How One Student’s Decision to Show Up Led to an Unexpected Career Path 

When Caroline Chou walked into the Forté Emerging Leaders Conference, most of the tables were already full.

So she took a seat in the back.

The prospect of attending a conference initially felt intimidating. “I was feeling rather lost in my business career journey at the time,” Caroline says.

Then a sophomore at Georgetown University double-majoring in Operations & Analytics (OPAN) and Marketing, Caroline knew she was interested in the intersection of business, technology, and analytics, but she wasn't yet sure what shape that career could take. 

Still, something about the conference felt worth exploring.

Hosted at Georgetown with free registration for students, the event gave Caroline the opportunity to meet women working across industries and career paths. She hoped the experience might help her better understand the possibilities available to her, even if attending pushed her outside her comfort zone.

That decision ended up changing more than she expected.

Sitting next to Caroline at the conference was Kelly Victory, Senior Recruiter at FTI Consulting.

“Her friendly demeanor helped dissolve my nervousness,” Caroline says.

As they talked, Caroline described her interests in business, technology, and problem-solving, though she admitted she was still figuring out exactly where those interests might lead professionally. 

It was one of the first times I started to be able to envision myself leading a career in not just business but also consulting.”

Kelly introduced her to the kind of work FTI Consulting does within its Telecommunications, Media, and Technology (TMT) practice and helped connect Caroline’s interests to roles she had never previously considered. While Caroline knew little about the telecommunications sector at the time, she was intrigued by how the work combined business analysis, technology, and complex problem-solving. The industry itself was new to her, but the work felt familiar. 

For Caroline, the interaction felt different from many recruiting experiences she had encountered before.

“In both interactions, Kelly’s openness was what stood out to me the most,” she says. “It was one of the first times I started to be able to envision myself leading a career in not just business but also consulting.”

Caroline left the conference with something more valuable than a polished career plan: a clearer sense of where her interests might fit.

Then, in August, Kelly reached out through Handshake to let Caroline know applications had opened for FTI Consulting’s Corporate Finance internship opportunities within the TMT practice.

What Caroline initially thought would be a brief conference interaction became an ongoing connection. Kelly remained involved throughout the recruiting process, answering questions and helping coordinate interviews along the way.

Eventually, Caroline accepted an offer as a TMT - Industry Expert Services (IES) Intern within FTI Consulting's Corporate Finance practice. 

Looking back now, Caroline sees the Emerging Leaders Conference as a turning point, not just because it introduced her to a company or a role, but because it expanded how she thought about herself professionally.

“The conference broadened my professional horizons,” she says. “It showed me that when given an opportunity to step outside of your comfort zone, you should take it — you never know where it might lead.”

Sometimes career paths do not begin with a formal application or a carefully planned networking strategy.

Sometimes they begin with taking the last open seat in the room.

[the Emerging LEaders CONFERENCE] showed me that when given an opportunity to step outside of your comfort zone, you should take it — you never know where it might lead.”