Her Story
About Kali
I kind of just fell into financial aid. I was looking for something in more of a corporate space. I hadn't really spent much time there at that point, and once I got into it, I sort of thrived and was able to kind of learn so much and almost become an expert in financial aid. I started off working one-on-one with students in the contact center, but as I grew, I became more of a background person, not really a student-facing role, more of an operations role. My main area of expertise is definitely financial aid systems at this point, kind of understanding disbursement and all of that. My daily responsibilities include a lot of system maintenance, a lot of data tracking of accuracy for financial aid, a lot of requirement building, and lately, a lot of financial aid training and documentation. I've really come to know the full influence of my role. I know that what I do every single day impacts not just the students, but the way someone is treated in a different role than me. Everything that I do trickles down to them and how their day goes on a day-to-day basis, and I think coming to that realization has been really impactful. When I became a senior QA analyst, that was a really big achievement for me. I kind of stepped into this role where I didn't really know anything about IT in general, and then over the years, I just got better and better, to the point where I became a point person. Being able to understand what I do impacts others, and to the point where people can come to me and ask me questions, and I can know the answer or come up with a resolution.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Kali
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would attribute my success to both my parents, who are very hard-working individuals. My dad spent a long time in a chemical engineering field, which is something I could never wrap my mind around, but he's always pushed me to be, do the best that I can, and be hardworking, and try to be the best that you can be in the field that you're in. He's a very hard-working person, and someone that I admire with that, too. Even today, he's just absolutely killing it on a daily basis with his work ethic, working in more of a business field rather than a chemical engineering field, but putting in so much effort and still traveling and doing everything that he can to be the best in his field. And then I would also contribute the women in my life, too, to that. I know that I lived through that girlboss era, and that was very motivating to me, and I think that really pushed me to kind of be where I'm at today in that, just because you're in a more male-dominated field doesn't mean that you can't be right up there with them. Seeing women in that position, and then unapologetically being like, I'm here because I am great, not just because of my gender, is just very affirming and motivating.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
You don't know what you don't know. And I think that's something that I think about every single day, especially with Millennials and Gen Z. There's a lot of anxiety going into the workforce, and there's always going to be individuals who might make things a little bit more difficult, and it might feel difficult to, or give you anxiety-inducing to ask certain questions about what the expectations are day-to-day, but you should never feel guilty about not knowing something or not knowing how to do something when it's the very first time you've been asked to do it. Just knowing how to do something is a new skill, and that's something you should be proud of, and not something you should have so much anxiety over that you feel guilty for not knowing how to do it in the first place.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
The advice that I would give would be to give yourself grace on the hard days, on days where you feel like you're in maybe not feeling like you're in the right space, and to be the best, be a better version of yourself every single day. Because that's the only person you should be competing with, is the person you were yesterday.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I would say the biggest challenges would be just the change coming to financial aid. I don't want to get too much into it, because there's a lot of policy around it, but I would say just the changes that will be coming, and how to adapt, and pivot for those changes. It's definitely fast-paced and also slow at the same time.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I would say loyalty is very important to me, being able to trust individuals to kind of give you the guidance that you need without judgment. And I would say a strong work ethic, but at the same time, being able to have that space to spend time doing what you need to do, whether it's spend time with your family or just having that self-care.
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.