Upward Trajectory: Lauren Kuehner '12 BSBA (Finance and Entrepreneurship)

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Lauren Kuehner grew up in Phoenix and both her parents were Sun Devils, but when it was time to think about college, she said, “I knew ASU was not the right fit!”

She loved the traditional feel of the UA campus and said she found a home at Eller and the Honors College. “The experience far exceeded my expectations,” she said. “It provided me with a lot of opportunities I wouldn’t have otherwise had, such as meeting Warren Buffett.”

Kuehner arrived at the UA knowing that she wanted to be in business. “I figured a finance skillset is one that is going to be useful no matter what I end up doing.”

She also completed the entrepreneurship program. “My stepfather serves as a senior operating partner in a private equity firm,” she said. “Though he never completed college, he definitely influenced [my siblings] and me to get higher education.” In the program, she and her team worked on an app that allowed event attendees to order concessions from their seats. She’s since seen a similar app launch. “It was a great venture, but my colleagues and I all decided to take corporate roles,” she said.

Kuehner had an internship offer from a well-known investment bank, but she ultimately decided to turn it down. “I was honored to be chosen, but my passion is in management and developing the internal structure of a company,” she explained. She completed a summer internship with Procter & Gamble, and after graduation, joined the company’s Salon Professional Division in Minnesota.

Meanwhile, she had connected with Rob Matteucci, a former P&G executive who now teaches at Eller. “I never had him as a professor,” she said, “but I found out about him and his career with P&G at an event. He was influential in my decision to accept the full-time offer with P&G and has been a great friend and mentor”. They’ve since kept in touch. “My first role at P&G was with Wella [the Salon Professional Division of P&G], and he was instrumental in its acquisition,” she said.

In her role with Wella, Kuehner worked with 32 distributor reps in the northern Midwest. “I was able to run my own business like an entrepreneur,” she said. “I really learned a lot.”

Just two years out of UA, she’s already moving up. “I’ll be moving to Cincinnati to work in MS&P (market strategy and planning) for Duracell Professional,” she said. “I definitely attribute a lot of my success and business acumen to Eller and am proud to be an alum.”