Alumni Kathryn Whitten

November 21, 2016

Name: Kathryn Whitten
Graduation Year: 2010
Major(s): Finance
Emphasis: Corporate Finance
Minor(s): Accounting
Current Job: Economic Development Specialist
Company: Duke Energy
Location: Charlotte, NC

Tell us about what you do.
For six years, I worked in Corporate Finance for Duke Energy. Then, in April of this year, I moved over to our Economic Development team. This group is not part of the CFO organization, but I’m the Finance member within our team. Broadly, our team’s mission is to grow capital investment and jobs in local communities across our six state service area. Our team is focused on 3 things: site readiness, industrial recruitment, and collaborative efforts to close deals. Specifically, I support our teammates across the six state service area by completing analyses, producing reports, and putting this information in presentations to really tell our story and the value we add to Duke Energy and our communities.

Describe a recent accomplishment you achieved or a project you worked on.
This job has been much more rewarding than I expected. We’re constantly hearing stories from people in our communities who are now employed by companies that initially were projects we won through collaborative efforts with other Economic Development allies. These stories often come from our rural counties that are still trying to overcome the significant void left by the exit of the textile industry.

What does a normal day look like in your job?
The day to day in this job can look very different, and I love that. Some days, I’m in the office buried in numbers. Other days, I’m out on the road meeting with my teammates who are spread across our six states, Economic Development agencies within our counties, other Economic Development allies, or attending various conferences.

What’s been your biggest challenge since graduation?
The first year after college was the first time in my life that I didn’t have a clear path on what comes next. Up until that point, I always knew the next year of life would involve school – elementary, middle, high school, then college. So, life since 2010 has been a balancing act of examining where I am in life and making sure it’s full of opportunities for growth, learning new things, and overall development.

What was your favorite/most memorable moment at Clemson?
It’s hard to pick just one memory, but rollerblading with all of the other seniors in my sorority in the First Friday parade is definitely at the top of the list!

What do you think prepared you the most?
I’ve told Dr. Wolf this since graduation – I learned a lot of really practical things about Excel in his courses that I still use today. My life has been forever changed by pivot tables.

Any words of advice to current students?
Network everywhere, every chance you get! Relationships are so valuable. Your classmates will be great resources as you begin your careers, and your future relationships within the companies you join will pay dividends as well. In fact, a colleague at Duke Energy who graduated from Clemson with a Finance degree (Lesley Geer ’02) played an integral part in my latest job move.