With arguably the strongest premed program and one of the highest law school acceptance rates in the country, Hopkins is undeniably a pre-professional school. Yet for those students who see themselves on Wall Street post-graduation, Center for Leadership Education Professor Leslie Kendrick is here to help where the Pre-Professional Advising Office may not.
"I'm here to help make a difference. It's really rewarding mentoring Hopkins students," Kendrick said.
A New Jersey native, Kendrick moved to Canada in the fifth grade. She spent her childhood in Montreal and Toronto before moving back to the United States to study Marketing and Advertising at Penn State.
Kendrick's route to Hopkins is a bit more circuitous than that of the typical Hopkins nose-in-the-books professor: after graduating from Penn State, Kendrick landed her first job at a small market research firm. After a year at the position, Kendrick spent two years at Harper & Row as a college textbooks sales representative. She still keeps in contact with her colleagues from her time at Harper & Row.
"I get books for my course from a competing sales rep now. He was tough because he really knows his business. When I started teaching, I thought, I'm gonna call him because it was so hard to compete against him," Kendrick explained.
A brand analyst position at Londontown Corporation, the manufacturer of London Fog raincoats, allowed Kendrick to flex her marketing skills until she found her niche at Lippincott William & Wilkins, a medical publisher in Baltimore, while studying for her MBA at Loyola University at night.
Kendrick worked in the firm's product management and international marketing divisions before she earned the title of Executive Sponsor. As an Executive Sponsor, Kendrick oversaw a line of medical journals, relations with the marketing department and the internship program.
"One of the students said, ‘You know, you're really good at teaching me about your business and marketing and how it all comes together in publishing. Have you ever considered teaching a college class?'" Kendrick said. "I decided I wanted more of a balance when I had kids, so I transitioned to teaching part-time nights and weekends in 1997 when my kids were one and three," Kendrick explained.
When not spending time with her family or working, she enjoys reading, watching movies and playing tennis.
Kendrick taught at Notre Dame of Maryland University and Loyola University before coming to Hopkins in 2002.
"[The Entrepreneurship and Management program and the Center for Leadership Education] have grown so much in the ten years I've been here. We now have five marketing classes each semester and a host of follow-up classes. All of the Center for Leadership Education faculty come from practitioner backgrounds, and we try and bring that into the classroom.
"It's really rewarding mentoring students who are high-achieving and bright. In the CLE, what's really rewarding is being able to feel like you've made a difference, whether you're taking students to New York and opening their eyes to career possibilities during our Intersession classes, or helping them write business plans through Hopkins Student Enterprises. There are so many different facets to how we interface with students, so many extracurricular offerings that we're able to work with students and see them grow and develop in their career paths," she said.
Chris Alvarez, Co-Founder and Manager of the Blue Jay Cleaners and Interim Manager of Hopkins Student Creative Services, credits Kendrick as a resource in and out of the classroom.
"I always go to Professor Kendrick whenever I have a question regarding a newly developed marketing campaign," Alvarez, a sophomore, said. "Professor Kendrick's experience in the field makes her a valuable resource for HSE. Not only is she a great professor, but an excellent advisor who loves to help her students in any way possible."
Undoubtedly, Kendrick's experiences in the business world shape her teaching style.
"I bring the cultures I encountered in London, Sydney, Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo while working in the international marketing department at Lippincott William & Wilkins to the International Marketing course I teach," she stated.
Kendrick's students sing her praises as well.
"The business courses I have taken have helped me to further understand the lessons taught in my public health classes. For example, my background in marketing classes, especially International Marketing, helped me to understand social marketing's role in my public health Behavior Change class," senior Public Health Studies major and Entrepreneurship & Management minor Leslie O'Brien said.
Kendrick's upper-level courses provide students with relevant experiences in the business world. For instance, in her Advertising and Integrated Marketing Communication class, Kendrick divides the class into teams that mirror that of an actual advertising agency to develop and implement an on-campus marketing plan for a real client. Previous clients have included the FBI, Nissan, and the Navy SEALs.
"The feedback I get back from students is unlike any other class," Kendrick remarked. "Some years, the client designates the course as a competition. One year, we actually won. Several students from that class were flown to the Navy Recruitment Headquarters in Tennessee and got to present the campaign to the Navy Headquarters.
"Two campaigns were entered into the Baltimore chapter of the American Marketing Association and we actually received an award from the AMA for our class project for two or three years. Through our course offerings, students have been able to really build their resumes."
Kendrick also serves as the advisor to the Hopkins AMA. Eight of her students will soon travel to New Orleans to compete in an international collegiate marketing competition. Kendrick stresses taking advantage of taking advantage of opportunities outside of the classroom to achieve career success.
"There's so much value to doing internships. The more you know what you want to do with your career, the things you like to do in the industry, is so valuable because then you can start to cross those things you don't like off your list," Kendrick said.
In fact, Kendrick credits her internships during her college summers for helping her realize what sort of positions she liked and didn't like within marketing. "Start exploring career opportunities as a freshman," Kendrick advised.
There's a lot less pressure on students if they start exploring different possible career networks. They should experiment with different classes in CLE or outside of their major. I've had students take one marketing class and use their experiences to sell themselves into a position."
Kendrick recommends that seniors on the search for jobs utilize LinkedIn to help them make a list of their contacts in their chosen field.
"Contact faculty, parents, friends of parents, old roommates and conduct informational interviews to get to know what opportunities are available," she said. "Make as many contacts as possible, because networking allows you to tap into the hidden job market the Career Center talks about."
Kendrick has helped many students find careers and encourages students to spread the wealth.
"If I helped you help someone else, don't send me chocolates or flowers. Pay it forward. That's what it's all about."
