Her Story
About Kelly
Kelly Connors is a higher education professional with 13 years of experience, specializing in leadership within the field. She has managed teams for over 10 years, currently leading a team of 7, and has successfully guided her team through three acquisitions involving changes in leadership, systems, and software. She also serves as an adjunct professor teaching leadership skills to students at various universities across the country, enhancing her knowledge through reading, podcasts, and other resources. Kelly holds a Master's degree in Business Administration completed in 2016 and is preparing to begin another master's program in January. Earlier, she was a member of SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Kelly
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would say I'm very hardworking, and I'm dedicated, and I'm passionate, and I'm a very goal-oriented person and disciplined. And when I set and have a goal, I work towards that. So, I think being very disciplined in that aspect has shown me success, not only in my career, but also my personal life as well.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
I would say be willing to learn from everyone, and I've experienced that in my own experience is always stay humble, too, and try different things, be flexible, be nimble. That was kind of how I was advised, and everybody has something to offer, whether they're the janitor or the CEO, you can learn from everyone, so having that mindset.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Going back, I would say be humble, be willing to learn, be open to learning, and Yeah, that would be a big thing. I've seen that today, and today's generation, kind of. Sometimes we feel entitled that we deserve this, and we deserve that, but working hard, starting from the bottom, and being humble to do that, is gonna take us some take us to. Very much go above and beyond.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the challenges can be, particularly for this field is a change environment, and I think what Happening and doing the research to understand the market and the changes in the market, so you can adjust and pivot your strategy accordingly. It's constantly changing in every industry, and because higher education is involved in every industry. That's something that we have to be on the forefront of and know when those changes are coming. So, it's kind of a challenge, but it's also exciting, especially when you do the research and you're aware of what's happening for our industry in particular. We can offer new initiatives and ideas to our clients.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Yeah, I would say, and something that's helped me in my career is being authentically you and being genuine, and people can always tell genuine people, and I'm very transparent with my team, so that's also very important to me, showing empathy, but then also, especially as a leader, there are times where I have to be straightforward and strict and stern, but delivering The message in an empathetic way, in a very transparent way, has something that's guided me in success as a leader for my team, specifically.
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