Kelly
Principal, Evanston Office
Education
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, Ross School of Business
M.B.A., 2000
Memories of Michigan: I earned my M.B.A. through the evening program and worked part- or full-time the entire time. My most memorable event was being pregnant with my third child and not fitting into the seats in the lecture hall—they had to get me a special chair. No one from any of my classes that semester forgot me!
PURDUE UNIVERSITY
B.S. in Molecular Biology, 1987
Hometown
Kokomo, IN
ZS Career Path
Consultant, 2000
Manager, 2002
Principal, 2005
On the work
"A large surgical instruments company came to ZS with two key issues: they were facing increased competition and some possible changes in some of their hospital contracts and their sales representatives had way too many products to sell and could not do it all effectively. To answer the first question, we worked with the company to assess the responsiveness of their products to determine the profit maximizing size for the organization. We then assessed the impact of the contract changes and did 'what if' analyses. We also helped the client think through the different options for reducing the amount that reps had to do and ended up creating two separate sales organizations. I was the manager on the project—we had a team of nine people in total (the largest I have worked with). We presented our recommendation to the chairman and the company implemented all of our recommendations.
"We are now starting a new project with this client to answer similar questions for them in China. Here we have a smaller team—five people, but a lot more international travel. This project was a direct result of the work we did in the U.S. The client appreciated the rigor we brought to the process and asked for us to help them in the emerging Chinese market."
On ZS values
Treat People Right: "I have many, many stories to highlight my experiences at ZS. Probably the most important to me came when I had been with the company for less than six months. My project was very busy and the whole team was working hard. I received a call that my son was in the ER. My team kicked me out, took on my extra work (as if they did not have enough to do), and made sure that I focused on my family. While the crisis passed quickly, I will never forget the compassion and caring of my colleagues."
On life outside work
“As you may be able to tell, my family (husband and 3 kids) fill up my time outside of work. We run them from soccer practices to games and keep up with all the other friends and activities. When I have some spare time, I am involved in our church and love to read and take walks."
On the Evanston office
"I love the diversity of the Chicago area. There is a lot to do and see—we never get bored. We live in the suburbs and have lots of green, yet the city and all its activities are less than one hour away. It is a great reason for friends and family to visit."