© 2024 by Beth Luketic in Birmingham, AL

Professional Experience

Current Position

I have over 15 years of accounting experience. With 9 years in the nonprofit education sector and 8 years running my own business. Recently, I graduated with my Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the Collat School of Business at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Currently, I’m in school completing the Mentoring and Leadership graduate program, also from UAB. And in conjunction with my MBA, I’ve recently passed the Certified Managerial Accountant (CMA) exam.

Current Goals

Throughout my career, I’ve had experience with the typical duties of a business manager and staff accountant such as internal controls development and oversight, preparing and presenting financial statements to company executives and the Board of Directors, accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, and general ledger reconciliation.

Now I’m expanding my career so that I can use my skills in a larger capacity. I’m interested in working as a financial analyst of operations. My end goal is to be on the team that creates strategy and guides the company forwards. Someone who bridges the gap between the idea and the results. One of my best strengths is my ability to explain and teach difficult concepts. What makes me unique is that I’m both left brained and right brained. Which means I bring creative out-of-the-box ideas, but I also really like defined structure – like an Excel spreadsheet. I have an entrepreneurial mindset for the big picture, but I also know that detailed data can sometimes be what makes or breaks a deal.

I don’t believe a short summary of my professional experiences truly tells the story of where I came from and where I’m going. Like Maya Angelou said, “If you don’t know where you’ve come from, you don’t know where you’re going.” So, here’s the extended version that explains my journey to get where I am today.    

What Do I Want To Be When I Grow Up?

When we are young we get asked the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” When we get older the question is amended to, “What do you do?” And I imagine that when we retire, we will get asked, “What line of work were you in?” With these questions being three of the most commonly asked all throughout our lives, it’s no wonder our professional careers are central to our identity.

Going back to school 16 years after I received my B.S. in Accounting from Birmingham Southern College, I can now ask myself the question, “What do I want to be when I grow up?” To answer this, I’ve been pondering the concordance of identity and career. And unlike my childhood self, I get the advantage of hindsight to get a head start at redefining one facet of my identity.

The Early Years

I went to college with the idea that I would become a doctor, nurse, dentist, or physical therapist. Many of my family members were in the medical field and that’s the route I initially wanted to take too. To gain experience in the medical field I worked for an oral surgeon one summer. On my first day of work, I was observing him extract the wisdom teeth from a patient. At the first sight of blood, I became queasy and passed out cold. Needless to say, I decided not to go into medicine.

As an elective, I enrolled in an introductory business class. I’m so glad I did because it clicked with me right away. I loved the idea of doing something different. Well, “different” in the sense that I was doing something outside the norm for my family. I also loved business because it was so broad. I felt like my eyes had been opened to a whole new world! So, I set out to get an accounting degree and learn the ins and outs of running a business.

My first job was as an Investor Relations Accountant at Regions Financial Corporation. I thought I was so cool commuting to downtown Birmingham every day. (This was, of course, before I became jaded to the traffic situation.) I even had my own office… on the same floor as the CEO! At that time, and being the age of 22, I took my job for granted because I didn’t realize the importance of this department or the true significance of my job. It wasn’t until a few years later when the Enron scandal was exposed that I fully realized how many people relied on the accuracy of the numbers my department reported in the financial statements. The sheer magnitude hit me and gave me a more realistic idea of what accounting and business were all about.

Washington DC

In 2002, I was up for an adventure and moved to Washington, D.C. For me, it was a great town to be a young adult in. I was able to gain experience outside my hometown, there was something fun and free to do every weekend, and it was great to be in the center of all the political action.

The most unexpected thing I learned about DC was that many senators and representatives would casually walk around the Capitol Hill neighborhood where I lived. One time when my mom came to visit, she walked up to an Alabama Senator and told him she had voted for him in the previous election. He took the time to genuinely talk to us and ask us about our needs. I was in awe that the people I saw on TV would actually take the time to speak with their constituents. This was a lesson in the importance of humanity within a leadership role.

Enterprise Holdings, Inc.

My first job in D.C. was for Enterprise Holdings Inc.. I worked in their regional corporate office in Rockville, MD. It was a great place to work as a Staff Accountant. The atmosphere was professional, diverse, committed to family values and it had a more laid back culture than Regions. I believe this is because they lack the constant pressure of being a publicly traded company. My supervisors showed me how a growth mindset in mentoring can boost work performance and commitment to an organization. Almost everything about it was a good fit for me, except for the hour-long commute on the D.C. Beltway.

St. Albans

Eventually, the commute got to me and I took a Business Manager / Accountant position at a progressive and diverse school, St. Alban’s Early Childhood Center, located on the grounds of The National Cathedral. It was here that I gained professional leadership skills and learned the importance of having cohesive interconnectedness between all functions of a business. I was responsible for making sure there was a continuous and dynamic flow of information between the administrative side and the educational side of the business. The advantage of working for a small company is that I was able to see the big picture all at once. This allowed me to create policies and procedures to ensure the school’s educational mission was carried out in the most effective way possible. St. Albans was a great place to work and gain a broad range of professional skills.

Greenville, S.C.

“All good things must come to an end,” as the saying goes. As I mentioned earlier, I was living on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. At that time, it was still in the early years of regentrification and prices hadn’t skyrocketed yet. So, I was able to get a decently priced basement apartment a few blocks away from Union Station. It was a fantastic location! Eventually, everyone else figured out how great it was and my landlord listed it for sale at a whopping price of $800,000. I can’t imagine how much it would cost today. Needless to say, this was not in my price range. So, I opted to move out.

Not being thrilled to move out to the more affordable D.C. suburbs and commuting into the city, I decided to look for other cities that might be appealing to live in. After narrowing down my search to the Southeastern U.S., I decided on Greenville, S.C. It was six driving hours closer to my Birmingham family, which was a major draw, but it was also appealing because it was in the middle of a booming growth spurt. New industries were moving into the state and the Greenville metro area. New people brought a more progressive attitude to the city. The art scene flourished, the gastro scene put Greenville on the map, and the music scene exploded. And the financial crisis only put a small damper on the housing market. Even on a cold day in February, I fell in love with it. So, I set out to find a job there.

Shannon Forest

Shannon Forest Academy, formerly Shannon Forest Christian School, was my home away from home for 7 years. It was a great community to be a part of. This is where I received the bulk of my accounting experience. My title was Business Manager / Accountant, the same as it was at St. Albans. However, my role here was much larger. When I was at Shannon Forest, the school had over 500 families and we serviced children in grades pk – 12. There were sports teams, school clubs, field trips, food services, music and art activities, and because it was a private school, tuition. The business office was responsible for all money flowing into and out of the school. Because of my position, I was able to have a broad overview of how the entire business operations were conducted.

Throughout my time there I held several different positions and had experience managing accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, human resources, and benefits administration. I also collaborated with department heads and executive staff on the annual budgeting and audit process. As with many small non-profit organizations, we can sometimes overlook internal controls in order to pursue our mission more fiercely. I completely understand this to some degree, but as an accountant, it drives me crazy not to have proper safeguards in place. So, I took on the task to evaluate and redesign financial policies, procedures and internal controls. Once each department was on board and the internal controls were up and running, the school became much more efficient and effective at accomplishing their mission.

My favorite part of working at Shannon Forest was that I was able to interact with a lot of people on a daily basis. Parents, teachers, students, administrators and board members would drop by the office just to say “Hi!” or to take care of financial business. Another aspect I loved about working there was the mentoring mentality. I had two excellent mentors, Bob Collins (President) and Lori Horton (Executive Director). Bob encouraged my ability for business strategy and entrepreneurship. Whereas, Lori was my first female role model that, well, turned into a professional superhero in my mind. She taught me how to build and sustain trust from employees, how to fight for what you believe in and when to let other people take the lead. One of the most valuable skills I learned from watching her is how she navigated corporate politics with aplomb. Thanks Bob and Lori!

Makerspace Exchange

While I was working at Shannon Forest, I was able to teach a January-term class. This term is held between the fall and spring semester and allows students to take only one class at a time. Typically, the classes are more hands-on and focus on a subject of personal interest. I’ve always been interested in the fabric arts and I offered to teach a sewing class. Being that I had never taught in this capacity before, I was nervous at first. But it went off without a hitch and it was so much fun! After this class, I was hooked on teaching and decided to start teaching sewing lessons out of my home. They too were a big hit and soon I was running a business out of my very own art studio! My entrepreneurial experience is something I’m very proud of and is deserving of its own page. Click here to learn more.

© 2024 by Beth Luketic in Birmingham, AL