Peggy Doughty, VP of Visual Merchandising for The Container Store,
presents Allie with scholarship
While I love my containers, wicker boxes, and organized closet, it’s always been the people at The Container Store that most wow me. They wear enormous smiles. They are funny and fashionable. They do business with integrity. They make you feel special.
I had never met Mona Williams when I learned of her passing late last year. She must have been the North Star, shining brightest among many great people, inspirational, smart, and loving to family, friends, colleagues and vendors. It was humbling to learn that The Container Store had decided to establish a scholarship at Texas A&M University to honor Mona’s memory.
Our organizations have always shared common values in respecting others, selfless service, leadership and excellence. Aggies greet everyone with “Howdy,” and genuinely mean it as a warm hello. We have more than 800 student organizations to let students explore their interests, from fly-fishing to promoting global justice to celebrating mariachi dance, that develop leadership skills. Our retail education program at Mays Business School is recognized as the nation’s best program to develop the next generation of leaders in retailing.
I knew among our smart and exceptionally talented students, there was one that embodied Mona’s legacy. Allie, an honors student and M. B. Zale Leadership Scholar, wants to be a buyer. She will make a difference in the world around her While she may not follow Mona’s path exactly, she will blaze her own trail. And, like my friends at The Container Store, she will do it with a joyful smile that lets everyone around her know she is a new star rising high above the rest.
Thank you The Container Store for establishing the Mona Williams — Women Making a Difference in Retailing scholarship at Texas A&M University. As an endowment, your investment will grow year after year, leaving a permanent legacy for Mona Williams. Each year, starting now and going forever, a student will receive the Mona Williams Scholarship and learn her inspirational story and dramatic impact on the retailing industry.
— Kelli Hollinger, Texas A&M Center for Retailing Studies
