Kelly Kamienski
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Age: 42
“Intrinsically motivated to work hard, play hard, and have a little fun doing both.”
Hometown: Phoenix, Arizona
Family Members: My incredibly supportive husband Kurt and I have two children, Kamilla (age 9) and Kingston (age 6).
Fun fact about yourself: Fun fact, I was born in Germany, but that is not the interesting part. I was born in Germany because my father flew F-16s in the United States Air Force and was stationed outside of Frankfurt at the time. Tragically, he passed when I was about 3 years old flying the F-16s that he loved. My father was an only child and the first in his family to go to college. He had an extremely strong work ethic and has inspired me to drive relentlessly (some may say stubbornly) toward achieving my goals. I only hope I can make him proud by inspiring the same tenacious spirit in my children.
Undergraduate School and Degree: I earned a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from Arizona State University, where I also graduated Magna Cum Laude and was a Barrett Honors College graduate. I also hold a Master of Accounting degree from the University of Arizona.
Where are you currently working? When I started at Wharton, I was the Chief Accounting Officer for Carlisle Companies Inc. (NYSE: CSL), but three months into the program, I moved into a business leader role, serving as the VP of Finance and Chief Financial Officer for our Weatherproofing Technologies segment.
Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles: I stay dedicated to my children and my community by serving as the Treasurer and Executive Board Member of my children’s Parent Teacher Organization. Our mission is to enhance the quality of education by raising funds for school programs, equipment, resources, or supplemental materials that fall outside the school budget. We also provide volunteer support to increase student safety and security; and to facilitate the educational experience. I find playing an active role in providing the best academic experience for my children and the community very rewarding.
I am a member of Women of Carlisle, an employee resource group focused on fostering an inclusive environment where all women are recognized and supported to reach their full potential in support of Carlisle’s Vision 2030. I have had the opportunity to be a guest speaker at a Women of Carlisle event and share my passion for and insights on being a female leader within Carlisle.
While not a sponsored Wharton club, I am an active member of the Wharton San Francisco Supper Club, which consists of a group of classmates that congregate on Friday nights to enjoy the great cuisine around beautiful San Francisco and share our thoughts from the most recent class weekend.
I am also an avid runner, albeit slow. While it is difficult to find the time, I find exercise is therapeutic and aligns my mental and physical well-being. I had the opportunity to complete my first half-marathon in San Francisco with some of my classmates and it was a great experience.
I graduated from the Wharton School in the top 5 percent of my graduating class as a Palmer Scholar.
Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I am most proud to be a Wharton graduate! Not because of the degree I earned, but because of the experiences and friendships I will take with me. I feel that the curriculum for top MBA schools is probably comparable, but the caliber of professors and fellow students at Wharton is unmatched. After finishing my first master’s degree, I didn’t anticipate going back to school. However, I am glad I took the plunge and dedicated myself to the Wharton experience. It was challenging at times, especially juggling work, family, and community commitments, but I would do it all over again if given the chance.
What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? What I am most proud of in my career isn’t a title or a certification, but rather watching my former team members develop and grow in their careers. When I came to Carlisle in 2016, the company was in the process of moving the corporate headquarters from Charlotte, NC to Scottsdale, AZ. As one of the few local employees, I curated the new Scottsdale-based accounting team from my local network. We achieved a lot together as a team. As I eventually was promoted up and out of the department, I have watched as they have taken on more responsibility, thrived in new roles and grown with the company. I like to think I had a small hand in bringing those great people together and fostering an environment of continuous improvement that inspired them to continue doing great things, even after I was gone.
Who was your favorite MBA professor? It is really challenging to pick just one, but if forced, I would say Kevin Kaiser. I took Professor Kaiser’s Corporate Valuation and Corporate Restructuring classes. While these classes were interesting and relevant to my career, what made Professor Kaiser exceptional was his intensity and passion for value creation. He taught me traditional finance concepts by breaking all the neural connections in my brain that had been developed over years of what I’ll call “bad finance habits” and then rebuilt them with the proper understanding of value and what companies do to create it or destroy it. I now know how to be a blue line manager, and I am a better finance professional and business leader because of what I learned from Professor Kaiser.
I must also mention Jules van Binsbergen (Corporate Finance) and Gad Allon (Operations Strategy and Scaling Operations: Linking Strategy and Execution). Both of these exceptional professors are thought leaders in their respective fields and taught with enthusiasm, making the curriculum exciting and the experience engaging.
Why did you choose this school’s executive MBA program? At this point in my career, if I was going to go back to school, I wanted to go to one of the best business schools in the world. Wharton is known for having a superior finance program, and I wanted to learn finance from the best. There were certainly easier and more convenient options, but I wanted to challenge myself in one of the top Executive MBA programs.
I also have a colleague at Carlisle who was finishing the Wharton EMBA program around the time I was applying and he highly recommended it.
What is the biggest lesson you gained during your MBA and how did you apply it at work? When I started the program, my entire 17+ years of experience had been in accounting and financial reporting. I knew I wanted to expand my reach professionally and that getting an MBA would give me the foundational knowledge to take on roles with broader responsibilities. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to move into a finance role during the program, and I have taken concepts I learned at Wharton, from operational strategy to pricing policy, and used them to evaluate our current business practices. I have provided recommendations to improve my business segment’s ability to create value. Wharton has enabled me to go from reporting the numbers to driving them.
Give us a story during your time as an executive MBA on how you were able to juggle work, family and education? I don’t really have a story per se, it’s just everyday life. People call it work-life balance, but I like to think of it as work-life integration. I am one person who serves many roles, and in modern society, those roles are not time bound. Whether I am reading a case for class on the treadmill, finalizing our Monthly Business Review between my children’s sporting events, or presenting over Zoom in our all-employee call in between classes in San Francisco, I do my best to dedicate my time to my most important role in that moment.
What advice would you give to a student looking to enter an executive MBA program? I am a bit of a sneakerhead, so in the eloquent words of Nike, “Just Do It.” There is never a good time and always countless reasons why you should wait, whether it be a new promotion, a new relationship, or a new baby. You just have to trust that your community will support you and the investment in yourself will payoff exponentially.
What was your biggest regret in business school? I have no regrets about my time at Wharton. However, one missed opportunity was not going on a Global Modular Course trip. Given the constraints on my time from my commitments to work, my family, and the community, I couldn’t get away for a week to travel the world and learn about emerging topics in business. The stories, pictures, and experiences I heard about from my classmates who did attend GMCs sounded incredible, and I would have loved to have had that experience.
Which MBA classmate do you most admire? I’d have to say I most admire Jameel Janjua. Jameel and I are very like-minded, and we realized early on that we had similar motivations and goals for the program. We teamed up in class whenever possible, but I more so enjoyed our non-coursework conversations. Throughout the program, Jameel and I shared insights, inspirational messages, and most importantly, laughs. Jameel has accomplished feats that few people on this planet have, and I feel privileged to have learned alongside him at Wharton. He is truly “out of this world.”
I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention my absolutely incredible year one learning team, Team 7 – Coit Tower (teams are named after famous San Francisco landmarks). I was so fortunate to be placed with Molly Gosse, Hig Roberts, Toms Zvidrins, Zifu Wang, and Prakash Chockalingam. They each came from diverse backgrounds and brought a wealth of knowledge and experience to our team. I admit, I was apprehensive about group work entering the program, but I don’t think I could have had a better, more high-functioning team than Team 7. Go Coit Tower!
What was the main reason you chose an executive MBA program over part-time or online alternatives? Working in this increasingly remote working environment, I find that to make real connections you need to get together in person. Our leadership team convenes once a month for in-person meetings at one of our manufacturing facilities and I find the discussion richer and more engaging than when we are on a video conference. I figured the same logic would apply for an MBA program and I wanted to get the most out of the experience that I could. While traveling to San Francisco every other weekend put added stress on my family and work colleagues, the payoff from what I learned in-person from my professors and fellow classmates was well worth it.
How did you finance your EMBA and what did you do to make tuition and associated costs more affordable? I financed my degree through a combination of student loans and cash. I also graciously received partial tuition reimbursement from my employer. I couldn’t find a way to make tuition and associated travel cost more affordable, which is disappointing for a Finance major, but if I hear of any ideas, I will be sure to share them with the incoming cohorts!
What is more important is that the tuition is an investment in yourself. Let’s be honest: an MBA from Wharton is an expensive endeavor. However, if you realize that you are worth betting on, then it’s a necessary and justified price of admission.
What is your ultimate long-term professional goal? My ultimate goal is to deliver sustainable value creation. A logical next step in my career would be the CFO of our parent company, where I can leverage my ideas for value creation across the broader Carlisle business. However, I don’t want to limit myself to just finance roles. Some of my favorite classes focused on strategy and execution, and if this program taught me anything, it’s that I’m more than just an accountant.
With this incredible Wharton experience coming to an end, one silver lining is that I will have more time to dedicate to my professional goals. I will also be looking to expand my impact to other organizations, whether through serving on a board or philanthropy.
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