Her Story
About Yovana
Before coming to the U.S., I worked for a company that represented Caterpillar in Peru for about 8 years. I started as a receptionist and made my way up, doing a little bit of everything in a rotational position where I would cover different departments like HR, finance, and accounting when people went on vacation for a month. When I came to the U.S., I started learning English, got married, and had kids, so I took a big gap as a stay-at-home mom raising kids. But in the meantime, I was working on my associate's degree, then I got into UT Dallas. I graduated during COVID, so it was kind of a challenge to find a job, so I started doing general accounting and then got into more payroll. I've been working for this company for 3 years, and prior to that, going into 5 years in this sphere. Right now, I manage the payroll for this company which has 5 plants around the U.S., and I also administer their 401K, taking care of everything related to salaries, deductions, taxes, severance, and vacation hours. What I really like more is accounting and finance, so I am working on my master's at SMU right now, and I'm looking to pivot into more corporate finance like budgeting and forecasting. I'm halfway there and will graduate in May 2027.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Yovana
01What do you attribute your success to?
Getting my degree at UT Dallas was very impactful because that kind of opened doors for me. After I got my degree, I felt like it gave me the empowerment to see, because being at home just with kids, I was going through personal issues, but having that degree on my back really gave me the feeling that I can do this. I always wanted to go to school, so having that degree, I knew that it would open many doors for me, and once I get into something, I just get along and I love learning. I'm used to adapting with changes. I never got fired from any job because I just get along and we work together as a team. At my current job, we have a wonderful team and we collaborate.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice is always to go for some education, and when one door closes, there are 10 openings, so never give up, keep trying, be resilient. Try to focus on what you really like and make the best of it. I always tell people, if I couldn't do it, I want to do some of this empowering women, because I feel like I done it and I know it's possible, and I came from a very hard background. I'm always like, if I done it, you can do it. We just need some discipline, and resilience is a key, so I always tell people, no, no, no, you can do this.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I feel like I'm trying to transition to a different role, but it's not that easy because right now that I'm doing payroll, it's a little hard to transition. When I see the job descriptions, they're usually looking for specific experience, and I'm like, holy darn it, if you just give me the opportunity, you are not gonna regret! But when they say 5 years of experience in finance or doing financial planning, I don't have that yet. Going straight from what I'm doing, it was difficult, so I thought, okay, now I'm gonna go to school again, and that will lead me there. I keep getting invitations on LinkedIn saying my profile matches their job description, but I want to be in financial planning or as a financial analyst. That is a little bit of challenge right now because I don't have the experience, but I know I'm going to find a way how to apply what I have, and my work ethics and my experience has to help me get to this role that I want to be. I don't mind starting from the bottom and making my way up. It is a challenge to change career paths, especially when you get to your 40s, but it's not unheard of. People have done this, I'm not the only one that is changing career path, so there is a way, I have the will, I'll find it.
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