We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Hailey Love a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hailey, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you tell us about an important lesson you learned in school and why that lesson is important to you?
During my sophomore year of college, my understanding of what it meant to be a leader was shaped by my experience as the Co-President of the Black Business Undergraduate Society at the University of Michigan. I was selected for the role alongside Brett Sherwood, who would go on to be one of my good friends and my favorite person that I have ever worked with. The Black Business Undergraduate Society (BBUS) is an organization with more than one hundred members at any given point and has longstanding relationships with many leading companies across industries. I became apart of a lineage of BBUS presidents who had all worked to move the organization forward during their time at the university. We leveraged our relationship with companies and our internal skillsets to connect students with job opportunities, develop our members professionally, and build community among the Black students in the Ross School of Business. In that role I learned many lessons. The first is that you have to be a little bit crazy. For many student organizations, keeping general and even board members engaged can be challenging. Students are torn in so many different directions and it’s hard to show up for all of the different communities that you’d like to be apart of. So, as a leader, I was always excited and willing to give of my time for BBUS. If a student needed help preparing for an interview I told tell them to send me times when they were available so that we could go over questions together. If one of the board members wanted to take on a new collaboration or initiative, I supported them with all of the clubs resources. I responded to my emails at all times of day and night and oftentimes gave up my free time to hold meetings with our corporate partners. I gave of myself because I believed in the mission and the folks that I had the pleasure of working with. As a result, our executive board was always responsive and members were engaged with all of our programming. I learned that the energy begins with leadership and spreads to the entire organization.
Additionally, I learned what it meant to be a good partner. Every Friday morning Brett, my Co-President, and I had our own meeting outside of our executive board meetings with the entire team. During those meetings we planned our strategy, set goals for one another, and even made executive decisions about the club. Outside of those meetings we texted almost everyday. It was an unspoken rule that when one of us texted, the other replied promptly. We still abide by that today, years after handing the organization off to a new executive board. We supported each other as friends and colleagues and spent time learning each other’s strengths. The commitment that we made to being there for each other made us better leaders and helped us get more done during our time as Co-Presidents.
If I had to summarize my experience with BBUS, I would emphasize the importance of servant leadership. Being a leader is not about being celebrated when things go well or being impressed with yourself, it’s about being accountable when things are challenging and showing up for the people that have trusted you to lead. That time in my life has deeply influenced the person that I am and the leader that I will be in the future. I am so grateful for that experience and everyone who made it special.
Hailey, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
HI! My name is Hailey Love and I am a Senior at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business studying Business Administration with a Minor in Writing. I am originally from Chicago, Illinois and I attended Whitney M. Young Magnet High School, the alma mater of former First Lady Michelle Obama. I am fortunate to wear many hats as a poet, student leader, and incoming private equity professional. As a poet, I have had the opportunity to write and perform original poetry for a national campaign with AT&T, a day of cultural conversation with Yo-Yo Ma, a tribute to the life and legacy of Langston Hughes, the Chicago Mayor’s Youth Council, and NBA All-Star Weekend 2020. I began writing poetry in high school and have continued to develop myself as a writer through the Writing Minor at the University of Michigan. In college I have had the fortune of winning the Caldwell Award for Poetry and I serve as the Philanthropy Chair for the Urban Wordsmith Society, a collective of writers and lovers of words!
As a student leader I have done all that I can to serve my campus community. I work on the employer relations team at the University Career Center where I help connect students to professional opportunities through experiential learning. I serve as a Career Development Office peer coach, where I get to meet with students and help them reach their career goals through mentorship. I am the Community Service Chair for Beta Eta Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and help to organize opportunities for my chapter to volunteer in our community. I am also a 2024 Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. leadership fellow and have been recognized as an outstanding undergraduate member of my sorority. I previously served as the Co-President of the Black Business Undergraduate society, an organization focused on creating professional opportunity and community for Black students in Business. I love all of the things I’ve done on campus and they’ve shaped the woman I am today.
Finally, I am an incoming analyst at Blackstone. I began my journey in private equity in college, having had the opportunity to intern with a family office during my freshman summer. I was drawn to the field because of the impact that private equity investments have on society. As private equity grows as an asset class, more and more people will be impacted by the sector. I am so excited to begin my career following graduation and I look forward to learning from the brightest professionals in the industry.
I believe that what sets me apart as a person and as a professional is my genuine desire to shape a better world through all of my actions. When I got to the University of Michigan, I had no idea how I could possibly stand out at such a large institution. But by following my passions I quickly transformed a huge university into a close knit family. I got to know faculty and recruiters and students from all different backgrounds in my pursuit of helping Black students navigate their professional journey. At the same time, I was developing my own professional skills and giving myself credibility for all of the things that I’d look to do later on. I know that staying committed to my values and pursuing my mission of leading a loving, impactful, and fulfilling life will allow me to fulfill my purpose.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
When I first got to college I thought I wanted to go into consulting. I didn’t have much knowledge about the financial services industry at the time and I thought that consulting was really aligned with the things that I am passionate about, helping people and solving complex issues. Thinking about my freshman summer, I applied to a summer internship with a consulting firm. I made it to the final round of interviews and I was rejected. I was upset because I prepared the best that I knew how and put my best foot forward. However, shortly thereafter I received an email explaining that a family office was looking to take on one more intern for the summer and to apply if you felt qualified for the position. At the time, I wasn’t familiar with finance or private equity. So, I reached out to every upperclassman that I thought could help me get up to speed quickly and I researched the industry. I learned as much as I could about private equity in preparation for my interview and received an offer from the family office for that summer. I was so grateful that I didn’t accept the rejection as defeat and instead pivoted towards a new opportunity. That summer changed my life and the trajectory of my professional aspirations.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
I believe that the best way to build reputation is to deliver results. As a student who didn’t have much of a professional track record and needed accomplished professionals to believe in my abilities, I pointed them towards all of the things I had done on campus to give myself credibility. I had organized campaigns, planned events, collaborated with different offices, and learned new skills in real time. Those experiences gave the senior leaders that I was interviewing with assurance that if given the opportunity, I would show up wholeheartedly and deliver. Then, once I got my foot in the door, I didn’t let up. I worked hard, often clocking long hours and pushing myself beyond my comfort zone. Being a dedicated member of the team, executing the tasks I was given with attention to detail, and being creative in my approach to problem solving led to my colleagues giving me more responsibility. Over time, I built a strong reputation within the corporations that I was apart of and I was able to lean on those experiences for future opportunities. Your reputation builds on itself and you are in control of how you engage at each step of your journey.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hailey.a.love/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haileylove/
