I am an engagement manager in the Calgary office. I originally joined as a business analyst (BA) in the Toronto office. After two years in that role, I took about five years to start a Canadian non-profit called the Century Initiative, whose mission is to build a prosperous, bold, and dynamic future for Canada by driving national discourse on strategic population growth and stimulating change through coordinated action and thought leadership and then attended Harvard Law School.
What do you miss most about your days as a McKinsey business analyst?
The closeness of my cohort. We were and are close friends, but there was something special about being in the same city and spending non-work time together at that stage of our lives. I also really appreciated the variety of client projects I did as a business analyst. I worked on everything from improving water access in the Philippines to learning about the bluefin tuna lifecycle in Mexico. Those experiences stay with me and have enriched me in ways I didn’t understand at the time.
What skills did you learn as BA that you still use?
Problem-solving – the ability to break down an ambiguous challenge and come up with an approach to get to an answer, even if I don’t know what the answer is. I used that skill daily in my start-up life and legal studies.
What has your BA class done recently to stay in touch?
Most recently, we traveled the wedding circuit, which was an amazing way to reconnect. We also have an email group we use to share life updates from time-to-time.