Sharon Epperson MIA ’93 Connects with Students

For the last 15 years, Sharon Epperson MIA ’93, CNBC Senior Personal Finance Correspondent, has been giving back to SIPA by teaching a section of the required course Professional Development. The course gives students the opportunity to meet with alumni and other professionals who work in their field of interest and learn about resume building, networking, and navigating the job and internship search.

“It’s one of the most important classes you have to take at SIPA because it prepares you for your next challenge,” said Epperson.

Students have a lot to learn from Epperson’s two decades of experience as an on-air correspondent for CNBC. This past October, Epperson had the opportunity to ask several questions during CNBC’s live debate among Republican presidential candidates—an experience she said was “very intense, but a milestone in my career.”

In 2014 Epperson was named one of the best personal finance experts; she continues to host an original weekly video program on CNBC Digital, Retire Well, which is the network’s top performing digital show. Epperson also appears regularly on CNBC’s syndicated program On the Money and PBS’s Nightly Business Report, and is a regular contributor on NBC's Today, NBC Nightly News, MSNBC, and NBC affiliates nationwide. Her book, The Big Payoff: 8 Steps Couples Can Take to Make the Most of Their Money-and Live Richly Ever After, was a finalist for the Books for a Better Life Awards in 2008.

For Epperson, part of the reward of teaching the professional development course is meeting with students.

“I love the students at SIPA,” she said, “They have so many great experiences from a variety of countries.”

She said she always encourages students to take advantage of their new network and community.

“You benefit greatly from getting the other perspective of students,” she said. “That is just as beneficial as the degree you’re going to get.”

Epperson also stressed that for students, the most valuable takeaway from SIPA is the skills they develop, rather than the grades they get.

“Collaborating, communicating, working on projects, coming up with solutions—I use these skills every day,” Epperson said. “It’s not about whether you have an A or a B-minus. But it will have an impact if you have not really maximized your opportunities to work with professors and students and engage on materials and projects.

“There are so many opportunities at SIPA, I hate to see students get stressed out about grades,” she said.

During her summer between her first and second years at SIPA, Epperson wrote for a magazine in Kenya and thought that she wanted to become a foreign correspondent. Although she ultimately stayed in New York and focused her career on personal finance and television broadcasting, the international experience she gained from SIPA has been invaluable.

“Covering the markets is covering the world, especially the way that all the markets interact with each other now. It was very helpful to have an understanding beyond the U.S.-centric point of view,” said Epperson, who also covered commodities markets for CNBC for eight years.

Many SIPA alumni will engage the media at some point in their lives, and Epperson’s experience interviewing thousands of people on live television can provide insight on how to prepare for those limelight moments.

“Whether you’re a government manager of a project, work for an NGO, or are a political leader,” Epperson said, “you’re going to need to do an interview and you’ll need to get your point across to the interviewer in the way that you want to be heard.”

She advises practicing interviewing as a skill and says it’s crucial to know—and stick to—the three main points that one wants to make.

“If the interviewer steers off course, bring the interviewer back to those three points. That is very important,” Epperson said.

Epperson also offered advice on how to respond to negative comments in the media or online.

“The best thing you can do in your career and life is be well-prepared and well-informed and know where you stand and where your ethics lie,” she said. “If you think you’ve done the best job, you can’t worry about what other people say—there is so much room for people to comment on what you do, such as on a blog or on social media.

“Find a forum to let people know that you are presenting this point of view and that you are representing yourself or your organization in a way that is true to your values and the organization’s values,” Epperson added. “Then you know you’ve done your job.”

Acknowledging that public criticism can be difficult, Epperson said the hardest hurdle for her was staying true to herself.

“One of the greatest challenges has been listening to myself and knowing what my own goals are, and not thinking about what my goals should be,” she said.

Students and alumni may face pressure from family or colleagues to move into a field or new position that is not necessarily the role they want to do. Epperson encourages these students and alumni to stay focused on what they want from their career, noting that she herself has received comments from people encouraging her to move on from a live correspondent into a managerial role, even if that is not necessarily what she wants to do.

“I always have to remember that I’m doing what I want to do and I love what I do,” she concluded.

— Kristen Grennan MPA ’16