Q&A with Mary
A Rhodes scholar, Mary began her career in our office in Washington, DC, and then spent 13 years in our London office. Moving to Paris in 2011, Mary co-founded the McKinsey’s Women’s Initiative, which aims to promote women leaders in business and regularly participates in McKinsey research evaluating the progress of women in leadership in the corporate world, and recommends means of fostering women’s development. Mary is a mentor to many—and a mother of six!
Interviewer: After your Rhodes scholarship, what were you thinking about doing with your life?
Mary: I had a full scholarship to go to one of the best law schools in the US, but all the lawyers I met seemed utterly miserable. A friend of mine suggested I look into McKinsey. He said that there were some exceptionally talented and smart people with McKinsey and I'd learn a lot!
Interviewer: What has surprised you most, now that you've been with McKinsey for most of your career?
Mary: What is most remarkable is the consistently high caliber of people you meet throughout McKinsey: I've been on teams with Olympic gold medalists, rocket scientists, and brain surgeons and where every single member of the team came from a different country. It's an amazing experience.
Interviewer: How does that actually work, working with team members from around the world?
Mary: I remember well my second study at McKinsey. I called a few people in Brazil and Japan and Europe; within 24 hours every single one of them had gotten back to me. It is an extraordinarily collaborative environment. Colleagues go out of there way and make the time to help you.
Interviewer: Tell me more about the support and flexibility that McKinsey offers.
Mary: Well, I have given birth to six children—all while at McKinsey—and I have done more part-time and flexible programs than anyone I know. I don’t know of anywhere else I could have had such a challenging career and such an extraordinary family than with McKinsey. It’s one of the aspects of working at McKinsey that has been most rewarding—the ability to chart my own course.
Interviewer: What has that meant for you in terms of client work at McKinsey?
Mary: McKinsey has many practice areas and, for me, part of finding my own career path was working in many different industries. Where else could I have advised clients in the consumer-packaged-goods, chemical, and pharmaceutical industries, as well in as the public sector? And I’ve also worked with sectors as diverse as energy, basic materials, mining, high tech, and private equity! Continually learning and growing is very important at McKinsey.
Interviewer: Can you tell me three adjectives that come to mind right away that descibe McKinsey? And three verbs?
Mary: Not to be contrary, but I have four nouns instead: excellence, values, people, passion. Three verbs that I would use to describe McKinsey's environment are: achieve, excel, and learn.
Interviewer: You've been able to do volunteer work at the same time you’ve had this incredibly busy and exciting career. When have you most felt like you were making the world a better place through the nonprofit sector?
Mary: I am on the board of TeachFirst and McKinsey has partnered with this remarkable organization over the last 10 years. TeachFirst places the best graduates in the UK in the most challenging schools to help students across the UK achieve their full potential, regardless of their backgrounds and/or their parents' income. It is a truly amazing organization—and now the single largest graduate recruiter in the UK!
Interviewer: What five items mean the most to you and why?
Mary: I need seven—my six kids and my husband! If you allowed me a few more, I would add my house (a 13th century chateau), my parents, my non-profit work, and of course my friends!
Interviewer: OK, with six children, is “work/life balance” a phrase that is even in your vocabulary?
Mary: I wouldn't still be here with six kids and a husband along with a very intense and demanding job if it hadn't been for the flexibility and support of McKinsey, and, as I said before, the ability to chart my own course and pursue my passion. McKinsey has helped me every step of the way.
Education
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University of Oxford, Merton College
PhD
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Princeton University
BA