Welcome to SHSS Alumnae Link!

This is where we connect with past pupils and find out what they’re up to now.

This week we linked with Kellie Scannell who graduated in 2016.

Name and position:

Kellie Scannell – Portfolio Manager at Mars Inc.

Lives:

Cork/Dublin

Best memory of Sacred Heart:

It’s hard to choose just one, so I’ll pick three instead. Playing camogie with the school team, particularly in 2015 when we won the Munster Double (League and Championship) and reached the All-Ireland Final.

Another fond memory of mine was winning the Sr. Eilis McGrath award. Lastly, my fondest memory from my schooldays is the friends I have made. I will cherish these friendships forever.

What were your favourite classes?

German with Ms. O’Regan and Ms. Nash. Economics with Ms.Hennessy, especially our class trip to Dublin to be in the audience for the Claire Byrne Show. Also, Accounting with Ms. O’Neill, most notably on

sunny days when we tried to get her to buy us ice cream if the whole class (10 of us that year) balanced our books correctly.

Tell us about your career progression to date:

In 2016, I started my undergraduate degree in Commerce International with German at University College Cork, based on my favourite classes the course choice was no surprise. I spent the third year of my degree on Erasmus in Konstanz, Germany. This was definitely one of the highlights of my four years at UCC. After I graduated from UCC in 2020, I went on to complete a MSc in International Management at Trinity College Dublin and will be graduating this coming November. I recently started a new role at the start of this month as a Portfolio Manager with Mars Inc. for the North Europe cluster in the Petcare segment. This is a very exciting role as I get to work across five markets (Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Norway, and Sweden) with incredible brands such as Pedigree, Whiskas, Crave, Sheba, and Dreamies. Mars Inc. also own many more world-famous brands, such as M&Ms, Galaxy, Snickers, Dolmio, Skittles, to name a few so I am very excited to explore the diversity of opportunities available within this company.

If you weren’t in the job you have, what would you be doing?

Probably teaching German and spending the summers off travelling.

Advice you would give your teenage self:

Celebrate your victories in life… even the small ones.

Favourite quote or motto?

Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.

What is your hidden talent?

I can play the flute. Although, I’m not sure how well I can play it now due to lack of practice.

Huge thanks to Kellie for taking the time to answer our questions!

See you soon for the next instalment of SHSS Alumnae Link.