Carolyn Rogers, EMBA’02

Last December, Carolyn Rogers was appointed senior deputy governor of the Bank of Canada, joining another high-profile Queen’s alumnus, the bank’s governor, Tiff Macklem, Artsci’83. Here, Rogers answers some of our alternative resumé questions— from her first job, to what she’s reading, to the best advice she ever got.

Where’s your hometown?
I moved a lot growing up so it’s difficult to name one place, but I tend to think of Winnipeg as the closest thing to a hometown for me. Most of my family is there now.

Growing up, what did you want to be?
I changed my mind a lot. I can remember wanting to be everything from an architect to a fashion designer to a journalist.

What was your first job?
Keeping stats for my dad’s baseball team.

What’s your all-time favourite book?
There are way, way too many to pick one. The best I can do is name my favourite that I’ve read in the last few months, which is The Premonition by Michael Lewis.

What are you reading at the moment?
I usually have about three books on the go at any given time. Right now, I am reading Fight Night by Miriam Toews, Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell and The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson. The last one was a Christmas gift from my boss.

Your favourite all-time movie is?
The Big Lebowski

What’s your motto?
Always leave it better than you found it.

What’s the best part of your job?
Being surrounded by smart, interesting people.

What attracted you to a career in finance?
Initially it was a university scholarship. But eventually I discovered it was what I liked to do.

Name one thing that has helped you succeed in your career?
Being focused on helping others succeed.

What do you do when you’re not working?
Reading, running, cooking, sailing, yoga, and hoping someday soon to get back to golfing.

What’s one thing that most people don’t know about you?
I’m an introvert.

What’s your best memory from your time at Smith?
I did an Executive MBA so a lot of it was done online. My favourite memories were the video classes every other Friday and Saturday, where I met up with my team, unplugged from work and had a bit of fun . . . and learned a lot, of course!

Who was a favourite Smith professor?
Julian Barling. He was a pro on tough questions.

What’s on your music playlist now?
Lately a lot of Dave Matthews and Dire Straits.

Where is your favourite place to travel?
Maui.

What’s the best advice you ever got?
People will forget what you did, they will forget what you said, but they will rarely forget how you made them feel.