Elizabeth Goodchild, Controller & CFO, Chicago Magazine, Lake Forest MBA Class of 1995
If anyone embodies the American Dream, it must be Elizabeth Goodchild, controller and chief financial officer of Chicago magazine and an alumna of our Schaumburg campus.
Born in the Philippines, Goodchild came to the United States with her sister in 1978. Her father, having sold all of the family possessions to make the move to America, soon followed. "I came here, literally, with just the clothes on my back," she said. "My entire family lived with my grandparents and three other families in a two-bedroom bungalow on the west side of Chicago. Twenty people shared one bathroom."
Family circumstances didn't look favorable for a college education for Goodchild when she graduated early from high school, at the age of 15. So, she went to work. "I had no choice. I was blessed to find a clerical job in the registrar's office at Loyola University," she said. "They offered me $4.20 an hour and, more importantly, free tuition." Goodchild worked full-time and attended classes at night. She received her bachelor's degree in accounting almost seven years later.
Degree in hand, Goodchild pounded the pavement again, this time for a job in accounting. "I wasn't what the big companies were looking for. I didn't have the perfect 4.0 GPA. I wasn't the president of a sorority," she explained. "I did have seven years of work experience, though, and a maturity my peers lacked. Arthur Andersen took a gamble on me. That job offer was like a ticket to everything that I ever wanted at that age. It was terrific to finally be with my peers after years of working around older people."
From Andersen, Goodchild was recruited to join Motorola. "What led me to get an MBA was the realization that there were no other positions at Motorola that I wanted that didn't require an MBA," she said. "I felt an MBA was a necessity and I chose Lake Forest because it was so convenient to Motorola."
Though convenience was her primary concern in selecting a graduate program, Goodchild soon found herself learning more than she'd imagined. "My experience with the LFGSM program opened my eyes. It was the most incredible experience I've ever had," she said. "Until that point, I'd been in school because I knew it was necessary. Because I was also working, I was continually in survival mode with my studies. At Lake Forest, I was there because I wanted to learn. I really enjoyed the method of teaching, the group sessions, the interaction, the process and the courses." Goodchild enjoyed the classroom atmosphere so much she began teaching Financial Accounting at the Chicago campus in April.
One course proved to be a turning point for Goodchild, who accepted a position at McDonald's prior to completing her MBA studies. "The human resources course, Management Style, Influence & Individual Differences, began a long process of soul searching for me," she said. "We took a number of revealing self-assessment tests on management skills and abilities. I found I'm not really an accountant. My personality isn't that of your typical 'number cruncher'. I realized I wanted to be very independent."
Goodchild left McDonald's and made a full-time job of defining and getting the dream job. "I used all the resources I learned from getting an MBA to the best of my ability. I was relentless in my pursuit," she said. "In marketing class, we learned how to market ourselves. We learned about packaging and promotion. I made sure I marketed myself well. I covered all the angles, from using the best paper stock for my resume to purchasing very good quality suits and shoes. I paid attention to detail."
"For interviewing, the Strategic Managerial Communication class on presentations came in handy. And I did my homework. I analyzed each company. I SWOT'd them, determining how the strengths and weaknesses of each organization would affect my role there and what kinds of threats would affect the business in the future."
Not surprisingly, Goodchild found her dream job. In November, 1995, she became controller of Chicago magazine, a subsidiary of Primedia, Inc. "In publishing, there is a real separation of duties so that the publisher is concerned with keeping advertisers happy, the editor is concerned with the editorial. That leaves me, as the chief financial officer, to run the company," she said. "I found that I'm best when I'm not micro-managed and that I don't like being pigeon-holed. Chicago magazine is a very small company that allows me to be creative and to impact the company in non-traditional ways for a controller. I've always wanted to own my own company. I finally have a job where I have ownership."
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