As graduation nears, Kim Kellman is stitching together a tribute to the classmates who became a close-knit community
Kim Kellman has always had a unique ability to associate colors with specific people and their personalities. The more she gets to know you, the clearer your color becomes. Maybe you’re a scarlet or an emerald, perhaps an indigo.
She’s taken that skill and translated it into a series of gifts for her graduating full-time Denver MBA cohort at the Daniels College of Business. Their colors are being represented in hand-knit blankets from Kellman, a token of appreciation for their support and camaraderie in the program.
“When I get to know someone, and pretty much right off the bat, I associate them with a color yarn that I would knit for them,” she said. “The designs are all completely what I want to do, but also what I see in the person. It tends to work out really well.”
Kellman jokes that she joined the MBA program at Daniels two years ago because she ran out of people to knit for. She also joined to further her business acumen and complement her undergraduate degree in engineering. Kellman had spent five years at a startup but was hoping the MBA program would formalize her business education and help showcase her skills to the corporate world.
A road trip and a Taylor Swift concert in the Mile High City would cement her love for Colorado and ultimately steer her to Daniels.
“I decided that if I was going to business school, I was going to be in Denver,” she said.
Upon starting her program, she immediately made a connection with her cohort. Spirited discussions in the classroom bonded them and gave Kellman new perspective on communication and compromise.
They’ve taken that connection outside of the classroom, as the group regularly gets together for board game nights and local Denver events, like art markets.
“We’re a close cohort,” she said. “We all enjoy spending a lot of time with each other outside of classes.”
Their biggest out-of-the-classroom experience took them across the world to Turkey as part of the signature global experience in the program. Kellman’s cohort would work with a Turkish textile company, showcasing how business is done in another country. It sealed their closeness and helped her see business in a different light.
“We got to see different sides of each other and travel with each other, which was a lot of fun,” she said.
Kellman is wrapping up her time at Daniels this June and interning with Workiva, a finance software company, through September. She’s on the hunt for a full-time position, but has confidence that the skills she’s learned in the program will help her land her next step. She also learned what helps her during times of transition –knitting helps her stay calm and refocus in stressful times.
“I get tense when I don’t knit,” she said.
She’s finished about half of the blankets for her nearly 30-person cohort and is forging on to complete the rest. It will be a physical reminder of her connection with the cohort, despite their upcoming graduation.
“Since I’m working so much, knitting has been a little bit harder, but I will get them all done. It just might take another two years,” she said with a smile. And the best part is, they come as a surprise to the receiver. “They don’t know about it until it’s done and I’m handing it to them.”
While the blankets will be something she gives to her cohort, she knows they will continue to give back to her as well—in collaboration, career guidance and connection.