Passion for Theater Leads Student to Entertainment Internship: Kelly Paschall ’19 BSBA (Business Management and Marketing)

A story about an ugly duckling was what led Kelly Paschall ’19 BSBA (Business Management and Marketing) to business school.

It wasn’t necessarily a straight path. First, that school encounter with live theatre was where she discovered a talent and an interest in entertainment.

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Then, she came to realize she didn’t just shine on the stage—she was energized around every aspect of theater. After spending two summers at theatre camp, where she worked with campers to put on stage productions, managing the stage and coaching the talent for each performance, it was clear that theater was her outlet. “And I wanted to figure out a way to turn it into a career,” she says.

At the University of Arizona, she got involved her freshmen year in the Wildcat Events Board, a student run program that manages a majority of UA Mall and pop-up events on campus. She is now the executive director of the organization, overlooking four committees—marketing, concerts, arts and entertainment and social activities.

She interned at an independent film company but knew she needed more exposure to different types of functions before she chose her craeer path. She decided to apply to Eller because: “I wanted to take a look at the business side of entertainment and Eller seemed like the best fit for that.” 

Deciding to give an entertainment internship another try, she walked into the Eller Spring 2018 Career Showcase with her aspirations high. She approached MGM International Resorts and landed the perfect internship—as a booking intern where she found her passion and her niche.

At MGM, she spent 10 weeks shadowing the vice president of booking and learning everything she could. A pivotal experience came when she was assigned a project to create a pitch deck for a boxing company in the United Kingdom.

“I had to show them why MGM was the absolute best place for them,” she says. Her pitch deck was chosen as the one presented to the company, and Pachall was able to move onto crafting the budget and reviewing how to implement the project.

“Getting my pitch deck chosen was a big win,” she says. “And it was the affirmation I needed to keep pursuing this line of work. I’m grateful to Eller for making me the best version of me and providing the clarity I needed to start my career with confidence.”