Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / Faith, Family, and Finance: Jessica McClain's Balanced Approach to Nonprofit Leadership

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Faith, Family, and Finance: Jessica McClain's Balanced Approach to Nonprofit Leadership · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:04
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast,
0:08
where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from
0:11
their successes and be inspired by how they've overcome
0:14
adversity. My name is Anthony Cotespotti,
0:17
and today's guest is Jessica McClain.
0:19
She is the Chief Financial Officer at Girl Scouts Nation's
0:23
Capital, a nonprofit organization dedicated to
0:27
empowering youth through leadership and community
0:29
services across the Washington, DC area.
0:33
Since its establishment in 1963, Girl Scouts Nation's Capital has
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grown to serve thousands, offering programs that build
0:41
youth to encourage confidence, courage and character that make
0:46
the world a better place. Jessica brings a wealth of
0:49
finance and management expertise with several years in the
0:52
nonprofit sector. She previously served as the
0:56
Controller for Brand USA and held leadership roles at Grant
1:00
Thornton and Williams, Addley and Company DC.
1:04
Throughout her career, Jessica has optimized financial
1:07
processes, championed operational excellence, and
1:10
helped Dr. impactful community outreach.
1:13
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1:46
All right, back to our guest today, the CFO at Girl Scouts
1:49
Nation's Capital, Jessica McClain.
1:51
Thanks for making the time to Share your story today.
1:53
I appreciate the opportunity, Anthony, and I'm excited about
1:56
our discussion this afternoon. Let's jump right into it then,
1:59
Jessica. So right out of college, you had
2:02
roles at some pretty big companies, including KPMG and
2:06
IBM. What were those early
2:08
experiences like, and how did it help prepare you for some of
2:12
your higher roles to come? Absolutely.
2:15
I had the amazing opportunity to work at some amazing
2:18
organizations early on in my career, just right out of
2:21
college, and they really laid the foundation for the work that
2:25
I even do now and KPMG and my time in public accounting.
2:29
I got to work with all types of clients across various
2:33
industries and various aspects and working to address that
2:36
their needs as our client I've learned, had learned
2:39
adaptability. I had to learn the ability to
2:42
build trust with our clients as well.
2:45
At my time at IBM, I was doing a lot of audit readiness type
2:48
work. So I'm thinking through system
2:49
changes, process changes and process improvements.
2:53
And those the time at both of those organizations, they
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definitely pushed my analytical thinking, my strategic thinking,
3:00
but also was very client focused in the work that we did.
3:03
And these are things that I carry with me in my role even
3:05
currently today. And I understand you also had
3:08
some time. Well, obviously now you're in
3:10
the nonprofit space. Were you it at any other
3:13
nonprofits before joining Girl Scouts?
3:16
Yes, I was at Brand USA, which is a 5O1C6 association.
3:19
They are. They were.
3:20
They are. Excuse me, the marketing
3:22
organization for international travelers to come to America.
3:26
I'm not familiar with that designation 5O16C. 5O1C666
3:32
nonprofits, right? There's different 3 correct,
3:36
correct. And so your C sixes are more
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association organizations. They're usually supporting
3:42
business, business organizations within a various sector.
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So whether it's travel, whether it's staffing, whether it's
3:49
hotel and tourism, those are your your C6 organizations where
3:54
you'll see three, which is where I am at.
3:56
Girl Scouts are more about supporting members and
3:58
supporting a particular need of a group of individuals.
4:02
OK. And so how have you found the
4:05
work at nonprofits, whether the C3 or the C6 to compare to work
4:10
at some of the bigger for profit companies that you were at?
4:14
I would say the the nonprofit space it's given me, it's been
4:17
very meaningful for me working in that space.
4:21
I will say when I left public accounting specifically, I
4:25
wanted to do work that had an impact, social impact, had a
4:28
positive impact on on people, on organizations.
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And that's what really drew me to the nonprofit space after I
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left public accounting. So it definitely fills my cup
4:37
and gives me a huge sense of purpose.
4:40
And how about the day-to-day like sort of the inner workings,
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is there sort of a difference in some of the the tasks that
4:47
you're doing? I would say overall, I, I love
4:50
to say that when I hear people talk about nonprofit, it is a
4:53
tax status. Nonprofits are still a business.
4:57
Many of the, the risk, many of the the work from the things
5:00
that I do on a day-to-day basis are not much different from for
5:04
profit counterparts and other and other areas.
5:07
There's actually more level of higher level of complexity in
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the nonprofit space when you're talking about working with
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donors and funders and different types of donors and funders, the
5:17
reporting that comes behind that.
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But I am just as concerned about hiring great talent, inflation,
5:23
tariffs. Those are the same things that I
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think about even in the nonprofit space.
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How How do tariffs affect Girl Scouts?
5:30
So Girl Scouts, our organization, we have retail
5:32
store sales. We have 4 brick and mortar
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stores, but also an online presence.
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Well, the things that we sell of course you have to pay for the
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inventory and so there's the cost of those items have gone up
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as well. And so again, there many of the
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same challenges that for profit CFOs encounter are the same ones
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that I encounter as well. Well, I'm glad you kind of
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touched on that, Jessica, because I do think there's sort
5:55
of this misperception that nonprofits are actually trying
5:59
to lose money or trying really hard to make sure that at the
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end of the day, you know, the the books are just barely even.
6:05
Can you speak to that a little bit?
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Oh gosh, it is. That was something I had to wrap
6:09
my head around coming into the nonprofit space.
6:12
And it's something I talk about again, nonprofit, it's just the
6:15
tax status that we have with the IRS.
6:17
That is not our business model. We need to have profits.
6:21
That's how we invest in our specifically at Girl Scouts.
6:23
That's how we invest in our members, investing in the
6:26
programming are volunteers that we have adequate cash reserves.
6:30
So it is very important that we have a profit, but it's not
6:32
about just maximizing it. Maximizing, excuse me, it's not
6:36
the number one purpose in what we do.
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We need to have profits, but our purpose is to serve again our
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youth members because we're growing young people of courage,
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confidence and character, and it takes money to do that.
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And so if you when you do have a profit, then what happens to
6:50
that money? It doesn't go to shareholders
6:52
because there aren't any. No, it's actually reinvested
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back within the organization. Some of it of course has put
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away for reserves. I mean, we've had covet, I mean
7:00
some of the economic ups and downs that we've encountered.
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Well, you have to have the financial foundation to be able
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to weather those. But it's allowed us to help grow
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what we're offering. Again, we're we are really about
7:10
supporting our members and ensuring that our Girl Scouts
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have high quality programming. Well, we make those investments
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from the money that we bring in. So tell us, Jessica, how the
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opportunity to join Girl Scouts came about.
7:23
Absolutely. So it's interesting, not
7:25
something I went looking for, but when I was at brand, you
7:28
would say I was a controller at the time and I said, if I want
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to be a CFO one day, what will it take to get there?
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And so I signed up for CFO job listings, nonprofit was
7:38
specifically on LinkedIn and just read them when they came in
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just to understand the experience that I needed to get
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there one day. Well, I was looking and the Girl
7:47
Scouts, Girl Scouts opportunity showed up and I've read the job
7:50
description and the requirements, responsibilities,
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and I said, wow, I think I could do this job.
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And it was really a touching moment for me because I was, I
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grew up as a Girl Scout in this particular council myself.
8:02
Is that right? Yes, it was actually like
8:04
circling back home. And so I went through the
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interview process with some presentations and some other
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work as well, and here I am, almost four years later.
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And so tell us, what is the day-to-day work of a CFO at Girl
8:16
Scouts Nation's Capital look like?
8:19
Oh wow, so depends on the time of year there.
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No day is ever, ever the same. So whether I'm dealing with in
8:24
December, we're dealing with our financial statement audit.
8:26
So we're working with our auditors to do that.
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If it's cookie season, my part of my responsibilities is having
8:32
strategic oversight of our cookie program.
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So when the spring that's a lot of time is spent there again
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making sure our girls have the cookies they're selling and
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everything that they need to be successful whether it's in the
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you know spring is what we're doing, our budget.
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So it's budget season at the time, retirement plan on all
8:49
that's going on. So there is no day that is
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consistent. Sometimes what's going on
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controls what happens for me that day.
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But I think that what makes it, it makes it interesting and
8:59
exciting at the same time. So let's pretend for a moment
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that there may be a listener who is not familiar with the Girl
9:04
Scouts, or this is even more realistic.
9:07
I think most people have heard of the Girl Scouts.
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Maybe they don't understand what actually happens inside the Girl
9:12
Scouts. Can you kind of paint a picture
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for us, the age groups that you're serving, the types of
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programming that's available? Absolutely.
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So I always like to start by saying, you know, the mission of
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Girl Scouts. We are building youth of
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courage, confidence, and character that are going to make
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the world a better place when you can't have this world
9:27
without Girl Scouts. And we're doing that through
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outdoor adventure, teaching, life skills, STEM,
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entrepreneurship. There's many ways.
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And one thing I love to say about Girl Scouts, there's no
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one way to have a Girl Scout experience.
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I've talked with many Girl Scouts and they've talked about
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they found their passion and something that they love within
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Girl Scouts. Whether it is camping, being
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outdoors, arts, STEM, technology, there's something
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there for everyone. And I think that is what we
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need. We're also making people, young
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people, helping them to grow, to be community minded, helping
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them to be thoughtful and kind. It's also a part of what we do.
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So yes, we're making the future generations, generations of
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leaders, but there's also that piece of kind, thoughtful and
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community minded individuals. And so we're offering
10:14
programming. I mean, our Girl Scouts are out
10:16
doing earning higher awards, which is some people know the
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Eagle Scout award that Boy Scouts has, but we have ours as
10:24
well. And some we have what there's
10:27
different levels. You have your bronze, silver and
10:29
gold and gold being the highest. And they're out here doing some
10:31
of the most amazing projects. Like I was not thinking of some
10:35
of these things as a teenager making dog parks.
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I mean, talking about going to space, I mean, it is out of this
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world, the project that our Girl Scouts come up with, and we're
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serving young people from ages from kindergarten up to 12th
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grade. Now, man, it's been years, but I
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remember as a kid that a lot of the girls I knew, they started
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out as brownies and then brownies went into Girl Scouts.
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Is that still a thing? And our Brownies under the Girl
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Scouts umbrella. Yes, so right now you can start
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off as a Daisy, which starts off at kindergarten and there's your
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brownies, your juniors, cadets, ambassadors, seniors, and again,
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takes you from kindergarten all the way to 12th grade.
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And again, we've seen Girl Scouts who have you started off
11:13
and had one love with part of Girl Scouts and then it shifted
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later on. But there's a way to make the
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Girl Scout experience what makes what's best for that particular
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child. And how many women in young
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girls are you helping in this program in any given year?
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40,000 We are the largest Girl Scout council in the country
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based on number of members. 40,000 But I always love to say
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it is possible because of our our volunteers. 35,000
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volunteers, they are the ones boots on the ground for
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delivering the programming that our Girl Scouts need.
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And so it's because of them that were able to do that.
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And so they are the lifeblood they really are to serve that
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many Girl Scouts. Are these mostly parents?
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Yeah, a lot of it are parents. Some of our volunteers are maybe
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their own child has gone through Girl Scouts and they still want
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to be connected and they have been connected for decades and I
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truly say they are the lifeblood of what we do.
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Our job at the council is to support our volunteers who are
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delivering the programming. We talked a little bit about the
12:13
difference between for profit, not-for-profit work.
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What was maybe the the biggest challenge in kind of making that
12:21
transition? What are the biggest ones I
12:24
would say is helping people understand that the work that we
12:28
do, again, that our tax status, it means nonprofit, but not how
12:33
we operate and how we should think, how we should operate,
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that we are a business. Excuse me.
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So that has been part of the challenging piece.
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But also, it's unfortunate that nonprofits have the mantra of
12:45
doing more with less and it brings on a scarcity mindset and
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not starting from a place of abundance.
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Even with the tech, even with the terminology and the wording
12:54
that's used, it's always a can or shouldn't or we need to do,
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you know, we got to do so much more, but we have less.
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You don't hear the for profit world talking that way.
13:03
They figure out how to get more. And that's what nonprofits need
13:07
to do. And that's what we're, we're
13:08
going to do. You know, I, I something I talk
13:10
about a lot wherever I can and, and share profits are OK and
13:15
profits are needed in our space. It's just again, that isn't the
13:18
sole driver of what we do on a day-to-day basis.
13:21
So. As a nonprofit, do you think
13:22
about that more from how do we get more sponsors, more donors,
13:28
more kind of outside funding? Or do you think of it in terms
13:31
of how do we generate more revenue from within in in sort
13:36
of the ways that maybe a for profit company would think about
13:39
like how do we sell more cookies or how do we have more events
13:43
like selling cookies that can generate revenue?
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All of it. We're thinking about all of it,
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right. We have, you know, donors and
13:50
funders who believe in our mission, who believe in what we
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do and have supported us for many, many years financially.
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You know, we offer programming, there's fees to tie to some of
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that. So there's multiple ways that
14:00
we're working to bring in that revenue.
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But again, it's being reinvested back within the organization to
14:07
be able to offer to ensure we're offering quality programming,
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not just any program quality and that that is of the utmost
14:12
importance. Now Girl Scouts emphasizes
14:17
courage. Make sure I get this correct
14:19
confidence and character. What special meaning did those
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values have for you, Jessica? Wow.
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Those 3 words and that they all, they have their own meeting, but
14:32
the importance of them. And I think about courage, we
14:35
talk about, I think it from the perspective of taking bold
14:37
steps. I mean, whether it's a Girl
14:40
Scout doing zip lining for the first time, it takes courage to
14:43
do that. I'm not sure if I can even do
14:44
it. You know, getting in a kayak and
14:47
getting out there, I'm not sure if I could do that either.
14:49
But being able to take a step when there's a level of
14:52
uncertainty there is something that we're working to build.
14:55
You know, confidence, believing in your voice, believing in who
14:58
you are and your own self worth is important.
15:01
And that isn't something that just comes with you as a child.
15:03
It it's something that we're building because it stays with
15:05
you through adulthood. But what I think is so important
15:08
is, is the character piece that you're able to do the right
15:12
thing and you're doing the right thing even when no one is
15:14
watching. You know, ethics, integrity are,
15:17
are so important again. So yes, we're building those
15:19
future leaders, but it's also about good people is what we're
15:24
looking for as well. Jessica, I want to take a few
15:27
minutes and kind of dive into some of the financial
15:31
accomplishments, if you will, that you've been a part of there
15:34
at Girl Scouts. You shorten the Council's
15:38
financial closing periods first, explain what that means, and
15:44
then how did you accomplish that?
15:47
So one of the things I did when I first came into the
15:49
organization, I just did a lot of just listening.
15:53
It's a lot of listening, just watching, listening to run and
15:55
come in, try to make a lot of changes to things.
15:58
But one thing I noticed when I heard closing the books, so
16:00
those are the accounting word, understand closing the books
16:03
each month, a lot of times we have to present financials to a
16:06
board or a Finance Committee on a monthly basis.
16:09
And it was taking about 25 to 30 days to do that.
16:13
And I said, wow, that that's pretty long about the time you
16:15
get that done, you're into the next month.
16:17
And it just isn't the information isn't relevant as
16:20
you get to that point. And so one of the things I did
16:22
was 1, ensure that the team members had adequate training on
16:26
the accounting software. The accounting system had been
16:29
implemented 5 or 6 years when I came in, but no one had training
16:32
on it the. System.
16:35
A Sage Intact is what we went and implemented.
16:37
It was from QuickBooks to Intact prior to my arrival.
16:41
So getting the training to understand the capabilities of
16:44
the system #2 we sat down with our consultant and say, tell me
16:49
all that modules and the enhancements that we haven't
16:51
implemented as well. Because there was things I was
16:53
seeing like why are we doing it this way when I know the system
16:55
can do it? So we implemented that as well.
16:58
And then just looked at the process of closing and sure, we
17:01
had a checklist that didn't have redundancies, checklist that
17:04
didn't have us doing things that were no longer at that point
17:06
obsolete. Even changing the communication
17:10
with other departments of the timing that we need information
17:13
from them to close the books timely.
17:16
So we went from about 30 days where we can do it about 15 or
17:18
so. I still want to do some more
17:20
work in that area, yeah, but a drastic shift to be able to get
17:23
financial information in a more timely manner.
17:26
What was the single biggest lever you pulled to shave off
17:28
the the most number of days there?
17:31
I have to imagine it was probably like, we fixed this.
17:34
We it's to that like we get a day here, we get an extra day
17:38
here. But was there one lever that was
17:40
like really big and you got a few days out of it?
17:42
I, I'd have to say the enhancements to the system.
17:46
And So what one example was we were still approving journal
17:49
entries. I mean, physically I was signing
17:50
them via Adobe on paper, quote UN quote.
17:54
Well, all of that can be done in the system by clicking a button.
17:58
And so by the time you would put it together, send it to me, I
18:01
signed the paper, you take it back, upload it, I mean that
18:04
time and then we're making sure you don't miss anything.
18:06
That was probably one of the biggest levers was that piece.
18:09
So there's some other ones that we did, but just making those
18:12
tweaks and like you mention, adding them up saved a
18:14
significant time. And so brass tacks, How does
18:19
shortening the closing period from 30 days to 15 days help the
18:22
organization? What does that allow you to do
18:24
that you couldn't before? Part of it is getting timely,
18:27
relevant financial information. At some point, if the
18:30
information isn't coming in timely, it serves no purpose.
18:33
So one, being able to get an idea of, OK, we thought we were
18:37
heading some way with our fees in this area, our expenses in
18:41
this particular area, I can see a lot sooner.
18:44
And if we need to pivot or make a change or there's additional
18:47
information we need to communicate to one of our
18:48
committees or our board as well, because I'm literally getting it
18:52
that much sooner. We're also able to do a more
18:55
timely review. You know, we're reviewing
18:57
financials like, oh, that looks off.
18:59
I think we maybe made an area in a journal entry that we need to
19:01
address or need to fix. And so by shortening it, the
19:04
team now has time to work on other projects.
19:08
They're not just closing the books on a day-to-day basis.
19:11
What kind of other projects did that open your staff up to?
19:14
One of the things we had recently done was the Friday
19:16
writing some policies and procedures.
19:18
We hadn't done that and went up some some areas.
19:20
We recently finally went live on the FP and a pro platform as
19:25
well, even looking at making other enhancements and changes
19:29
to other areas with our credit card approvals using the app
19:32
instead of instead of having to just go online and look at a
19:34
website and getting an app implemented.
19:37
I mean, so there's other, there's other time to now do
19:39
some more of that higher level work and strategic thinking that
19:42
streamlines other areas as well. What?
19:45
Is FP and a software? In short, so financial planning
19:49
and analysis and we recently did the implementation.
19:52
So we're just now kind of getting on the ground with it.
19:55
But we're hoping and excited about actually the forecasting
19:59
capabilities and some of the reporting improvements as well.
20:02
Because again, one thing I like to tell people, as a CFO, I'm
20:05
communicating sometimes complex, sometimes financial information
20:10
to those that have varying levels of financial acumen.
20:13
Some people want to see it in a dashboard form, some people want
20:16
to see statements, some people want to read it in a memo.
20:18
Well, having these improved reporting capabilities allows me
20:21
to tailor that information to various audiences.
20:24
So we're excited about that and I think it also let make us
20:27
allow us to have make better data informed decisions as well.
20:33
You mentioned also something about the credit cards.
20:35
Now you're using an app instead of going to the website, and you
20:38
explain why that was such a big time saver.
20:40
But one, everyone does so much on their phone, they would, all
20:44
of us have a smartphone. We're doing things on our phone.
20:46
So what we're noticing is just kind of the time lag it was
20:49
taking for people to get receipts uploaded and logging in
20:52
and getting them coded and giving them approved or they're
20:55
losing receipts. Well, if you have it on your
20:57
phone and there's an app, you can do your approvals from your
20:59
phone. You don't have to wait to get in
21:01
front of a computer. You can upload a receipt, the
21:03
miniature in a restaurant and not worry about taking a
21:06
picture, losing the receipt then you can't find it because this.
21:09
Is more for expense tracking. Expense tracking, absolutely
21:12
expense tracking. You can then upload a receipt
21:14
even if the transaction hasn't posted yet.
21:16
So that way you don't have to think about it later.
21:19
And so we start, we're already starting to kind of see a
21:21
quicker turn around with approvals because people aren't
21:23
waiting. So they go back to a desk to log
21:25
in. I can be on a train ride or a
21:28
bus ride to work and I can start doing my approvals literally on
21:31
my phone instead of trying to do it even on a phone through a a
21:35
normal website. You're making things easier for
21:38
people as much as possible. Now, Jessica, you also managed
21:42
to draft that council's first investment spend policy.
21:45
What is that and why was it such a big deal?
21:47
Absolutely. So we have investments and we're
21:50
very fortunate enough because we had profits over the years to
21:52
even have investments. Well, to spend that down or to
21:56
draw from it, you have to have a spin policy to do that and it
22:00
gives you kind of the the rules and the guidelines of how that
22:03
happens, the approval processes, etcetera.
22:06
And with that we're able now at this point if we need to use and
22:11
spend down or draw down some investment earnings, but people
22:13
don't realize we just can't go start spending our investments.
22:15
There's a process and policy in place that guide us.
22:18
So that would be we're disciplined in how we do it and
22:21
we're making value driven decisions what we do at the same
22:23
time. So very excited about that.
22:25
So like, what are some of the guardrails that you've got in
22:27
place? So 1 is how the approval process
22:31
of how much we can even draw down on a given year.
22:34
The approval that has to come from our investment committee
22:36
and our board and endowments have their own set of rules as
22:39
well that we have to follow into that.
22:41
Those guidelines are in there as.
22:43
Well, so you guys decide you need a new addition to your
22:48
office building. Can you just do that or what's
22:50
the process look like? Well, part of it is we don't, we
22:53
have to definitely go through the full approval process, but
22:56
explaining it to our investment committee why the draw down is
22:58
important and why it's need it now.
23:01
Again, we have to go through that process of discussing, does
23:04
that make sense? Do we have other sources of
23:06
funds to make these investments? Because again, Girl Scout
23:09
Stations capital, we're very fortunate to be where we are
23:12
from a financial standpoint to be able to again, make the
23:15
required investments. So this is just one way of being
23:18
able to do that that wasn't there before.
23:21
Jessica, you've written about the four key traits for today's
23:26
CFO. Can you say a little bit more
23:29
about that? So there's the four traits and I
23:33
will add that I think if I had to pick the one, the one that I
23:36
think is probably I live by and I think is one of the most
23:38
important is curiosity. I tell you, I ask questions and
23:43
some of it comes from my former auditor background where I ask
23:46
questions and may be annoying at times.
23:48
But the trait, it pushes me to not stick with the status quo
23:52
and to challenge it. But people know that they have
23:55
worked with me or team members would say, I'll ask, you know,
23:58
why are we doing XYZ or why are we doing it this way?
24:01
And they know the answer I hate to hear is because that's how
24:03
we've always done it. I'm going to always ask.
24:06
But it allows you to then explore new ways of doing things
24:09
that maybe you hadn't thought of.
24:11
But I also think it's important now, especially with the
24:14
advancements in technology. You're going to have to have a
24:17
curious mindset. There is no OK, I learned how to
24:19
do it, and I just do it this one way and I do it for the rest of
24:22
my career. How we're working now will be
24:25
very different in five years. It'll be very different in 10
24:28
years. So I have to have that curiosity
24:30
mindset. But also, I don't believe in
24:33
having all the answers. I don't have to be the smartest
24:36
person in the room. I just want to make sure I'm
24:38
asking the right questions. That to me is important and
24:41
comes with that mindset so. What do you do when you run into
24:46
somebody who their answer is, we're doing it this way because
24:50
that's the way that we've always done it.
24:51
And they're not really wired for that curiosity.
24:56
They're not wired for change. Even if this might not be the
25:00
most efficient way, it's the way that they know and they're
25:02
comfortable with it. How do you pull or push that
25:05
person along? I, I usually start by, have we
25:09
consider or have we thought of? And so I don't want to come in
25:13
and push you because some people may take it as a negative.
25:15
Oh, she thinks we don't know what we're doing and she thinks
25:19
she knows everything. And I said, no, I just like to
25:21
ask the question. And it's have we considered,
25:24
have we thought about, and usually some people may say, oh,
25:27
well, we've thought about it, but didn't have the capacity or
25:30
we didn't have the financial resources.
25:32
Oh, we hadn't thought about that that way.
25:33
Now we would love to make something easier.
25:36
So yes, people can be resistant or may not have that mindset,
25:40
but it's something I need to model and demonstrate as well.
25:43
To say it's OK to ask questions of why we've been doing
25:46
something. I don't care how miniscule it
25:48
may seem, why? And sometimes literate people
25:53
have no answer other than we've just done it that way and I've
25:55
never thought about it any differently.
25:58
You mentioned before Jessica, that you guys have 40,000
26:02
members there. 40,000 Youth members.
26:03
Yes, Nation. 'S capital, the, the DC area.
26:07
How do you attract so many girls and young women into the
26:11
program, their marketing efforts?
26:14
Is it just, you know, you've got these, what do you call them,
26:18
independent troops? And they're just, you sort of
26:22
arm them with like the materials to go into the schools and kind
26:25
of recruit people or like, how does this work?
26:27
I I learned one of the things I learned when I got to Girl
26:29
Scouts was people follow people. So that's normally how it's how
26:34
it kind of happens. It's I know someone whether I or
26:37
others are a Girl Scout and so they did it and so their mom did
26:40
it. So their child is going to do
26:41
it. That's some of it.
26:42
Others it's conversation. And I'm looking for a place
26:45
where my, my child can, you know, explore outdoors or
26:48
explore programming. And then through conversation,
26:51
another parent is sharing that, of course, their marketing
26:54
efforts, we're going into schools to show schools and
26:56
parents the benefits and the impact that Girl Scout has.
27:00
So there's many lovers that we can pull to do that.
27:03
But I learned they say people follow people.
27:05
And so for us, it's making sure we have those connections and
27:08
supporting our members and our volunteers because they're the
27:10
ones that are telling the story of Girl Scouts.
27:14
You mentioned before your curiosity, one of those
27:18
important principles to you. I'm curious where that curiosity
27:22
comes from. Do you think?
27:23
Were you just born with it? Is it something sort of
27:26
instilled in you by parents or previous work experiences?
27:30
Any sense of why you are the way that you?
27:32
Are I mean I could start with saying what my learn got from my
27:35
parents. That's probably plays a role in
27:37
it there. I think some of it evolved over
27:40
time. As my work as an auditor, we
27:42
have to have a curious mindset. We have to operate from a level
27:45
area of professional skepticism where we trust but verify is a
27:49
lot of times what we would say in that space.
27:52
But just over one of the learning journeys that I've had
27:54
as part of my leadership growth is that curiosity mindset.
27:58
Because I wonder sometimes how some leaders seem to have this,
28:00
the vision and they're able to sell the vision or some of it is
28:04
just, I left. I just love to learn.
28:06
You know, Anthony, I tell people I am a nerd and I'm proud to say
28:08
I am one. We did a, our senior leadership
28:12
team months ago, did a via character strengths via and it
28:17
talks about strengths and that is our weaknesses and it numbers
28:20
them. My number one was love of
28:22
learning. So that mindset of just wanting
28:25
to take information in and take things in and learn and grow.
28:29
Part of me is just that's just how I am wired as well.
28:32
What were the next two? That was your second.
28:34
One was humbleness. I don't remember the third, but
28:36
my second was humility. OK, even with the success that I
28:39
have, it's not something I go and run the tell the whole world
28:42
about a lot of times just because I know where that's come
28:46
from is my my faith and in my religion and that's how I've
28:49
gotten it. So humility is really important
28:51
to me. You credit faith and religion
28:54
for being a big part of why you are where you are today.
28:57
Can you say more about that? Absolutely, absolutely, my Lord
29:01
and Savior, Jesus Christ, he is why I'm here.
29:04
He is the one that has destined my path for me and because of
29:08
him is why I say I I have what I have and I am where I am and the
29:12
life that I've had. And so I all all the glory to to
29:15
him with that. And so you've got curiosity and
29:20
then you've got humility. Humble.
29:21
Yes. And I'm going to guess that that
29:24
humility comes in helpful when kind of like we were just
29:27
talking about you run into that situation where you know, you've
29:30
got somebody who's sort of stuck in the way that they're doing
29:32
it. You're you're aware enough to
29:36
know that even though you already know that what you're
29:39
going to suggest is a better answer, there is a diplomatic
29:43
way to approach it so that you're not ruffling feathers and
29:47
you're getting people to kind of join you on this ride.
29:50
Yeah. And absolutely, Anthony, you're,
29:52
you're right in that. And I also picked it from the
29:55
perspective as well, like coming to, you know, meetings with team
29:58
members. And I say, I don't know the
29:59
answer to this. Maybe there's a way to change it
30:02
or do something different, but I even I don't know what that
30:04
looks like. And so I want to hear from you
30:06
all that I have blind spots, I have biases as well.
30:09
And there's things that I'm not seeing.
30:11
And so that humility is really important to me, especially in
30:13
in being a leader. You know, a lot of us are
30:17
shaped, at least in part, by the challenges that we've overcome
30:20
in our lives. Jessica, what's a serious
30:23
challenge, whether it's personal or professional, that you've had
30:27
to overcome? How did you get through it and
30:29
what did you learn? The biggest challenge that I
30:32
had, and we've all had them and learned from them, I became a
30:36
mom. And specifically, not just about
30:39
being a mom, but taking on her caregiving role because there
30:42
are others who are taking care of other family members, whether
30:45
it's parents, siblings. That while having that role,
30:49
while holding a leadership role was one of the hardest and most
30:53
difficult transitions I've experienced.
30:56
I tell people I am unapologetically ambitious and
31:01
having to then battle the feeling of guilt, the feeling of
31:05
burnout and managing, moving my career forward and what I wanted
31:09
to do and what I wanted to accomplish.
31:11
At times I feel like I wasn't doing enough for everyone and
31:15
stretching myself then. And it's one of the reasons why
31:17
I love public accounting. I love the accounting
31:20
profession. There are many great work firms
31:23
to work for, organizations to work for, but we still have to
31:26
do more to support parents, caregivers, to be able to have a
31:31
career that look is successful to them, but making sure they're
31:34
taking care of home and what they need to do with outside
31:37
responsibilities. And so I had to really reframe
31:41
how I saw success. I thought it was come in public
31:44
accounting, be a partner. Well then I looked like, well,
31:47
that nearly maybe isn't for me. That's not how I define my
31:50
success. I want to make sure I want to
31:52
help people be the best versions of themselves.
31:54
I want to be the amazing mom, sister, wife, daughter, friend.
31:57
Those things are important to me.
31:58
Being there for the people that I love, being able to make sure
32:03
I'm taking care of myself with the rest.
32:05
And that's not always easy with young children, but I do my
32:07
best. So that was a challenge for me
32:09
of reframing how I saw success in the future, what it meant
32:12
that others didn't define it, that I can define it for me and
32:15
how I wanted it to be. And so it's sort of in that
32:20
those early processes, the early days of becoming a mother that
32:24
you kind of found yourself reframing what success looks
32:29
like. Like I want to do this and I
32:32
want I want to be a mother. I want to be successful in my
32:35
career. Partner's going to take a lot of
32:38
time away from the family part over here.
32:42
Maybe there's a different way for me to define what success
32:45
looks like. Does that sound accurate?
32:48
Absolutely. You know, and again, having the
32:50
meaning and the purpose in the work that I do, and it's one of
32:52
the reasons why I transition to the nonprofit space, whether it
32:56
gets in the social space, the economic space.
32:58
I just wanted to do work that I knew was having a positive
33:01
impact because I get AI, get a sense of fulfilment from that.
33:06
And so like all those areas you mentioned in that sense of
33:08
fulfillment was so important to me that now my path is
33:11
different. But I feel good about it still
33:14
being tiring sometimes in all of the work and juggling
33:16
everything. It's not perfect, but there's a
33:19
sense of harmony that I get where I have the career, I have
33:23
the ambitious goals outside of work, but I'm taking, I'm taking
33:26
care of family. What's important to me
33:27
personally. Yeah, Jessica, I'm glad that
33:29
we're talking about this. I think this doesn't get enough
33:32
discussion and from from a father's point of view in when I
33:36
first became a dad, that was really challenging for me.
33:40
And, and I'll talk about my wife, which may parallel a
33:43
little bit more with your experiences, but I'm curious if
33:45
anything I'm going to say resonates with you or with
33:49
something that you went through. You know, I heard so many people
33:52
talk about when you become a parent, there's this like
33:54
instant bond, There's this feeling of incredible love that
33:58
that's this connection. And I felt horrible that I
34:01
didn't feel those things. What I felt was this
34:06
overwhelming sense of responsibility, like this was,
34:12
sounds bad to use the word weight, but it was a weight that
34:15
was on my shoulders because I will be a parent for the rest of
34:19
my life and I am responsible for this human being.
34:22
Incredibly so right now. Less so as they get older, but
34:26
still, you know, it's it, it's a job that I, I can't quit kind of
34:31
a thing. Is any of this ring true for
34:34
you? Did you go through any of those
34:35
feelings? I, I did and when it comes to to
34:39
parenting, and no matter what, how many books you read, classes
34:43
you take, everyone's experience is different, whether as a
34:46
woman, if you're pregnant and that experience, the delivery,
34:50
what it's like after giving birth.
34:51
I mean, it is just so different. So there's, there's no one way
34:54
to have the experience or this particular feeling.
34:58
But I did feel that a little bit because again, I had this
35:00
partner path, I had this track that I was on and I felt like
35:03
I'm having to choose between work and, and family and I, I
35:07
felt like that I felt a little guilt, like, man, if you know,
35:10
if I, if I wasn't a parent, I could continue on this path, but
35:14
I had to say, God said that that's not the path for you.
35:16
I got I got something better. And so once, once I was able to
35:19
take a step back and say, OK, it's not in my hands.
35:22
God has a different path for me and I got to follow it and trust
35:25
it. And then the time I spent
35:27
between leaving public accounting and joining a
35:29
nonprofit space, the the time I had with my child, my oldest
35:32
child, my daughter, because I had struggles before I even had
35:35
her. So it didn't make me more
35:37
appreciative when she got here, although that guilt was a bit
35:40
there. But it's tough.
35:42
I mean, it is tough. I don't care if you are what
35:45
parent you are, it's one of the toughest jobs.
35:49
And you're right. It just, it doesn't just go
35:50
away. It's always there and and you're
35:54
gonna have different emotions and different experiences over
35:57
time. Again, I just got out of potty
35:58
training. So for me, I'm celebrating
36:00
finally there with potty training.
36:02
That's a big milestone for. Me it has a big milestone.
36:05
Have you been able to get rid of all the diapers or are they
36:07
still there for like night time? Diapers gone.
36:09
Everything but you got pull up, you're doing pull ups now
36:12
they're gone. Oh, the pull ups are gone too.
36:13
OK all. Gone.
36:14
I'm done. That is a big moment.
36:16
Congratulations. Yeah.
36:18
And, you know, hearing you talk reminds me a lot about my wife's
36:21
experience. And I think that I really do
36:24
believe it's probably harder for the mothers because, you know,
36:29
she thought that once we started having kids that she would want
36:33
to stay home, you know, work from the home, be a stay at home
36:36
mom. That's kind of what she thought.
36:40
And, you know, as she spent some time doing that and she felt
36:45
pulled back to her career, that she had gone through a lot of
36:49
education, you know, to be able to qualify for and had put in a
36:53
lot of years to get the experience to, you know, be
36:55
really very good at. Now, she felt really bad about
36:59
herself, like, this somehow makes her a bad mother, that she
37:04
loves her kids and wants to spend time with them, and she
37:06
also wants a career at the same time.
37:08
Like, what did that say about her that she didn't want to be
37:13
at home with them all the time? And I know there was a lot of
37:15
conflict there for her. And I've talked with other
37:19
professional women who have gone through, you know, similar
37:22
feelings of guilt. And it sounds like, you know
37:24
you've processed a lot of that as well.
37:27
It and I will say there's no one way for some women, they want to
37:30
stay at home. I know some that did it up
37:32
through be kindergarten, others did it longer that there,
37:34
there's no one way or right or wrong way.
37:37
It wouldn't make sense for the mom and the family.
37:40
So I I would never judge a woman who said I'd rather go into, you
37:43
know, work or I want to stay home for five years or 10 years
37:46
or the whole 18 years. Never would I ever judge a
37:50
mother for that. And no matter what, we're going
37:53
to feel guilt. But I understand the feeling of
37:56
I took time off between leaving public accounting and going to
37:59
the nonprofit space and I was home with my daughter a lot.
38:01
But I, I was like your wife, I, I want to get back into the
38:04
workplace and I had to work through putting up the
38:07
boundaries and communicating to employers what I needed as a
38:11
mom. And I don't even like to use the
38:12
word working mom or working mother because as a mom, you're
38:16
working. You just make you decide to work
38:18
outside of the home part time, full time seasoning, whatever
38:21
that looks like for you. So I don't like to use the word
38:25
working mom just because all mothers being a mom is work.
38:29
It's just how if you decide to work outside of the home.
38:31
That was something that a friend helped me with years ago.
38:33
How to sort of phrase that question, you know, are you
38:36
working well, if you're a mom, 100% you're doing a lot of work,
38:41
yes. Are you working outside the home
38:43
is sort of the better way to phrase it.
38:46
You know, just sort of like in general conversation, Hey, you
38:48
know, what's going, you had a baby, Great.
38:50
What's going on? Like are you working outside the
38:52
home? Are you staying home?
38:53
You know that. Would you agree that that's a
38:55
better way to kind of approach that topic?
38:57
Absolutely. When I didn't understand it till
38:59
becoming a mother and I heard someone say that as a mom, I
39:03
work, it's just I may decide to work outside of the home and I
39:06
use air quotes even then because you could be remote and work
39:09
inside the house and still be home because you now with you
39:13
know, how many of us are working now?
39:15
And again, I've seen two women that do it on a part time basis,
39:17
a seasonal basis full time there.
39:20
You know, then there's no one way to do it.
39:22
It's what makes what is best for you and your family.
39:26
And it's when we just judge each other if they decide to stay
39:28
home, not stay home, work part time, full time, because it's
39:32
what them and their family needs and what makes the most sense
39:35
for them. Jessica, did you feel like that
39:38
guilt was coming all from internal from you, or did you
39:41
feel judgement from anybody on the outside?
39:45
Internal to me, yeah, I would say internal to me.
39:48
The village I had, whether it was, you know, my mother-in-law,
39:51
my, my mom and Co workers, you know, they were like, if you
39:55
want to take a step back, it's OK and if you don't, it's OK.
39:58
I put that pressure on myself and that's where the guilt came
40:01
from. You've mentioned curiosity
40:04
already, but aside from that, what would you define as your
40:07
superpower, Jessica? My love of learning that is the
40:13
number one superpower is that. But if I had to pick a second
40:17
one, and I'm still on this particular journey, is is the
40:22
authenticity and empathy or other two, It took time for me
40:26
to really feel comfortable being who I am and showing how I do in
40:31
the workplace. And I'll give you an example.
40:33
I didn't wear my hair like this for O for a while.
40:35
I usually wore it straight because of how it some people
40:39
perceived, you know, an African American woman with braids
40:42
versus straighter hair. It took a while to feel
40:45
comfortable doing that. Now after having my kids, this
40:47
is so much easier to maintain with all the craziness I deal
40:50
with at home. But this is who I am and I feel
40:53
more a lot more comfortable showing up being who I am.
40:56
And I know that helps others as well.
40:59
But other pieces, empathy. And I would say that especially
41:03
in the last few years, I mean, with people with people dealt
41:05
with with COVID, I mean, being sick, losing family members,
41:10
taking care of family members, taking care of family members
41:13
who have long COVID, you're trying to be a parent at home,
41:15
but you're still working at home and trying to teach your kids
41:17
second grade math and algebra. I mean, people were just going
41:21
through it. And people really didn't need to
41:23
have an ear to be able to vent and be able to share their
41:27
struggles. And so it's something I have
41:30
worked to improve on is being that ear and thinking about
41:34
people 1st and things and not processes and technology, but
41:37
the people and how decisions are made.
41:38
How the People is really another superpower that I'm continuing
41:42
to grow and work on. You mentioned your hair and not
41:47
being comfortable to wear it in braids before.
41:49
What was the concern there? Unfortunately, there was some
41:52
bias that that is, is and I would say has been and is.
41:57
Like it's wearing braids for an African American.
42:00
It's it's too black. Is that what the the OK?
42:03
It's not seen as professional to where you're here and for
42:07
African American women in certain styles, what we call
42:10
more natural styles, whether I have a, you know, short hairdo,
42:13
a mini fro, I may have the braids.
42:16
It just wasn't seen as professional, unfortunately.
42:19
And so for a while I did not wear my hair that way.
42:23
But after I had kids and know the convenience of wearing my
42:27
hair in this fashion and I love how it looks, I show up like
42:31
this. I take pictures like this.
42:32
This is how I show up and it's authentically me.
42:36
And so did you just have to give yourself permission to do that
42:39
or did somebody else kind of make you more comfortable to do
42:44
that? I'd have to say a little bit of
42:48
both, but part of it is, was me after becoming a mom, how can I
42:53
make life a bit easier for myself?
42:56
And one thing was my hair, instead of going to hair salon
42:59
every two weeks, I get the braids.
43:01
They last longer. I can wake up and go, It's less
43:04
work. And unless I became a new mom,
43:06
that was, I mean, that was a game changer for me right there.
43:09
But also starting to see others wearing it.
43:12
And I'm like, no, I can be professional and be seen as
43:14
professional with my hair in different ways.
43:17
And some days I may have it out in a ponytail, some days I have
43:20
the braids in. I like to switch it up
43:21
sometimes. Has anybody ever made a comment?
43:25
No, most people say it's beautiful.
43:27
I mean, I have people of all different backgrounds and races
43:29
say, oh wow, I love the color in it, I love the style.
43:32
It's beautiful. Some people are part of it was
43:34
just me and how I felt that what I think society, some of the
43:37
signals that society has sent before.
43:39
I get that. How about some daily practices
43:43
that kind of help you along, Jessica, whether it's to start
43:46
your day or keep you on track as the day moves along?
43:50
The biggest one, and again with my crazy schedule with work and
43:53
young kids and all over the place, it's prayer.
43:56
That's the one thing I can easily make sure I take time for
43:59
the beginning of the day or even in the evening before I go to
44:02
bed. Just showing, you know, my Lord
44:04
of Savior, the gratitude for being able to want to wake up in
44:06
the morning that my family made it through the day.
44:08
We all made it home safely. And I, you know, made it made it
44:12
through the day despite how difficult the day may have been
44:15
because we all have those tough days.
44:17
But just showing the the gratitude.
44:19
And so prayer is the one thing that is a constant.
44:22
Some of the other things I wish I had more time to meditate and
44:24
work out. It's let us easy with my
44:26
schedule. We get there one day, I'm
44:29
working on it. But that's the number one thing
44:31
for me. It keeps me grounded.
44:32
If it happen in the morning throughout the day, it's.
44:35
Usually in the morning and the evening, because it's usually I
44:37
can get some of the silence before my I get my kids up in
44:39
the morning and then the evenings once I can get them to
44:41
bed again, I can have that that quiet time I.
44:45
Want to go back to sort of talking about your team there at
44:48
Girl Scouts? How many folks report to you
44:51
directly? Directly 6, but six indirectly
44:55
through the chain of reporting is about 25.
44:58
OK. As you think about, you know,
45:01
you've been at much bigger companies before.
45:03
As you think about sort of the how to build your team from, you
45:07
know, recruiting them, you know, through the hiring process, once
45:10
you've got folks that are good and how to retain them, what are
45:14
some things, some strategies that you've tried that you have
45:17
found success with? You got to get to know people.
45:22
We have to get to know people, know what's important to them,
45:26
what motivates them, what their pet peeves are, understanding
45:31
how they want to be recognized, how they see growth, and then
45:35
taking that feedback along the way.
45:36
Again, I haven't always made it right and perfect.
45:39
I had an employee who left at one point and I could have did a
45:41
better job and how I recognized them because I wasn't
45:44
recognizing them the way they wanted to be recognized and
45:47
appreciated. Oh, sort of like their their
45:50
love language if you love. Language for work.
45:51
There's actually a book, I hate the title of the book, but
45:53
basically there are love languages for work, just like we
45:55
have them in personal relationships and understanding.
45:58
It looks different to everyone in that some of the the the
46:01
driving motivation behind some people, some people it's money,
46:04
some people it's purpose, you know, some people share more
46:07
than others, but taking the time to get to know each person
46:10
individually and showing that you care.
46:13
I mean, that right there is is very important and you have to
46:16
be intentional when you do it. You have to be intentional, but
46:19
you also have to be authentic in it.
46:21
But you don't want to have is that have communication or
46:25
coming off in a way where people like, oh, they don't really care
46:28
how my weekend went. They don't really care what's
46:30
going on in my life. No, I do care because that
46:33
actually shows up at work. Surprisingly, it actually does.
46:37
You ask the question, actually listen for the answer.
46:39
Exactly. And just listen, not giving
46:41
advice. Sometimes it's literally just
46:43
listening. There are times where people
46:44
have shared things and I say, you know what?
46:46
I can relate because I've been through that.
46:48
Where others just say I'm just here to listen.
46:50
If you want to talk, that's it. I have, I don't have advice.
46:54
I'm just here to be an ear, but at the same time saying let me
46:58
know what you need. And so people that's you know, I
47:02
need to take all time for this. I need to do this.
47:04
I need to switch the schedule for the day.
47:05
That's what I need to manage something I'm dealing with at
47:08
the moment. Boy that that is such a good
47:11
reminder even for me to hear because I joke about this with
47:15
my wife sometimes where she comes to me and she wants to
47:18
unload about her day and I go into fix it mode.
47:22
Right. I am like, Oh, well, here are
47:25
the three things that you should do to address this.
47:29
And I've gotten just a little bit better at this, Jessica, but
47:33
not great at it and saying, OK, wait, do you just want me to
47:38
listen? Do you want advice?
47:41
Do you want a hug? Those are.
47:43
And maybe the hug is less appropriate in a business
47:46
setting, depending on how close you are with folks.
47:48
But I think it's often times helpful to sort of go into a
47:52
conversation laying out those options.
47:55
Am I here, you know, as an ear, you know, like an ear slash
47:58
shoulder? Or are are you looking for
48:00
advice so that talking about those love languages, you're
48:03
kind of giving back that person, what it is that they're looking
48:06
for in the moment? Absolutely.
48:08
It's sometimes it really is. I'm just an ear.
48:10
I'm here to listen. And again, people share varying
48:13
degrees of their personal life. I have some people that work
48:16
with me that they very private and that's perfectly fine.
48:19
But I just expressed to them, I am here if you need me and I'll
48:24
leave it at that. But others will come share
48:26
every, every life story and every moment and that's fine
48:28
too. I want to celebrate your
48:30
milestones. I want to celebrate your
48:31
successes. I want to hear about your
48:33
challenges. So by doing that, that's how you
48:36
have a good team of people that are committed and are engaged.
48:40
Does if you were to recommend a resource to our listeners, be it
48:45
a book, a podcast, a course, what would it be?
48:48
Something that's been helpful to you that you think others could
48:51
get value from. The one that I have to bring up
48:55
and I got this book when I became manager at Grant
48:59
Thornton, promoted at Grant Thornton, and they gave everyone
49:02
of all of the new managers a book called What Got You Here,
49:05
Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith.
49:07
I think his name is correctly and it's interesting for anyone
49:10
transitioning from a, you know, individual contributor role to a
49:14
supervisory role that's so important in public accounting.
49:17
We always said your two biggest or most difficult jumps or
49:20
promotions are to manager and partner.
49:24
And the reason I share that when I have shared it for many years
49:27
is that what made you successful as an individual contributor is
49:31
very different with what makes you successful in a management
49:35
role. Because then it becomes way more
49:36
about people, less of the day-to-day tasks, but you're
49:39
dealing with personnel matters people.
49:42
And there's a lot of complexity within that and even how success
49:48
is defined when you're an individual contributor,
49:51
contributor versus someone in a supervisory role.
49:54
And so I, I definitely recommend that book for someone making
49:57
certain jumps or leaps within their career.
50:01
It's something that is stuck with me and I share all the
50:03
time. This is interesting.
50:05
I mean, kind of get, you know, curious to get your take on this
50:08
because yeah, not everybody who is good at a operational role
50:14
will also be good in a managerial role or they, they
50:19
may not even enjoy it. And so it's kind of important to
50:24
understand that about yourself that if you, you know, get to
50:27
sort of the the top tier of the operational rung and that is
50:31
where you're comfortable and you're happy and you don't want
50:34
to kind of step into more authority, then that's OK.
50:38
What is maybe one thing, either from your direct experience or
50:42
from that book or both that you could pass along to the
50:47
audience? Here's one thing in particular.
50:49
If you decide that this is something you want, you want to
50:52
get from here to there, you want to level up, that would be a
50:55
good piece of advice for folks. I would say understanding what
51:00
it means to be a management role, there seems to be for some
51:03
people it's like a black box and it really isn't.
51:06
But it's having conversations with those that are in a
51:09
management role, job shadowing them, truly understand it's not
51:13
just a title, it's not just about the money.
51:15
There's a lot more responsibility.
51:17
There's risk that comes with that as well.
51:20
And taking the time to understand what that is to then
51:23
really make a an informed decision is management where I
51:27
want to be. And maybe not now, maybe it's
51:28
something I want to do later and understand what that change is.
51:32
It's something I learned going through public accounting.
51:34
Like, do I really want to be a partner?
51:35
As I learned more of what that meant from a risk perspective,
51:39
financial perspective, I don't know if this is really for me.
51:44
And I think by having those conversations, you're again,
51:47
making an informed decision for yourself instead of leaping into
51:50
something because of the the status of the title or the
51:52
money, not realizing it wasn't the move I should have made or
51:55
even made. Now, it may not be your time
51:57
yet. For people who have been
52:01
involved with Girl Scouts Nation's Capital, are there any
52:07
exciting changes that are coming that you know, they may not
52:12
recognize that you know, you're particularly excited about
52:16
putting in place? Well, one thing we should be
52:18
excited about, Nancy, this is a great, great, great thing.
52:20
We are hosting the National Convention next July, July 2026.
52:25
So every three years we have a National Council session where
52:29
all Girl Scouts with and youth members, adult members, all the
52:33
team members, staff members come together from.
52:35
It's more of a part of it is a governance meeting that takes
52:38
place with our Board of National Board of Directors.
52:40
But there's also programming etcetera for our Girl Scouts and
52:44
it moves to different councils or different cities about every
52:46
three years and it's coming to DC in 2026.
52:49
So Girl Scouts, we are going to take over, and I mean take over
52:53
Washington, DC. OK.
52:55
You're going to have thousands of Girl Scouts that are going to
52:59
be there celebrating what we do, celebrating who we are, and
53:03
there's to be a lot of exciting things coming up over the course
53:06
of the next year. I can't go into those yet and
53:08
share those that are lead up to that, but we're very excited to
53:12
be able to host convention and what that means and highlighting
53:16
specifically, not even just Girl Scouts worldwide, but also
53:20
specifically in the Washington, DC metro area with our Girl
53:23
Scouts in Maryland, Washington, Northern Virginia, and the
53:26
Eastern Panhandle to West Virginia.
53:28
We're going to show up and show out and show the world who we
53:30
are. Oh, I like that.
53:32
That sounds powerful. What are the specific dates for
53:34
that? You said 2026.
53:37
I think it's the 22nd to the 26th of July.
53:38
I hope I got it right OK. Well, I'm sure somebody can go
53:42
online and Google it. Oh, absolutely.
53:44
Registrations recently opened up.
53:46
So come on down. Come on down to DC.
53:50
Jessica, here's an interesting question for you.
53:53
You know, sometimes we all make mistakes, right?
53:56
But you know, personal lives in our careers.
53:58
And I have the tendency anyways, when I make a mistake, I really
54:03
beat myself up over it. Sometimes as I look in the rear
54:07
view mirror at a mistake that happened a while ago, I can
54:11
actually find gratitude in my heart for that because in a
54:15
weird way, it actually steered me in a different direction.
54:18
It kept me from going down a wrong path.
54:21
It helped me open up a new door, or it taught me a lesson in a
54:25
really powerful way that I was, you know, able to leverage in
54:29
the future. You have any of those moments
54:32
that you can think of where there was a past mistake that
54:35
now you look back at, you're grateful for.
54:37
I mean, that's, that's almost every mistake because I really
54:40
believe you learn from them, whether personal, personally or
54:43
professionally. Of course, I've sat back on how
54:47
I've handled myself in different difficult situations with
54:49
difficult people. I, I say all the time, as long
54:51
as humans are around, we're always going to have to have
54:54
difficulty with colleagues and Co workers, etcetera.
54:58
But I've had to learn how to better manage my emotions during
55:02
the, during difficult conversations that I'm listening
55:06
better and doing that. So that's one of the biggest
55:10
thing, one of the biggest parts of my journey when it comes to
55:13
even the people aspect. I've talked about people before,
55:16
but not always with people that, oh, Jessica's great or they're
55:19
great. Even in working with people that
55:21
where we really don't see eye to eye.
55:22
Sometimes we, you know, we have disagreements.
55:25
I don't run from conflict. I think conflict is natural.
55:28
I mean, we have it in our families.
55:29
We're going to have it professionally.
55:31
It's just how it's handled and how it's addressed as to what's
55:34
important because it's always going to be there that that
55:37
doesn't change. And I do beat myself up a lot.
55:39
I can get down on myself because it's why I didn't think of this
55:42
or why did I say it that way. And it takes some time to kind
55:45
of get over that initial cringe to be able to say, OK, what do I
55:50
take from this? What do I learn from this?
55:52
Whether it's something I can improve for myself.
55:54
But also, it's a story that I can share with others as well.
55:58
You know, I, I think I may have mentioned in this interview a
56:01
father to two young boys, they're 9 and 11.
56:03
And this is a, a lesson that I struggle to figure out how to
56:09
teach to them and maybe their brain development.
56:12
It's just too early on sort of that ability to look back at,
56:17
you know, not doing well on a test or not performing well in a
56:20
sporting event or a spelling bee or what it and, you know, using
56:26
that as an inflection point to for change.
56:29
It's like, OK, well, that didn't go well.
56:31
You know, could you have prepared differently or, you
56:33
know, could. And then they, they instantly
56:37
turn to what you were just describing there, where they,
56:39
you know, they just get hard on themselves and I'm stupid and
56:42
I'm an idiot. And, you know, and I didn't.
56:45
And it's interesting for me to sort of observe that thought
56:48
process because I think, you know, down inside we're all
56:51
still little kids, right? And so when you see it more raw
56:54
and exposed coming through in them, it it's sort of a
56:59
reflection back on, you know, who we are as big kids as
57:02
adults, you know, and what sort of our natural tendencies are
57:06
that maybe we've done a better job of masking or talking
57:11
ourselves out of. And so, you know, you're, you're
57:15
a mother of, you know, younger kids, it sounds like, but I
57:19
don't know. Do you think about things in
57:20
that way in terms of like human psychology and noticing what
57:24
goes on in your kids and sort of how that translates into you or
57:28
your Co workers? Well, that's a great story,
57:31
Anthony. I'm starting to see it,
57:33
especially in my, my oldest child, my daughter, who was 6,
57:36
and whether it's she didn't do well and she's working on a
57:39
homework assignment and I don't get it.
57:40
And I don't understand it. And I don't know.
57:43
And I can see the frustration building or, and she does
57:46
gymnastics. I could have did this backflip
57:47
better. And I say, well, mommy couldn't
57:49
do the black backflip, so you did better than I could.
57:52
But seeing how, how hard she is on herself, I'm like, wow, it
57:55
shows up in such an early age. And so sometimes I have to
57:59
remind myself, all right, Jessica, you just had a
58:01
conversation with your daughter 2 days ago about telling her
58:05
that it's okay, you may have a bad day and things happen.
58:08
I have to remind myself of that same conversation that I would
58:11
have just had with my daughter two days before.
58:14
Yeah, And I'll get so frustrated with my kids because I'm like,
58:17
don't beat so hard on yourself. And then I have to step back and
58:20
be like, that's what I do. That's, that's sort of human
58:23
nature coming through. So Jessica, I've just got one
58:25
more question for you. But before I ask it, I want to
58:27
do 2 things. First, I'm going to invite all
58:29
listeners to just take a moment, pause and go hit the follow
58:33
button on your favorite podcast app.
58:35
We've had a great interview today here with Jess McClain
58:38
from Girl Scouts Nation's Capital.
58:41
And I want you to continue to get more wonderful content like
58:43
this. Jessica, I also want to let
58:45
people know the best way either to get in touch with you or to
58:48
continue to follow your story. What would that be?
58:51
Follow me on LinkedIn. I love LinkedIn.
58:53
I'm there all the time. You could find Jessica E
58:56
McClain. I have a lot of letters behind
58:58
my last name. You could see my Girl Scout
59:00
uniform as well. But that's how you could follow
59:02
me and know what's going on. And I'd love to connect, love to
59:05
connect with people. Love it.
59:06
And we'll include a link to that in the show notes.
59:08
So last question for you, Jessica.
59:10
You and I reconnect a year from now and you're celebrating,
59:14
you're excited. There's this one thing.
59:17
What's that one thing that you're celebrating?
59:20
One thing it's simple as it sounds, being here on this earth
59:23
and being healthy it I, I lost my mother-in-law back at the end
59:29
of last year and it really just felt like, wow, how quickly life
59:33
can just go and that day-to-day mundane and work and kids and
59:36
this and that and just celebrating like the fact that
59:39
I'm here, the family's here hopefully and we're healthy.
59:43
That is a huge celebration in itself.
59:45
I. Love it.
59:46
The beauty is and the simplicity of it.
59:48
Yeah. Jessica McClain from Girl Scout
59:51
Nation's Capital, I want to be the first to thank you for
59:53
sharing with your time and your story with us today.
59:55
I really appreciate. It thank you.
59:56
I appreciate being on the platform.
59:58
I'm very honored and humble as well.
1:00:01
Folks, that's a wrap on another episode of the Inspired Stories
1:00:03
podcast. Thanks for learning with us
1:00:05
today.