Kellogg Chronicles: Connection & Growth Post-MBA

For MBA students, the journey through business school isn’t just about academics and career prospects—it’s about the lifelong connections and personal growth that shape your future. My experiences since graduating from the Kellogg School of Management in 2019 illustrate how this transformative period continues to impact my life in unexpected and meaningful ways. Whether you’re considering an MBA to advance your career, expand your network, or embark on a new adventure, the value of these connections with your peers cannot be overstated.

In the summer of 2019, I moved down to Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood with my best friend from Kellogg, Ginny. We had met on the first night of KWEST and were inseparable from day 1. Starting our lives together in Chicago felt effortless. Despite having few friends in Chicago prior to Kellogg, I found myself with no shortage of Kellogg friends to explore the city with – both from my class year and the second-years above me.

We did everything from going to a pop-up go-kart race on Goose Island, to kayaking the Chicago River, to exploring every restaurant we could find. In fact, in true Kellogg fashion, we created a Google doc for people to add any fun restaurant reservations and how many people they needed to fill it. This way, friends were able to sign up to join a group for a reservation at a hot new restaurant, and it served as a great way to remain connected to the classmates you may not see as often.

I was lucky to be able to spend the summer after graduation traveling the world with Kellogg friends. Ginny and I hiked Machu Picchu and wound up running into a Kellogg friend in Cusco, Peru. What a small world! The next month, I went with two classmates to Vietnam, Japan, and Korea, but the highlight was getting to see three different Kellogg friends who had recently moved to Seoul to work for Samsung. We ate life-changing Korean BBQ with a friend from marketing classes, had coffee in Gangnam with one of our KWESTies interning in Seoul, and went to a Korean major league baseball game with a different KWEST mate. I will always be grateful that a love for travel and being pushed out of your comfort zone is ingrained from day 1 at Kellogg.

One of my favorite early memories after graduation was when my roommate and I hosted a Super Bowl party. It was a potluck, so people brought different food and drinks. Since I worked in brand management for Tyson at the time, I brought Tyson buffalo and BBQ strips for everyone to sample. Always on brand, my fellow marketing friends all showed up with their products as well: Leinenkugel’s Summer Shandy, Gatorade, and an Away suitcase (for the traveling consultant). A spirited discussion about all the Super Bowl ads followed with everyone telling tales of Super Bowl ads from their companies’ pasts.

NAVIGATING ALUMNI CONNECTIONS DURING COVID

And then March 2020 came. When the world was first beginning to shut down, I was rushing home from celebrating my KWEST leader’s wedding in Puerto Rico. Despite being isolated from everyone except Ginny, we never once felt alone because of the connections we had with our Kellogg family. We spent our evenings playing virtual Code Names or joining someone’s “House Party” to catch up with Kellogg friends. We even had friends that used lockdown as a time to share their talents with others. I attended classes in make-up, cocktails and cooking, and (most impactfully) beginner’s watercolor painting, which was put on by my classmate, Sanjana.

I knew Sanjana from our 12-person Personal Leadership Insights class and learned about her class through Instagram. I rushed to order supplies from Amazon; I was so excited to learn a new skill and see if I could harness the artistic ability of my artist grandmother. I truly caught the bug during that class and have been watercoloring ever since – even hosting a class for coworkers about a year later. I have the Kellogg network to thank for my most cherished hobby that helps me de-stress and bring joy to others through my hand-painted cards and gifts.

CAREER TRANSITION AND KELLOGG’S SUPPORT

18 months after graduation – a year of that in lockdown – I began to get the itch to look for a new career opportunity. I felt I wasn’t growing in my current role and ready for more of a challenge. Despite the daunting task of figuring out what I wanted to do next, I never felt alone because of Kellogg. I made use of the free career coaching through the CMC to guide me in crafting a list of companies and roles. I then formed an “accountability group” with three other Kellogg friends who were also looking for new jobs. We met every Sunday night and gave progress updates, shared challenges, reviewed resumes and cover letters, and led interview prep for one another. This group was invaluable in keeping me on track and helping me through the difficult task of job searching while working my current job.

Utilizing the Kellogg network became second nature through my job search process. Through LinkedIn, I reached out to a student who was in the year below me; We had met one time when I helped him prepare for an internship interview. I was hoping to chat about his role at DoorDash, and he could not have been more excited to “pay it forward”. He provided tons of guidance, including connecting me with the VP of New Verticals who would go on to help me get hired. I use this story multiple times a month when talking with prospective Kellogg students (or DoorDash employees) to showcase how deep the connections run at Kellogg. I never hesitate to help my fellow Wildcats, and I know they do the same for me.

I was thrilled to serve on the planning committee for the Class of 2019’s five-year reunion this May. It was fun to plan events for our class and to reach out to classmates who I hadn’t spoken to recently to encourage them to attend. One of our classmates, Liz, even opened up her home to host a family-friendly backyard BBQ, allowing me to finally meet many of my friends’ babies who I had only seen on Instagram. I was happy, but not surprised, by how many catch up conversations I had with classmates that went beyond the surface level life updates. It was so fulfilling to see so many of our class in one place again, bonded together just as we were back in 2019.

My life would not be the same without the people I met during my two years at Kellogg and the bonds that were forged and continue to be unbreakable. Kellogg classmates performed a dance at my wedding, helped me through some of the hardest times of my life, and are a constant presence in my very favorite memories. They have been the greatest gift of my time in the Kellogg MBA program. As I look ahead, I can’t help but wonder what new adventures and connections the next five years will bring.

Bio:

AG Pelham Mathur graduated from Kellogg in 2019 and is a senior manager in Strategy & Ops on the B2B DoorDash for Business team at DoorDash. She works to create a better product for DoorDash’s business clients and helps equip the sales team with the right tools to win big deals. Before Kellogg, she worked in tech consulting at Accenture, and prior to her current role, she worked in brand management at Tyson Foods and on the business development team at DoorDash. She lives in Chicago with her husband (a fellow Wildcat!) and loves to play tennis, read, test out new cookbooks, travel, and watch every season of the Amazing Race.