Turning a Dream into Reality: Ellen Gladish’s Path to an Undergraduate Degree in Organization Behavior
Ellen Gladish’s ’24 career took a "winding path" that led to Northwestern's School of Professional Studies (SPS). As a fresh high school graduate, Ellen attended Hanover College in her home state of Indiana but dropped out due to what she describes as a youthful “lack of application as a student.” During her early career, she worked at a law firm, as a stage manager in theatrical productions, and attended culinary school while working in Chicago’s hospitality industry. From 2012 through 2014, she worked at Greenhouse Loft, an event venue in Chicago’s Logan Square neighborhood. While working corporate events at Greenhouse Loft, Ellen realized she didn't like the late evening hours but did enjoy connecting with the clients. In 2014, started a new role as a Project Coordinator at OpenTable, where she worked until 2018. While working at OpenTable, she felt that not having a degree was a barrier to receiving internal transfers or promotions. After OpenTable, Ellen joined Coinbase as the Office Manager of its new Chicago outpost. In 2019, Coinbase decided to close its Chicago location, and in August of 2019, she joined many of her Coinbase colleagues as an admin at Aquatic Capital Management, a startup hedge fund based in Chicago. While working at Aquatic, the need for a college degree was thrown into sharp focus.
Ellen was always curious about finishing college and learned about SPS in 2015 when pregnant with her first child. As a teenager, she dreamed of attending Northwestern but wasn’t accepted. The SPS program made her realize “there was this great part-time undergraduate program at Northwestern University for working adults who were mid-career and with the same energy and same kind of ambition." The desire to finish college was a lifelong goal. Being a good role model for her two young children as well as the COVID-19 pandemic gave her a sense of now or never. With the support of her husband, Gerard, she applied to SPS in 2021. She was accepted and was able to transfer credits from Hanover and Oakton Community College. "The same month my son started kindergarten; I went back to college.”
An undergraduate curriculum you can put to work
Ellen pursued a part-time bachelor's degree in Organization Behavior (formerly known as Business Leadership) to get skills she could use. In January of 2022, she accepted a role supporting the cofounders at compliance startup, Ethena. She found that the organizational communication lessons taught by instructors Aleen Bayard and Daniel Moser were immediately applicable. “It was amazing to be at work while I was in school because Ethena was building their company in real time. I would attend class on Saturday and then two days later on Monday my boss, Roxanne Petraeus, would reference first principles or organizational theory. I had heuristics from being in school, which I didn't have in the past.”
Jen Baker’s communication classes were also immediately influential. “I'm a verbal processor in a business setting,” Ellen says. “That is not necessarily appreciated. Jen’s class helped me refine my communication and be more direct." Ellen enjoyed Erin Cable's social psychology class so much that she decided to take Cable's introductory class to neuroscience for her science requirement. “It was incredibly hard. One of my best friends, a neuroscientist with a PhD from Columbia, told me, ‘Ellen, I did so badly in my first neuroscience class. Why are you taking that?’ I said, ‘It sounded interesting. I like the professor.’" Ellen says she wouldn't have taken that chance before becoming an adult student and working at a startup because “you don’t know if you don’t try.”
Leadership principles in practice
While in school, Ellen took on a leadership role as secretary of the Student Advisory Board. She reasoned that as an adult learner with a family and career, it could be hard to forge the same connections with classmates as when you're younger, so she intentionally sought out community. "I love connecting with people. I love doing activities, and I was looking to have some impact and create a social environment for adult students to hang out with each other.”
Now, as an Administrative Business Partner on the Risk and Compliance Team at Stripe, Ellen feels having a degree from Northwestern helped her get through the company's selective hiring process. Looking ahead, she says, “I'd like to be in a more strategic role. I have an entrepreneurial spirit and would love to explore that more in the future.” She has a big-picture mindset for not just her career but her place in her community. “I feel pretty passionate about Chicago. How can my skill set help make the world a kinder, more just place for everybody? I would love to live aligned with my values, maintain a healthy work-life balance, and try hard and keep on learning.”
Ellen is proud of herself for making her long-deferred dream come true. “My 18-year-old self would be just thrilled." Of course, being a working mom who goes back to school wasn't simple, even with an extremely supportive spouse and community, but she said “People at SPS are always willing to help. It's okay to ask questions and learn, it just opens you up to so many fun things and interesting conversations. It's definitely worth it.”
When she graduated magna cum laude in June 2024, Ellen’s young children proudly attended her convocation. “The day that I graduated, my four-year-old daughter who was 20 months when I started at Northwestern said, ‘Mom, I hope you had a very nice little purple day.’ I replied, ‘I did have a very nice little purple day. Thank you!
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