In our alumni spotlight series, learn about Harvard graduates' most meaningful experiences from college, and how Harvard impacted their professional and personal paths after graduation.

Hometown & Current City: Thousand Oaks CA, currently in Chicago, IL

House Affiliation: Adams House

Concentration and Secondary Field: History and Literature of Early Modern Europe

Current Job Title/Company or organization: Partner and Managing Director at William Blair

What was your professional path after college? 

I spent three years in consulting and then went to business school at University of Chicago. Ended up in investment banking (shocking, I know!) for the last decade +. I lead our global education practice, which is pretty cool.

What fills your time now? Professionally and otherwise? 

I have two kiddos (6 and 2), so between them and work it is not much. I will say I'm keeping up with my History and Literature roots by reading voraciously, and I also spend time crocheting tiny food items with faces. I cook a ton and travel (my husband is from Barcelona and we speak Catalan at home!) and also try to keep up with playing the piano.

How did your academic experience at Harvard guide you in your post-grad pursuits? 

One of the most magical privileges of Harvard, if I'm being honest, is the allowance for genuine intellectual exploration that doesn't not necessarily have to lead to your career. As a case in point - I studied Shakespeare and Milton, and ended up in finance (woof!). I loved how Harvard gave me a sense of the breadth of knowledge and ways of thinking out there, and trained me to think critically (whether through numbers or words!), which has been (unsurprisingly) helpful in my very un-history and literature oriented career. Harvard also just instilled in me an ongoing curiosity and love of learning that I try to apply in every other aspect of my life, which has made it infinitely more rich and wonderful.

What was a favorite class you took and why? 

There are so many! I'd say taking Lewalski's Milton blew my mind - in particular because it was so enlightening and beautiful to hear a scholar who had devoted her life to studying a text read it out loud. I still think about it and get goosebumps. I also stretched and took a grad level course on the Theory and Methods of Oral Poetics once. That class was the most humbling experience of my life, when the professor casually assumed we all read French (I did not). It's something that makes me chuckle now and is so humbling to remember how there are brilliant people working hard in every aspect of scholarship.

Did you have any research/internship opportunities and/or professor/mentor relationships that were influential? 

I mostly found my mentorships through my extracurriculars - The Harvard Opportunes, PBHA, city step - and still have very close friends from those groups.

What were you involved in extracurricularly? 

So much! I sang with the Harvard Opportunes for 4 years. Quick aside - they are SO GOOD RIGHT NOW! And also worked the Summer Urban Programs with PBHA for 3 years. I also was a City Stepper and did smatters of intramural sports.

How did your extracurricular activities impact your Harvard experience? And have they had an impact on your post-grad life?

I loved every aspect of my extracurricular life at Harvard. It was so enriching and I've made lifelong friends through them. Sometimes I think back and am actually sad that I'll never have the same time to devote to non academic / work-related pursuits like the hours we spent rehearsing with the Opportunes or the summers spent shepherding amazing kids across Boston. Most importantly I learned many important leadership skills through these roles, and eventually decided on a career in business coming out of my extracurricular work - something I had never even considered going in.

What is a favorite memory of Harvard House life? 

Waffles. I joke, but actually waffles. I loved that we had a common space in the dining hall that you could walk to (in the tunnels of course) in slippers and PJs, and just do some work, see some friends, and eat some waffles. This privilege was wasted on undergrad me. Truly.

What is your favorite Harvard tradition and why? 

I'm not sure I have a favorite tradition. Instead I'll say that I love that this is a school that embraces and respects each person's brilliance, interests, and obsessions - making it all the more rich.

What advice do you have for someone applying to college?

College is not the be all and end all, and regardless of where you go, I'm pretty sure you'll be okay.