Katie Markham

Providence College School of Business

“I am an ambitious young woman who genuinely loves to learn, travel, and be challenged.”

Fun fact about yourself: I use to live in the Middle East, in particular Kuwait, where I studied Arabic.

Hometown: Park City, Utah

Major: Finance

Favorite Business Course: Investments, also known as Fin 317 at PC.

Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles During College:

• Co-President of Providence College Finance Society – The Finance Society provides members with an opportunity to learn about basic investing terminology and strategy, and also participate in mock investing games for prizes. Additionally, in 2019, we started a new initiative featuring Blockchain/Cryptocurrency, Real Estate, Risk Management, and Consulting to go alongside the traditional investing approach PCFS had previously taken. The goal is that the Finance Society will reinforce principles taught in the classroom and apply them to real life situations, helping to better prepare participants for internships.
• Member of the Providence College Division 1 Tennis Team (2018-2019)
• CFA Society – I lead the Providence College cohort in volunteering and teaching financial literacy to the surrounding communities.
• Dean’s List

Where have you interned during your college career?

Citi Private Bank – Summer Analyst (June – August 2021)

Citi Ventures – Intern at Citi Bank (June – August 2020)

Markham Development Company – Real Estate Analyst (June 2019-August 2020)

Where will you be working after graduation?  I will be working full time at Citi Bank in the NYC headquarters as a Private Bank Analyst.

Who is your favorite professor? My favorite professor is Kevin McMahon due to his incorporation of faith and finance within the business school. I have had Professor McMahon for three semesters, and he has always been able to tie in the importance of faith and ethics in the world of finance. He also does a phenomenal job of bringing his real-life work experience and religious experiences into the classroom to educate students on the trials and triumphs of corporate America and how to maintain a life you are proud of. Professor McMahon always makes time for his students when they are struggling in the classroom or outside of it. I will never forget my sophomore year when my father was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer. Professor McMahon showed me sympathy, compassion, and helped me complete my Managerial Finance I course while commuting to Lexington, Kentucky, as often as possible to be there for my family during difficult treatments.  To this day, I attribute much of my success to Professor McMahons teachings.

What is the biggest lesson you gained from studying business? It is ALWAYS about how hard you work. As a female in the finance industry, I have seen that there is a lot of stereotyping about males being the more aggressive, dominant, and respectable person on Wall Street. However, I believe, if you work hard enough, and stay attentive and aware of the current financial atmosphere throughout the world, you will be respected and valued in the workplace. Do not let your gender, age, race, or any other factors limit you. Use what you’ve got and make it your competitive edge.

What has surprised you most about majoring in business? I am most surprised by how much I genuinely love being a finance major. I never knew my love for understanding how options trade, the ways portfolios are constructed, and how becoming financially literate could change my life. It fascinates me how many different ways there are to grow wealth and grow it passively if you understand the basics of investing. In my opinion, learning and teaching others how to become financially independent is the most responsible and rewarding thing one can do.

Looking back over your experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently in business school and why? I would have learned how to use Python. This tool is a large part of the financial world now and definitely gives an individual a competitive edge. It is so important to try to keep up with new technology and financial digitalization as the industry continues to evolve.

What business executive do you admire most? Ida Liu is the business executive I admire most. Ida is Citigroup’s global head of private banking who I have watched on Bloomberg and CNBC for multiple years now. Last summer, I even had the pleasure to meet her in person while working in NYC. My respect and admiration grew even more after meeting and working on the same floor as Ida. A major reason I admire her so greatly is not just because she broke through the glass ceiling, but also because of her advocacy in helping women working in finance. Ida has been named to Barron’s 10 Most Influential Women in Wealth Management, Barron’s 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance, Crain’s Notable Women on Wall Street, and American Banker’s 25 Most Powerful Women in Finance. Ida is a Young Global Leader (YGL) of the World Economic Forum, a member of The Committee of 100 (C100) and Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO). I look forward to working with and for Ida again in the near future.

Which academic, extracurricular or personal achievement are you most proud of? I am most proud of being an active board member representing Providence College in the CFA Society in Rhode Island. This opportunity came to me as a part of my role as the co-president of Providence College’s Finance Society. The CFA Society connects active finance professionals and students to the surrounding community in order to spread and share financial literacy. This has been a large issue not just within our country, but within the state of Rhode Island. It is one thing to study finance and apply it to your own financial health and job, but it is much more rewarding to be able to educate and help others with the knowledge you hold.

Which classmate do you most admire? I greatly admire my classmate, fellow finance major, and co-president of the Finance Society, Arianna Sougarides. Arianna is not only a friend, but she gives me friendly competition within the classroom and we both challenge each other to be better leaders as presidents and students. We also enjoy each other’s company on the weekends and normally spend Friday nights at my off-campus house called “Big Blue.” We share common interests regarding markets and real estate development/management, which we have grown to love from watching our fathers’ careers in the real estate world. Arianna has had some incredible accomplishments and just accepted a full-time offer with Deloitte in Boston as a Business Valuation Analyst. I know the future is bright for her and hope to remain friends for many years to come!

Who would you most want to thank for your success? This was the easiest question for me to answer – without a doubt my parents. My parents have given me unconditional love and support throughout my entire life and in every way possible have helped me become the woman I am today. I have been lucky enough to see true love and respect in a relationship throughout my entire life and have been given that same kind of treatment from them both. This gave me a road map of how I would always want to be treated and how I would always want to treat others. They have been such positive influences in my life. As a family, we had the opportunity to travel the world and live in Kuwait because of my father’s job as a CFO. I met people from all over the world from different cultures and I was able to become fully immersed in the prevalent Islamic religion.  I believe this experience helped give me the tools to feel confident and sensitive enough to speak to anyone from any region of the world. Throughout these adventures, my parents and I discovered that in every scenario there existed harmful stereotypes that cultivated bigotry and prevented people from putting themselves in one another’s shoes and seeing things from another’s perspective. As a family, we vowed to work on changing this, which is part of the reason I pursued a liberal arts-based business education and have appreciated the ethics courses at Providence College.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? I want to pass my 3 series exams this year in order to execute trades for clients, and legally advise for wealth management and securities investing. I also want to begin creating my real estate portfolio by finishing my real estate investment business plan, which is in progress. This will help begin setting up multiple streams of income in hopes of becoming completely financially stable and independent.

What are your hobbies? I love playing tennis and golf, skiing, boating with my parents and our dog Murphy, watching college basketball, and traveling!

What made Katie such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2022?

“I once observed: “Katie Markham not only passes the life-boat drill, she is the lifeboat.” Students, faculty, tutoring applicants, and administration all rely on her vast skill set as virtually a school-wide resource. She meets every challenge with a big smile and a “let’s do this” attitude. I have also seen her operate in zero sum conditions, where there may be no winners, and Katie handles these situations with sensitivity and a keen eye for ethics. Here at PC, we pride ourselves on our deep liberal arts immersion which trains our students in how to make moral decisions in a world of gray. Katie’s poise and wisdom is a testimony to that program.”

Kevin McMahon, CFA
Practitioner Faculty, Department of Finance
Providence College

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