"McKinsey Kids"
What is it like growing up as the kid of a McKinsey consultant
We recently interviewed the college-age children of Suzanne Nimocks, a senior partner based in our Houston office. Suzanne has been with the firm for 20 years and so Camille, age 18, and Mitchell, age 20, have grown up as “McKinsey kids” – they’ve always had a mom who strived to balance two priorities: her family and her McKinsey career. Here are their perspectives on what it was like being raised by a mother who built a successful career at McKinsey.
Growing up as a McKinsey kid
Surviving or thriving
Perceptions of McKinsey
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Tell us a bit about yourself – what you’re studying, what you do for fun, what your future plans are, etc.
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Camille: This fall I’m starting college at USC (University of Southern California). I’m double majoring in theatre and broadcast journalism, which is a very different path from my mom! After I graduate I’d love to stay in LA and audition as much as I can, or potentially get a job as a casting agent.
Mitchell: I’m 20 years old and will be a junior at Tufts University in Boston majoring in electrical engineering. At school I play rugby and in my free time I do some community service with my fraternity.
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What do you remember about your mom’s career while growing up? How did your parents work together to balance family life?
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Camille: When I was little I thought my mom was a CEO for some reason – that’s what I would tell my friends and teachers and my mom would have to explain she wasn’t. I remember my mom going out of town a lot, but growing up she was always there for me. My lunch was made every day for school and we also had family dinner at least four times a week – we still do! My dad owns his own company and hardly ever travels so we always had one parent there. Plus I knew even when she wasn’t home, I could call my mom whenever I needed her.
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What is one of your fondest or most exciting family moments or memories with your parents, particularly with your mom?
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Mitchell: I remember for my dad’s 40th birthday we all went to Alaska for two weeks. This was one of my most memorable vacations. While we were there, my mom actually caught the biggest halibut of all of us (it was over 200 lbs!). I thought I was a big fisherman, but I only caught a 25-pounder. My mom definitely blew me and the rest of us out of the water. We ended up taking her catch home with us and buying a deep freezer to store all the halibut filets. (Though after a while we all got sick of eating halibut!)
Camille: Our family vacation to Alaska is one of my favorite memories too – I guess Mitchell and I think alike! I was really impressed when my mom caught that gigantic halibut.
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How did having a professional working mom affect you? What, if anything, did you gain or lose as the child of a successful businesswoman?
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Camille: My mom traveled and sometimes I missed not having my mom there to tuck me in some nights. But I don’t feel like I’ve been negatively affected by her travelling. Actually I think I gained a lot of independence – I sat down to do my homework without anyone telling me to, I made sure I got to stuff on time – I had no one reminding me what I needed to do. It’s inspiring to have a mom like mine – she has been my role model my whole life. She has helped make me ambitious and determined, and she can pretty much deal with any situation and keep her patience. She knows how to tolerate everything. I think it’s really funny when she loses her patience – because it happens so rarely! She just has this extreme will inside of her to achieve her goals and she inspires us to achieve our goals too. Now I think I can never see myself as a stay-at-home mom – I want to be a working mom. Seeing her do it all has made me want to push myself harder and set big goals for my future.
Mitchell: My mom definitely taught me about priorities and how to keep them straight. The free time she had, she did (and does) spend with us. I’ll admit, my mom wasn’t at my sports games growing up, but I know that what she was doing instead was very important. My mom has always supported me in what I wanted to do. She’s also given me advice to stick with things even when they get tough – like sticking with my EE major. I’m grateful to her for her support and advice.
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What was the best and worst thing about having a consultant for a mom? How did your perception of McKinsey and your mom’s profession change over time?
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Camille: I always viewed my mom as being cool as she was able to support our family. Now I look at McKinsey and her career, and have so much respect for the people who work there – I know you need to work hard and be really smart. I think the best thing about having a McKinsey consultant as a mom is that she can provide for our family and also teach me about the business world. The downside is the time she spent away from home – and maybe the high expectations she has of me (she was always really strict on grades!).
Okay, so a McKinsey career has made my mom stressed at times, but I think she loves what she does, otherwise she wouldn’t have stayed there for 20 years. I don’t really know any other kind of mom – she’s been with McKinsey ever since I was born.
Mitchell: A lot of my friends had moms who worked, though somehow they didn’t seem to have as intense of a job as my mom did. At first I didn’t really know what McKinsey did. I knew she was a “consultant” but didn’t exactly know what that meant. Later on I came to realize that McKinsey is a well-known prominent firm, and that made me respect her job more.
If I had to think about pros and cons of having a McKinsey mom, I’d say the pros are that we don’t have to worry about living standards, she likes what she does, and her career even helps me out (her network is very vast, and she helped put me in touch with people to get career advice). The two cons are that she traveled a lot and worked a lot.
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What is the likelihood that you will consider a career in consulting or recommend it to friends?
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Camille: I’m not considering a business career, but I would definitely recommend consulting to my friends who want to go into business.
Mitchell: Thinking about my own career, I’d definitely consider consulting and recommend it to my friends. It seems like an interesting field. It’s clear McKinsey hires great talent, and to be a part of that would be pretty neat.
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What advice would you have for a woman considering McKinsey?
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Mitchell: My advice to anyone considering McKinsey and wondering whether it’s possible to make it long-term career and raise kids? I’d tell them – look at me, I turned out alright and my sister turned out alright too! And I think my mom is pretty proud of both of us.
Camille: If I were talking to a woman candidate considering McKinsey, I’d tell her to go for it! McKinsey is a great company and working there is a huge honor. If you have kids and feel like you need to tone it down, you can, but you should still go for it. You can do it – you can do all of it. My mom did it and my brother and I have achieved our goals. You can and your kids can too.
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