I am a recent recipient of my CPA license, May 28, 2020 to be exact. However I have not always been in accounting. My background is in business, specifically healthcare. My journey started with a bachelor’s degree in animal science from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. I worked in Agricultural lending at Farm Credit West for two years out of college. It was while I was there that my husband and I decided to invest in a home medical equipment company with my parents, Santa Barbara Healthcare. For most small businesses, when owning one, you get the chance to wear several hats, and ours was no exception. In my fifteen years working directly with the business, I was able to see all sides of the business from daily operations to human resources, from board meetings to financials. Then healthcare reform hit and because of all the changes the reform brought, my husband and I decided it was time to diversify so all of our eggs were not in one basket. That is when I made the decision to go back to school to pursue a career in accounting. My original plan was to take a few bookkeeping classes to begin a home bookkeeping company; however, after taking those few classes, I found my love for accounting and decided to see it all the way through to a CPA license. While attending school and studying for exams (a five year process) I was able to find a job at a local CPA firm where I worked in both the tax and audit departments, gaining the knowledge I needed to sit for the CPA exams and at the same time gaining some great experience with tax and financials preparation. I also had the opportunity to take a private accountant position with a wine company, allowing me to gain some experience on the private accounting side. Then came 2020 and along with the new year, came COVID-19 and layoffs. I was scared in the beginning, but once I stepped back, took a deep breath, and looked at my life and my priorities, I remembered my original plan of starting my own business. So I took a giant leap and hear I am, running a successful bookkeeping and accounting consulting business from the safety of my own home. I am thankful for the journey I took instead of sticking with my original plan from the beginning. It aloud me to gain a lot more experience and knowledge, thus making me a more valuable accountant and bookkeeper and giving me the right tools to run a successful home accounting business, and providing my clients with quality service they can count on!