Current Involvement: Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA), KPMG Network of Women (KNOW), Wreaths Across America and Ronald McDonald House Charities
Involvement while at Siena: I was a member of the Debate Team and Dance Team. My favorite volunteer activity as part of the dance team was creating a safe and inclusive Halloween tradition where neighboring communities could come trick or treat through the dorms and Siena Hall.
How do you involve yourself in your community?
One of the most exciting opportunities I have had as an alumna of Siena was to come back to Siena Hall and be on the panel of the Stack Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Spark Tank final presentations. It was likely more rewarding for me than any advice or coaching I could give back to the presenters. I was blown away with the creativeness, the skills and the bravery of all those who participated. I was honored to share my time and lessons I learned with those students and in return received a jolt of newfound energy and inspiration to innovate what I was doing. Outside of Siena, I enjoy volunteering with Wreaths Across America to place wreaths on 15,000 graves at Saratoga National Cemetery every year before Christmas to honor our veterans, as well as flags before Memorial Day.
Describe a typical day in your life.
If it’s a Monday I’m waking up at 4am to get to the airport to catch a flight to Nashville, TN. When I land I head to my Client’s office. I greet my 12 person team to run through what is due that week, changes in priorities and answer any questions. Each day I participate in meetings to draw out the needs and priorities of our c-level clients. I review presentations or reports my team has created to ensure we are doing all we can to support our Client’s mission for a healthier Tennessee. What I most enjoy, no matter the day, is supporting my team. The most rewarding part of my job is developing my team of incredibly talented people, to help them reach their career goals while balancing that with personal goals, help them through areas they get stuck, being their biggest cheerleader and managing any risk to them or our project.
How did your Siena education prepare you for the work you’re doing today?
Siena prepared me for the work I am doing today in two different ways. One very tangible way was my business law professor, Professor Dwyer, assisted me in the legal creation of my company I started after graduation. Less immediate, but still evident, was by honing my analytical skills, giving me basic business acumen to be financially secure and providing many opportunities for me to build my network for a successful career.
In a survey of our clients, the number one differentiator that set apart a great project team was that they displayed empathy for the client. Although empathy is not something that can be directly taught, I believe I learned to be more empathic through how my professors and counselors displayed it to me.
Describe your professional progression since leaving Siena.
Over the last 10 years I have been honing my craft as a self-starter in the role of a management consultant, working with commercial and government clients in the healthcare industry. When I graduated from Siena my first official job fell through due to the job market and other areas beyond my, or my hiring sponsor’s, control. The way I see it, this was my tipping point and I had two options – either become a product of the environment or more importantly become the exception. Thanks to a great mentor and my business law professor, Professor Dwyer, l started my own company. I hustled to win work, partnered with others, and did whatever it took. After 3 years of running my own small consulting company I was offered the opportunity to join KPMG. At KPMG I was able to continue to do what I liked and what I was good at but on a much greater scale. Currently, I partner with process owners at the department, division, and enterprise levels in highly regulated business areas heavily reliant on third party contracts and technology to deliver their mission goals while effectively managing billion-dollar operational budgets. I work closely with executive level clients developing lasting personal and professional relationships while assisting them to design and deliver programs that help meet today’s operations goals, regulatory demands and budgets while laying a foundation to ensure the enterprise’s future vision will be a cost-effective reality.
Siena Favorites
Professor: Dr. Cutler
Class: Constitutional Law
Location on campus: The seats in the library by the windows overlooking “the beach”
Study-break food: Sandwiches from Genoa Imports
Residence Hall: Hennepin Hall
Class Year: Senior Year. Senior year was my favorite because I was so lucky to have Dr. Cutler and the support of very active alumni set up an incredible opportunity for me to finish out my senior year. I attended classes at Albany Law School at night and interned with the New York State Department of Insurance during the day. Those two semesters taught me to what I wanted to do as a career and set my trajectory, for that I will be forever grateful.
Food in the Dining Hall: The never ending, any kind you could want, cereal bar.
Memory: It may be cliché, but it is true, my favorite memory is everyone always holding the door for you. Second to that was Ronald Moore hitting a 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left in the second overtime beating eighth-seeded Ohio State in the 2009 NCAA tournament.
Caitlin on her own graduation, as well as with each of her siblings as they graduated from Siena.
Advice for current students:
It goes by really fast. There is so much to learn and so much to do. I was lucky to live locally and took advantage of being able to attend summer semester classes. Whenever I had a particularly difficult semester I would lower the course load by one course and take it over the summer to keep me on track to graduate in the four year time frame that was my goal.
You may be absolutely sure you want to be a Doctor or Lawyer or Teacher or I-Banker but don’t pigeonhole yourself into only those classes that support your major. I never would have guessed how much I loved learning about finance or biology or met some of my good friends in marketing had I not taken my counselors advice for trying out of the box electives.
Take Professor Marcuccio’s Estate Planning course. Hopefully you will not have to use the knowledge you gain in this class for some time but as your grandparents and parents get older or you start a family, the knowledge you gain is this class will help you immensely.
Career advice for Saints:
Take as many internships as possible. Not only is it easier to get a job offer after interning, you may find out you dislike the field you thought you wanted to work in the whole four years you’ve been studying in. I was absolutely certain I wanted to be a lawyer focusing in the healthcare field.
Attend all the networking events that Siena puts on for you and don’t be afraid to blaze your own trial. It was at one of the pre-law networking events that Dr. Cutler, myself and some very kind alumni hatched a plan for me to be able to attend those Albany Law School classes.
Be curious and unafraid. Reach out to alumni on LinkedIn, ask them out for coffee. Ask them about their jobs, what they would do different, or any advice they have. If you are interested in a specific field, a job or just the topic don’t be afraid to pick up the phone. Although they may be busy and unable to get back to you right away all the Alumni I have ever met have been more than happy to help out another Saint.
