Happy National Women’s History Month! Windham Brannon marks the occasion by spotlighting some of our female leadership. Windham Brannon proudly affirms that 57% of our employee base and more than half of our leadership team is female. We support several different women-based and women-owned organizations including: Commercial Real Estate Women, Women’s Global Leadership Summit, Women in Pensions Network, Accounting & Financial Women’s Alliance, Kate’s Club, American Women’s Society of Certified Public Accountants.
Assurance Senior Manager Brooke Hodge shares her perspective.
Question: Everyone has a story about how they decided to enter their career field. What made you want to pursue accounting? Did you always know or did you discover it in school?
Brooke Hodge: I was undecided with what I wanted to do in school until I took the first introduction accounting class. While a lot of my peers hated the class, I really enjoyed it. I decided to take a few additional classes and from there started my major in accounting.
Question: How has public accounting evolved since you entered the workforce?
Brooke: I think overall public accounting has become more flexible since I started. We have developed best practices for working remotely while still serving our clients’ needs.
Question: What has helped you get to where you are, and what advice would you share with people who are interested in following a similar path?
Brooke: Public accounting is a field where you never stop learning. There are always new standards that have to be implemented and clients enter into new transactions that we can assist with. Always being willing to learn and ask questions is great in our field. Given that every day can be different, it’s important to work at a place that supports their people. I’ve been at WB for nearly 10 years due to the support I’ve always felt here and how the firm has helped me grow professionally by being introduced to new topics throughout my career.
Question: What are common misconceptions people have about accountants that you’d like to address?
Brooke: We don’t just deal with numbers all day. I’ve worked in our assurance practice for nearly 10 years, and that has given me an overall knowledge of businesses and their operations. Our job allows us to see all aspects of the business, which I believe makes us better versed in our field.
