COMMITTED TO SUCCESS

TERESA PEARSON ’94 REFLECTS ON HOW SALVE PREPARED HER FOR LIFE’S JOURNEY.

Teresa Pearson ’94 was not long out of college when she was scheduled to give a presentation to an audience of fashion industry experts. Whether it was a mere case of the “butter ies” or full-on stage fright, she wasn’t certain she’d get through it.

“I remember I had to give my rst formal presentation of my career in front of 350 people, in fashion, in front of Kenneth Cole (the owner, and CEO) and every Kenneth Cole licensee,” says Pearson. “I thought, ‘this may be too big a moment for me, do I run?’ I could hear the beating of my heart as I wondered how I was going to give the presentation.

“But sometimes, you just need to own the moment and put yourself out there,” she explains. “You make the choices.”

Since then, Pearson has navigated great joy and deep loss, taking lessons away from each experience that have had lasting impact. Her career has taken several sharp turns, but she admits that she has always been driven to succeed.

As vice president of global franchise strategy and brand management for Hasbro, Inc., Pearson manages the Nerf, Sports Action business, which is distributed in more than 120 countries with retail sales of more than $1 billion. is includes leading digital marketing, in uencer marketing, brand partnerships, content development as well as driving strategic business development for products across toy adjacencies, sports, water play, apparel, location-based entertainment, digital gaming and more. In addition, she has an impressive background in the fashion industry, working with many well-known brands and celebrities, and has experience as an entrepreneur.

All of this, Pearson credits to Salve Regina.

“I knew right away that Salve was the school for me, and my mother knew it too,” she says. Growing up in a coastal town in New Jersey, Pearson says the environment felt familiar.

“It reminded me of home, yet it was still new,” she says. “I grew up in a large Irish Catholic family, went to church every Sunday, and had attended a Catholic high school.”

Pearson began by declaring sociology as her major - drawn to the idea of understanding how people operate. She also took part in community service opportunities by volunteering to help Newport’s homeless community as well as mentoring students in Providence.

“My friends from Salve are my team,” says Pearson. “ ey’re still the closest individuals to me outside of my family. ere are no words for it. ey’re like sisters and brothers to me and I am forever grateful for all their friendships.

“I had many awakenings at Salve,” she continues. “ e school’s commitment to seeing success and not accepting excuses made a massive impact on my life. I had two teachers who personally invested in me; those individuals are pretty much the reason I am where I am today. John Rok and Sister Virginia Walsh were the best mentors. ey pushed me, but they pushed me with kindness. I think of them often.”

After graduating, Pearson moved to Boston and worked for an investment rm. A year and a half later, she moved to New York City and began working in the fashion industry, handling advertising and marketing for brands such as Tommy Hil ger, Kenneth Cole, David Yurman and Burberry. She discovered that she excelled at not only building and strengthening brands but growing them with new product lines that added new revenue streams to the business. She also discovered an entrepreneurial spirit and ultimately chose to take a risk with her career. She gave up her position and life in New York City to start her own company - a tennis wear line founded on the style of her late grandmother Bridget O’Leary.

“I try to be open to things because usually there’s something in play and I want to be available to it, especially if it involves a growth opportunity,” says Pearson. “At the time it felt like a big step back. I had to move in with my parents and give up my apartment in the city in order to fund my own business, but it taught me a lot of lessons in knowing myself. A title doesn’t make me. An apartment doesn’t make me. What really matters is my understanding of who I am and what I want to do.” e family sought treatment, renting homes close to Hasbro Children’s Hospital in Providence and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Sadly, Sloane passed away in 2012 at 9 months old after extraordinary e orts to overcome the disease, which included being the second family to participate in a worldwide clinical trial involving cellular therapy.

Pearson later met her future husband Dana during a Salve get-together in Newport. She moved back to Aquidneck Island and the two married and welcomed their rst child, Bridget, to the world. After their second daughter, Sloane, was diagnosed with infantile leukemia, Pearson began a journey she had never anticipated.

“ is is where God, faith and my Salve friends were so incredible,” Pearson says. “We went on a journey of a lot of soul searching and really trying to process the loss of our child. We healed to the best of our ability, but we’ll always carry it. We also nd comfort in knowing Sloane is at peace and is with God now.”

After the pandemic eased, Pearson returned home to New Jersey and currently resides in Rumson with Dana, 14-year-old Bridget, and Australian labradoodle Memphis, who was named for the city in which the family spent much of Sloane’s life. However, she remains very connected to Rhode Island, which includes her position at Hasbro.

“ e company holds family-friendly values and they’re very supportive of working moms,” says Pearson, who has been with Hasbro for 13 years. “I’m still there because it’s a company that’s close-knit and very much based on community. It’s similar to Salve in this way.”

A staunch advocate for giving back, Pearson currently serves on the marketing sub-committee board of Hackensack Meridien Health Systems and was on the Advisory Board at both St. Jude’s as well as Girls on the Run. She also mentors countless women entering the workforce, teaching them how to own and use their voice.

“Being of service to individuals is very much a part of me,” says Pearson. “Women need to be empowered so they feel they can compete in a much more expansive way and go beyond traditional roles for women in business.”

According to Pearson, a strong work ethic is critical.

“In order to be successful, you need to continue to do your own work,” she says. “I don’t just sit back and allow others to do the work. Salve taught me that you’re only going to get where you want to go by working hard. Not only did Salve help me to de ne who I am, and to meet the challenges I’ve faced, but also understand the success that I could achieve. I truly don’t know if I would have received this somewhere else.

“I was never a number at Salve,” Pearson continues. “It’s a testament to their investment in me - to who I am today professionally, and this also includes being able to process the loss of my daughter. Life isn’t always a straight line; it involves facing a lot of unexpected twists and turns. However, if you learn to hold on tight to your faith and take it all one step at a time, you will end up living a life of resiliency and will always be able to get the job done.”

-Ashley Bendiksen ’13

1995

Beth Gemma ’95 was inducted into the Seahawk Athletic Hall of Fame Sept. 25, 2022. She established a program record for shutouts in women’s soccer (11) after a four-year stint as goalkeeper. She still holds program bests in saves per game and save percentage.

1996

Ryan Freel ’96 was promoted to the practice lead at Fragomen’s Houston o ce. Freels’ career with Fragomen, a rm of 4,300 immigration-focused professionals spanning more than 55 o ces worldwide, has taken him to Chicago, New York, Singapore, Johannesburg and Washington, D.C.

Salve is…missed.

Brian Roles ’95

Darcie Vacca TeVault ’96 is the director of professional development for the Virginia Association of Independent Schools. She received her doctorate in education with a concentration on the mind, brain and teaching at Johns Hopkins University in May 2022. Her research focused on the interrelatedness of self-e cacy, collective teacher e cacy, and pedagogical knowledge in the independent school.

Suzette Wordell ’96 earned her Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) with a specialization in educational leadership and management from Capella University in

August 2021, the same year she was awarded the National Distinguished Principal and Rhode Island Elementary Principal of the Year awards.

1997

Marc Saulnier ’97 received the Exceptional Volunteer Award during Reunion Weekend 2022 for his enthusiastic e orts in planning both his 20th and 25th class reunions.

Kathleen Morrison-Layton ’97 is the communications and development director for J. Arthur Trudeau Memorial Center in Warwick, Rhode Island. She was featured on WPRI 12’s “Street Stories” for her work helping people with disabilities deliver Meals on Wheels throughout Warwick.

1998

created a rmation cards for teens and adults to help with mental health during the pandemic. She and her daughter published a second volume for children ages 5-12, along with a gratitude journal. She was featured on the cover of Westwood Living’s July 2022 magazine and was also interviewed for Boston Fox 25 news. Ponte designed the cards to encourage others to start each day with positive energy. “Practicing gratitude each morning is like breathing to me,” Ponte shares on her website lpvibes.com. “I am able to do this without e ort because I appreciate the life I almost lost. ‘Rise and Reset your Mind Every Day,’ is what I say to myself each morning. Because I experienced traumatic darkness in my life, I understand what it means to see the light. Maybe that’s why mornings mean so much to me. I’ve always loved the start of a new day, a day where I can evolve from the day before, a day that brings light, calmness and a new beginning.”

Salve is…the path to unlimited possibilites

Allison Chatowsky ’99

1999

the largest juvenile court in the southeast.

2000

Melissa Pucci ’00 welcomed her daughter Mary Grace Michele in June 2022.

2002

Patti Arvesen Weinmann ’02, along with her husband Je , welcomed their daughter Maren Victoria in March 2022.

2003

Lisa Shedlock Ponte ’98 founded LP Vibes in November 2021 and

Tomiko Grier Williams ’99 is the director of administration and court support services in the programming and grants division for Fulton County Juvenile Court in Atlanta, Georgia,

Monica Geers Dahl ’03 (M) was published as a co-author of “Infra Low-Frequency Neurofeedback Training for Trauma Recovery: A Case Report.” e paper reviews how IFL neurofeedback has proven to be an e cient way to remediate the neuro-physiological e ects of trauma.

2004

Julie Carroll ’04 was promoted to assistant director of music curriculum for the Lynn, Mass., public schools. One of the rst music education graduates from Salve, Carroll earned her master’s degree in 2010 from Gordon College and has been a music teacher for 18 years for the Lynn public schools.

FamilyResearch16.com. Her specialty is researching a family tree and then writing a narrative that helps her clients learn more about their ancestors. In May 2021, she retired from the University of Minnesota Duluth, after 12 years there, most recently serving as the editor/writer for university marketing and public relations.

2007

Carla Lyder Jewell ’04 received her master’s degree from Southern New Hampshire University, earning a Distinguished Scholar Award for the highest GPA in the program. A special educator for the Claiborne Pell Elementary School, Jewell was also selected as the 2022-2023 Newport Public Schools Teacher of the Year. She has worked in the Newport Public Schools since 2004 and in addition to teaching, collaborated with former students to start the only elementary Best Buddie’s chapter on Aquidneck Island.

Dan Tremaglio ’04 is a lecturer in English at Bellevue College in Bellevue, Washington. His rst book of ction, “Half an Arc & Artifacts & en the Other Half,” was published in February 2004 by Mint Hill Books/Main Street Rag. His stories have appeared in numerous publications, including F(r)iction, Gravel, Literary Orphans and Flash Fiction Magazine, and twice been named a nalist for the Calvino Prize. He lives in Seattle where he teaches creative writing and literature at Bellevue College and is a senior editor for the journal Belletrist.

2005

Kathleen McQuillan-Hofmann ’05 (M) launched her own genealogical research company,

Kate Grenci ’07, camps director and property manager for Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey was awarded the Harold Breene Youth Education Award by the American Camp Association, New York/New Jersey, for recognition of continued dedication to the development and education of youth through camping. is award is given to a person or program or camp that actively promotes positive youth development in a unique and creative camp environment, helping young people discover and explore their talents, interests, and values while developing positive self-esteem and healthy relationships.

Grenci’s commitment to a holistic approach to youth development, as well as fostering e ective sta training around mental, emotional and social health pushes her to actively lead, speak and train with intention in the camp community. She is a track chair for the 2023 Tri-State Camp Conference, the largest professional camp conference in the world and a member of the Girl Scouts USA Camp Program Advisory committee, a national steering committee dedicated to supporting the camp movement.

2009

Brian Walker ’09 was inducted into the Seahawk Athletic Hall of Fame Sept. 25, 2022. With a school-best 810 career saves as goaltender for men’s lacrosse, each of his individual seasons rank in the program’s Top 10 save list. He is the only Salve Regina goalie to have a sub-9.00 goals against average with at least 1200 minutes in net. Walker earned the University’s Brother Michael Reynolds Award in back-to-back years (2008-2009).