merger between Bayer and Monsanto, Ruohan joined the strategy and transformation team in the combined company. She currently hold a role as strategy program manager for digital transformation, responsible to accessing and managing enterprise programs that deliver the company's digital strategy. Prior to Kellogg, Ruohan has a solid agricultural background, she earned her bachelor degree in crop protection from China Agricultural University, and her Master in Field Entomology and Nematology from University of Florida, her previous research focused on biological insecticides and digital agriculture.

George Semaan (19') - Director of Strategy, McDonald's
With a passion for food and innovation, George and his team have helped drive the US business forward through promotions and initiatives like All Day Breakfast, Signature Crafted Recipes, and digital offers through the Global Mobile App, to name a few. The Strategy and Insights team provides thought leadership, strategic planning and actionable insights to support US Menu, Marketing and Digital business initiatives. In his new role as Director of National Field Finance, George transitioned into the US Finance team to bring a similar level of leadership, planning, and insights to the way McDonald's field finance teams interact with franchisees.

Tracy Xu - (16') - Manager of Corporate Strategy, Ulta Beauty
Tracy grew up in Vancouver Canada and spent the first few years of her career in Sales and Trading at JPMorgan and UBS in Hong Kong. She graduated from Kellogg in 2016 with a focus in marketing and strategy. After Kellogg, Tracy joined Walmart's Strategy and Finance team supporting the Health and Wellness and eCommerce business. Tracy is currently a Corporate Strategy Manager at Ulta Beauty supporting enterprise strategic planning and business development. During her spare time, she enjoys exploring the Chicago food scene with her husband Ed (also a Kellogg alum) and their 20 months old son Teddy.

Kellogg Student Association - Evening & Weekend | Website | View More Events

Kalok Chu
Co-hosted with: Business Strategy Club - Evening & Weekend MBA

Contact the organizers