Mrs. Leann Lampley- Laster

I attribute my success to the support of my husband, because of the fact that I was working full-time and going to school full-time. And then, in the midst of that, we adopted children, so I'm working full-time, and he is just my biggest support and my biggest cheerleader. Without his support, I wouldn't have been able to balance everything I was doing while building my career and our family.

The best piece of advice I've ever received is that you can achieve whatever you put your mind to, and that came from my mother. This advice has guided me throughout my career and personal life, helping me push through challenges like working full-time while going to school full-time, and eventually achieving my goals in the accounting field.

I would say don't give up. It is going to be tough because it is a very male-dominated field, but you can do it, and the door is open. You just have to be able to fight for it, but also to be able to just stand firm in what you believe, and don't let anyone sway you from where you want your goal to be. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't attain it or that you can't obtain it. Just like I did with working full-time and going to school full-time, it can be done. It's a sacrifice, but you're able to do it.

The biggest challenge in my industry right now is the current financial climate. With inflation and everything going up, it's about learning how to manage the funds that you have and being able to pivot if those funds go away. A lot of my career has been in the nonprofit area, and just learning how to manage when funding sources that were there at one point are no longer available is a major challenge. One of the reasons why I left Youngstown State University was because I saw that the funding sources in my area were probably going to go away, just because of how the climate was looking. On the opportunity side, the accounting field is so flexible. You can go to different areas. I started at a bank, then I went to a university, now I'm with a diocese. The opportunity is you can go wherever. People are afraid of numbers, so they always want somebody to do the numbers for them. The sky's the limit with accountants. They can go wherever and be successful.

The values that are most important to me are integrity and kindness. I believe you should treat people the way you want them to treat you. You don't have to be mean. You can be stern and forceful, but you don't have to be mean to people. So just treat people the way you want to be treated. These values guide how I interact with everyone, whether in my professional work or in my personal life and ministry.