Jeanne Rauch Zender

I attribute my success to hard work and patience. I've had an amazing mentor, Jeanette Lohman, who has been incredible in terms of guidance and support. She saw in me my potential, I think, long before I saw it. Mentors like that make all the difference - they make your dreams feel like a reality, like they're not dreams. I also credit my parents and my family. Both of my parents always acted like I hung the moon, like everything I do is the best that can be done. Building that confidence is what made me want to work hard, because I was always taught that you have the ability, you work hard, and you will see that you can achieve whatever you're setting out to achieve. Having my parents and my husband always behind me, always my greatest cheerleaders, has truly given me the confidence to believe in myself and know that I can make a difference the way I want to make a difference, which is the greater good, which is helping provide this platform where we're a bridge in this amazing tax community.

The best career advice I have received is to focus on yourself and what you want to achieve, and not to be distracted by any sort of obstacles that come your way. I was speaking with my mentor Jeanette about this, and she told me to always focus on the path that you're laying ahead for yourself. I also received important advice early in my career when my boss told me to go get my LLM after I struggled as a criminal defense attorney - that advice was instrumental in helping me forge a new path. Another piece of advice that stuck with me was when a boss told me years ago, when I was leaving PwC, that not every job is for everyone, and that is okay. That was something that was hard for me to accept at first because I felt almost like a failure, but it helped me understand that finding the right fit is what matters.

My advice is to find a job that is the right fit for you. I had a boss tell me years ago, when I was leaving PwC, that not every job is for everyone, and it is okay. That was something that was hard for me to accept - I didn't want to feel like a failure, but I really could not make that balance between working at PwC and being there for my kids and my husband. What I would tell anyone, whether it's a single dad, single mom, or even if you have an amazing spouse like I do, is to find the right fit. There is the right job for you, and you will know it's the right job when you look forward to going to work. Work is work, and every day is not amazing, but overall, if you feel like you're aligned with your work, everything else matters because we spend so much time in our positions. It is very important that you understand that not every job is for everyone, but there is a job for everyone. I also hope that by sharing my story, others can learn from my experiences, good and bad, and understand that there's different paths. They don't have to make the same mistakes that I made, and they don't have to be insecure or have the doubts that I had to work through. Sometimes it's really not you - sometimes it's just not the right position, but the right position is out there.

The biggest challenge I have faced is being a working mom and having kids. It doesn't lend itself to every organization. That's one of the reasons why I love the nonprofit, because not only do I agree with our mission, but you have the balance of being able to be a mom. I can go to my daughter's volleyball tournament, but I can also travel for work. It's not that I work any less hours - I work a lot of hours, and I work really hard - but the environment and working here is more suitable. The most difficult challenge, especially when my kids were young, was prior to being at a nonprofit, being out on the practice side. It is a very difficult balance. It's difficult not to be seen as not working as hard if spending time with your family. Despite working hard, if you go pick up your kids from school and go home and get back online, the fact that you've jumped off to pick up your kids, despite being the last one to pick them up at the daycare, is still looked at as you're not online. I hope things are getting a little better and continue to shift that way, but I definitely have seen that sometimes our society is not as appreciative of working parents.

The values most important to me are honesty, commitment, and working hard. But really, quite honestly, just being a kind human being. I would take that any day over any level of skill, because you can't teach just being kind to others. I think that I look for what anyone else looks for - let's be good to each other, let's work hard, let's be committed, and take some pride in what you do, because it does make an impact.