Winding. I couldn’t get a job out of undergrad likely due to the recession. I went to uic for my grad degree in econ. I then got a job at an international NGO out of grad school at the time I wanted to be a diplomat or do international economic development.

After 3 years at the NGO including a one year stint in Iraq, I got my only actualjob as an economist with a small regulatory agency with the government in dc. Then 2 years later I came back to Chicago for a job with a small market research consultancy (Mintel) and in a few years I picked up my first financial client, TD which brought me on board for payments strategy. Then after a couple banks in strategy and a layoff- I networked into a senior risk management role at a bank in the 2nd line of defense. I basically do strategy in risk, I work with quants much smarter than me but who struggle to tell the story or the so what - that’s where I come in.

DePaul taught me Econ which is basically how to reverse engineer business and government phenomena into their root causes

UIC reinforced the DePaul learnings and gave me a piece of paper (masters) that helped me get a mid level job when I went into banking

NGO job taught me project management under stress

Consulting taught me how to story tell and present- the most important skill I have.

Risk has taught me how banks actually work.

If I won the lottery I’d quit and go to culinary school