Kathleen Sharman ’79 originally planned to do music as a career while taking on accounting as a backup.
Sharman attended college at George Washington University to receive a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in accounting. However, while working as an accountant for a trash hauling and recycling company, she became the chief financial officer for the South Jersey Transportation Authority.
“The big advice I have for younger people that I meet in my career is just try. If you get an opportunity, go for it. Don’t be afraid,” Sharman said.
Since then, she has been the CFO for the Georgia State Road & Tollway Authority and the CFO for New Jersey Transit.
Sharman is currently the Chief Financial Officer at Greater Orlando Aviation Authority: Orlando International (MCO) and Executive (ORL) Airports, where she is responsible for strategic planning and financial performance.
“Sometimes I joke when I’m speaking at conferences that I’m a serial CFO,” Sharman said.
According to Sharman, at the time that she took on her first job as CFO for the South Jersey Transportation Authority, the governor of New Jersey ran on the platform of consolidating the New Jersey Turnpike, the Garden State Parkway, and the Atlantic City Expressway. As a result, other, more experienced candidates did not want the job of CFO because they thought that two of the three CFO positions would disappear in one or two years.
“For me, because I was at a different point in my life, I’m like, well, I’ll take it, because even if I only have it for two years, it’ll lead me to something else. I had that job for sixteen and a half years, so you just never know,” Sharman said.
During high school, Sharman was all over the music department. She was the lead in the school musical during her junior and senior years, played the cello, and was the captain of the drill team.
“When you’re in a financial leadership role, you have to know about finance, but you also have to know about motivating people and leading people. Over the years, those skills were developed, but they started in high school leading my drill team,” Sharman said.
According to Fred Mason, a retired police officer after 34 years, Sharman was one of the most intelligent people he knew in high school. She was smart, honest, and spoke her mind.
“I assumed she would be in that position in life from day one. As soon as she graduated high school, I assumed that she was going to be at that level of employment,” Mason said.
