Audrey Grace Sullivan Jimenez

I attribute my success to an undying love for knowledge and learning. I just love to learn new things. I'm always looking for something to learn, and I find value in almost anything you give me. I'll find the right and appropriate value. There are no small parts. This constant curiosity and willingness to find value in everything has been key to my growth and achievements in my career.

The best career advice I've ever received is to set your future self up for success. Essentially, anytime I get into a new position or start something new, some kind of new process, I always look at it from a bird's-eye view perspective. I ask myself, how would I train the person who's coming next to do this? By thinking about all those details up front, rather than adding them in after learning and trying to get everything sorted out later, I'm able to create better systems and processes from the start. This approach has really helped me throughout my career.

I would say keep an open mind and be a sponge at every level of your career. Don't ever close yourself off. Look at things as if it's the first time you're looking at it, rather than coming into something like you already know it all, because when you do that, then you can't learn a new way of doing things. This mindset of staying open and curious has been essential for my own growth, and I think it's critical for anyone entering the accounting field.

I think one of the biggest challenges is whether or not to get your CPA license, and if that's worth it. I know that there are a lot of people out there who have their accounting degree, or just want to pivot into something like this. The thing is, accounting, you can learn on the job. When searching for a job, don't let requirements like having licenses or having a degree hold you back. That's something that always gets in the way, and the position I'm in right now said it was required, but I applied anyway, and I got the position even without having it. There's a lot of imposter syndrome just because even if you don't have the degree or your certificate or anything, doesn't mean that you don't have any knowledge or that you can't learn the correct way to do things. There's a lot of criticism on bookkeepers, and not enough tapping into what potential that could have for making more accountants, changing from being a bookkeeper to a GAAP accountant, or a staff accountant. I feel like those kinds of requirements, when you're trying to look and find a job, hold some companies back from finding good talent.

Definitely open communication is most important to me. Don't be afraid to bring up a mistake that you've made, because there's always a solution, and we learn from mistakes. We're not perfect. Being able to communicate openly and honestly, especially about errors or challenges, creates an environment where we can all grow and find solutions together. This value guides both my professional work and my personal relationships.