Her Story
About Jennifer
I've always been in love with education. Education has made me the person that I am, whether it was influential teachers or even a specific class that I fell in love with. But I didn't necessarily want to be in the classroom - I had a passion for education, not necessarily in love with someone else or a state dictating to me what education should be about. I kind of just fell into a leadership role, probably going back in 2001, 2002, where I started at a nonprofit and grew up there professionally, grew up into the ladder of managing. I realized I could also be a leader in education. The finance piece, just falling into budgets and solutions, has evolved into this beautiful relationship I have now with education, but not only education, but the back end of the strategy of keeping somebody enrolled into a program, also having the bigger picture of the school itself and the success of the school. What I love most is that I have a team that I mentor and that I lead, that is now also following the same passion that I am, and getting those aha moments. I love that, as a woman leading a team of women, it's not just finance, it's not just this analytical, scary piece, but we can be compassionate and empathetic about it. I'm part of a partnership school, so I was with the smaller school my first 5 years, and then was promoted into this position about a year ago. We have a start every month, so there's no slow season for us, no breaks, no summer break. Day-to-day is managing the team and keeping that team driven and passionate, trying to change the outlook into having proactive solutions for students. I'm a big believer in being proactive and not reactive to any issues, especially financial.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Jennifer
01What do you attribute your success to?
Anytime somebody in my team is successful or grows, that's my most notable achievement. I've been very thankful to not only have people that have reported to me for years, but I have people that still come to me 15, 20 years later for mentorship and for guidance. I love that I can still be looked at as a leader, and I'm growing - I'm not the same leader I was in 05, but it's still that people want to come to me for that guidance. I think that is something I always take, no matter if I'm here or if I'm somewhere else 10 years from now. I know that those people will still grow with me. Even if they don't necessarily report to me under the same payroll, they still report to me in my life. I love that I have a shadow of cheerleaders, but I also am the cheerleader, and they know that. I truly take with me every day that somebody's always watching. I know somewhere along the line, I did something right with that, because I do know that I could reach out to a good number of any of my staff that used to report to me to this day, and say, what did I do for you? And it's always that you've always supported me. I always felt like I always had a champion in my corner, and I love that.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Don't be afraid. Money is scary, everybody has this notion of money can make or break you. The mistakes are going to be made, and I'm one of those weird people that champions failure, because I think that there's always a lesson in a fail, and you can't be afraid to fall, you can't be afraid to let somebody else catch you. I think sometimes, as women, we feel like we have to be stronger than others, or create this false sense of hope, but it's okay. It's okay to fail, it's okay to learn, and it's okay to be patient with yourself. But yeah, at the end, just don't be afraid. Just go do it. Grab it, do whatever you have to do, grab the support around you, no matter what that is, and don't be afraid. There's nothing to be afraid of. I told my team, don't be afraid to fail. As long as you come to me with a resolution, you're not failing anything. If you need help getting picked back up, I'll help you pick you up. Every failure is another lesson learned.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Family is first and foremost, the most important thing to me. I'm kind of old school in that way, that I love to surround myself with family and friends, and my family does not stop by my bloodline. I have friends that I've had for 25 plus years, and they are the backbone to who I am. I am a big believer in living life to the fullest, not only for me and my children, but in honor of my late husband. I think it's important that we truly live, laugh, love, and life is so precious. Anything that I get to surround myself with the people that I love and share memories with, and get that snapshot of a memory, or at least be able to give them a memory that they'll have from years from now when I'm no longer here. Simplicity truly is just wanting to be with my family and my friends and enjoy life. I became a widow in 2015 suddenly overnight, so I had two kids that not only lost their spouse, but my kids lost their dad. I realize the strengths that you didn't have until things like that happened, but not only that, I realize the strength that my children had, and how resilient they are, and how strong the three of us are, and I'm very, very blessed.
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