Her Story
About Margaret
My typical day starts with pulling different reports to see where we are from a daily sales perspective and checking if there are different invoices that need to be processed. I follow up with my assistant on those categories, and then I have my financial meetings or leadership meetings later in the morning where I talk through key points I'm seeing or financial trends to accomplish our monthly, daily, or weekly goals. This could pertain to labor concerns or overall cost of expenses within our region or specific quality centers. After that, I do deep diving within the general ledgers to make sure everything is being processed correctly and coded properly. I look at what factors are driving higher costs within accounts, comparing where we currently stand to what the budget is, and then overall what we're trending monthly to meet our year-to-date goals. If we overspent in one period, I figure out how much we need to cut to stay on track, which accounts we can cut from, and create a plan for my team. It's a lot of auditing and reviewing information, creating plans, and communicating. It's very detail-oriented work, but it's not hard, it's just details.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Margaret
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my family - my parents and my son. They are the foundation that has supported me throughout my career journey.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've ever received is that perception is reality. This advice allowed me to be able to communicate more effectively and seek to understand. It helped me build better rapport with others, and when you understand how others perceive you, you're more willing to have that self-awareness and make those changes that are needed.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice to young women entering my industry is to ask questions and build relationships with others who are ahead of you and gain their knowledge. It's also important to remember that it's okay if you make a mistake. We all make mistakes - people think they're big mistakes sometimes, but you learn from them. It's okay to make mistakes.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenges in my field right now are navigating how to keep costs low in a very inflated and unstable economy. A lot of companies and vendors are trying to cut back on things, so you're trying to see how you can still maintain the quality and the integrity of your company and products, but also not overspend so much with everything being so extreme. It's like juggling.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me in my work and personal life are consistency, integrity, and fun. I don't like it to just be serious - let's enjoy, let's have fun, and let's get this work done. Having fun in the workplace makes the day go by better.
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