Patricia Jacobs

I've been working in finance and accounting for 20 years, and honestly, the funny thing is I don't like numbers at all, but it's just been what I've been good at throughout my career. I started at Eckerd Drug as a pharmacy technician right after high school, and they offered to put me through pharmacy school, which I did for four years until my daughter got sick and I had to make a choice between her and school - I chose my daughter, of course. Then I moved into physician services working with 28 anesthesiologists doing collections and reconciliations of their accounts for about five years. After that, I worked for both an individual doctor and a primary care group at the hospital, and there was actually a tug-of-war between them offering me more and more money. For the individual doctor, I did everything - reconciled all the accounts, transcription, pre-authorizations, everything. For the group, I filed Medicare and Medicaid claims and did collections with insurance companies. When I moved to Colorado, I worked for a chiropractor whose husband had a big medical practice upstairs, and he asked me to help him design a new software program for the hospital. They approved it, he gave me a percentage to help him, and now almost all the hospitals in Colorado use his software program - that makes me feel really good that he asked me to sit by his side and help with that because it turned into a big deal. Then I went to work for a recycled materials construction company that recycled concrete and asphalt, and I actually got to push the button to blow up the old Denver International Airport when they demolished it. I worked there doing collections and aggregate accounting, and when the CFO was going to quit with no replacement, another gentleman and I were asked to take the position temporarily. I was able to retrieve $9.5 million from one company that was behind, and that's when my accounting really kicked in and I thought this is a big deal - I'm obviously doing something right. That's when I decided to go back to school for forensic accounting to do audits and investigate where money goes in drug busts and overseas secret accounts - that was my absolute favorite. I also worked for a 911 housing database company called Entrato Inc with a thousand employees that took overflow 911 calls from all over the world, and I worked with different states and police departments to set up emergency service numbers and addresses for new communities. After my divorce, I moved back to Texas and worked with my dad in Fort Worth as a cost accountant for mobile home manufacturing. Now I just do freelance work and contracts that come my way. I'm currently a stay-home wife because I got remarried and my husband wants me home spending time with him, plus he's very sick with cancer, so I make sure I'm here to help him and take care of him. But anytime I get a call or someone shows interest in needing help, I'm there, and I'll always try to keep that going until I can go back to full-time work.