Introducing Kristen & Jen
OUR STORY
Lifelong Friends with a Shared Passion
Kristen and Jen are two lifelong friends and proud nerds. We are podcasters, teachers, mentors, and community builders looking to inspire, educate, and entertain the next generation. We understand how hard it is to understand and break into high finance. But if we can do it, so can you.
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 on Wall Street. After graduating from Brown University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Biomedical & Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Innovation, Management and Entrepreneurship (PRIME), she started her career at Morgan Stanley in New York City. Kristen worked in the Fixed Income Sales & 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, Kristen brought her talents to a financial education firm. She spent over a decade at Training The Street, a leading global financial training firm before exiting to start The Wall Street Skinny with her best friend, Jen. She has spent over 10,000 hours training incoming analysts and associates at top tier investment banks, private equity mega funds, Fortune 500 companies, universities, and business schools all over the world. Kristen is obsessed with breaking down complex financial concepts and teaching them in the most fun and effective ways.
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 Literature, 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 servicers, 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 brings her creativity, wit, and passion for storytelling to high finance in ways that have never been done before.
EDUCATION
2002 - 2006
Princeton University
Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature
PLACES WE’VE TAUGHT
OUR MISSION
Distilling the Complexities of Wall Street and Finance
Without great mentors and teachers in our lives, we would have missed the opportunity to work on Wall Street and all the wonderful things that came from it.
We don’t want that to happen to you.
We want to share that opportunity with EVERYONE who is smart, hardworking, and curious.
That’s why we are bringing access to the education, insight, and technical skills that will help open those doors regardless of your background, knowledge, or experience level.
What’s REALLY Going to Set you Apart?
Understanding not just the technicals, but also how all the pieces of Wall Street fit together:
Who are all the players on the buy side & sell side?
How do they work together? Compete? Make money?
What is the field of opportunity? Career paths and exits?
How do the public and private capital markets work?
We’re offering a FREE bonus course “The Industry: Understanding the World of Wall Street” to help you make sense of it all. These are the best kept secrets in the business that NO ONE ELSE will teach you.
No BS, Just Bullish.
The Wall Street Skinny Newsletter
Tired of sifting through perplexing financial jargon? We've got you covered. Sign up for our newsletter where we share realtime market insights, day-in-the life stories from practitioners on the desk, trading challenges, case studies, interview questions, lifestyle & fashion tips, and more!