WKU Sisterhood Spotlight: Mary Stehle ('95)

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Hometown:  Madisonville, KY

Current City: Zionsville, IN

When did you attend WKU?:  1991-1995

What activities were you involved in as a student?:  I worked almost full time my entire time at WKU but attended games and enjoyed tailgating with friends.  

Do you have a favorite memory from the Hill?:  My favorite memory spans all four years - making lifelong friends and learning to be an independent adult is my favorite and has shaped much of my adult life.  A specific memory would be running around the campus at night (don't tell my mom). Several evenings I would be running right after football practice had ended. Coach Harbaugh used to run with his chocolate lab around campus and would always say, “Keep it up," as we passed... always coaching!

If you work, what do you do?:  I am a Director of Sales for a fixture manufacturing company. We design, manufacture and install custom checkout, queueing, self-checkout and point of purchase fixtures. I work with national and regional grocery, mass merchant, convenience and dollar store chains or CPG companies (like Meijer, Publix, Food Lion & Hershey) to design fixture programs that put all those fun gum, mint, candy, snacks and beverages within an arm’s reach of where you check out in the store. Believe it or not, there is a lot of math, marketing and analysis that go into the right fixture design - AND - if I do my job well, you never see the fixture, you see the products. I love my job. I love the challenge and the success that comes with solving the equation of space-to-sales analysis and getting the right space for the products that need to be there to serve customers as they checkout of the store.

Tell us about your family: My smart, beautiful daughter is a junior at Ball State University majoring in Special Education. She has a passion for helping others how they need to be helped and in a way that is kind and respectful. She plans to do her student teaching next year and start her career as a Special Education teacher the following year. I also have a smart, witty s16-year-old son finishing his sophomore year at Zionsville Community High School. He loves all things sports and sports statistics and plays baseball in the summer. He loves his family and our rescue pup, Tucker. Most of my family lives in the Zionsville/North Indy area now and we spend plenty of time together.  

Do you have any passion projects, other than WKU Sisterhood?: Outside of raising amazing humans, I love to serve in my church and work on never-ending renovation projects in my home. I run. I work out at an amazing all-women gym (seriously amazing/strong women from all walks of life) and spend time with friends and family whenever possible.

Fun fact about yourself: Last year, I turned 50 and set and achieved the goal of running five Half Marathons all around the country. Watch out for when I turn 60!