Name: Kathryn Albright
Location: Colorado
Company: U.S. Bank
Professional Industry: Banking/Real Estate
Job Title: Senior Vice President
WIXII-ISM™ FROM KATHRYN ALBRIGHT:
“My mindset and attitude toward life has changed substantially over time. Earlier in my life I had a relative phobia of commitment to community activities, social engagements, etc., causing me to turn down any number of opportunities to become more engaged socially or otherwise. This changed when my mother and father became ill in my early twenties, and they told me how much they felt they had missed in life and what they would do differently. When I lost both of them to acute and chronic terminal illnesses, I realized how short life is and how I just can’t afford to say no anymore. When I obtained my MBA after years of hard work and discipline, I felt I needed to really put my work to good use both professionally and from a community aspect. Though I miss my parents terribly now, I think these things positively changed who I am now.”
KATHRYN’S STORY:
Meet our featured Wixii™, Kathryn Albright. She is 43 years old and mother to two boys 10 and 8 years old. She received her M.B.A. She currently is a senior vice president and national manager for U.S. Bank’s Commercial Real Estate Deposits & Payment Solutions division.
KATHRYN’S CAREER PATH:
I have been in banking for 22 years. I began my career as a management associate at Wachovia Bank working as an operational supervisor and financial analyst for eight years in Atlanta, Georgia, Columbia, South Carolina, and Winston Salem, North Carolina. I obtained my MBA in the evenings while still working from University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill. I moved to Birmingham, Alabama, with my husband when he graduated from medical school to pursue his medical residency and fellowship at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. I was a banking product manager at Regions Financial Corp., and was then promoted to lead the product management, product development and project management team at the bank, and was later promoted to manage its commercial real estate sales division. After eight years in Birmingham, and upon my husband’s completion of fellowship at UAB, my family and I decided to move to Denver where my husband grew up and has family. I joined BBVA Compass Bank for four years as regional manager for the corporate bank. I then moved to U.S. Bank’s Commercial Real Estate Deposit & Payment Solutions division, where I have been serving as national manager for four years.
KATHRYN’S MINDSET AND WORK-LIFE MIX:
I am an optimist in all areas of life – I like to embrace opportunities in every aspect, including professional, recreational, educational, family and community involvement areas. I have difficulty saying “no” to any opportunity, and love to stay as involved, active and engaged as possible.
I completely subscribe to the theory that life is a “mix” and not a “balance”. I spend a couple hours daily exercising, eight – 10 hours daily working, and the remainder of my day is devoted to family management and involvement. I also spend a great deal of time from a community involvement perspective, with the Denver Chamber of Commerce’s Leadership Foundation, the Center for Work Education and Employment, Denver Metro Volunteers, KIPP Denver and the Graland Parent Association where I am currently treasurer of its executive board. There is little time for hobbies, but I do like playing tennis, golf and running. Further, given the many activities that our children are engaged in, combined with work and community involvement, I often don’t choose where I allocate my time and find myself “over-scheduled” on a frequent basis.
Describe a “day in your life” from waketime to bedtime:
I get up at 5 a.m. and exercise. If I am not traveling (which is rare) I get the kids to school, then head to work, a client meeting or community event. I work from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and pick up my children from their grandparents or meet them at their daily after-school sports practice or event. My children are active in sports throughout the year — soccer, lacrosse, tennis, basketball, baseball, skiing, karate, swimming, etc. My husband and I make dinner, help the kids with homework, get them to bed, and then we both continue to work (from home) for a couple of hours.
How does your current mindset/attitude empower and/or frustrate your ability to thrive in your work-life mix? How has your mindset/attitude toward life changed over time?
I think I have an incredibly rich life as it stands. That said, I do think I’ve over-scheduled myself and my family in an effort to “do it all”. I do wish that I had more time to plan social events and fun trips for my family and friends further in advance instead of operating in such a last-minute environment where “game time decision” – making has become my M.O. My mindset and attitude toward life has changed substantially over time. Earlier in my life I had a relative phobia of commitment to community activities, social engagements, etc., causing me to turn down any number of opportunities to become more engaged socially or otherwise. This changed when my mother and father became ill in my early twenties, and they told me how much they felt they had missed in life and what they would do differently. When I lost both of them to acute and chronic terminal illnesses, I realized how short life is and how I just can’t afford to say no anymore. When I obtained my MBA after years of hard work and discipline, I felt I needed to really put my work to good use both professionally and from a community aspect. Though I miss my parents terribly now, I think these things positively changed who I am now.
What specific actions, choices, steps and/or decisions have you made (or would you like to make) to better manage your work-life mix?
I am not sure that I would change anything right now. I just wish I didn’t need six to seven hours of sleep every night… imagine how much more I could do!
What do you currently find most challenging/concerning about your work-life mix? What areas do you most needs support?
Although I have a terrific executive assistant at work, I need to understand ways to better delegate responsibilities to open my time up for more strategic thinking and planning.
What mentoring / sponsorship opportunities do you engage in relative to other professional women in you role as a senior leader?
As professional women, mothers who work inside or outside the home, and community-involved leaders, I feel we owe it to one another to rally around and support one another. With the right dialogue, encouragement and coaching of one another, we are starting to realize that we can “have it all” — maybe not all at the same time always – and it’s really a matter of creating the “mix” that’s right for each of us, as individuals. Whether it’s reaching the apex of an organization and traveling around the world while raising a family with a very supportive husband, or staying at home with one’s family to devote more time to their upbringing while engaging in community leadership and involvement activities, or starting up an in-home business, we each have our own mix. It’s all a matter of how confident we are in pursuing that mix and not turning down opportunities to live one’s dream.
U.S. Bank has an outstanding support network of professional women, and, in fact, has been a “Most Powerful Women in Banking” team award honoree of which I am a part. At our last “Most Powerful Women” celebration, we spent a day focusing on “Unlocking the Potential of Women at Work,” a very enlightening and exciting dialogue. We reviewed a recent example of a professional woman recognizing and creating her own mix, Anne-Marie Slaughter, who exited a high-powered director of policy planning at the State Department in Washington, D.C., to be able to focus more on her somewhat troubled son of 14 at home who was failing school. Ms. Slaughter chose to create a different mix by taking on a more flexible leadership position at Princeton University, thereby allowing her to spend more time with her son.
We also discussed Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook and author of Lean In, and how she is challenging all women not to sit at the back of the room, not to leave a seat at the board room table for one against the wall, and assume that we are indeed equal and worthy of being heard. That’s something that I believe many of us (myself included) struggle with and are challenged by… but with the right words of wisdom from a successful female mentor, we can all overcome if provided with encouragement.
At U.S. Bank, I am working with a handful of younger professional women to do just that – help them understand there is an optimal mix for each of us, and also to take advantage of every opportunity and be heard. While Gloria Steinem may have been disparaged as a “feminist” by exposing the burning platform of equal pay and opportunity for women, we can all leverage the foundation that she set for us with the freedom to create and embrace our own mix.
