Kevin J. Welch

Position: Chief financial officer, Global Telecom & Technology, a McLean-based multi- network operator that uses a combination of telecommunications networks and technologies to design custom solutions.

Career Highlights: Senior vice president of finance and treasurer, MeriStar Hospitality; chief financial and operations officer, Landmat International; vice president of finance and assistant treasurer, Qwest Communications; vice president of finance - investor relations, Qwest (formerly LCI International); director, commercial markets, LCI; director, business analysis, LCI; and various roles, MCI Telecommunications.

Age: 42

Education: BS, petroleum engineering, Colorado School of Mines; MBA, finance, Georgetown University.

Personal: Lives in McLean with wife Mary and children Kathleen, 10, Patrick, 7, and Maggie, 4.

How did you get to where you are?

When I graduated from school, the lowest salary offer I had was from MCI. But I went to MCI for a number of reasons. Mainly because of all the companies I talked to, that was the one that was going to offer me an opportunity to gain a lot of experience. It was also a very energetic environment within the company. MCI was really experiencing tremendous growth at that time. The idea that this was a growing company provided a lot of opportunity. I began as a planning analyst and took on roles of increasing responsibility. This was the time when the company was rolling out its "Friends & Family" program. . . .

There is no substitute for experience. I've tried to always take a long-term view for where I'm headed. . . . I think it's also important to note that I had the good fortune to work with some very good people, many of whom I still keep in touch with professionally and personally. At MCI in particular, then LCI, these mentors provided good role models from both a management and professional development standpoint.

At LCI, the environment was similar to the early days of MCI. But this time I participated at a more senior role in the decision-making process, again with a great management team. . . . It was eventually acquired by Qwest for over $4 billion. By that time, my role had evolved from business analyst and expanded to everything within the commercial market from product development to pricing analysis to product positioning and all the way through financial analysis.

To be successful in a finance career, you have to take the time and effort to understand the entire business including marketing, sales, operations and how the numbers and finance impact the business. You have to be able to work within an organization, sometimes in a consultative role with non-financial people in order to help drive the right decisions. . . .

To advance your career to senior management, you have to be willing to step out of your comfort zone. When I was at Qwest I was approached about working in investor relations, and while I had no prior investor relations experience I had a solid understanding of the industry in the financial model of the company. I made the most of that opportunity learning a lot of the nuances of the public markets in real time and helped to manage Qwest investor relations during a very difficult time in the telecom sector.

MeriStar Hospitality presented a new challenge. I was applying a lot of my financial and business experience in a new industry and doing it at a very senior level. And in about 18 months, we were able to develop and execute on a plan to reduce company debt and increase funds from operations. . . .

Being at GTT, it's a chance for me to bring a lot of my prior experiences to bear in an exciting growth opportunity. I have a fairly deep knowledge of the telecom industry. I have a lot of experience working within a growing company environment and an appreciation of what that means. And with GTT newly being public, I can apply a lot of my public market understanding and knowledge.

-- Judith Mbuya