Jennifer

Associate Principal

Keep Learning

When I was growing up, there was a big emphasis on education and learning as much as you could. Back when it was rare for a black woman, my grandmother studied for her doctorate, which inspired me. She actually retired from 3 completely different careers over her lifetime – and she’s still working. What we do at McKinsey was intriguing in terms of always wanting to learn, but also with regard to the ability to completely switch directions if I wanted to.

Why McKinsey?

While pursuing my Ph.D. in chemical engineering I spent a lot of time focusing on one area. I wanted to step back and find out what else I could do in a broad set of industries. Originally I thought I could join McKinsey for a few years and still end up in the same industry and career path, but skip some steps on the way there. Once I dug deeper, I found out that I could not only skip some steps – I’d also be able to transform and reinvent what I thought I might do.

Spice of Life

My first 2 to 3 years at McKinsey I dabbled in at least half of the industries that we as a Firm serve. That was part of finding out where I might want to land. I did pharma, medical devices, retail, building products, private equity; projects in a lot of different areas. I also did enough in consumer goods to find out that that’s where I wanted to spend the bulk of my time. And that’s what I do now.

Global Exposure

I came here knowing that I’d be able to work on projects that involved cool, challenging problems, with interesting companies. All of that was true. But I really wasn’t expecting to get as much exposure to different people and cultures in my own office, and also through my studies in our offices abroad. As an engagement manager I traveled to Korea, where I worked with client and McKinsey teams from Korea, Europe, and North America. We had teams on 3 continents working together at the same time; that was pretty amazing.

Free Time

I like going to the movies. I used to enjoy fine dining but now that I eat out more than I’d like to think about, it’s not as exciting as it used to be. And I like just trying new things; golf is something I’ve been trying to get better at on and off.