<p>Becoming a CPA was not my life’s plan. As the first in my family to go to College, I didn’t come from a long line of CPAs urging me to follow in their footsteps. However, I was hungry for knowledge and was drawn to continue my education.</p><p></p><p>My first step was a one year course in accounting at a business college. After a stint working for a bank, I found a job as a Jr. Bookkeeper at a CPA firm. The Sr. Bookkeeper had a drinking problem which was so bad I had to drive her home after the firm fired her.</p><p></p><p>I got married, had children and continued to work at the firm. I loved accounting and tax work and continued taking courses at the business college. A partner suggested I transfer to UCLA and take the CPA exam which, at age 33, with two small children at home, I passed.</p><p>It took 18 years of night school, working days as a CPA without a degree to become the CPA I wanted to be. It’s a path I don’t recommend but it got me where I wanted to be. After several years I became a partner. Then in 2006 opened my own practice where I have been for the past nine years.</p>
