Gamma Nu Chapter at Rutgers University - New Brunswick

In celebration of Women's History Month 2026, we're talking to several Phi Sigma Sigma sisters to share their stories, advice and how our sisterhood made a lasting impact in their lives. Read more stories, here.

What drew you to Phi Sigma Sigma?

I joined the year Phi Sigma Sigma was restarting the Gamma Nu Chapter at Rutgers, so it was a bit of a unique experience. I ran into a Phi Sig named Erica at recruitment who was a connection through a friend. She was one of the original 10 that Sandy and Lisa had recruited. I agreed to do a follow up with her to hear more about it. 

Having gone through recruitment, there wasn’t one sorority that I felt checked the box for everything I was looking for. The friendship piece was really big for me. Rutgers is such a large school, which made it hard to make friends. I grew up in New Jersey, so there were a lot of people I knew from high school, but I was trying to make a separate, new group of friends. 

Erica and I clicked really well, and she brought a couple of other sisters from the original 10 with her when we had dinner. I brought my roommate at the time to meet up with them, and it just felt very natural, like people I would be friends with day to day. It didn’t feel like I was trying to force it to fit all these boxes; it just felt really natural. Then, when Erica spoke a little bit more about the opportunity to be a founder of the chapter and what that meant, along with the history at Rutgers, it seemed like an exciting thing to be a part of. 

I’d had a really hard time my first semester at Rutgers because it was just so big and I felt so lost, so it was such a turning point for me when I felt like I found that initial group I was friends with. Of the first few people that I met, two of them are still my best friends.

Tell us about your time as a collegian. What was your involvement in your chapter?

I was vice archon my junior–senior year (spring into fall). Prior to that I was sisterhood chair and was on the standards committee.

What does life look like for you now that you've graduated?

I work at Estée Lauder and lead HR for three global brands: Tom Ford Beauty, Balmain Beauty and Le Labo. 

I feel like HR is like operations of all different aspects of an organization, so I feel like there’s a lot from being vice archon that feels so applicable. I know that probably sounds silly to someone who’s not in it, but I’m managing several projects at once, building connections with different people across the organization, working on both internal and external facing things, and in a lot of ways I feel like I’m the face of the brands because I’m recruiting people and standing on our leadership board. There are so many parallels between my current role and my time as vice archon that I never even anticipated. 

To add a layer to that, I have hired other Phi Sigs — people I didn’t graduate but who I’m connected to either through Phi Sig's alumnae network or from Gamma Nu sending open roles to sisters. There are currently two Gamma Nus who report to me at Estée Lauder who graduated after me. I continue to stay in close touch with the chapter because I feel like a lot can happen through networking and who you know. 

Two of the best people I’ve ever hired were just connections through Phi Sig that I wouldn't have known otherwise, and I’m always looking to bring more amazing talent from the chapter to my professional life.

Do you stay connected to your chapter sisters and fraternity as a whole?

There’s a group of ten of us who are very close. We’ve been bridesmaids for each other’s weddings, we did a shore house for three years, and some of us lived together for five years post-grad. We keep in touch via group chat, of course, but we also have a summer get together and a holiday get together. They're my people. They are literally my sisters, no pun intended.

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What would you tell a brand new member?

When I first joined, I didn’t know what to expect to get out of it. If you would’ve told me that an organization I joined 15 years ago would still have such an impact on my life today, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. So, I think what can seem important just for the four years can be so much more than that if you make the right connections, put the time in, and truly invest yourself in all that being in a chapter has to offer. 

I think it adds value to you in ways that you could never even imagine down the line. Because, again, I wouldn’t have believed 15 years ago that these would be my 10 best friends, that I’d work with two people from the chapter, that I’d still be involved and willing to volunteer. It’s had such an impact on my life. It has truly shaped my life in so many ways.