kilbourne group logo
Search
Close this search box.

News

Interns infuse KG companies with inspiration, innovation

Interns infuse KG companies with inspiration, innovation

Jenn Lambert doesn’t mind being known as Kilbourne Group’s Spreadsheet Superhero.

The 22-year-old business school graduate likes nothing more than to whip up an Excel Spreadsheet and cover it with data like product quantities and cost comparisons. Her specialty is accounting, so she lives to crunch numbers and balance ledgers.
The former resident of Woodbury, Minn., is one of multiple college students or recent university grads who take part in Kilbourne Group’s summer internship program.
Kilbourne Group takes the “learn” aspect of its mission statement very seriously. Every year, KG and its associated companies, Intelligent InSites, Arthur Ventures, Land Elements and Tallgrass Trail, recruit the best and brightest young minds from places as diverse as Oakes, N.D., and Calcutta, India. The internships allow these aspiring professionals to gain valuable “real-world” experience. In return, they infuse our teams with cutting-edge ideas, ample energy and freshly minted skill sets.
We sat down to visit with Lambert, a 2012 Carlson School of Business grad, about what brought her to Kilbourne Group and what she gleaned from her experience. Along the way, we also learned why she loves Pinterest, hates deep water and really wants to do when she grows up. (“It sounds corny,” she says, “but I hope to help people.”)
What motivated you to work for a small company like Kilbourne Group?
“Kilbourne Group had a mission, not just to build buildings and get in and get out, but they really want to create spaces that are really special and unique. I like to say we don’t just build things in downtown Fargo; we build downtown Fargo. And because it’s such a small company, it enables you to have the opportunity to have your voice heard and be able to do so many different things.”
Was there anything that surprised you about your field after you interned here?
“Because we’re privately held, we don’t have as many strict regulations to follow and so much of what we do is based on what feels intuitive. I think there are ways to be creative in accounting and even with a public company, you’re still given quite a bit of leeway. But you have to be able to look back five years from now and understand exactly why we did what we did. You want to create trails.”
I understand you grew up in a military family, so had to move frequently while growing up. What did you learn from that experience?
“It taught me a lot about adaptability. A lot of the people I knew growing up had the same friends and lived in the same neighborhood their whole lives. This taught me how to keep people in my life who you really want in your life and not just because you grew up together.”
You started your college career at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, but transferred to a larger school. What made you choose the U of M for your higher education?
“I was very into GLBTA community organizing, and I thought a bigger school would have more opportunities for that work. Plus the Carlson School is one of the most nationally renowned schools of business in the country. And the U has one of the best women, gender and sexuality-studies programs in the country.”
What do you hope to do with your degree?
“This sounds corny, but I hope to help people. I want to be a connecter for people who have an idea and a vision, but don’t know a lot about business. I’m very interested in non-traditional business models, things that move forward my interest in gender studies, activism, social change and accounting. And, of course, I also want to travel.”
How do you spend your down time?
“I do some quilting and sewing. I like the legacy of quilting, the history of quilting, the passing on of knowledge that I learned from my mom and that her mom taught her. It’s fun to be part of its history,“ or her-story as some would say.
“I also read a lot, mainly business books and feminist theory, and I watch a lot of SyFy original series like “Eureka” and “Warehouse 13.”
You’ve mentioned a love of travel several times. Where would you like to visit?
“I really want to go to India and Tibet. I like to go to places that are a little bit off the beaten path.”
You said you’ve even been to North Korea?
“I stepped foot into North Korea when I went with my Mom and sister to visit my Dad (he was stationed in Seoul, South Korea) in 2003. We took a tour of Camp Red Cloud, a military base on the South Korea side of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). There’s a conference room in the DMZ that is split in half by the North Korea/South Korea border; that way people from their respective countries can meet but never have to actually leave their own country. During the tour, you’re allowed to go to the other side of the conference room, crossing the border into North Korea.”
So you’ve traveled and done some exciting things, yet you say you’ll never watch disaster movies set in water. What’s that all about?
“I was stung by a man-o-war when I went to Hawaii in 2000, so I was 10. Now I have this fear of any deep water that you can’t see through.”
You, like a lot of young women today, are really into indie crafting. Is this why you are obsessed with Pinterest?
“It’s so great how you can share ideas with others. I love the visual platform. You would have to go to thousands of quilt stores to see these more modern quilting examples that utilize techniques that have been around forever.”
Did you have any mentors while at Kilbourne Group?
“Definitely, Margaret (Asheim, KG’s Chief Financial Officer). She’s wicked smart and we share a lot of the same values. She’s a CPA and I want to be a CPA. They always say interns should ask lots of questions. With Margaret, I feel like I really can ask questions and it’s not imposing. We’re just working together to move the company forward.”
All News