Hometown: Bryn Mawr, PA
Title: U.S. Country CFO, Finance Systems Manager (America)
Company: Areva T&D
Andrew Lovelace
My Story About Me
I wanted a deeper understanding of the drivers at a corporate level — how to drive an organization from the top.
When you reach a certain level in your career, your reasons for getting an MBA tend to change. High-level executives are well beyond launching new careers — they’re looking for a competitive program that can catapult them to the top level. Andrew Lovelace entered Wharton with an impressive professional resume, but he realized his skill set was unbalanced. “I spent quite a lot of time on financial systems, and I wanted to rebalance it more towards my finance expertise.” But with his eyes set on a regional financial director role, he didn’t want to waste his time with just any program. He wanted a top program with high-caliber professors, an outstanding reputation in finance and classmates who were leaders (or the next generation) in business.
Andrew talks about getting an MBA when you’re advanced in your career, the value of a rigorous program, and bonding over work-life balance with your classmates.
The roundabout road to an MBA
I’ve had an interesting career. But I realized at some point that my portfolio of skills was becoming unbalanced.
In 2007, I was offered the position of US Country CFO, in addition to my role as Regional Finance Systems Manager for the Americas. During my annual review we identified the position of Regional Finance director as my next potential position. Based on the results of my annual review, I wanted to be fully prepared for the next step in my career. I wanted to be sure that my finance skills were honed to deal with the challenges of a broader, more strategic finance role.
Meeting your program goals
I wanted a deeper understanding of the drivers at a corporate level — how to drive an organization from the top. My time at Wharton has certainly given me that deeper understanding. I was looking to strengthen my financial strategy expertise, as well as financing decisions and risk management. All of my expectations were more than fully met through the various courses -- corporate finance, advanced corporate finance, and corporate valuations were all were invaluable to me in building increased knowledge and confidence.
Tapping your inner entrepreneur
The early part of my career was spent running the family business, and my father was an entrepreneur. I have a very strong entrepreneurial bend, and I knew that I wanted to launch other entrepreneurial entities, albeit more likely at a corporate level than individual (although I wouldn’t write that possibility off). So I was keen to have exposure to the technical and academic aspects of entrepreneurial ventures. The classes at Wharton were also incredible in terms of giving us a better understanding, competency and skill around entrepreneurial value creation, setting up of enterprises, financing of enterprises, managing the organizational structure and growth of the enterprise.
Learning from your peers
The material was incredibly good, and the professors were incredibly talented. But for sure, the interaction with peers was also very enlightening and enhanced the learning process significantly. What we did in our learning teams, the practical exercises, certainly elevated the learning.
Academic rigor
I’m one of the older students. I have a family and a very demanding job. When I went back to school, I wasn’t looking so much at the social aspects as I was looking at academic advancement and knowledge that would prepare me for the next steps in my career. Not just academics, but the level of academic and learning and input was critical for me. Doing an MBA that didn’t add significantly to my understanding of corporate life and my abilities within that realm would not have been worthwhile. It was very important that the academics were there. The sacrifice and challenge were huge -- it was incredibly difficult to balance school with work and family demands. It was very important for me that the academics were immediately applicable.
Making school, career and family work
Balancing it all was very difficult. I read up on student profiles before I entered the program and quickly became aware that I needed to organize my team to delegate as much as possible and remove myself as much as possible from the day-to-day. Work wise, my teams were well-organized to cope with my lower-level attendance at the office. From a family perspective, it was a struggle the entire time. My wife and I have three children, and all are at the age at which they need help with their school assignments. So when I had free time, I had to decide whether to study myself or spend time with my family. I didn’t have a silver bullet. I had to portion hour by hour which was the greater need. In general, I tried to study in the morning, to minimize the impact on my family, and then I would study again later in the evening. That was a rule I tried to follow.
Brothers in arms
I can say for myself it would not have been the same experience without learning teams. We helped each other to adjust. We built close relationships. These were people who understood what I was going through. In some of those darker hours when I had so much work, and the pressure of family life was mounting, I could talk it over with them. We encouraged each other.
Leveling the playing field
I felt that it was good to be able to share the workload with my learning team. Some of the problems took a lot of time, so sharing the workload was important. Discussing the potential solutions to the problems was also very useful in giving me another perspective. Coming into it, I had been used to calling the shots and managing people. Something I wanted to get out of the experience was the ability to work collaboratively with my peers, as equals, without hierarchy. This was important to me, and my time at Wharton really helped me in that area.
Do you have any advice for applicants?
It’s an incredible program, incredible professors, incredible material, incredible learning experience, but at the same time it’s an incredible challenge. Go for it. But be assured you will be challenged.
