Working hard and getting good grades in school has been a career for Kelly Hogan. Throughout her high school years at Hatboro-Horsham High School, Kelly, a class of 2014 graduate, took her studies seriously. So seriously, in fact, that her parents never had to worry about her missing an assignment or bringing home less-than-stellar grades.
Kelly, who double majored in finance and management and graduated from Tulane University in 2018, continued pushing herself toward greatness during her college years. An Edward Taylor Coombs Foundation scholarship recipient, Kelly applied to and was accepted into the prestigious Burkenroad Reports class. The nation’s first university-sponsored securities analysis course, she learned firsthand how to research and write an analyst’s report about a company, which provided her with career-related skills.
The experience offered an “intensive, hands-on glimpse into the finance world,” according to Kelly.
A four-time Dean’s List honoree, Kelly made time for socializing in addition to academics as a member of the Pi Beta Phi fraternity.
How the scholarship helped
Kelly spent four and a half months of her junior year studying abroad in Madrid. The scholarship helped “lesson the burden” during that time and gave her the “freedom” to enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime experience studying in Spain.
“Getting any sort of financial help in college is such an advantage,” she said. “It was always so nice to have that extra cushion or money that I wouldn’t have had.”
Keeping an open mind
Early on in her college career, Kelly had considered minoring in Spanish and pursuing a career as an international businesswoman, but she eventually realized it was “more complex” than she had originally envisioned.
“There was a lot of geopolitical and other facets to it that I wasn’t super interested in,” Kelly recalled, adding that the role would also involve too much travelling. “I knew that I wanted to be in New York.”
In addition to the lure of the Big Apple, maintaining a healthy work-life balance was important. Realizing she did not want to become an investment banker who clocks 100 hours a week, Kelly consulted with her college advisor.
At the advisor’s suggestion, Kelly contacted every Tulane University alumnus on LinkedIn who worked in New York in a finance role.
“I was so driven,” she reflected. “I really had my heart set on moving to New York. I couldn’t move to New York if I didn’t have a job.”
Her diligence in reaching out led to a few interviews, which ultimately landed Kelly her current position at Kroll, an unclaimed property auditing company. She was hired for the position while in college and moved to New York one month after graduation.
“Five years later I’m so happy with my decision,” she said. “The culture is great, the work/life balance is great. In high school, I wouldn’t have even known this role had existed.”
Kelly’s advice: “Don’t pigeonhole yourself into thinking you’re only meant for this one role.”
Early influence
Long before Kelly’s earnestness in school led to career aspirations, she was positively impacted by Foundation namesake and childhood neighbour Edward Coombs and his family.
“He was five years older than me,” she said of Edward. “He was never too cool for the younger kids. He was always so warm. He was a good person, even at a young age.”
Kelly ran into him at a concert a month before his untimely passing in 2011. Then, as a freshman in high school, Kelly remembered Edward telling her she was too young to be tailgating with friends. He treated her with the “energy” of a big brother looking out for her.
Kelly felt a similar support system in Edward’s family. When she received her first-ever college acceptance letter, Mrs. Coombs happened to be walking her dog nearby.
“She was the person to know,” Kelly said of Mrs. Coombs. “She was celebrating with me, cheering. They’re such selfless people, and I’m honoured to have grown up near them and know them.”
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