Charlene Dixon

My career has had many ups and downs, setbacks and comebacks, but the one thing that has made me resilient, the one thing that has been consistent, is my resiliency. I need to pick myself up, dust myself off, and come back stronger and more confident than ever. The reason I have that resiliency is because of my relationship with God. I wake up every morning being blessed to see another day, and as I drink my coffee every morning, I take time to develop my relationship with God. I speak to God and He speaks to me. He guides my footsteps, my fingers, my hands, my brain as to what I should do, who I should speak to, and how I should treat people. It's very uplifting having a grounding that was built ever since I was a child. My resiliency comes from God in my life. I just try to use my stewardship in everything that I do and say to be pleasing to Him and to help others. I truly love helping other people. When I worked at the Internal Revenue Service, I was on the other side of the desk, always in the interest of the IRS. Now I can speak for those who have no voice, who are misunderstood, or who are challenged in understanding tax law or their tax problems. I feel uplifted in life that I get the opportunity now to help people the way I want people to help me.

The best career advice I've received is that in order to succeed, you have to go through periods of failure. Success and failure go hand in hand, and you shouldn't be afraid of failure. All you have to do is dust yourself off, pick yourself up, and start and try again. Life is about trying. Even as a little baby, if you look at a baby learning how to walk, it falls so many times but it picks itself up and dusts itself off and tries again. Personally and professionally, success is from failure and keeping on trying to succeed. In order to succeed, you have to grow outside your comfort zone. You have to think outside the box. You have to learn something new each day because with knowledge there's power. No one can take knowledge away from you. If you stay in an attitude of learning your entire life, you'll always be able to succeed. And lastly, but most importantly, is your relationship with God, because that is your grounding principle in life. You make sure that you and God are on the same wavelength throughout your life, and everything else will fall into place.

To have a love for tax law and a love of people. When I was in the auditing department at the IRS, we were told not to just audit the return, we were told to audit the individuals. So you have to have a good understanding on how to communicate with people to get your point across. I think it's very important. There are lots of opportunities working with the federal government. They allow you to get promoted. There's room for promotion, there's room for education, there's room for mentorship, and the sky's the limit.

Currently, I see significant opportunities in federal government roles, which offer clear pathways for promotion, access to mentorship, and diverse career trajectories. On a personal level, one of my key challenges has been rebuilding my private practice after taking time away for family care, while also pivoting my focus toward tax education and strategic planning. This period has been both a reflective and growth-filled experience, allowing me to align my professional goals with my evolving expertise and interests.

It's really God. I wake up every morning being blessed to see another day. As I drink my coffee every morning, I take time to develop my relationship with God. I speak to God and He speaks to me. He guides my footsteps, my fingers, my hands, my brain as to what I should do, who I should speak to, and how I should treat people. It's very uplifting having a grounding that was built ever since I was a child. My resiliency comes from God in my life. I just try to use my stewardship in everything that I do and say to be pleasing to Him and to help others. Everything I do is grounded on stewardship and compassion with ethics and integrity.