Guest

In high school, I always knew that I wanted to go to college. That was a goal of mine. That was just the peer group that I had in high school. What I didn't know is, what my major was going to be. I think it wasn't until I took that first accounting course. I was a sophomore. In high school that I realized, I like accounting. Maybe I should think about accounting. So, I went to Virginia Union University, so it's a historically black college in Richmond, and majored in accounting. I had the fortunate benefit you have as an accounting advisor, the first black woman in Virginia to sit and pass her CPA exam. That small interest that I had in accounting, really just grew tremendously under her leadership. It's not always the most popular field, auditing, to go in because people feel that it's not as exciting. But, it really is the only thing, if we're talking about mandates and requirements. In order for an investor to decide to buy shares on a company, or to have confidence in a company, or for a lender to decide to loan a company money, they wanna see that the company's books and records have had an audit. 

2019 CAQ SYR FILMED
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Get a foundation in business or accounting, but you don't necessarily need to do ONLY that. This field is growing and we need people with diverse backgrounds. With that you can segway into a variety of industries within accounting. It is really helpful to see and engage with people that look like you in the field that you are interested in. Seek out those mentors or advisors that can give you that guidance and support.

My parents were high school sweethearts and had me when they were teenagers. We didn't have a lot of money and lived in a small town. Luckily, they instilled in me the idea that I could do whatever I set my mind to which helped me focus my ambition.

When I first started out, I felt like I didn't fit in at my firm because it was largely white male-dominated. Being a woman and a minority, I doubted if I had made the right decision. I used that as my motivation and championed others from HBCUs.

It was a challenge going from a small town, to a small college, to a large firm. I wondered if I would be prepared. The first couple of years were challenging and I felt like I constantly had to do more than my peers especially as a black woman.

My days are never the same. As a partner, I show up to the client's site and everyone on the team gives an update for where they are in the audit process. My favorite part of the morning is getting to know my team on a more personal level. Then we go to the client and talk to them about the status of everything. We do team lunches in order to connect and work better together. I also typically have a few meetings that I go to.

Partner

I'm going to leave. I need to do something different.

Wendy Lewis

About Wendy

Wendy Lewis

About Wendy

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