The Kellstadt alumna discusses her career in structured finance and how owning your professional development can help you blaze your path
Cristina Jennings (MSF ’16)
In this series, Kellstadt alumni share how they got to where they are today in their careers. Our next spotlight is Cristina Jennings, who graduated with a Master of Science in Finance from Kellstadt in 2016. Today, Cristina works at Fitch Ratings as a director in their structured credit department. She lives in Chicago.
As a director in structured credit…
My primary role is to analyze new-issue collateralized loan obligations (CLOs) backed by broadly syndicated and/or middle market loan collateral. CLOs are a type of Structure Finance product. In other words, my primary job function is to issue credit ratings that provide an indication of a fixed income investments’ (for instance, a CLOs) ability to meet its financial commitments (such as interest and principal payments). I provide investors with an assessment of relative risk.
I present my rating recommendations to a committee and publish presale reports for market participants. The reports explain Fitch’s credit view and identify any provisions in the CLO’s governing documents that may present a risk to investors.
What I like best about my job…
We work in a pretty fast-paced environment, which I love because there is always something to do and I feel like I’m constantly learning something new and expanding my knowledge base. Fitch has a collegial atmosphere, which is something that is extremely important to me; it’s one of the reasons I have stayed with the company for the past 11 years.
Biggest challenge of my job…
While I do love a fast-paced environment, it can become difficult at times when you are working on many transactions simultaneously. However, we all work as a team and have a good system in place to get through periods when we have a heavy workload.
How I got here…
The first exposure I had to securitizations was when I was interning at an insurance company during my undergrad. I spent most of my time analyzing residential collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs). These are another type of fixed income investment. It was during the heart of the financial crisis and was truly a crash course in the world of securitizations. That experience landed me a job at Fitch Ratings in their Structured Credit department.
I did not expect to end up where I am today. At the time, Structured Finance was not a subject commonly covered in school; however, the internship I had really taught me a lot about the sector, especially during such a volatile time. It has been fascinating to see the evolution of the market over the last decade.
Things I did to help me get here…
I have always taken the initiative to volunteer for projects/assignments that I knew would strengthen my analytical skills and expand my knowledge base. I invested my time in becoming a subject matter expert in CLOs, and my efforts were clearly recognized and appreciated at work. The Master of Science in Finance program at Kellstadt also strengthened my analytical skills, which helped me become successful in my career.
Fitch is a corporate member of the Women’s Bond Club, a global organization for women in financial services, and in 2018 I was selected to participate in their rising star program, which included coaching sessions designed to help me develop my own leadership style. Being selected for this program was a turning point in my career. I was just beginning to assume management responsibilities and participating in a coaching program of that caliber really helped refine my management skills.
The Kellstadt course that has helped me the most in my career…
The money and capital markets course I took with Professor Lamont Black was incredibly beneficial, especially as I was working full-time while in the master’s program. The applied concepts we used to determine the operations of the money and capital markets are tools that I still use to this day.
Advice for Kellstadt students interested in my career…
The best advice I can give is to find a mentor in the field who can provide guidance and talk to you about various career paths in structured finance and/or a rating agency. Also, if there is a particular area of structured finance that interests you, then take the initiative to learn as much as you can about that sector. Do some research to see if there are any webinars or conferences you can attend to begin networking with people in the industry.
Read the other spotlights in this series:
Mike Mercado (MBA ’16), senior manager of product strategy for Discover Bank, shares insights from his career journey in business strategy and the importance of following your curiosity.
Tommy Lubinski (BUS ’09, MST ’11, MBA ’15), product manager for adidas Basketball, talks about how he landed his dream job working in the sports apparel and footwear industry.
Angela Yang (MBA ’19), strategic analytics supervisor for FCB Chicago, describes how she transitioned from a career in advertising to healthcare strategy.
The first-generation MBA graduate shares insights from his career journey in business strategy and the importance of following your curiosity
In this series, Kellstadt alumni share how they got to where they are today in their careers. Our next feature is Mike Mercado, a senior manager of product strategy for Discover Bank, the deposits arm of Discover. Mercado completed the part-time MBA program with dual concentrations in entrepreneurship and business strategy & decision-making in 2016. Chicago-born and raised, he now lives just outside of the city in Park Ridge, Ill.
Mike Mercado/Amanda Nippoldt Photography
As a senior manager of product strategy…
I’m responsible for the strategy, financial performance and roadmap for Discover’s savings, Certificate of Deposit and retirement products. On any given day that could look like leading market research to better understand the needs of our customers, partnering with finance to understand how to meet these needs in a viable way or working with agile teams to build the features to meet those needs.
Biggest challenge of my job…
Balancing the needs of the customer and the business can be really challenging, particularly in large publicly traded companies. That is why it is so important to have a clear and properly socialized strategy in place. What is our vision? Who is our customer? How will we solve their most valuable problems in a sustainably differentiated way? If you know the answer to questions like these it becomes possible to make investments in long-term growth rather than chasing short-term returns.
What I like best about my job…
I love the variety of work you get to do when working in product. A lot of people say that working in product is like being a mini-CEO, which I think is true in terms of scope. If consumer preferences change or new FinTech challenges emerge, I’ve got to think about the strategic, financial and operational implications.
I also really enjoy the challenge of trying to figure out how to help people save more money. There is so much that goes into that decision at the individual level. I find it fascinating to unpack the psychology behind it, and motivating to feel like if I do my job well, I can help do some good.
How I got here…
Over the course of my career I’ve worked in technology, marketing and strategy, so transitioning to product has felt natural, but it was not an intentional outcome. I am a first-generation high school graduate without many relatives who have experience in corporate America. As a result, most of the jobs I’ve held I didn’t even know existed before I started my career. I wish I could say things have gone exactly as I’d planned, but really my career path has been more about chasing opportunities to solve interesting problems, all while working for someone I could learn from.
Mercado with his “strategic analysis for competing globally” capstone course team in fall 2016 on the Loop Campus.
Things I did to help me get here…
I think the two most important things I’ve consistently done to help me get to where I am today are following my curiosity and deliberately working to improve my communication. I’m a naturally curious person—I love learning how things work. This drives me to constantly ask various forms of “why,” which has been such a powerful tool because if you ask “why” over and over you’ll either run out of “whys” and arrive at first principles, or you’ll run out of answers and arrive at new opportunities. However, you need communication skills to articulate these first principles or new opportunities to others. While I was in Kellstadt, I remember trying out different communication styles while working on group projects to help me figure out what works best in different situations and with different types of people.
The Kellstadt faculty member who helped me the most in my career…
Professor Rafael Tenorio and Associate Professor Zafar Iqbal both made a big impact on my career. Early in my career while I was working in technical roles, I got a lot of feedback that I needed to be more “strategic,” but no one could ever tell me what that really meant. Rafael and Zafar’s courses really helped me understand strategy as a discipline, and their debate-driven lecture styles gave me an opportunity to sharpen my point of view with my classmates. I’ve held strategy roles almost exclusively since graduating from Kellstadt and I don’t think that would have been possible without their help.
Advice for Kellstadt students interested in my career…
There are a lot of different paths into product. If you’re interested but are having trouble breaking into the field then I think it helps to build a strength in one of the sub-domains, which in my opinion are technology, user experience design and strategy. I think it can be easier to find roles focused in one of these areas, which you can then parlay into a product role.
Read the other spotlights in this series:
Tommy Lubinski (BUS ’09, MST ’11, MBA ’15), product manager for adidas Basketball, talks about how he landed his dream job working in the sports apparel and footwear industry.
Angela Yang (MBA ’19), strategic analytics supervisor for FCB Chicago, describes how she transitioned from a career in advertising to healthcare strategy.
The DePaul MST and MBA alumnus describes how he landed his dream job working in the sports footwear and apparel industry
In this series, Kellstadt alumni share how they got to where they are today in their careers. Next up is Triple Demon Tommy Lubinski, who earned his bachelor’s in accounting and master’s in taxation from DePaul’s School of Accountancy & MIS in 2009 and 2011 respectively, then completed his MBA in sports management, business strategy and strategy, execution and valuation in 2015. Today, Lubinski works as a product manager for adidas Basketball and lives in Vancouver, Wash.
Tommy Lubinski
As a product manager…
I manage various footwear and apparel product lines, including James Harden, Derrick Rose, Donovan Mitchell, Damian Lillard, Candace Parker and our team footwear range. I manage the product from the initial brief to the moment it ends up on retail shelves. In my day to day, I work cross functionally with designers, developers, merchandisers, our global markets and brand marketing teams to bring the product to life.
Biggest challenge of my job…
The biggest challenge we face as a team is working in the future. The product development lifecycle requires us to work well over a year in advance of a product being available for sale. In that time span, we must stay on top of trends, innovation and consumer needs. There is only so much that can be changed later in the process, so we really need to rely on consumer and athlete insights that we are constantly collecting.
What I like best about my job…
I love when I’m out and see people wearing the product I worked on. I also really enjoy working directly with athletes. It’s a high stakes game to continually build newer, innovative products that solve for an athlete’s or a consumer’s need. I’m privileged to work with an amazing team each day and stay connected to sport, which is something I have been fortunate to do throughout my career. I’ve also worked on some fun projects with external partners such as Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, LEGO and even Ric Flair!
Lubinski with NBA player Derrick Rose, at a dinner where they discussed Rose’s next shoe.
How I got here…
I’ve always been a “sneakerhead.” There was something about it that caught my eye as a kid. Finally in undergrad, as I started to buy more sneakers and realize that money could be made on rare shoes, I turned my hobby into a job. I would save up to buy multiple pairs of rare sneakers and then sell them. This helped me grow my personal collection as I was going to classes.
I always knew I wanted to work in this industry but didn’t really know the right way to go about it. My undergrad degree was in accounting from DePaul and I tried applying for various accounting and finance jobs at footwear companies upon graduation with zero luck. I basically gave up on it until I started working at a sports agency and saw some of the endorsement deals that our athletes were signing. It really sparked my interest and when I was pursuing my MBA, I decided to go all in on my dream and ended up landing at adidas in the summer of 2015 as an MBA intern in Concept to Consumer.
Things I did to help me get here…
I actually gained a lot of the industry skills, experiences and insights by being a consumer. I’ve camped out for shoes, woken up extra early for them and even traveled to get an edge on getting rare shoes. Looking back, I see those days as the very early stages of my learning how important networking is. I built relationships with store owners and managers over the course of many years of buying and selling sneakers. In regard to basketball experiences, I played since I was a kid and when I got to DePaul, I had the opportunity to join the practice team for the DePaul Blue Demons Women’s Basketball. I got to see the behind the scenes of Coach Doug Bruno coaching and witness all his leadership qualities that make the DePaul Women’s Basketball one of the best programs in the nation year in, year out. That was my biggest takeaway during all those years, besides the competitiveness you need in sports. It’s all come full circle now as I’m currently creating products for that younger version of myself.
The Kellstadt faculty member who helped me the most in my career…
Andy Clark, director of the Sports Business Program, was a major contributor to my success in the sports world. He believed in me and was integral in my pursuit of getting into the footwear and apparel industry. During my time at Kellstadt, I was working at a sports agency and doing taxes for athletes. It was in my Sports Sponsorship course that I learned about the San Diego Sports Consulting course. Andy taught both courses and helped me realize my full potential. The San Diego course provided me with real world experience. We not only partnered with two other universities, but I also got the chance to work in conjunction with the San Diego Padres and Chargers to tackle a real-life business case. The two-week consulting project challenged me to work with other students I didn’t know, utilize market research platforms and present findings to senior leaders of the organization. This course is a boot camp in the world of sports and networking.
Advice for Kellstadt students interested in my career…
There are a few pieces of advice I give to people.
No. 1: know the industry and consumer. One of the best ways to do that is to work in retail. In downtown Chicago, you have so many brands and opportunities to work with as a student. Retail isn’t the most glamorous job, but you are learning about the product and interacting with the consumer daily. There is so much that can be learned from having a conversation and helping a customer with a purchase. This is the type of value that an intern or someone just coming in can bring. You would be surprised to learn how many people worked at an Adidas or sporting goods retailer prior to joining the headquarters team.
No. 2 is networking. I thought I understood what networking was but then I took the San Diego Sports Consulting course and that opened my eyes. The experience made me step up my game and connect with so many different people that helped build my confidence in pursuit of landing in this industry.
No. 3: stay committed and don’t get discouraged. Most of us don’t get our dream job upon graduation. But if you don’t get hired by that company, don’t erase it from your memory. Instead, learn how you can leverage your experiences when you are ready to make that change. We all make career changes in life. I began to doubt that I would work in this industry, but six years later, I found myself signing a job offer on my childhood dream.
Read the first spotlight in this series on Angela Yang (MBA ’19), who works in healthcare strategy.
The DePaul MBA alumna describes how she transitioned from a career in advertising to healthcare strategy
In this series, Kellstadt alumni share how they got to where they are today in their careers. Kicking it off is Angela Yang, a 2019 DePaul MBA graduate who earned a concentration in health sector management. Today, Angela works as a strategic analytics supervisor for health and wellness accounts at FCB Chicago, a creative advertising agency. She lives in Des Plaines, Ill. but is originally from the Northwest suburbs of Chicago.
Angela Yang (MBA ’19)
As a strategic analytics supervisor…
I serve as an internal consultant to help put clients’ data into a story that tells them how their business is performing overall and where there are areas for improvement. For instance, pharmaceutical companies don’t just want to hear that there’s a 10% increase in website traffic and sales. They want to know the details and why: what content is their target audience looking at, what channels are they using and what are the key points of conversion that will get them to ask their doctor for that specific drug? Apart from creating a story out of those numbers, we work alongside account management to help retain and renew business.
Biggest challenge of my job…
Working with data can get tricky. Data platforms always have new and improved ways to report the data, which can turn into a lot of noise. It’s important to simplify the data as much as possible and grab the key takeaways because at the end of the day it’s my job to help our team satisfy the client.
What I like best about my job…
I like the challenges that it brings, especially with creative opportunities. Pharmaceutical companies are now prioritizing creative advertising, especially toward Healthcare Providers (HCPs) since most doctors are now those who grew up in a digital age. The way they interact with content online is much more intricate, and patients are now more proactive in learning about diseases and treatments through online research prior to consulting their doctors. At the end of the day, I know my job is making an impact in helping connect patients with treatments, and that makes the work more meaningful.
How I got here…
It’s funny because I originally tried to shift out of advertising. I got my bachelor’s degree in advertising and public relations from the University of Illinois, and then I worked at an agency for a few years. I decided I didn’t want to be in advertising anymore and wanted to find work that felt more meaningful. I didn’t need it to be a passion, but I was burnt out and wanted a career shift.
Once I was a student again, I had to do a lot of self-advocating and eventually landed an internship at a health technology startup that created a resident engagement solution for senior living communities. This eventually led me to another job at a healthcare data provider company, and I worked there for several years. I was able to officially make that career shift and get the experience working with pharma clients and data analytics.
It was at Kellstadt that I realized healthcare was making a big shift in their marketing strategies. I eventually landed the position I’m in now because not only did I have the healthcare background they were looking for but also the agency background as well. I honestly thought I would end up working at a pharma company or another startup, so I was pleasantly surprised to see how the universe took me full circle.
Things I did to help me get here…
“You’re in Kellstadt because you want to ‘manage’ in business and not just execute the work,” says Yang.
During my time at Kellstadt, I actively asked industry professionals for informational interviews and took on extra projects that were relevant to healthcare and data analytics. Even though I was in school, no one was “handing” me a job upon graduating or offering me interviews, so I had to be proactive about my professional development. On top of that, I sought out support and assistance from the Kellstadt Career Management Center, whose staff helped me a great deal even when the health sector management concentration was on its last leg during my final year. After I graduated, the concentration was updated to healthcare analytics. I also constantly reached out to Kellstadt alumni and went to conferences and events that would connect me with someone who could help. I was fortunate to have a few alumni who took the time to talk with me and point me in the right direction. I still keep in contact with them to this day.
The Kellstadt course that helped me the most in my career…
The consulting management course. We had to partner with a local nonprofit and create an implementation strategy to help improve the organization’s current business struggle. We had to do on-site visits to interview and collect data while simultaneously managing client expectations and sticking with the project timeline –very similar to a real account management scenario. Our end result was a full booklet that our client was able to take back to their team and put into action, which was rewarding.
Advice for Kellstadt students interested in my career…
Don’t solely focus on being fluent in crunching numbers. Learn how to present all of that in a creative way. You can volunteer to help on different projects or work part-time/interning while studying. These experiences will put you in different situations that will expose you to unique perspectives that can help you in the long run.
The market is oversaturated with people who know how to use Tableau, Python and Google Analytics. In business, we want to know the bigger picture, and you’ll hear that a lot. You’re in Kellstadt because you want to “manage” in business and not just execute the work. Even so, the job you get upon graduation may not always be your end-goal, but it can be a step in the right direction. Too often, I see my colleagues pass on opportunities because it doesn’t interest them or fit their expectations. It’s important to stay humble and work hard because the right opportunity will happen when you least expect it.
By Jessica Vazquez
It was always a goal of mine to obtain an advanced degree, but when I graduated with my bachelor’s from DePaul in 2007, I wasn’t sure what advanced degree I wanted to pursue, so I decided to join the workforce until I could figure it out. I started working in property management/real estate in both the private and public sectors, and I continued down that path for about seven years. While I moved up in my career and transitioned into mid-level management roles, I didn’t see many opportunities for upward mobility and I wasn’t finding my work fulfilling. I wanted a career change and I knew that going back to school to pursue an advanced degree was going to be a great way to jump start that change.
I decided that an MBA would refine my leadership skills, increase my earning potential and allow me to make a stronger impact on the world. I started researching programs in the Chicagoland area and was immediately drawn to DePaul’s Kellstadt Graduate School of Business.
I’ve always had an affinity to DePaul for several reasons: the alumni network is incredibly strong, the learning experiences are unique and hands-on, the resources available to students are abundant, and the university’s Vincentian values align with my personal values, which was important to me. In addition, I knew that Kellstadt offered a program that could fit my lifestyle as a full-time working professional and gave me the flexibility to plan my curriculum around what I was interested in. I applied and shortly thereafter, I was accepted into the evening MBA program.
On my study abroad trip to China in 2014.
Upon starting my MBA, I wanted to make meaningful connections with my peers, faculty/staff, and alumni and expand my personal and professional network. To do this, I got involved with the MBA Association, serving two terms on the board as vice president of events (2014 – 2015) and then president (2015 – 2016). In addition, I participated in two short-term study abroad trips to China and Cuba, both of which enriched my education in international business and fulfilled my passion for traveling and exploring other cultures and economies.
As I continued through my MBA journey, I needed help shifting to a new career path, so I visited the Kellstadt Career Management Center. They connected me with alumni who were working in careers I was interested in. These connections gave me the opportunity to learn more about those careers and solicit advice for my own path. I found these connections invaluable and instrumental to how I decided to pursue my new career in management consulting.
I completed my MBA in March of 2016 and shortly after, I started my job search for consulting roles.
Job searching as a career changer is challenging because you often have to justify your need or want for a change to employers, especially if it’s in a field you don’t have experience in. Having my MBA gave me a way to talk about why I was changing careers and enabled me to identify and articulate valuable transferable skills that I could bring to a new role.
On a work trip in South Africa in 2018.
In December of 2016, I started working at a boutique consulting firm in Chicago called The Shelby Group. As a consulting manager, I help clients transform their procurement programs domestically and globally by providing functional and technical leadership and expertise in procurement optimization projects and initiatives. This role has provided me with many opportunities to not only work with large global clients, but also travel to some really cool places in Latin America, Europe and Africa.
As I embarked on this new career, I found that my Kellstadt MBA prepared me well by teaching me how to be a critical thinker and effective problem solver, and how to lead and manage with meaning and purpose. Moreover, it provided me with the business acumen I needed to be successful in my career.
At my company’s annual awards ceremony in 2019. I won an award for Most Growth as a Manager.
For anyone who is looking to make a career change, my advice to you is “just do it,” as Michael Jordan would say. Pursuing an MBA is a great way to jumpstart that change. It offers you the opportunity to learn new skills, refine existing skills and explore different career paths that align with your goals. The decision to pursue my MBA at Kellstadt was one of the best decisions I could’ve made for myself financially, personally and professionally.
Jessica Vazquez is a manager at The Shelby Group, a boutique consulting firm in Chicago that focuses on procurement transformation through platform implementation and program optimization. She graduated from DePaul’s Driehaus College of Business with a bachelor of science in marketing in 2007 and earned her MBA in international business & marketing from the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business in 2014. When she’s not traveling for work, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, reading, singing karaoke and traveling with her fiancé for fun.
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