Phaedra is a Segment Marketing Leader at GE Healthcare. Kenyata is the Managing Partner of Thought Process, a boutique strategy firm and an entrepreneur in the consumer goods space.
Phaedra and Kenyata are not new to being singled out at Booth- see Chicago Booth Magazine’s story ‘Cupid is a Quant’ in Winter 2017. The couple was working at P&G in Cincinnati at the time, when Phaedra had an epiphany and decided she wanted to go back for her MBA. It took more convincing to get Kenyata, who already had dual degrees, on board. Kenyata admits, “Booth has been invaluable, both for my corporate moves after we graduated to being able to leverage the power of the school and alumni network as a resource.”
The Martins graduated from Booth in 2009 and are now back in Chicago - 5 jobs, 4 addresses and 3 kids later. They moved to Chicago in order to put roots down, take advantage of Booth’s network, enjoy career opportunities with a wider breadth of companies and have more family support after they had children. Kenyata’s flexibility as an entrepreneur has allowed him to be the point person at home with their children and to especially make sure that their oldest son, who is autistic, is well supported. Kenyata explains, “Back in 2015 my career was so demanding, that in a 6 month window of time, I was home for 36 days. At parent teacher conferences the teacher was recounting stories our son had developed in which I wasn’t present at all and the realization hit me that I was not happy with that situation. I was not comfortable with the sacrifice and literally not being present for my son. I decided I had to put myself in a position so my family didn’t have to make that sacrifice.”
Kenyata explains that Phaedra took the leap of faith this time round when he asked her to move to Chicago as he was starting to build his business. He says the pressure is high as he prepares to launch a new hair care business for texture hair consumers but every day he remembers that he made this choice, because he gets to be present for his family every day.
Phaedra explains, “We do what works for us. Find what works for you. If you know you need a date night every Friday to reconnect, put it in your calendar and come hell or high water you do that. Understand yourself enough to know what your needs are as an individual and don’t let work or other obligations detract from that.” Kenyata agrees, “It’s a family first mindset for making our big decisions. There are downsides to living in Chicago (the weather, parking tickets, the sales tax!). What I didn’t plan for and underestimated was the richness of the network we have built at Booth, the safety of having family in the city.”
Kenyata adds, “Phaedra was supportive and was willing to take on the role and nurture our children while I moved up in my career. Now she wants to climb and I want to build and now we’re in a situation where we’ve got the best of both worlds- I can support her climb because of my flexibility. Her stable income allows me to build and allows for my entrepreneurial journey. You need to find what works for you. Once you identify what that is, you need to build your ecosystem and village around that. Booth’s support is pretty remarkable. The U Chicago community has become an extended family. We continue to serve and support our Booth community together.”
Our Chicago Business Fellows Program recently held a LinkedIn professional development event. Learn more about specialized programming at Booth from current students.
Professional Development and Early Career Program Experience
A year into the formation of Chicago Booth’s allyship committee, student Edward Acosta and alumna Tina Djenge discuss allyship’s importance and why great leadership means managing up and down effectively across genders.
Allyship at Chicago Booth
Meet three of our current Neubauer Civic Scholars who share why they chose to pursue an MBA, the impact it has had on their career, and what they have enjoyed most.
Civic Scholars: Q&A with Social Impact MBAs
