Susan McGalla is a woman, mother, wife, and a businessperson. Presently based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she was born and raised with two brothers in East Liverpool, Ohio. She also received a bachelor’s degree in business and marketing while attending Mount Union College in Alliance, Ohio. As a young woman, McGalla didn’t stop there.
From 1986 to 1994, she worked for the department store retail sector of Joseph Horne Company and spent time working in various merchandising and management positions. Having made a name for herself, she then joined American Eagle and held various management positions until she became President and Chief Merchandising Officer. As the CMO, she was responsible for business development, design, marketing, revenues, and performance. During her time with American Eagle, the company earned revenues of up to $3 billion. McGalla was able to expand American Eagle Outfitter Inc.’s portfolio from one brand to four brands, earning a net income of $400 million with more than a thousand stores and 28,000 employees.
After her successful stint in her management and leadership positions, Susan McGalla on bizjournals decided to be an independent consultant for the retail industry by 2009. McGalla’s expert consultation to clients on branding, marketing and talent management, operational efficiencies, and more, allowed her to found the P3 Executive Consulting, LLC which offers an insider’s perspective to clients for the specialty retail industry.
Throughout that time, McGalla served as Chairman of the American Eagle Foundation and has been a director of HFF, Inc., and HFF Holdings, LLC since October of 2009. She also finds time to give back to the community. Together with her husband, Steve McGalla, who is in wealth management, she chaired the largest grossing annual philanthropic event, the Hillman Cancer Center, in support of the Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.
She spends time seeking to inspire young women who are looking for a career in business by serving a speaker for various womens organizations whose goals is to promote and encourage women from all over the world to achieve their dreams and goals. McGalla often shares to her audiences that higher education will give them an edge over their peers in the workplace, men or women. She also stresses that perseverance and hard work along with improving skills will give women recognition and success especially in a skill-dependent economy. Her own path to success, which took many years, was filled with a determination to succeed and the cost of education can be offset with scholarships and financial grants.
Never one to comfortably hide behind gender stereotypes, McGalla, whose father was a local football coach, who is now employed with the National Football League’s Pittsburgh Steelers. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Steelers is a professional American football team and one of the oldest franchise teams in the American Football Conference.