Alumna's Dream Job Connects Her with Music Legends

As soon as Leah (Ducey) Dougherty (CSB ’11) stepped onto Saint Louis University’s campus for the first time, she immediately knew she would be a Billiken.

“I was familiar with SLU from a young age because my aunt and uncle are alumni, but during the first tour I did, I felt right at home and could literally see myself walking to and from class and studying at the clock tower. It was a dream come true,” she said.

That moment was just the beginning of many aspirations Dougherty would realize as a SLU student and a lifelong Billiken. 

A self-proclaimed music enthusiast, she wasted no time joining the University’s radio station, KSLU, during her freshman year and was eager to start her own radio show. Dougherty’s dedication quickly paid off, and she soon became the station’s events director. A couple of years later, she accepted an opportunity with Sony Music Entertainment to serve as the college marketing representative for the St. Louis area.

Thanks to those experiences, Dougherty secured her first post-graduation job during her senior year, when Epic Records, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment, offered her a marketing coordinator position in New York City. Having earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration with a minor in marketing and having attended Saint Louis University-Madrid for a semester, Dougherty felt well-prepared to move from the Gateway City to the largest metropolitan area in the United States at 22, she said.

“SLU taught me who I was, and that alone was enough to land my first dream job after graduation,” she said.

Continuing the Dream

It didn’t take long for Dougherty to find her groove after moving to New York. She transitioned from marketing to digital marketing at Epic Records, where she helped curate the company’s social media presence and led campaigns for albums by iconic artists, including Michael Jackson, Sara Bareilles, Fiona Apple, Modest Mouse, Big Boi and Phantogram (Big Grams), Avril Lavigne, Fifth Harmony and many more, she said.

After eight years in the Big Apple, Dougherty felt the pull to settle down, and in 2019, she said she “took a leap of faith” and relocated to Nashville – informally known as “Music City.” 

“I got my literal dream job at Universal Music Group Nashville (UMGN), which is now Music Corporation of America (MCA),” Dougherty said. “I was promoted from digital manager to senior director of digital marketing, working alongside legendary artists like Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson, Kacey Musgraves, Keith Urban, Ringo Starr and others.”

Over the past six years, Dougherty advanced her career and shared her time and expertise with professional organizations in Nashville. She is the vice president of the 2025 Society of Leaders in Development (SOLID) Board of Directors and led SOLID’s record-breaking fundraising efforts by raising $40,000 for the CMA Foundation in 2024. Recently, she was appointed to the Universal Music Group Women’s Network board and continues to lead pride initiatives with Music Corporation of America in Nashville as an ally for the LGBTQIA+ community, she said.

“I invested time and energy at SLU to hone in on areas that I cared about, and I am proud of the woman I have become through my education, and learning how to show up for myself and everyone around me. SLU truly helped craft the leadership journey I continue today,” she said.

Those efforts have allowed Dougherty to shine in Nashville’s spotlight. In 2023, she was featured in MusicRow’s “Next Big Thing” Industry List, showcasing Nashville music business professionals poised to lead the industry into the future. The following year, she was nominated for a Music Business Association’s “Bizzy” Leading Light Award for supporting her staff through internal initiatives that improve mental health, well-being and work-life balance, she said. 

I invested time and energy at SLU to hone in on areas that I cared about, and I am proud of the woman I have become through my education, and learning how to show up for myself and everyone around me. SLU truly helped craft the leadership journey I continue today."

Leah (Ducey) Dougherty (CSB ’11)

“None of this would have been possible without the foundation of values and knowledge I gained from Saint Louis University,” Dougherty said. 

But she’s not only grateful for what she learned at SLU. A sense of community and the lasting friendships she formed were defining aspects of Dougherty’s student experience, she said. And as an alumna, she wants to keep those connections alive.

Upon moving to Nashville, Dougherty noticed that the 1,023 SLU alumni living in the city were less active than in New York. Driven to make a difference, she reached out to the SLU alumni relations office in 2020 after participating in a virtual fundraiser for the Nashville Regional Scholarship, which provides financial assistance to current SLU students from the area. Nashville is the latest of six cities to start the regional scholarship program. For the past few years, Dougherty has successfully hosted quarterly events and Billiken Athletics watch parties that have revitalized regional alumni engagement, and she’s excited to see how the SLU alumni community will continue to flourish, she said.

“Since single-handedly launching the alumni club in Nashville, Leah has made sure no two events have been the same,” said SLU's Director of Regional Programming and Volunteer Engagement Mo (Schaetzel) Skelton (CSB ’15, GRAD CSB ’23). “She even once recruited her husband, who works at Corsair Distillery, to guide the Nashville Billikens through a tasting tour for a highly personalized alumni event experience. SLU alumni club leaders like Leah make the events even better than our staff could hope for.”

Dougherty says every action, no matter how big or small, can have a massive impact on the community around you. 

“I try to be intentional with my time, energy and efforts and know that every step of the way, I am doing something that I can say with confidence that I am proud of," she said. "Saint Louis University gave me the courage to do that, and I am forever grateful to be a ‘daughter of Saint Louis University, forever.’”

Join the SLU Nashville Alumni Club

If you live in Nashville or plan to move there and want to learn more about the SLU Nashville Alumni Club, contact Leah Dougherty at leah.ducey@gmail.com.