WHAT DO YOU DO IN YOUR CURRENT ROLE?
My group handles all the financial aspects of the company: customer and vendor transactions, collections, financial forecasting and reporting, all tax filings and treasury. When I started with SeaTec 10 years ago, it was myself and two other people handling everything in the back office. We covered finance, HR, administration, IT and facilities, everything other than delivering on our customer projects. As the company has grown, my role is more focused on the financial and accounting aspects, although I still am involved in many other areas.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS CAREER PATH?
I was introduced to accounting in high school and enjoyed the classes. Around the same time, I got my first job bagging groceries, and within about two months I was working in the cash office, reconciling tills, and managing the front-end. For the next couple years and throughout college, I worked for a large retailer primarily in the cash office but also in all departments within the store where I was able to participate first-hand in the operations. After graduation with a degree in accounting, I spent many years in public accounting, obtaining my CPA license and rising to senior audit manager. During this time, I was fortunate to work with companies of all sizes, private and public. Through client engagements, I worked directly with the company leaders, understanding the financials, systems, as well as operations. I transitioned into corporate accounting, working primarily with high-tech, early-stage companies and put into practice everything I had learned. With SeaTec, I’ve gotten to do a little bit of everything over the past 10 years, which I’ve really enjoyed.
HOW HAS YOUR CAREER BEEN FULFILLING, AND WHY?
For me, it’s being able to help grow businesses and mentor and develop people. Many of the companies I’ve joined were in a high-growth mode and required work within finance, human resources, administration and operations. I enjoy working in fast-paced environments where the job requires multiple areas of expertise. This keeps me on my toes, working with a broad group of individuals, while constantly learning and sharing my knowledge with others.
WHY SEATEC?
I had made the decision to quietly look for my next opportunity and found a posting on LinkedIn that caught my eye. I was attracted to the company for the industry (professional services) and the relatively early stage it was in. I also love all things airplanes and travel, so that was the proverbial “icing on the cake.” The more I kept learning about the company, the more I wanted to land an interview. After a serendipitous discussion with a good friend about the adoptions of our daughters from China, he introduced me directly to Tim Rider, the president of SeaTec at the time. After a few initial conversations and interviews, I was able to meet with the founders of the company and learned more about the culture of the company. As I walked away from that meeting, I knew I had the opportunity to work with leaders that were not only top-notch in the industry but also as individuals. Having no background in aviation when I joined SeaTec, I was immediately fascinated by the types of projects we were involved in, and that continues through today with all the ways we assist airlines and manufacturers. We’re very good at what we do, but it’s not just because of the caliber of people that work at SeaTec. It’s also the culture and values the company and employees embrace.