Olivia Owusu

I'm a self-motivated person, and I think that's what has driven me throughout my career. I have mentors here and there that I talk to, but personally, one thing that has really helped me is self-motivation. When I came into the U.S., I knew that I needed to get my CPA because without it, you can't be a manager. I don't wait for somebody to encourage me - I mean, encouragement is good, don't get me wrong, and I do take a lot of encouragement from people and my family - but when I set my mind to do something, I do it. After college back in Africa, I wanted to get my ICA certification. Nobody pushed me to do it, but I realized this is something that will help my career, so I did it. Then I realized that with the ICA, I could skip a lot of levels and do my CIMA, so I went ahead and did that too. Nobody pushed me - I pushed myself. I believe that self-motivation has really helped me grow and be successful in my career.

I'll just say never stop learning. The world is moving very fast, and I feel like if you stop learning, you are not going to catch up. I mean, I have all these professional certifications, but I'm still trying to keep up with things. If you don't keep on learning, everybody's moving ahead of you. So the one advice I'd give to women in accounting is to stay on top of your area. Try to be the best person you can be in your field. If you're looking to be the go-to person in accounting or in something that you specialize in, try to set a goal that you should be that person. Try to stay on top of your areas - learn, just keep learning, keep getting knowledge. That's what I'll say.

I would say honesty and being true to yourself. It's really brought me this far. I remember when I completed high school and I had my first job back in Africa, I was working at a grocery store. I didn't know that my boss had noticed how honest and how upfront I could be, and it gave me a lot of opportunities. He entrusted me with so many administrative tasks that I didn't think, educationally, I was there yet because I was just in high school at that time. It really set me up for success in my career, and looking back, I believe that honesty has been a personal core value to me. It's really reshaped my life, both personally and in my career. Being true to myself has really helped me come a long way. There wouldn't be compromises if you have that core value to yourself, knowing that this is who I am, this is what I stand for. It prevents you from compromising to anything that is not what you believe in or what you stand for, so it's really helping.