Why Bain?
To me, Bain is an opportunity to learn many different skill sets and acquire lots of experience across many industries and functions. I knew that sort of background would help me address large, societal transformations that I believe need to take place.
It’s also an opportunity to work in a very supportive community with people of all backgrounds and interest areas. It’s a place I feel supported, and I’ve never felt like I’m swimming out there alone. We have a common commitment to each other and to delivering great work.
What has it been like transferring offices?
I did a six-month experience- share in our Mexico City office, and it was great. I really wanted the opportunity to work outside the US and to improve my Spanish. There, I worked on a case with a large, multinational consumer goods company and served on multiple private equity due-diligence projects that looked at companies across Latin America. It was really valuable to learn about business outside the US, and it also showed me that when you build skills in one Bain office, they’re transferable.
Mexico City is also a beautiful place and I highly recommend it to anyone.—I am immensely glad I went. It might have been challenging speaking another language at first, and feeling like I was slower than others, but putting yourself in that context gives you empathy for others who are also trying something new.
How has diversity played a role in your experience?
I’m a member of our Women at Bain affinity group and a leader in our Washington, DC Black at Bain community. They’ve been a great opportunity to connect with people in the office and I think it’s important that Bain puts resources behind all talent populations, including those that have been historically underrepresented.
Since starting, I’ve also been a strong supporter of our other affinity groups and active in leading or contributing to our social impact efforts, and doing extracurricular case advising. Particularly in my early years at Bain, it was a great opportunity to connect organizations and experiences that tied me back to my foreign policy experience.
What should candidates know?
There are two things that continue to impress me: the first is how supportive the people are. Since I wasn’t a recruit in school, I didn’t know about Bain’s culture. But while interviewing, I was continually comforted by how welcoming the people were. Early in my tenure, those around me on my case team or in my seating area would always take time out of their day to help if I asked. That’s still the case many years later.
The other important thing to know is how valuable an initial foundation in the generalist experience is. My personal mission is to bridge public and private systems to create true societal change. The ability to do so requires changing how business functions collaborate within a company, how companies across industries interact, and how the public, private, and non-profit sectors interface. It’s made me a more creative and expansive thinker, because I wasn't stuck in one silo specializing early on. I think to truly be effective at achieving massive transformation like sustainability, you need that generalist experience, and you can get that here.
