Scott is Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Ascena Retail Group’s Plus Fashion Segment. Based in Columbus, OH, Ascena’s Lane Bryant, Cacique, and Catherines brands combine to do over $1.3B in revenue across 1,000 stores and e-commerce. Scott first joined Lane Bryant in 1994 after starting his career at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati and is currently responsible for the finance, accounting, and e-commerce functions. A native of Cleveland, Scott lived and studied in France in both high school and college. He currently serves on the board of the American Red Cross of Greater Columbus, the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland’s Business Advisory Council, and is the President of Miami University’s Alumni Advisory Board.
Scott graduated from Miami in 1990 with degrees in economics, French, and international studies. He and his wife, Kristy, live in Upper Arlington, have 2 kids (Jacob, Miami class of 2019, and Kate) and enjoys golf, cycling, and travel.
Reflection
As I look back on what it's meant to have been an economics major, my first thought is of the line we used to use to justify ourselves on a daily basis within the business school: "In finance you learn what to think, in economics we learn how to think." Thirty years into my career, I still believe it's true.
The opportunity I had as an A&S econ major to mix business studies with history, political science, math/stats, etc. was truly the foundation for any success that followed. As the CFO of a $1B retailer, my career has been built not on being a great accountant, generating tremendous reporting, or on anything related to treasury management. My entire career has developed based on my ability to do a few things really well:
- Analyze complex data to find true insights and then turn those insights into recommendations for decisions or new strategy - in other words, continuously make the organization smarter (20%)
- Sell those recommendations to others so we can take action (40%)
- Partner with diverse people across different functional areas - marketing, product development, merchandising, stores - to implement those ideas effectively (40%)
I can make a direct link between the kinds of experience I had as an undergraduate econ major and my ability to do these things well enough to then start refining the skills along the way.
I can also specifically link my math/stats studies and econometrics classes to a lot of early value I added in my career. In a retail business with over 1,000 stores, the ever-present question is "What makes a good store good?" With a massive data warehouse of seemingly unlimited store performance data, regression analysis is our lifeblood, and we have a team whose sole purpose is to "test & learn." We test different products and inventory levels, different labor models, and different store merchandising strategies. We look at how the presence of a store in a given trade area affects our e-commerce sales from customers in that trade area. Our industry is changing so much these days, and the analytics that come from my team are critical to our making the right decisions as we keep pace with that change.
I also know that my economics studies have played a very practical role in my life outside of work - from helping me to navigate the finances of buying our first house to understanding the complexities of the worldwide economic challenges we currently face. Life's full of challenges, but I can't think of a better foundation I could have had than the economics and broader liberal arts education -- and experience -- I had at Miami.