Loren Williams

One of my former managers always talked about how good I am in accounting and multitasking, but she also always thought I had a personality to do events and things like that, because I've always done that in my group settings. When we have events in the office or at work, I was always the one that would plan them. She told me, 'Hey, you know, maybe you... have you ever thought about looking into this, too, as a career?' I've also been given advice to go into law, which I've considered because my grandfather was an attorney and I have my associate's degree in paralegal studies. But when I finished my bachelor's degree, my son was still kind of young, and I just couldn't make the decision of missing a chunk of his elementary years and life to go to law school. I chose to be present with him through his growing up, and I thought maybe if I ever wanted to do law school, I would do it once he got older, which he's now in his twenties.

Coming into accounting, I would say there are so many different areas of accounting, so find a company that is interesting for you. Where you are in accounting, what area, what company matters because accounting is accounting, but the industry makes a difference. For instance, MARTA is transportation, where Georgia Pacific was paper. I've worked at other companies where the environment was fun, because accounting can be very redundant. Sometimes it can be like, 'Ugh, is this the right place for me?' It can be boring at times, so I say find a company where their industry is passionate for you, it's a fun industry for you. I would definitely look into the industry that you want to work in doing accounting, because that does make a difference.

The most important thing to me about being an influential woman is how you touch other people, and how you touch other people's lives, and how you can be an influence or a model to them. There have been a lot of influential people in my life, from my mother to my aunt to just friends. I think, just as women, it's important - I think it's almost some of our duties to be an influence to other women. In my current role, I've always wanted to be a supervisor or in a leadership management role where I would give my staff what I never received in a supervisor, meaning helping them grow in their role, helping them just advance and see their future, and just leading them further than what they could see for themselves. I've accomplished that so far in the two and a half years - four of my employees have all been promoted.