Retail exec Paul now a mentor

Then: Paul Harris senior vice president

Now: Butler University career mentor

Age: 60

The year after Eloise Paul earned Forty Under 40 stature, she used the honor as a springboard to go from working in retail to teaching retail. She moved from Paul Harris stores, where she oversaw buying, product development and sourcing for the fashion retailer, to Indiana University’s Department of Apparel Merchandising.

“It was a big culture shock” at first, she said, because “retail is fast-fast-fast, let’s-get-it-done-done-done. Academia isn’t that same level of speed.” But she made the role her own, taking students to Asia on field seminars and to major trade shows, and she helped grow the department over 19 years.

In August 2016, she moved to Butler University, where her role is to guide students through four years of college and into their careers.

“I’m excited to teach students about all the opportunities in the retail world,” she said. “There are huge opportunities for students in IT and finance and all those things.”