Amy Hawthorne
Amy Hawthorne is an Audit Managing Director in KPMG’s Houston office, where she has built her entire career since graduating from Texas A&M University in 2012. She leads audits of large public companies, including complex global clients such as Baker Hughes, with a strong focus on audit quality, professional practice, and delivering high-standard financial reporting. In October 2025, she was promoted to Managing Director, recognizing more than a decade of progressive leadership within the firm.
Recently, Amy completed a three-year rotation in KPMG’s national office, where she supported audit engagement teams across the country with a focus on audit quality and technical accounting matters. This experience deepened her expertise in professional practice and strengthened her ability to guide teams through complex audit challenges. She is now returning to client service, resuming her work directly with public company audits beginning May 1st.
Throughout her career, Amy has also been a dedicated mentor, particularly to young women in public accounting. She is passionate about helping others navigate the demands of the profession while maintaining balance in their personal lives, and she leads by example in showing that it is possible to be both a successful leader and present in family and personal priorities. Beyond her client work, she is actively involved in community engagement through Junior Achievement, where she supports student development and financial literacy initiatives in the Houston area.
• CPA (Texas)
• Texas A&M University- B.B.A.
• Texas A&M University- M.S.
• KPMG Audit 90 Female Leadership Program
• KPMG Rising Stars Program
• AICPA (American Institute of Certified Public Accountants)
• Junior Achievement Houston (Chair)
What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to the mentorship I received from two key leaders who influenced my approach to balancing work and personal life. Our current BUPIC, the partner in charge of the Houston office, Jonna Bundis, was my peer mentor leader, and she led by example in showing how to prioritize personal life while being a successful leader. I also had another partner who's now retired, Troy Johnston, who was a really good leader in terms of emphasizing prioritizing personal life and fighting the mentality shift in our industry. He helped change the mindset that someone who works 40 hours and can achieve 70 hours worth of work in that week is better than someone working 70 hours and achieving the same amount of work. We want people to work less and be more effective, and happy people, in my opinion, are more effective.
What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've ever received is that anyone can read a book. The technical skills will come naturally if you're ambitious and you already have the work ethic, that part comes naturally. Where people need the guidance is on not burning out. This advice helped me understand that success isn't just about mastering the technical aspects of the job, but about sustaining yourself for the long term by prioritizing your well-being and personal life alongside your professional ambitions.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
One of my favorite things I like to tell new mentees is to envision a vase. You fill that vase with glass spheres, and the large glass sphere represents your family or your health, and you have to fit those large glass spheres into the vase first. Then other smaller spheres might be other things that are important, such as going out with friends, whatever it is you're prioritizing in your life. Then envision work being sand that you pour on top of that, which will fit in the vase around all of the spheres, and it will fill up every single space of the vase. If you don't prioritize putting those spheres in first, that sand will fill up the vase no matter what. You have to prioritize your health and you have to prioritize your personal life, because work will fill the gaps no matter what. The technical skills will come naturally if you're ambitious and you already have the work ethic, but where people need the guidance is on not burning out.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges in public accounting right now is the retention of women at the manager level. Our START classes, even 20 or 30 years ago, were 50-50 male-female, so it wasn't because more men were starting. The issue is that more women were leaving at the manager level because they thought it was too hard to balance commitment to clients, audit quality, and also pursue being a mother or whatever they wanted to do outside of work. The industry is still predominantly men at the partnership level, even though it is improving. The opportunity lies in changing the industry mentality to show that you can absolutely prioritize your family, personal life, and health without giving up being a successful leader or your career aspirations. We're fighting to shift the mindset so that people who work fewer hours but are more effective are valued over those who simply work long hours, because happy people are more effective.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The most important values to me are prioritizing family, health, and personal life while maintaining professional excellence. I believe you absolutely can and should prioritize your family, your personal life, and your health, but that doesn't mean you have to give up being a successful leader or your aspirations in your career. I value effectiveness over simply working long hours, because happy people are more effective. I'm passionate about mentoring young women and leading by example to show that you can do both. Outside of work, I enjoy running, soccer, and traveling, and I'm a mother to a daughter who just turned 6 and a 2-year-old son.