{"id":13303,"date":"2020-03-16T12:04:18","date_gmt":"2020-03-16T17:04:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/?p=13303"},"modified":"2020-03-16T12:04:18","modified_gmt":"2020-03-16T17:04:18","slug":"finance-vice-president-named-dbj-40-40-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/2020\/03\/16\/finance-vice-president-named-dbj-40-40-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Finance Vice President named DBJ 40 Under 40"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, Envoy Vice President of Finance & Planning Kara McKinney was chosen by the Dallas Business Journal<\/em> for their annual \u201c40 Under 40\u201d Awards. The award celebrates stars on the rise in the Dallas-Fort Worth area who are \u201cthe region\u2019s brightest and most talented leaders\u201d and \u201cpeople that the North Texas community should know,\u201d according to the publication.<\/p>\n

At only 32 years old, Kara has spent over a decade with Envoy in the Finance department, serving in a number of roles, from analyst to director to vice president. With an incredible knack for managing a budget, she\u2019s even more adept at managing relationships, which is what she says has earned her the role of vice president.<\/p>\n

\u201cPedro (Envoy President & CEO, Pedro Fabregas) always says that it\u2019s the people that drive this business, so I\u2019ve always had a focus on building those key relationships throughout the company,\u201d Kara said. \u201cOver the years, I\u2019ve enjoyed every role, every challenge, every project, because I love the amazing people on my team.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Never a dull moment”<\/h3>\n

Kara, who graduated with a finance degree from North Texas University, says that the past 11 years feel like they happened \u201cin the blink of an eye.\u201d Right out of school, Kara joined Envoy as an analyst and remembers long nights working until the wee hours of the morning on finance budgets.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would go home exhausted, but never defeated because I loved the work we were doing,\u201d said Kara. \u201cWith the constant change within an airline, there\u2019s never a dull moment. I can\u2019t believe it\u2019s been 11 years, it just goes by so fast when you\u2019re enjoying the work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since 2015, Envoy has experienced strong growth fueled by a growing fleet, and with it, a growing employee population from 14,000 to nearly 19,000 today. A large part of what Kara does is to forecast for that growth, and whether it\u2019s staffing airports, purchasing ground support equipment or determining the right number of crewmembers and mechanics to operate and maintain our aircraft, she says there\u2019s no limit to Envoy\u2019s success.<\/p>\n

In her role as vice president, Kara says that Envoy\u2019s relationship with its parent company American Airlines is more vital than ever.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important that we maintain a relationship that is open, honest and based on respect,\u201d Kara said. \u201cWe hope that American sees that we\u2019re the best and most reliable regional airline, which goes a long way to achieving an easier budget process and mutual trust.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bright future ahead<\/h3>\n

\"Kara<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Listening to Kara explain her side of the business and the relationship with the world\u2019s largest airline, it\u2019s very plain to see why, even at her young age, she\u2019s been so successful and deserving of the DBJ\u2019s award.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s such an honor to be named for this award,\u201d Kara said. \u201cI never thought I would get an award like this, but it is a great feeling. I feel very accomplished at my age having done quite a bit in my career. I have high hopes for my future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although she is in an executive role with a prominent regional airline, Kara still feels that she has a lot to learn. Most of all, she thinks she would benefit from continuing to build relationships with other workgroups outside of finance.<\/p>\n

This year, she has a goal to travel to more stations throughout Envoy\u2019s system to learn more about the daily lives of general managers, agents, mechanics, flight crewmembers, etc., in order to understand their specific needs. In turn, she will become more knowledgeable about their budget requests having seen their operations up close.<\/p>\n

For Kara, this is part of her mission to not get complacent in her job, and she is constantly looking for opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel that my success, and I would tell this to anyone looking for advice, is that you have to keep yourself open to new opportunities,\u201d Kara said. \u201cSometimes you have to get out of your comfort zone. You also have to keep up with every relationship you make, because, you never know, you could meet someone who could be your boss one day or vice versa. So it\u2019s key to be personable and engaged with the people you work with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inspiration & Gratitude<\/h3>\n
\"IMG_EHQ_Earth_Day_April_2019_Volunteering-700x\"<\/a>
Kara with a group of her Finance employees volunteering to help clean the Trinity River in Dallas-Fort Worth in 2019.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A lot of what Kara has learned has come from her mother, who Kara says is her hero. Her mother, a single parent caring for two children, \u201cnever complained, held two jobs and was an amazing example of what hard work looks like,\u201d Kara said about the work ethic she tries to emulate.<\/p>\n

Last year, Kara became a new mother herself to a baby girl named Palmer Jean. While there\u2019s been some adjustment to her lifestyle, Kara feels that it\u2019s for the best because she\u2019s reached a new level of responsibility in having to care for her daughter\u2019s well-being and future.<\/p>\n

\u201cLife is so much different than before, but I love being a mother,\u201d Kara said. \u201cI\u2019ve learned that I have to be more productive with every minute I have, because it\u2019s not just me and my husband anymore. And when I\u2019m at work, I\u2019ve learned to cherish that even more because I\u2019m able to improve myself and do my thing, then go home to a wonderful family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet, if you ask Kara, she has two families \u2013 one at home and one at Envoy. Beyond thanking her mother and her husband, who was supportive even when Kara was coming home at 3 a.m., Kara would like to credit her team for helping her achieve the DBJ 40 Under 40 Award.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t be where I am today without my mentors and coworkers who are hardworking, intelligent and the best at what they do,\u201d Kara said. \u201cI wholeheartedly feel that we\u2019re like a little family, and they\u2019re the reason for this award.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week, Envoy Vice President of Finance & Planning Kara McKinney was chosen by the Dallas Business Journal for their annual \u201c40 Under 40\u201d Awards. The award celebrates stars on the rise in the Dallas-Fort Worth area who are \u201cthe region\u2019s brightest and most talented leaders\u201d and \u201cpeople that the North Texas community should know,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":41941,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[635,105,64,66,144,636,86,51,68,118,147,637,90,638,83,628],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13303"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13303"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13303\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13303"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13303"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.envoyair.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13303"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}