Cornell’s Kellianne Kelly Shares Her Thoughts On Choosing Investment Banking

Guest Blog By Kellianne Kelly // My journey towards investment banking, and my rationale for choosing this career path, are deeply entrenched in my role as a mother of two boys — ages 5 and 10. The decision to prioritize the financial stability of my family by choosing a career in a demanding field, together with the significant sacrifice of time this path entails, was not one I took lightly. It is, however, one that I believe serves the best interests of my family. Further, I believe — and the American Psychological Association supports this notion — that mothers who work are healthier and happier.

I encountered many opinions, mostly unsolicited, nearly universally discouraging me from entering the investment banking recruiting process because I am a mother.

Sometimes I would hear negative judgements of my parental acumen — judgments rooted in an assumption that my willingness to devote the time commitment required for success in an investment banking career would necessarily have a negative impact on my children’s development. Sometimes I would be told that because of my status as a mother, banks wouldn’t perceive me as a committed employee and that, as a result, I would experience career setbacks. I was explicitly advised to conceal my status as a mother during the recruiting process in order to avoid this “inevitable” anti- parent bias.

In making such an impactful decision for myself and my family, it was clear that the choice of where I would begin my banking career required me to heed the kind of advice I would later, as an investment banking professional, give to a client: a careful due diligence-intensive process would be required before making a final decision.

From my perspective, recruiting for a career in investment banking is quite reflective of the investment banking culture and environment as a whole — there are people with whom you make meaningful connections and others to you whom you relate less naturally. With regard to disclosure of my status as a mother during recruiting, I made a personal decision that my status as a parent was not relevant. That said, I can’t pretend that the advice I received against disclosure wasn’t a factor I considered — it most certainly was. However, as a personal matter, I placed a very high premium on the environment and cultural element in which I desired to work, because, if I was going to sacrifice time with my family, it was imperative that I do so in a firm to which I believed I was personally well suited.

My recruiting journey and due diligence process ultimately led me to Barclays, where I am excited to begin my investment banking career. I met and had very positive interactions with many people at Barclays, and this generally made the firm feel like a good fit. In particular, there were two women with whom I interacted during the recruitment process who made me feel — not just through their words, but also by their actions — that I would have mentorship, sponsorship and support. It was these women, Barbara Byrne and Danika Fry, who most convinced me that Barclays was the right firm for me.

Barbara Byrne, a long time investment banking veteran who has raised a family while excelling in her banking career, was absolutely inspirational. She has demonstrated her personal commitment, and the firm’s, to gender-diverse corporate leadership through the Women In Leadership Index which tracks 85 U.S.-based publicly traded companies that have market capitalizations of at least $250 million, and have a woman CEO or a board of directors that is at least 25% female.

Danika Fry, who was MBAMama’s July 2015 feature mom, is a 2015 MBA graduate of the Wharton School and a first-year associate at Barclays. She is a mom of three small children and was instrumental in my recruiting process. She has shared preschool recruiting experiences, talked me through how she balances her roles, discussed advantageous housing and childcare arrangements, and has provided a non-judgmental sounding board for me throughout my Barclays process. Feeling supported and valued at work is critical for minority success in a majority dominated field with the time-intensive nature of investment banking. I feel quite fortunate to be able to have the opportunity to work alongside such a distinguished team of professionals who value their roles both in and outside of work.

My core values are family, loyalty, and dependability. For me, the value that I place on family includes financial support enabling creation of transformative assets — financial resources that facilitate social mobility for my family. My rewarding career in investment banking will not come without sacrifice. I will have two full-time jobs. There will be times when the balance between the two jobs is not ideal and where I will feel torn. But in my experience thus far the ability to be flexible in the midst of changing life circumstances is outcome determinant.