Introducing Kristen & Jen
OUR STORY
Lifelong Friends with a Shared Passion
Kristen and Jen are two lifelong friends and proud nerds. We grew up pursuing other academic interests, but found our way into the financial services industry. We are podcasters, teachers, mentors, and community builders looking to inspire, educate, and entertain the next generation.
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5+ YEARS ON WALLSTREET
9+ YEARS IN THE FINANCE INDUSTRY
10+ YEARS TEACHING FINANCE
CO-FOUNDER
Kristen Kelly
Kristen has spent over 15 years working and teaching in the financial services industry. After graduating from Brown University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biomedical and Mechanical Engineering, and a Master’s Degree in Innovation, Management and Entrepreneurship (PRIME), she started her career at Morgan Stanley in New York City where she worked in the Fixed Income Sales and Trading Division on the CDO Structuring desk, on the Equity Linked Products and Project Finance desks in Global Capital Markets, and in the Financial Sponsors Group within the Investment Banking Division.
Because her passion has always been teaching, she decided to make the jump to a role in training and education and then spent over a decade at Training The Street (TTS), a leading global financial training firm before leaving to start The Wall Street Skinny with her best friend Jen. She has trained incoming analysts and associates at top tier investment banks, private equity mega funds, Fortune 500 companies, universities, and business schools all over the world.
EDUCATION
2006 - 2007
Brown University
Master of Sciences in Innovation, Management and Entrepreneurship
2002 - 2006
Brown University
Bachelors of Science, Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering
CO-FOUNDER
Jen Saarbach
Jen has spent over a decade working and teaching on Wall Street. After graduating from Princeton University with a degree in English, Jen leveraged her summer internship in Fixed Income Sales & Trading to land a full time job as an Interest Rates Derivatives specialist at Lehman Brothers. Jen spent the remainder of her career at Barclays Capital and Morgan Stanley, where she covered some of the world's largest hedge funds, asset managers, bank portfolios, mortgage services, pension funds, and insurance companies.
As someone who entered the financial services industry without a background in finance, Jen is passionate about democratizing access to Wall Street for EVERYONE. Co-founding The Wall Street Skinny with her best friend, Kristen, has enabled her to share her knowledge and expertise with the next generation. Jen also brings a talent for creative writing to an industry that can be -- let's face it --a little dry!
EDUCATION
2002 - 2006
Princeton University
Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature
PLACES WE’VE TAUGHT
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OUR MISSION
Distilling the Complexities of Wall Street and Finances
Our mission is to simplify the complexities of Wall Street, making high finance accessible to all. We aim to demystify the world of finance for everyone, regardless of background, education, or career experience.
And one more thing...
To celebrate the launch of our first course, we are including our standalone course, "The Industry": Understanding the World of Wall Street, as a bonus module to Investment Banking and Private Equity Fundamentals
No BS, Just Bullish.
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