Chris Nelson
Chipotle
Irvine, CA USA
"It’s never too late to change what you want to do. If you go down a path and fail, you will only become a better person because of that."
Career Roadmap
Chris's work combines: Numbers, Business, and Problem Solving
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Here's the path I took:
High School
Bachelor's Degree
Business Administration and Management, General
University of California, Irvine
Certification
Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
n/a
Here's the path I recommend for someone who wants to be an Accountants and Auditors:
Bachelor's Degree: Business Administration and Management, General
Certification: Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
Learn more about different paths to this career
Life & Career Milestones
My path in life has been direct
1.
My dad is a small business owner, so growing up I was heavily impacted by that first-hand exposure to business and entrepreneurship.
2.
I figured out pretty early on that business was a passion of mine and it was something I wanted to pursue.
3.
Attended the University of California, Irvine (UCI) where I earned my bachelor’s degree in business administration.
4.
While in college at UCI, there was a big push towards the field of accounting, which sparked my interest and aligned with my love of numbers and problem-solving.
5.
After graduating, I began working in auditing at Deloitte, but quickly realized that this was not the right fit for me.
6.
I then got an opportunity to work as a senior accounting analyst at an aircraft leasing company.
7.
After a few years of that, I made the transition to working as the manager of financial reporting and accounting at Chipotle.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Society in general:
Being an accountant is too hard.
How I responded:
Early on, I heard a lot about how hard it is to get into accounting and how much I was going to struggle. I had to develop a positive mindset and lean on the support of others to get through the initial rigor.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
There are a lot of educational requirements to become a CPA, so I spent a lot of time studying really late into the night for that. I had to be persistent.