How She Got Here: CNBC’s “Make It” Reporter Courtney Connley

Courtney Connley, CNBC's "Make It" careers reporter knows what it truly means to trust the process, follow your calling, and is a firm believer in things happen for a reason.

Born in Washington D.C. and raised in Maryland, Connley grew up on the notion of striving for excellence and knew from a young age that success was tangible. Black excellence was not an enigma for her.

Throughout Connley's childhood, the idea of attending college in New York for fashion was always at the forefront of her mind. When it was time for her to spread her wings and move forward into adulthood after high school, she had her mindset that she would attend school in New York and study fashion merchandising, that is until her parents ultimately said no.

She was encouraged to tour and apply to other college's one being the University of Maryland in College Park, where she began her college career with an undecided major.

Following a conversation with an advisor, a fire was lit under the concept of journalism being Connley's focus. She took a hobby she picked up in college and turned into a job pursuit, and this is where the career journey begins.

After building her experience in journalism during college, Connley did not go into the field right away. She took a position working for the government in the Department of Justice after not having any luck landing a job in the field.

This setback became a blessing in disguise for her that only propelled her into the next level of her career.

"A year after I graduated college, I worked at the Department of Justice for a year. And even though that was a time where I was upset, I was depressed, I'm like, "Why can't I get to New York? I was a good student; I did these internships; what's going on?" But it allowed me to save money because New York is so expensive," said Connley.

After a year, Connley was able to land a job with Cosmopolitan magazine, where she worked on the digital team. Following her position with the well-known publication, she switched gears and began freelancing for Black Enterprise, which ultimately led her to CNBC as their career reporter.

Reporting on such a topic is always interesting for Connley.

“ I'm always fascinated in terms of how people made it and how they got to where they are. And I feel like, especially nowadays, it's easy to get caught up in social media and the whole comparison game. And social media is everybody's highlight reel. Yes, here and there, you might have a few people who are honest about their journey and how they got to where they are, but a lot of times... “said Connley.

The CNBC reporter enjoys knowing the ins and outs of a person’s success story.

“I'm always interested in just how people made it, and the mistakes they made, the things that went right. The people they know, the people they talk to, the people they keep in their circle. How do they approach gaining mentors, or gaining sponsors, or whatever the case may be? What does it look like for them to speak up in the workplace? What does that look like?”, said Connley.

Connley’s climb to success involved many leaps and bounds and a profusion of patience. While her next steps have not been made clear to her, she has made it her mission to incorporate the importance of disseminating financial literacy through her work as a journalist.

“I just feel like financial literacy is just the pathway to so many things. And I feel like so many of us–we don't have access to the knowledge and the resources to be financially literate,” said Connley. “I feel like when you have financial literacy, you can...it just goes beyond just you. It creates generational wealth, creating generational knowledge so that your kids know what it takes to invest, save, and build wealth. So, for me, that's just a big thing.”

Passing along her knowledge of the field of journalism is important to her as well. She wants people to know that her door is always open to pull the next journalist up, because that is what success is about.

“I think for me, honestly, when somebody reaches out to me to ask for advice, I literally never say, "No." It may be a, "No, I'm not free to talk today." But I'm always going to find time,” said Connley.

She also wants up-and-coming journalists to understand the importance of reaching out to professionals they commend.

“One big advice I would give to younger people, whether you're in college, about to graduate college, or you graduated, and you just started your career or heck, you've been working in the industry for, I don't know, how long, and now you want to switch careers and get into journalism, don't be afraid to reach out to the people whose work you admire, the people who you want to know how they got to where they are,” Connley said. “Because a lot of times, most people are open and willing to share what they've learned, how they got to where they are.”