Her Story
About Shakaila
Shakaila McKoy serves as assistant controller at Good Sportsman Marketing, a company engaged in manufacturing and product sales for fishing and hunting sporting goods. In this role, she oversees financial reporting for banks, debt, and investors, manages a team of accountants through month-end close processes, handles budgeting and forecasting, and directs all accounting operations for month-end and year-end. With three years at her current company and approximately ten years in public accounting overall, McKoy became a certified public accountant licensed in Texas in 2024. She holds a bachelor's degree in business with a major in accounting and minor in finance from the University of Texas at Austin and a master's degree in accounting from the University of Notre Dame. McKoy is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated and actively participates in community service and events through the organization. She attributes her professional success to her upbringing and the strong support from her family, who encouraged her to pursue higher education and strive for more. McKoy values honesty, directness, trustworthiness, kindness, and respect in both her professional and personal interactions.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Shakaila
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my background and upbringing. Both of my parents pushed me to do more with my life, go to college, and strive to be more. My mom graduated from college but my dad didn't, and having a lot of support from my family helped me.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I received is to speak up for yourself. If you feel things are not working the way they should or there's a better approach, speak up because people don't know what you're thinking and nothing can change if you never voice your opinions.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Young women should work hard to gain leadership positions. Women lead very well but are not always in the room as CEOs and CFOs. They should seek and try to get into those roles because the women who are doing it are doing really well.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge is working with many different people across backgrounds and cultures, learning to adapt and be respectful. The biggest opportunity is that you can go anywhere in this field if driven, speak up, network, and open doors socially and financially.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Honesty is huge - being direct, true, and trustworthy. Also very big on kindness and treating people with respect no matter the situation, because you never know what people are going through.
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