Michele Bisceglie (LA’96) arrived at Purdue the Saturday before classes. It was her first time on campus — and in Indiana. 

The South Jersey native jokes she got kicked out of her home state because of her love of country music, but the real story is more straightforward.  

“My guidance counselor suggested Purdue,” Bisceglie explains. “I think the application was free, and we determined I could major or minor in creative writing.”

While a creative-writing degree ended up being an “unfulfilled dream,” Bisceglie did find her way into the offices of the Purdue Exponent, eventually becoming editor in chief at the age of 20. 

One of Bisceglie’s most formative experiences during her time at the newspaper involved the 1994 tornado that hit Lafayette. The F4 storm, which remains the deadliest in county history, killed three and injured at least 70. 

“We were covering it, and I just remember being more concerned about these two scared little kids in their pj’s watching their father being taken away on a stretcher from their mangled home,” Bisceglie recalls. “It’s not that I didn’t want to do my job — to report on the situation — it’s just that I wanted to do more; I wanted to help the people in that situation.”

After working in marketing communications and business development positions for the better part of a decade after graduation, Bisceglie started figuring out how to do exactly that.

“It finally dawned on me to stop looking at the for-profit and nonprofit worlds differently,” Bisceglie reflects. “Why couldn’t I use the business principles and practices I’d honed in the for-profit world to help nonprofits drive more revenue, which leads to more impact?”

In pursuit of that aim, Bisceglie accepted in-house executive positions with Leadership Louisville Center, Boy Scouts of America, and Historic Charleston Foundation. In between — while living in Washington, DC — she launched Butterfly Communications, a boutique consulting firm that provided the flexibility to work in both worlds at the same time.

This entrepreneurial turn required Bisceglie, a natural introvert, to sharpen and strategically employ her leadership and communication skills to deftly build a professional network. 

“In DC, the question that follows any introduction is, ‘What do you do?’” she says. “Networking is an Olympic-level sport there. I decided I needed to step up and take advantage of the energy and opportunities swirling around me.”

Bisceglie credits her time at Purdue, specifically at the Exponent, with the confidence to push through times of self-doubt.

“I learned to face challenges head-on and not shy away from situations that might be uncomfortable.

“My year as editor in chief was a defining one,” she says. “I was so young, a woman in the role after a run of men, and had less experience than some of the people I was managing. The experience cemented a pattern: I learned to face challenges head-on and not shy away from situations that might be uncomfortable at first but that — ultimately — offer incredible opportunities for personal and professional growth.”