In Focus with Kaylyn Sanbower, ‘15

This In the Lead article features Kaylyn Sanbower, a 2015 Seton Hall graduate from South Central Pennsylvania who majored in mathematical finance and economics. Sanbower reflects on her academic journey and the foundation it provided for her professional path.

Thank you for joining In the Lead, Kaylyn. Can you tell us about your journey?

I am an economist at the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).  Prior to joining the division, I earned my Ph.D. in Economics from Emory University (Spring 2022). My dissertation research focused on health care, and in my work at the division, I continue to investigate economic questions in health care along with a variety of other industries. Before starting graduate school, I received a B.S. in Economics and Mathematical Finance from Seton Hall University in May 2015. In the following two years, I worked for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency as an assistant national bank examiner before beginning my graduate studies.

We are proud to see you as an economist at the DOJ. Could you share your journey with us?

Absolutely. Seton Hall is really the starting point of the career path that I’ve forged, so I’m excited to share what my career has looked like since my time there. At Seton Hall, I studied mathematical finance and economics, but I didn’t have a specific career path in mind. As I got closer to graduation, I started thinking about the types of roles that interested me, and I was curious but uncertain about research and public policy jobs. I remember speaking with professors John Shannon and Kurt Rotthoff, who suggested that I consider Ph.D. programs if that was the route that I wanted to take. I had never considered a Ph.D. and wasn’t yet sold on the commitment that is a doctoral program, so I kept this option in mind and looked for a job instead.

I started my career at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. It was an excellent first job. I had the opportunity to work on bank examinations with countless smart, dedicated colleagues, and I had a range of experiences and responsibilities that go beyond what one might expect from an entry-level position. After about a year in the position, though, I knew I wanted to pivot, and any role that spoke to me had limited growth unless I went to graduate school. I knew that if I were going to pursue a Ph.D., it was now or never.

I decided to go to Emory University, where I focused on applied microeconomics and developed a particular interest in health care. When it was time to enter the job market, I sought jobs that would allow me to work on interesting issues and would have a tangible impact. That’s how I ended up at DOJ, which has been a great fit. Since I’ve been here, I’ve had the chance to work on a lot of interesting cases, predominantly in the airline and healthcare industries. I also supervise our research analyst (RA) program, which allows me to spend more of my time mentoring and supporting our research analysts, and it requires me to explore ways to continually improve the program in support of the RAs and the division’s mission.

This issue of In The Lead focuses on exploring how leaders build trust. How do you personally define trust, and has that definition evolved over the course of your career?

I think of trust as the comfort and ease that comes with knowing you can have confidence in something. Trust is so powerful because it relieves you of the burdens that exist in its absence. I think that my definition of trust has always taken this shape, but the situations and relationships in which trust has been most readily showcased have varied over time.

Thinking back, my doctoral studies were essentially a multiyear adventure in building trust in myself. From the start, the demands of the program were onerous, and there were plenty of times that I struggled. But I consistently put in the work, and I started to understand concepts that had originally confused me. In turn, I became more confident in my ability to tackle new problems and concepts as they arose. While there were, of course, highs and lows during that time of my life, there wasn’t a single moment where I suddenly had trust in myself. Rather, it was the culmination of so many seemingly small moments where I proved something to myself. Effectively navigating the countless challenges that cropped up along my career path thus far has lent me the confidence to continue tackling new challenges in my current role.

Another commonality through each step in my career has been the importance of my mentors and colleagues. At Seton Hall, I put a lot of stock in the guidance of my professors and mentors at the Stillman School of Business. I sought the perspective of professionals that I was connected with via the Leadership Program.

The same is true for each of the subsequent chapters of my career: I have been fortunate to make connections with generous, knowledgeable mentors who took the time to invest in our relationship. Across the board, I came to trust each of my mentors for the candor with which they spoke about their own personal and professional journeys and the honesty with which they delivered advice and feedback. There’s a level of vulnerability that comes with soliciting and providing mentorship, both of which are rooted in the trust you build together.

In your current work, how important is trust — whether between team members, agency collaborators, or other stakeholders? How do you evaluate or build it?

KS: The work that I do now is interdisciplinary, and our investigations at the division necessarily rely on a range of skills not held by a single person. I think the clearest example of this is the collaboration between attorneys and economists. We each have fundamentally different training, which means we each bring a different way of thinking to the case. We would not be able to do the important antitrust enforcement that we do without each other’s skills and knowledge.

While we have some distinct roles and responsibilities, we ultimately have a shared responsibility to develop a holistic understanding of the case. For instance, the economists are responsible for diving into the data and uncovering and assessing empirical evidence. The attorneys do not need to understand the ins and outs of that analysis, but they do need to understand its implications. Communicating our work to the attorneys and other stakeholders requires open, clear, professional communication that is rooted in trust.

I could go on about copious other examples, but ultimately, the takeaway is that we do important, complicated work that often requires teams of people, with each person taking ownership over distinct responsibilities. As a team, we trust that each of our teammates will execute on their responsibilities and thoughtfully communicate to support the team’s understanding of the evidence.

ITL: Can you share a moment when trust played a pivotal role in your decision-making as a leader?

KD: Last year I took on the additional responsibility of supervising our research analyst program. Our RAs provide data wrangling, management and visualization prowess, and their skills are in high demand across our cases. To drive the program’s success and growth, I knew I needed to earn each of their trust. I took the time to get to know each of them individually, learning about the types of projects that excite them, the areas in which they’d like to improve, and ultimately, the careers that they hope to build. I sought their perspective on how the program supports their growth and professional development, and I’ve used that knowledge to advocate for them within the organization of the program. I think that this approach — informed by the relationships that I’ve had with prior mentors and advisers — has fostered a level of mutual respect that might not exist if I hadn’t prioritized earning their trust.

In an era of remote work and digital communication, how has your approach to building and maintaining trust evolved?

KS: Trust is such an interpersonal, emotive thing, so I think it requires a concerted effort to build trust in the absence of in-person interactions. While I certainly don’t need to become personal friends with my colleagues to build trust, I do think that gaining insight into other dimensions of my colleagues’ lives lends a human element to our professional relationship that helps accelerate our trust in one another. I find that impromptu conversations in the office or stepping out to grab coffee is the most natural way to facilitate this. It simply isn’t as organic over video calls.

That said, I work with plenty of colleagues who aren’t in the same office as me, so I do as much as I can over video calls instead of email. When I have an idea that I want to flesh out, I jump on a call. If we’re preparing talking points for a briefing, I jump on a call to work through that together. Intentionally creating times to talk to one another opens the door to conversations that wouldn’t naturally arise in email. You get a lot more mileage out of a quick “How’s everything going?” on a call than you do with the dreaded “I hope this email finds you well.”

Overall, the better I'm able to know my colleagues for the range of interests, abilities and stories that comprise them rather than simply for the role that they fill at a given moment in time, the better we are about to foster trust.

ITL: Was there a particular moment or activity at Seton Hall that marked a turning point in your leadership development?

KS: I have so much gratitude for the leadership program and the range of opportunities it afforded me. Possibly one of the most influential features of the program, though, is the consistency with which it forces you to meet and interact with successful, high-powered professionals. That type of interaction can be intimidating — whether it's a networking event or an important meeting — but having the confidence and poise to hold one’s own in those moments is invaluable.

ITL: What advice would you give to your younger self, knowing what you know now?

KS: Ask questions. I have yet to encounter a role or responsibility where I was expected to know everything. The expectation has instead been that I would be industrious enough to figure it out. Being curious and willing to learn has paid dividends for me, and as I’ve gotten better at quelling my fears of looking dumb or out of place, and leaned into the vulnerability that comes with asking questions, I think I have earned the trust of my colleagues and ultimately built my confidence in myself. 

*The views presented here are not purported to represent those of the Department of Justice.

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In the Lead magazine is a collaboration between the Buccino Leadership Institute and the Stillman School of Business’s Department of Management. This edition reaffirms Seton Hall’s commitment to fostering innovative, ethical and impactful leadership. Stay ahead of the curve — explore the Fall 2025 issue of In the Lead.

Categories: Business