Ally Sehy had no plans to go into finance, until a chance encounter with a campus recruiter opened the door to apply for a job at Wells Fargo. It was a financial analyst position, and Sehy knew it was an incredible opportunity. But from the moment she arrived for the big recruitment event, the Gies Business senior knew it might be an uphill battle.

Sehy’s degree was in marketing, not finance. And while she’d worked from a young age, most of that work was unrelated to finance, apart from a summer internship where she created a spreadsheet to audit warehouse-stored property at the family construction company. At the time of the interview, she was working in a small clothing boutique, which didn’t exactly make her resume stand out. But when the interviewer asked why he should hire her, she was prepared with an answer that played to all her strengths.

“You guys sell money, right? And I can sell,” said Sehy, adding, “I could sell you a $200 pair of jeans.” When the interviewer said he wouldn’t buy them, Sehy could have folded her hand. But instead, she doubled down. Gathering her nerve, she looked him straight in the eye and replied, “You would buy them from me.”

She got the job and hit the ground running, taking courses to gain the additional skills that she needed. That started with night classes in accounting, followed by a six-month, in-house credit training program in San Francisco that employees dubbed the “Banker’s MBA.” Sehy excelled in her courses and quickly rose through the ranks, becoming the assistant VP of middle-market real estate with more than $120 million in commercial loans under her supervision.

When the financial downturn hit in 2008, she managed commercial relationships, where her job was to restructure loans that were either in default or at risk of going into default. As VP of real estate managed assets, she helped the bank recoup millions in troubled assets while negotiating with borrowers caught in hard financial straits. It was a tough job, but one she thoroughly enjoyed.

“It was, by far, the best career experience I’ve ever had,” said Sehy, who considers testifying for the bank in federal bankruptcy court one of her career highlights.

In 2015, she moved into the company’s wealth management operations. And once more, she found herself in her element, using her financial skills to help clients achieve their goals. “When you connect the dots on those kinds of projects, it humanizes things,” said Sehy. “And that’s what I love.”

Now, Sehy’s career is coming full circle. She’s joining her alma mater this fall as an adjunct clinical assistant professor of finance, where she hopes to help students connect the dots — linking the skills they’re acquiring with the career goals they hope to achieve. The Gies Business alum will be teaching two real estate courses, FIN 241: Fundamental of Real Estate and FIN 446: Real Estate Financial Markets, where she’ll share insights gleaned from 20 years in the field.

Both of her courses are part of the newly named Reichard Real Estate Academy, a five-semester program offering additional courses, internships, case competitions, and networking opportunities in the field of real estate.

Sehy reconnected with Gies Business when she and her husband returned to central Illinois to raise their family in 2017. As a senior vice president at Busey Bank, she frequently guest lectured at Gies, which awakened her passion to teach.

She says her main motivation is the students. “It’s like coaching for me,” said Sehy, a former Division 1 athlete who competed in track and field during her college days. “I want Gies graduates to be well equipped to go it into the workforce, to be very strong academically, and to be connected to the business world.” And Sehy says the program at Gies is tailor made to provide that.

“Gies stands out for its commitment to teaching not just the fundamentals of business, but also their real-world application and impact,” said Sehy. “I see a strong commitment to provide this within Gies and specifically within the Department of Finance. This competitive advantage is important as the students graduating today are walking into a very different professional landscape than we did."

It’s not enough just to be able to run the numbers, said Sehy. Artificial intelligence can do that. To thrive in the modern business world, students need to understand the thinking behind those numbers, and how to apply it to make decisions and advise and provide value to clients. And she hopes to provide students with that through a teaching style that’s both open and approachable.

“I want to create an environment where students not only learn for the class, but also learn for the long haul; where they walk out of the classroom knowing they have learned something and they are well-prepared to move into their career with an excellent education and a forever-learner mindset."