Less than two years ago, you could find Brooklyn Stephens involved in organizations, earning high achievements such as dean’s list and winning highly-coveted awards in the Haile College of Business as an undergraduate student studying economics. Now, the halls she once roamed and the classroom spaces that she learned in have a new meaning as a newly added part-time faculty member.

Stephens arrived at NKU back in January after recently receiving her Masters of Business Administration from the University of Kentucky in May 2023. Now, she’s back at NKU where she teaches ECO 309, an economics course that focuses on data analytics. 

When she isn’t in the classroom teaching students, she’s working full-time as an advanced cost control analyst at Western & Southern Financial Group—bringing things from the corporate world into an NKU classroom.

The Northerner spoke with Stephens to discuss her career and teaching as a part-time faculty member in the Haile College of Business.

Q: What made you want to become a part-time faculty member?
A: “I have a lot of love and respect for NKU and especially the College of Business. I’ve loved working with the faculty at NKU. When I was an undergrad as a research fellow, I was also a teaching assistant for the course I now teach. I loved the classroom setting, I loved designing course work and that’s when I realized that I really would love to do it if I ever got the opportunity to do it part time. When I was called and asked to do it, it was really a no-brainer for me.” 

Q: What are your favorite things about teaching?
A: “There’s a lot, it is very rewarding. It’s so rewarding to see students really understand something, to see it click and to see them grow. It’s fun to bring my real world experience in corporate life into a classroom, and I think it makes the learning a little bit richer—you’re not just teaching the textbook—you’re actually bringing real life examples into the classroom.

Q: You mentioned briefly being in the corporate world. What are some of the other jobs you hold outside of teaching?
A: “Immediately after graduating last spring, I went to work at AMEND Consulting in downtown Cincinnati. I did for six months, learned so much but realized the lifestyle wasn’t for me, so I recently just switched to Western & Southern Financial Group, also in downtown Cincinnati, and I am in the internal audit department. I’m an advanced cost control analyst, which is a roundabout way of saying that I am an internal consultant now. I don’t travel or anything like before, but I am doing a lot of the same work.” 

Q: Is there anything you’ve learned inside your corporate job that you hope to bring to students?
A: “Absolutely. I think naturally my students have questions about how to even get a job, how to get an internship, how to succeed in interviews and those things I love talking about and I am very passionate about. I try to bring those things in the classroom when they fit and when students are asking me those questions.”

Q: How do you balance having both a full-time job and being a part-time faculty member?
A: “I think it’s just the combination of having that faculty that’s there to support me and help me through the process, and then also just being really passionate about it. I never dread the work. I always look forward to it because it’s really rewarding and it’s fun.”