Guest blog post by former President-Elect, Allison Kiglics. Allison resides in Wilmington, NC and recently left the prospect development field to work as a Small Business Banking Underwriter for Live Oak Bank. She would love to connect on LinkedIn and is happy to discuss her experience.
Prospect Development was a field I fell into. We often hear that from those in the field and, like so many others, I quickly realized I had found home. In 2017 I was hired by my alma mater, the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW), as a Prospect Development Analyst. I jumped in with both feet, learning the development world inside and out under current Apra Carolinas president Jennifer Vincent. My first month at UNCW was a total blur. I was learning ethics, terminology, industry norms, and getting to know the development officers and other teammates I would be working with.
Prospect Development utilized a skill set I had been crafting for years as a wannabe super spy. I had a background in data analytics from my sociology undergraduate studies, and while I enjoyed analytics, I didn’t really want to work in data science full time. I am an introvert, after all. Prospect Development gave me the perfect balance of working alone, working with others, and working with data.
Jennifer took the role of president-elect with Apra Carolinas, and then received an amazing offer at Blackbaud. I moved into her prospect management role at UNCW, where I oversaw prospect research. When Jennifer moved into the president role of Apra Carolinas, I signed on as the president-elect.
Like so many others, I began wondering what my next role would be when ‘the great resignation’ hit. I was at the top of the department at UNCW and was the president-elect of Apra Carolinas. There wasn’t much opportunity for me to advance at UNCW; if I wanted growth, I would need to look elsewhere to find it. Left and right, there were remote development jobs being posted as non-profits began to see the advantages of remote employees. I was wrapping up my Master of Science in Business Analytics at UNCW, and it was great timing to start my search. Suddenly, out of nowhere, an opportunity came to me to join the Underwriting team at Live Oak Bank here in Wilmington, NC. I would still get to spy on people (I even get their tax returns!) and I would get to dive even further into my skill set of Business Analytics. I knew it would be a scary change, but the opportunity to join one of the best banks and places to work in Wilmington was one I couldn't pass by. So, I took the scary plunge into the for-profit world, and I have loved every minute of it.
The work I’m doing at Live Oak is so meaningful. We are almost exclusively a small business banking lender working with Small Business Administration loans. For example, I worked on a loan this week for an existing funeral home owner to acquire a location a few miles away as that owner retires. We were able to finance the loan at 100% because of the SBA program. It’s somewhat parallel to my development career, except now there are loan officers instead of gift officers and a loan servicing team instead of a stewardship team. There are many skills from my prospect development career that served me well to secure the job here at Live Oak. I had a good foundation of financial and business literacy from my prospect development career, which was an asset to this new role. In Prospect Development, we’re always in the middle of different teams; from front line fundraisers, advancement services, stewardship to working with executive leadership. We need to be chameleons, fitting in wherever we go. Adapting to different styles. That skill is transferrable to any career in the private sector.
We have this joke on the Apra Carolinas board about the “Curse of the President” which came about after several presidents left their term early due to outstanding job offers that pulled them away from the Carolinas or the profession. If you’re wondering if the curse is a myth… join the board and find out for yourself!
