Interview with Kelly Hooper, Colby College

Interview with Kelly Hooper, Colby College

Interviewer: So today we have Kelly Hooper joining us from Colby College. You’re a senior, so you’re going to graduate soon. That’s exciting, scary. Before I clicked record, you mentioned you’re going to start your job this summer. So that’s got to be a great feeling. We’ll touch on that for sure. But in undergrad, majoring in econ, focused on finance with some focus in environmental studies on the side. And you’ve done all kinds of clubs and you’ve had great experiences throughout undergrad. One of the reasons I reached out is because you’ve had that full undergrad experience. We want to learn all about that. So, I start every interview with the same question. And we just want to learn how you ended up at Colby and what that process was like.

Kelly: I am from Utah and yes that is very far away from Colby. But I actually had learned about like the NESCAC schools through going to boarding school in Connecticut. And so that was what inspired my like college search. I really liked being able to have a small community and know everyone. And I wanted to maintain that feel for my college experience. And so then I started looking at NESCAC schools and I was actually looking at some of the other NESCACs in Maine when my mom and I were doing our whole college road trip. And we drove past Colby and figured, why not just check it out while we’re here? And it was that very cliché, like people say, you felt like you were at home. And so that was my experience right off the bat, especially with the people I met. So that was how I ended up at Colby, just because I couldn’t stop thinking about it after I visited.

Interviewer: Yeah, it’s very cool. So you got connected to this part of the country through boarding school. That’s a cool detail. I didn’t know that. Did that solidify wanting to be in this area? Were you looking at a lot of other schools too?

Kelly: It was a few on the West Coast, but mainly on the East Coast, just because I loved my experience in Connecticut and adopted being an East Coaster after that. And I knew like after college, I wanted to be somewhere on the East Coast, like Boston or New York. And so it just worked out that way. I was very open to where I’d go, but I knew I wanted to some extent be on the East Coast and at a smaller school that wasn’t necessarily in a city because I know I’ll have plenty of years to experience the city. So Maine’s a great time for that.

Interviewer: Yeah, definitely. And then boarding schools sometimes are attached to the reputation that they feed into colleges and certain colleges. They’re just really quality educational institutions. Were there a lot of students that were looking at similar schools to you in your class? Do you remember if they were doing that too?

Kelly: Yes, I find that a lot of kids, both from my boarding school, but also from other boarding schools, look at the NESCAC school system because they really like the smaller, liberal arts institutions. Specifically at Colby, there’s actually a few people from my high school here, but it’s definitely a common theme that I’ve met people that went to other boarding schools. And so that’s a nice intro. But there is something that Colby’s guilty of is like we call it “just outside of Boston.” So we have people from all different places, but especially, like, a good “just outside of Boston” community. That’s a big thing.

Interviewer: That reminds me of growing up on the ski mountain and you ask someone where they’re from on the weekend, it’s always “right outside Boston.” So that goes across social circles as well, for sure. That’s really cool. So you end up at Colby. I’ve been there a bunch of times. You might, again, you probably know about the partnership we have through my job at Tuck. And always an excuse to go back, which is amazing. I love visiting. So I’m going to ask you to rewind. Four years ago, give or take three and a half whatever it is, but um, and just ask about that transition. Was it easier because you had gone to boarding school away from home? What was it like showing up on campus freshman year, and how was that transition?

Kelly: Honestly, it was— for me, I am a pretty talkative person, and I also really like meeting new people, so I was very nervous. But I also was really excited for the experience. And I think the thing that boarding school helped a lot with was just I didn’t experience much homesickness. But definitely, going through orientation again, boarding school was a pre-college experience. So I was well aware of what to expect. But I also feel like there was a lot of unexpected. But yeah, arriving on campus was—it was awesome. I also didn’t know anyone. And so that’s the way I liked it anyways. It was nice because I got to meet familiar faces along the way, but then also like so many more new people through—we do an outdoor orientation program and also just like a regular orientation program, which they’ve changed now, but at the time when I showed up that’s what we had. So it was like you had all these different circles. And also when I showed up, I was on the crew team and so I had a lot of different backbones of community, which was really nice.

Interviewer: That’s really cool. So you knew you were going to do the crew team going to Colby or was that something you started once you got there?

Kelly: That was something I walked on for. So I knew going in the summer, I had decided I was going to walk on. And so I met the team. And it was such a great group of girls that they all just helped over the summer with anticipating my transition. And then when I arrived, I knew I had that group. And then obviously the other like school-facilitated groups were really helpful.

Interviewer: Easing the transition and meeting more people and faces. Yeah, that makes a ton of sense. Are there a lot of admins involved? I mean, maybe not as much with the crew but with the orientation, the onboarding, all those things. Who are you meeting first? Is it faculty, is it staff?

Kelly: The first thing, honestly, when you arrive, the first people you meet are students. And I’ve learned through my experience—I did orientation two years in a row because I liked it so much—but you’re helping with the move and you’re doing that and orchestrating that. I think the admin does so much for the school, but also I noticed it’s very much a collaborative environment, and that was the first thing you see when you arrive is just people trying to help you and ease your transition, specifically from like the level of being a student too.

Interviewer: Yeah, sure. That makes sense. And so you’re—so remind me, what was the title of the group you were in for your econ club? Is it econ?

Kelly: So I’m one of the leaders for the Colby Economics Club and then also for the Women in Economics and Finance Club.

Interviewer: Okay. So kind of dabble around.

Kelly: Yeah, a ton of things.

Interviewer: That’s good. And I mean, in leadership positions, you’re going to be busy all the time and you’re organizing trips and stuff. But so I have questions around that and I was just curious. On the freshman topic, are you starting to explore those things first year or do you get settled and then you try it sophomore, junior year? How did that work?

Kelly: That’s probably one of the things I wish I had done sooner. Colby was like, everyone goes to the club fair and you sign up for everything. And then I think my experience was I just completely overwhelmed myself. I signed up for farming club and outing club and then all these different—everything. And so I kind of got a little lost. I was, what do I do? But I think usually most people will join freshman year. The great thing about the clubs are there’s never a wrong time to join. And so most of the finance clubs I’m involved in now, I joined my sophomore year. I do—I wish I had joined sooner, but again it wasn’t the wrong timing. It worked out just fine. And especially with building my—not only my network at Colby and beyond, but one of the other clubs I’m a member of is the Colby Student Investment Association. And so what they do is each semester you do a stock pitch and that helped a lot with building the skills that I needed for a job that I was looking for in banking or finance in general. And then I think the other clubs—Colby Economics Club and Women in Economics and Finance—it helped with creating and facilitating the environment at the school and beyond.

Interviewer: That’s cool. For the stock pitch, is it to other students or do you have faculty and admins involved too?

Kelly: Yeah, so every club has a faculty advisor. So you get to collaborate, especially as leadership, with them. But then with the Investment Association, basically you’ll get split into different groups and every semester, it’s a different sector that you’re focusing on. So you get exposure to everything. And so you’ll do the pitch. And the cool thing is one of the professors that I have now worked with is the advisor for that club. So he’ll come to the stock pitches and give feedback. And so that’s really helpful, especially getting student feedback as well because I think there’s a lot of different resources that people in the club tap on between the younger individuals and also the individuals with internship and job experience.

Interviewer: So yeah, it’s a good mix of underclassmen, upperclassmen, and then the faculty advisors—always a really big thing. Is that really popular at Colby? Are these groups really big or is it pretty condensed with smaller groups of students?

Kelly: I would say club sizes definitely range. But I think especially econ—economics is a very demanding subject at Colby. Everyone wants to be involved in it in some capacity. And that’s the great thing about these clubs too—there’s no prerequisites for any of them. It’s just if you’re interested, you’re interested. And that’s completely embraced. And so generally, especially with the finance and econ clubs, it’s a larger group of people, which is nice because it’s a lot more people you get to work with.

Interviewer: Yeah, for sure. Did anything surprise you about it in terms of getting involved? Was it similar students with similar interests? Obviously, they’re all interested in econ, but in econ the career paths can span literally anything as we’ve kind of touched on. So is that what you experienced or was it pretty familiar going into that?

Kelly: I think I was honestly just pleasantly surprised with the vast range of options for clubs and things you can get involved in. Every year, every semester when we have a club fair, I learn of a different club that’s new. That’s the great thing—the school makes it so accessible to start something if you’re interested in it and gives you the resources to do so. I mean, we have a real estate investment club, we have a consulting club. There’s really—if you have an interest in any type of avenue, that’s the cool thing, is that there’s somebody else. And if there’s not, you can start that. So that’s what I think I was pleasantly surprised by. Because you think, especially at a small school like Colby, every semester you think you finally know the school inside and out and you’re surprised with new things. It’s cool because it’s familiar but new at the same time.

Interviewer: There’s something about the NESCACs. I know it’s a small school, but even being there for four years in your situation, there’s always something going on that’s new. I think the clubs and organizations, especially that I see at Dartmouth—it was 215 when I started working there and now it’s over 200. I didn’t even know those interests existed and I was at a club fair. And there’s 10 students meeting and they’re going somewhere, they’re traveling, they have a budget—it’s crazy. So that’s really cool.

Kelly: Oh, I know. I didn’t know—there’s a club to go polar plunging. There’s literally a club. There’s a tea club—anything, really. Which was so cool.

Interviewer: That’s probably a little less resume-y.

Kelly: Yeah, it’s an extracurricular focus.

Interviewer: Yeah, yeah, you gotta do both. Well, clearly econ—I mean, econ is big, especially at the liberal arts, and with an interest in business, I think you can combine it with other things to get experience. So I’d love to look at how you landed on econ and just what it’s led to for internship options. So we’ll start talking about that a little bit. But did you—was econ just a funnel from your boarding school experience? Do you have family or friend impact that have influenced that decision, or did you just know going into Colby econ was the way you wanted to go?

Kelly: I knew for a while—at least in high school, I had figured out that I wanted to go into some finance in some capacity, or just doing business. So then when I came to Colby, I took my time to figure out what I liked. I took a chemistry class my freshman fall—quickly figured out that’s not my strong suit. But I definitely—that’s when I started to be, okay, I think business or finance is definitely something I want to do. And the great thing about the econ major at Colby is there’s an option for a track to do a concentration in financial markets. And so that’s Colby’s equivalent to competing with an actually business-focused school coming from a liberal arts background. And so that was just—I knew, instantly, I declared that. And then, I think also learning from upperclassmen—whether it was on my team at the time or from friends that I knew—hearing about the different majors, knowing that it was also an option to change my major helped a lot. But when I started taking the econ classes, I knew I liked it immediately and wanted to declare that.

Interviewer: That’s cool. And then, within that, I’m guessing you have some version of an advisor, and then that leads to career resources and different events and things you can access. Is that the process you used to get your first internship, or was it cold outreach? What was that like?

Kelly: I think a combination of both. So, the school has a lot of resources. My advisor is really helpful. We also have Davis Connects, which I’m sure Tuck Bridge has worked with. But the great thing about them is it’s basically our career center. And so that was very helpful, especially in the beginning stages of building a resume, because that was just not something I had in high school. So that was part of it. And then the other part of it was, I just did cold outreach. One—with alumni from Colby at banks I was interested in to learn about—I was trying to figure out if I wanted to do a large bank or small bank. I didn’t even know if I wanted to do banking at first. And so it was helpful to hear from our immediate network about that. And then from there, do more cold outreach if we didn’t have any alumni or I didn’t have any personal connections—just shooting my shot. And if it picks up, it picks up. I think that’s the nice thing about building the relationships—if you can just talk to someone and learn more, then you have that relationship moving forward. So that’s what I found to be very beneficial.

Interviewer: It seems to be one of your main skill sets where you just get into an environment with people, you get acclimated, and you make connections. And I wanted to highlight one thing that I heard in what you were just saying—where a lot of students that don’t know what they want to do—that was me, especially in undergrad. You got a sense of it, it sounds like, by senior year. It’s like, OK, banking is really interesting. But even in narrowing that down, you just said—you narrowed it down to Colby alums, certain banks you’re interested in, small versus big. Not all students are looking at those details. So that’s some of the value that this conversation brings, in my opinion. But even within that—in narrowing it down with those three different things you just touched on—you still can have 5, 10, 15 people that you have to reach out to or apply to or whatever. So even when it’s that niche or focused, it’s still so much work. And I think it’s just important to point that out. You could cast a really wide net, apply to 200 things, maybe you land something. But it always comes back to the work and you making connections. And I just wanted to highlight that skill because I think it comes so naturally to you, but you don’t even realize that that’s hard for other people. So I think that’s a cool thing to just point out in your story—that you’re just gonna pick up a conversation and go for it, you know? So I think that’s awesome.

Kelly: Thank you. I think it also took so much time of coming out of my shell and being comfortable with rejection. I feel a lot of people—and I’ve talked about this with seniors too, now that we do have jobs—nobody ever talks about the rejection or not getting a job. Everyone always talks about the success of it. And so it’s recognizing where there is a struggle in the process. Talking about it breaks that barrier and makes you feel more comfortable. And so that’s been, I think, a large effort of a lot of my peers in the leadership positions of the clubs we’re in.

Interviewer: Yeah, definitely. And did you say you all have jobs—most of your friends do—going into senior year?

Kelly: My friends in banking, for the most part, yes. But also, I think it took a lot of—I don’t know. A lot of my friends also didn’t have jobs. Some of my friends still don’t have jobs. And it’s a very—I think it’s just normalizing that there’s no actual specific timeline. I think it’s good, especially senior year, when you’re trying to figure out this transition. There’s no actual timeline for getting a job or doing things—it’s just specific to you. And I guess breaking down the status quo. But yeah, it’s been a range of people. My roommate did banking as well this past summer. And so we were very lucky to have the opportunity to go back to our banks for full-time. But that’s also not the case for everyone, and we’re very cognizant of that.

Interviewer: I’m assuming our 10-minute thing will pop up soon, so I’m just gonna hone in on the career side of things. And just as you’re touching on—perfectly fine to name the bank and the position you’re going to go into—I’d love to hear about what the role is and how the interview process went.

Kelly: Yeah, so I’m working at Houlihan Lokey. And when I interned for them last summer, I worked in their tech group doing M&A. And it was a really cool position. I think the tech sector was just extremely exciting because it really is changing and growing rapidly. And so I think that’s the cool or enticing thing to me about banking—it’s something new every day. But especially in tech, it’s a constant learning curve, which I learned this past summer. And I think seeing—especially my peers and the individuals I was working with—so excited about what they’re doing every day really inspired me. And I also was not sure how the experience would be. But the minute I started, I knew it was the career and the place I wanted to be. Because the time just flew by. And that’s not something I’ve necessarily ever really experienced before. And so I was, okay—this is meant to be. I really like what I’m doing. And I felt so lucky to experience that. And so then at the end of the summer when I got my return, it was an instant yes—obviously, yes, I’d love to. And so I’m going back there full-time starting this summer. And I’m beyond excited. It definitely also speaks to why I went to my boarding school and why I went to Colby. I’ve always wanted that smaller environment experience where I can have more of a hands-on educational learning opportunity. And I think the cool thing about Houlihan that was very appealing is it’s growing, but maintaining that small-bank feeling. And so that’s why I just knew that that was the place to be.

Interviewer: Cool. I can imagine going into the interview, you’re kind of just getting welcomed and then seeing if things align. And obviously it’s still really competitive and all that stuff. But have they kind of prepped you for the things that are going to change right out the gate? Is there additional training beyond the internship, or is a lot of the work and the projects very similar?

Kelly: There is additional—there’s training going into the internship. But I think a lot of it, for me, was I wanted to prepare myself to really give it the most. And so I tried to utilize the resources I had at Colby going into it. And then I think a lot of it’s also just really learning on the job. That was my experience. Everyone was very invested in my success and in my learning from the experience. And so that was, if I didn’t know something, they absolutely immediately were happy to explain it to me. And that, I think, spoke volumes to me about the culture.

Interviewer: Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. Well, just another big congratulations. I can’t imagine the feeling. I did not have a job—at least a year or so into grad school, right out of undergrad. That felt similar where I bought a year to try to figure things out. But I can only imagine just the relief and the excitement as a senior—that’s got to feel really good. So no, congrats, it’s a big deal.

Kelly: Thank you.

Interviewer: That’s awesome. And you said it’s Houlihan? Am I saying that right?

Kelly: Yes.

Interviewer: Okay. Very cool. Well, that’s awesome. So, yeah, big things coming up over the summer, which is huge. But back to Colby—just to end on a similar question I always ask. I think you made the most of undergrad. It’s not just about job offers, it’s not just about being in clubs and all the really cool stuff we’ve talked about. But I think people want some return on investment—whether that’s friendships or mentorships or outcomes like jobs. But do you have one big tip or what’s your best advice for making the most of your undergrad experience?

Kelly: I would say just approach everything with an open mind and an open heart. Especially, being friendly goes a really long way. Something I adopted at boarding school is just saying hi to people or smiling at people even if you don’t know them—because I think that goes a really long way. I’ve had so many friendships form just from someone saying hi or asking a question in class. And I think especially in undergrad, where everyone is trying to figure themselves out and grow into who they’re meant to be, it’s really valuable to just be kind and open to experiences and people. You never know where a conversation can lead. Some of my closest friends and best opportunities have come from those little moments. And also—don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. Whether it’s applying to something you feel underqualified for or joining a club you know nothing about, it’s all part of the process. I think sometimes we’re so scared of failure that we forget how much we learn from just trying. So yeah, just stay curious and stay kind, and it’ll all come together in a way that’s meant for you.

Interviewer: That’s such a good note to end on. It’s almost a Colby version of “say yes to the moment,” right?

Kelly: Exactly! That’s a good way to put it.

Interviewer: Well, Kelly, this has been awesome. You clearly have done an amazing job making the most of everything Colby has to offer, and you’ve got a great story that I think a lot of people will find relatable and inspiring. Thanks so much for taking the time to chat.

Kelly: Thank you so much for having me! This was really fun.

Interviewer: Likewise! We’ll definitely be keeping up with all the amazing things you’re going to do at Houlihan and beyond. Best of luck with graduation and starting the next chapter.

Kelly: Thank you! I really appreciate it.

Interviewer: Take care!