The impact of conversations and community on one Veteran’s B-school experience
Jimmy England ’24, Two-Year MBA Program, is one of three co-presidents of the Kellogg Veterans Association (KVA). A 2017 U.S. Naval Academy graduate from Louisville, Kentucky, England served in the U.S. Marine Corps as an artillery officer and a foreign military advisor in Afghanistan and Jordan and was stationed at the U.S. Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego.
He is married to Rachel, a U.S. Navy veteran, and they have a 10-month-old son, Theodore, along with three cats (Felix, Louie and French Fry). In addition to his role with the KVA, he serves as a mentor with Service to School, a nonprofit that provides free college and grad school application counseling to U.S. military meterans. He is also vice president of media and events for Catholics at Kellogg, a student-led club.
Learn more about England’s leadership journey, including how Kellogg is preparing him to be a better business leader as well as how the school’s culture and community have been pivotal to his personal and professional growth.
After having a successful career in the Marine Corps, what motivated you to get an MBA at this point in your life?
My decision to leave the Marine Corps was primarily motivated by family. I had a blast during my five years there and wouldn’t trade those experiences for anything, but I had accomplished all that I’d originally set out to do and was ready for a change. I also wanted to start a family.
After a lot of thought and conversations with my wife and other friends who had transitioned from the military, I decided to get an MBA. All the career paths I was interested in would require me to get an MBA, and I knew that for finance careers, in particular, I would need a good base of skills that I didn’t yet have.
How do you feel your MBA experience at Kellogg is positioning you for career growth?
An MBA is a great way to change career paths — this is especially true for veterans since we’re making a huge transition. Beyond the academic experience at Kellogg, what I’ve learned from my classmates in the classroom and private settings have really broadened my perspective and have given me insights I didn’t have before.
Kellogg deliberately mixes student from different sections and pods to give everyone access to experiences and perspectives from different industries, backgrounds and countries. Getting to hear from former consultants, software engineers, operations professionals and other peers about their experiences and talk with them about lessons they have learned has given me plenty of insights as well as confidence. These conversations have been honest, deep and personal — for example, dealing with struggles including imposter syndrome. I’ve also gained a lot of honest advice across various industries and job roles.
I think every student veteran benefits tremendously from the business school experience, where we can pair our own military leadership experience with the technical expertise and leadership lessons of our classmates who are in many cases coming from the industries and companies that we’re targeting ourselves.
Leadership is defined by one’s ability to influence others. How has your experience in the Marine Corps translated into the classroom?
I think a lot of people have a misconception that military leadership is all about giving orders. It’s definitely true that orders get followed — there’s a constitutional obligation there. But military leaders, especially officers, who rely on the power given to them and not on the authority they earn fail quickly.
I’ve found that all of the leadership experiences, skills and lessons I learned in the military translate very well to the classroom environment and corporate world. Sure, there’s a big difference in application, language, terminology and culture, so you adapt your approach, but the core principles remain the same.
My transition was far from seamless — I picked up my discharge paperwork and was sitting in a classroom two weeks later. I didn’t really feel comfortable until about six months after classes began, and I even thought about withdrawing from the program completely. My wife and the KVA were really instrumental in keeping me in the game and smoothing out my transition. I tell people all the time that it’s not about the day you get out; it’s a months-long, and even years-long, process to transition successfully.
What about the community and culture at Kellogg stands out to you?
Kellogg really means what they say when they emphasize collaboration and leadership. This doesn’t just mean a bunch of group projects, although we certainly have plenty of those, it underpins everything we do. At Kellogg, I felt immediately welcomed, especially by other veterans and my close friends in my section. I know we’ll stay in touch far into the future.
I’m a mentor with Service to School, a nonprofit that helps veterans apply for college and graduate degrees, and I always tell my mentees to reach out to as many schools and clubs as possible and gauge their responses. Kellogg always stands out to them because of how engaged and eager current students are to talk shop and help applicants.
You’re involved in student-led clubs, including the Kellogg Veterans Association, Catholics at Kellogg. Why did you decide to take on leadership roles within those clubs on top of your other academic responsibilities?
I’ve always believed that people who can give back should. I view my involvement as a way to give back to future students — paying it forward from the previous leadership and the students who helped and advised my class.
Is there a professor, course or experience that has had a profound impact on you?
The experiences at Kellogg that have had the greatest impact on me were the (seemingly) ordinary conversations with my classmates and friends. Everyone contains “multitudes,” meaning that each individual has a complex, interesting story. The depth, feeling and perspective people have shared with me here time and time again have been really life changing, making for memorable encounters.
What’s one thing you’re excited about as you near the end of your MBA journey?
I’m really excited for my son, Teddy, to experience winter and spring in Evanston and all the fun events we did last year that he was too little to really enjoy or remember, especially Thanksgiving! As he’s gotten older, he’s been able to interact more and more with my friends and tag along on more events, and it’s just been the greatest thing to see him taking it all in.
Reflecting on your nearly two years at Kellogg, is there anything you’d say to a younger version of yourself?
With hindsight, I’d give myself pages and pages of advice! Specifically, Kellogg related, I’d say that first, try to relax as much as possible, but remember life isn’t about convenience, and second, it’s going to work out.
On relaxing, I think there’s a lot of pressure on Kellogg students to engage in each and every social and recruiting event. Our calendars fill up very quickly, and a lot of people feel burnt out sometime during their first year. I skew that way and tend to burn both ends of the candle. I think there’s a balance to be had. Don't say no to everything — you’re not here to nap — but I would encourage myself to be deliberate about how I use my time.
As for things working themselves out, I was really stressed during recruiting — especially with a baby on the way and then as a first-time parent after his birth — and then again as I decided I wanted to re-recruit this past summer. I could really have used a message from the future telling me it was all going to be okay! I ended up switching my desired role twice after doing research and learning more. I learned a lot during this process and wouldn't change anything. I'm confident I'm headed in the right direction. After graduation, my family and I will be moving to Cincinnati where I'll be joining Western and Southern Financial Group as an LDP associate.
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