Another Day, Another Opportunity To Shape The Future of Accounting

“I read you every day and so do all my co-workers!”

I’m getting a lot of crap from close friends and family here about The Book.  The Book was the reason for the blog in the first place. I saw how some folks in New York had done it… Start a blog, get a book contract, become famous, have everyone buy you drinks instead of the other way around. 

And then, around this time last year, I started to think: Maybe a hardcover, old media book is not the “be all and end all” of what’s possible. I’m still thinking about it and still planning to finish the book. But I’ve also been thinking about other ways to use the tools available nowadays to do more in different ways. 

Blame the wild and crazy “social media” types I’ve been meeting lately. And Dennis Howlett. He’s always good for a few ideas. And then I see folks like Andy Sernovitz of WOM still writing books. For credibility. And I’m back full circle.

And then there’s the students and folks at the beginning of their careers with the firms. Another great dinner last night with a smart, honest, hardworking guy that wants a little more and deserves a little more and knows he should give a little more because he has been blessed with extra brains and a family that encourages him. 

I have the good fortune to correspond and sometimes meet in person many, many young people and they keep me moving at 60mph. I never tell anyone, “Don’t join the Big 4.” Or, “Quit, now, while you’re still human.” Because, as I said to José last night… If you graduated at the top of your class, and have already done an internship at one of the firms, have multiple offers from Big 4 firms and/or have already joined one, then you have already signed up for most of the program. In other words, you are already an accountant and Big 4 material. The question now is, “Do you want to develop and become what it takes to succeed in the Big 4, much of it good for you and some of it not, or do you want to use your talents in another way?”

I cannot presume that anyone who has already joined a firm and had that opportunity wants to live the way I have. I’ve worked lots of places, changed jobs, not always on my own terms, been on my own, now for the second time, lost and regained contact with family and friends a million times because of all my traveling, and gotten divorced. It’s not the American Dream. But in any event, I am happy. It’s all led to this, whatever this is, and followed a thread, not a straight line, but a path that’s continuous and meaningful. 

But it’s not for everyone. So when someone asks me for advice, and they do all the time now, I just tell them my version and hope that their brains are big enough for them to see it for what it is: More information they should process but not take as gospel. (Note to Big 4 Partners: If you want this to happen to you, and you should, and you must, it’s not hard. Just be sincerely open and willing to share. They really appreciate it.)

After all, I’m just a girl.