December MoTM, Kellianne Kelly, Talks Priorities, Time Management and More
How did you know it was the right time to pursue your MBA?
The decision of timing was a personal one that was tailored around reaching financial savings goals enabling a break in work income as well as pairing that with a natural educational transition point for my eldest son, Johnathan (age 10).
What challenges have you faced as an MBA Mama during your time at Cornell?
Time management was tough. But learning to say “no” was tougher. With business school being so short, it is easy to want to be involved in many things. I chose instead to be highly involved in a few things and give those endeavors very high priority.
This year at Johnson, I prioritized the following:
(1) being a Johnson Leadership Fellow –charged with coaching a first-year core team through their first semester;
(2) leading an international study trip to South Africa for approximately 30 graduate students from the Cornell community;
(3) leading customer development and research for a 10 graduate student startup team; and
(4) giving my children a global perspective by traveling with them and beginning to show them the world.
When I prioritized those goals, I had to deprioritize others — that was tough and not always well taken by others. However, I believe it is better to do a few things well than to do many things in a mediocre way.
What are some time management tips you use to stay on track — especially during recruiting?
Everything goes on the calendar. If it does not show up on my calendar on every device, it doesn’t exist. I schedule everything. During recruiting, I honestly did not sleep that much. But that said, recruiting lasts 10–12 weeks. You can handle anything for that amount of time. I handled emails, which seemed like a job in of itself, very early in the morning (5am-6:30am).
If I received an email throughout the day that needed a response or action that would take less than ten minutes, I’d do it immediately. I planned for Fridays to be completely non-academic and instead career focused by day and social by night.
How did you balance motherhood with a summer in investment banking?
I have a really amazing support system that has enabled me to balance my many roles with fluency. My mom is an awesome and active grandmother who was instrumental in helping me with the children throughout my business school journey.
My ex-husband, regularly exercises the vast majority of his parenting time during the summer time; this significantly lessened my level of responsibility level for the 10 week investment banking internship. This was not just helpful over this past summer, but since the summer is a regular time that I can predict a decrease in my level of responsibility, I plan to tackle tasks that are more taxing to manage when the children are home with me.
Also, my best friend from undergrad, who works in education and thus has the summer off, Tiana McConnell, was “My Rock” with the kids this past summer when I needed childcare support and was working 100+ hour weeks. In my humble opinion, full-time support at this juncture is critical.
What childcare options and support network are you utilizing during grad school?
During my first year of business school, which was decidedly more hectic and demanding than my second year, I had a full-time live-in nanny who helped me with the children given my erratic schedule. Though it may seem quite costly, I budgeted for the nanny when I conceptualized leaving work and coming back to school.
That said, Cornell has been very supportive of my childcare needs and allowed for me to include my rather significant childcare expense in my student budget — enabling increased leverage capacity. Further, Cornell offers a very helpful and well-timed child care grant that varies in exact amount person by person but ranges from about $2500-$4000.
That said, I believe having amassed liquid assets in sufficient quantity to cover unexpected expenses is well-advised.
Why did you choose Cornell?
2 reasons —
(1) I met people here who I believed would support me in a meaningful way — which was true, the friends I have made here will be lifetime friends. Special thanks go to Shawna Strayhorn, Anderson Reed, Michael Collins, Zachary Raynor, Chris Whylie, Nadine Kwebetchou, Schuyler Woods, and Femi Fayoe who have all babysat from time to time and otherwise supported me through the unique challenges of being a single mother in business school.
(2) I wanted to transition into investment banking, and Cornell has the best preparation for investment banking. PERIOD. Drew Pascarella, who has 20 years of investment banking experience, runs the investment banking immersion program here in a way that simulates a real-world investment-banking environment in the classroom.
How would you describe the culture and climate for women at Cornell?
The climate for women generally is one of positive transition. There have been some gender-related challenges that I tend to believe exist in every traditionally male-majority institution, and Cornell’s Johnson School is not excluded from that. There is significant emphasis on diversity and inclusion and creating a climate of inclusion. Johnson has implemented significant programming focused on achieving wider inclusion. I am optimistic that it is an increasingly positive environment.
Does Cornell provide any services, financial aid and/or support specifically tailored to MBA moms?
Other than the Child Care grant, which is gender neutral, there is not support specifically focused on MBA women who are parents. When I donate as an alum however, I plan to focus money in that direction specifically. Sometimes we need to be the change we seek.
Many pre-MBA moms in our community have expressed fear to disclose their status as mothers in application materials due to concerns that admissions officials will view this information as a sign that they will not be able to compete in class, student life and recruitment. Has this ever been an issue for you? What would you tell these women?
I completely understand that fear. It was a fear I had, as well. Similarly, I was very concerned about disclosure of my parental status in the recruiting process. This is a very personal and individual decision. I can’t say that decision helped or hurt me personally. The advice I would give women is that they need to do what feels comfortable and that may change over time.
I’d listen to that little voice of mother’s intuition. Most importantly, the individual should make that choice, not make a decision because someone tells them what to do.
Can you talk about your decision to serve as a surrogate mother and your thoughts about assisted reproduction?
I worked in the area of assisted reproductive for about three years, and in that time I helped HIV+ men who were desirous of fathering genetically connected children via surrogacy. I structured deals to accomplish those goals without risking transmission of infection to the child or the surrogate mother. This was wonderfully rewarding work.
I also served as a surrogate mother, delivering a healthy baby girl to a wonderful couple in June 2013.
I believe in the right to procreate as a fundamental human right and I am very pleased to see the further progression of healthcare technology used to bring so much joy to families.
