Kelli Lawrence
MBA '04
Kelli Lawrence, an Evening MBA student at the Kelley School of Business Indianapolis, is a development partner at Hearthview Residential, a privately-held, Indianapolis-based firm that manages several condominium developments in the greater Indianapolis area.
Kelli started her career in the public sector; when she made the leap to the private sector, she was offered a position with a smaller, growing company – and networking has kept her with firms in this category. She is well aware of the challenges that small and mid-sized businesses face in the marketplace.
"Consumers have many of the same expectations for small companies as they do large companies," she says. "They expect quality products and good customer service – we have to be competitive, but with significantly more limited resources."
At the same time, Kelli sees the advantages that smaller companies gain over their larger competitors in terms of agility.
"Smaller companies often have the flexibility and creativity to adapt to market challenges and transform themselves given strong leadership."
This "strong leadership" is being developed at Kelley Indianapolis.
"The Kelley MBA is making me more valuable to my company, and is allowing me to assume a bigger role," says Kelli. "My education is providing practical information that can be applied right away; looking at the struggles other companies have faced in our coursework gives me the insight to look a similar issues at my own work and suggest successful strategies."
Such proactive thinking is especially valued at smaller firms like Hearthview, which operates in the competitive world of residential property development. Kelli sees a need for more "big picture" thinking in smaller organizations, where much time is consumed by day-to-day operations – the Kelley Indianapolis MBA is helping encourage such thinking.
Kelli Lawrence is a top executive at Hearthview, and sees great opportunities ahead. She values the flexibility Kelley Indianapolis provides in allowing her to get a world-class education while maintaining this upward career trajectory.
