Meet Mary Dillon: The woman who has made Illinois proud

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The Fortune 500 is the annual list prepared and published by Fortune magazine. It consists of information on the top 500 corporations in the United States in terms of revenues. To be on this list, a company must be publicly traded or privately held, should be based in the US, and needs to be for-profit with strong financial statements.

Running such a company is not a cup of tea. It takes a lot of hard work, dedication, stamina, and extraordinary skills to work at this type of company.

Let's meet Mary Dillon from Chicago

In the world of business, Mary Dillon made her unique name. She joined Foot Locker as the CEO when the shoe retailer was struggling for its survival. After accepting the job, she achieved the milestone of being the third female ever to run two Fortune 500 companies.

Dillon led beauty retailer Ulta for years before leaving it in 2021, following in the footsteps of Hewlett Packard's Meg Whitman and CMS Energy's Patricia Poppe

It should be noticed that women like Mary Dillon are hard to find in the business world. They are able to join only 10% of Fortune 500 companies.

Mary Dillon as a philanthropist

This multi-talented lady is also a philanthropist. She established the Ulta Beauty Charitable Foundation, which has donated over $15 million to non-profit organizations and supports females and their families. This foundation primarily works for the well-being and education of women across all communities.

She completed her studies at the University of Illinois and opted for many jobs like house cleaning, bank teller, and waitress, but luck finally knocked on her doors and Mary Dillon became a diva of the business world.

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