Jackie Scott: Consultant at Oliver Wyman and Founder of Allora Athletics

What led you to pursue a career in consulting?

I think the classic answer you'll usually get is that consulting brings lots of opportunities, and for someone who doesn't necessarily know what they want to do, it's a good option. I think that's all true, but I also do think there's nothing wrong with admitting to the fact that there is a bit of pressure to go into consulting.

But I think for someone who's just starting out their career, wherever you end up in your first two years will not define the rest of your career. So, I think you should just go for a job that you think is going to bring opportunities!

What drew you to Oliver Wyman?

Oliver Wyman used to be sort of a boutique consulting firm, which I think positioned them in a really interesting way in the sense that they're not Big Four consulting, but they're also not MBB - so I think there's a really interesting company culture at OW. Even just in our first week, the CEO of the company spent almost an hour talking just to 30 of us, which meant a lot to me. They were also open to the fact that I wanted to work in another office, which I didn't feel was as accessible at other firms.

I will also say that I think that the way that you're treated during the interview process is actually quite indicative of how you'll be treated when you get hired, and I think if you feel off during an interview process - you should probably listen to that feeling.

What made you want to work abroad in the UK rather than stay in Canada?

I did apply to several offices and several different companies in Toronto, but I felt like all of my friends were either going to be working in Toronto or New York, and it felt very familiar - it felt sort of like an extension of my undergrad. I was given some really great advice that if you want to be working in a business hub like London, Hong Kong, Singapore, or New York - it's a lot easier to start your career out there than to work in Toronto and then ask to transfer after a few years. And I just knew that I could always go back to Toronto - it's not going anywhere.

Before the pandemic, there were a few profs at Ivey who sort of encouraged me to go do something like this, even though it didn't really make a lot of sense when you look at it, logistically. If you look at the option of going and working and living abroad, versus living at home and saving so much money - obviously the latter makes much more sense. But I had a lot of profs and mentors who just said that you can't look at your life's decisions in terms of what makes sense or what seems reasonable because - as we've all learned this year - what might seem like a good plan one day could get totally turned upside down the next, so why make decisions like that?

I also would say, for anyone who is wanting to make a big decision like that in their life - don’t think of anything as permanent. For me, it was definitely a hard decision to leave my family and friends. But, I could come back in a year - I don't know!

What's one thing that you wish you could just tell your past HBA self?

What I wish I could tell my past HBA self is to focus a lot more of my energy on my peers and making connections. I obviously made some really great friends and acquaintances at Ivey - but I do think it's not till after the fact that you really start to appreciate that for what it is.

Also, nothing is written in stone - get out of your comfort zone a little bit and trust yourself. Trust that you deserve to be in that interview. And when you get hired, trust that you deserve to be at that company, because I know myself and I feel that a lot of my female friends trick themselves into thinking that they somehow landed this job by accident. And it's like, no, no, no - you got through the interview process just as well as everyone else did!

How do you fight Imposter Syndrome?

Personally, I keep a journal and if I'm ever feeling super stressed or feel like I don't deserve to be in the room, I just write it out. And I think once you see that paper, you're like - what the heck am I talking about? Just keep in mind that your brain plays tricks on you - sometimes your thoughts are just not rational and you just need to remind yourself of that!

What is some great career advice you’ve been told?

Eric Janssen was my section head in HBA1, and then he was a prof of mine in HBA2. His wife came in and gave a really awesome speech in one of my classes. She said that in her first five years of her career, she had a massive spreadsheet so that every time she met someone at a company, or a client, or whatever it was - she would add a row and write something about that person - like maybe they just got a dog or maybe they have kids. It may seem a bit calculated, but she just said when you're working with people, being able to say more than just “How are you?” and instead saying “How's your dog doing?” makes such a difference - people remember those things! When you're wanting to impress people at the start of your career, it's more than just the deliverables that you submit - it’s also how you present yourself as a whole person.

How has your definition of a leader changed over the years?

I took the Leadership Under Fire course at Ivey, and I would really, really recommend it to anyone - literally anyone! When you think of a leader, you think of someone who really commands a crowd and who is probably a bit extroverted and is very engaging. What we learned in that course is that the best leaders are defined by what they do behind closed doors - not how they present themselves in public. But rather, are you going to be the leader who does the grunt work that no one wants to do when no one's looking and not ask for recognition? That was a huge eye-opener during that course. If you're the CEO of a company, you should probably still go clean the kitchen every once in a while at the office - you're never too good for anything. And I really do think that people who put themselves on a high horse, will not bring their company any additional success.

This summer, after your exchange ended early, your grad trip got cancelled, and your start date got pushed back, you founded Allora Athletics - what was your inspiration and what goals did you have?

I used to be a camp counselor and I saw all of these poor kids who couldn't go to their favourite place for the summer. Obviously, you would need to continue to follow safety guidelines - but I did feel like there was an opportunity there to help out these kids and families, and an opportunity to do something a bit different.

This might sound very surface level, but I basically lost my income for the last four months of 2020 since my start date got pushed back to January, and it was a bit of a disappointment, financially. So for me, I had a goal that I wanted to make the same amount or more than I did in my internship at a bank from the previous summer. It was kind of an ambitious goal, but I did that! I think if you're working for yourself, it's a lot easier to set those targets. And frankly, I think it's a lot more fun to set personal targets when you work for yourself, versus being told by your boss that “We need to hit this.”

I think if someone doesn't know what they want to do, just go do something and don't get too worried about the money. You don't need some novel, crazy idea to do something successful - you don't need to reinvent the wheel! My inspiration for Allora Athletics was just from past experiences. I saw a hole in the market, and I just went for it and if it didn't work out, I learned how to do lots of cool things along the way!

What are your plans for the future and do you have any career or personal goals?

Right now, I'm just starting out in consulting and I probably intend to be here for at least two years. I know I want to work for myself again one day. I'll be honest, it's sort of common for people to work at a company for two years and then have a bit of an existential crisis - it's just the classic story of the Ivey grad! They go work somewhere for two years, and then they have a quarter-life crisis and do a total 180, so I wouldn't be surprised if that happened! I'm just going in with an open mind - I could see myself staying at this company and being a partner one day, or I could see myself doing something else in five years.

I do think it's important to have goals for yourself. I do know that I want to go back to school - I do want to get some sort of further education, maybe in the area of Women's Studies, or maybe an MBA.

I also do want to be able to - in some way or another - give back to the program and Ivey and perhaps improve certain aspects of it. I do think that it's really important, as Ivey grads, to take being an alumni seriously, and always give back - not just to Ivey grads, but anyone younger than you, who's looking for support.