Latest / The Diary of a CFO / From School Teacher to CFO, with Atlanta Food Bank CFO, Tamica Williams

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From School Teacher to CFO, with Atlanta Food Bank CFO, Tamica Williams · The Diary of a CFO

0:03
Welcome back to the diary of the CFO. Today I'm
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super delighted to have with me Tamica Williams.
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She is the chief financial officer of the Atlanta
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Community Food Bank, where she leads efforts
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to modernize financial operations and drive strategic
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growth. With other two decades of experience
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in accounting and finance, Tamica has built a
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reputation for her expertise in developing high
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-performing teams, improving processes, and aligning
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financial strategies with organizational goals.
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As a CPA and a certified internal auditor, CIA,
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Tamica has held leadership roles in banking,
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private wealth management, and private equity.
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Bring a wealth of knowledge to the nonprofit
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sector. Welcome to the show, Tamica. Thank you
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so much. I'm very happy to be here. Thank you,
0:54
thank you, thank you. I love your experience
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and how you have worked in for profit before
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now coming into not for profit. So what initially
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draw you to accounting and then to not profit?
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How was your leadership journey until now? I
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started my working career in my 20s as a math
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and science teacher, and I thought that it was
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the right path for me at the time because I love
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information. But I soon found that I like information
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and I like utilizing information. So I found
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my way into accounting somewhere in my mid -20s.
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I all but scrapped a bachelor's degree in biology
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and a master's in education that I had and went
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back to school for a bachelor's in accounting
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and a master's in accounting. But I have worked
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in a few organizations over the years and I love
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accounting and finance at its core. In my private
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life, I had done volunteer work over the years
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with food pantries in my local area. And so that
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was a big part of my community work. And the
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opportunity at the food bank just seemed to bring
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both of those worlds together, my career world
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and my personal endeavor world. Wow. That is
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amazing. Such a, like, that's like matchmaking.
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Now, tell me why were you... first involved with
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the food bank? Because, you know, when we think
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about volunteer work and non -for -profit, I
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always find out that the cause you volunteered
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with and for over a long period of time probably
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have something to do with, probably resonate
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with something in your life. So why volunteer
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with food banks in the first place? Well, I'm
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a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Incorporated,
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the noon and graduate chapter, and we do a lot
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of volunteer work in the community. And work
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at the food pantries is just a piece of that,
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but Going back in my life, I come from what you
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would call a disadvantaged background. And my
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family in the late 80s, early 90s took advantage
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of opportunities to obtain food from food pantries,
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from churches, et cetera. That has remained with
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me over the years. And now that I'm in a place
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in my life to give back, I like to give back
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to those types of causes, like you said, that
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resonate with something in my past. the food
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bank does. Wow, that is so inspiring because
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coming from a place of needing a food pantry
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service, so now leading finance, not just any
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area, finance at a food bank, that must be full
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circle for you. It does feel full circle and
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I'm very excited about the opportunity to do
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that, to lead the food bank in the area of finance.
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Like you said, it's kind of a match of both worlds.
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Yes. Yes. So what would you say if someone feels
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like they also come from a disadvantaged background
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and they may not have the right connections or
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background to move in your career, to take the
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steps you took, right? Because I'm originally
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from West Africa, Ivory Coast. And sometimes
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when you don't see that model in your family
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and around you, it's hard for you to... see yourself
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and then start moving toward those things. So
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what would be your advice for someone like that?
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You know, it took me many years to kind of come
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to this conclusion. And when I went to college,
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you know, it was a huge eye opener for me. You
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know, I came along in the 90s and at that time,
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you know, the Cosby show was on television, A
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Different World. And there was this big push,
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you know, college was the answer, you know. So
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when I went to college, it really was a different
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world for me. And I was able to be exposed to
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different people. And I realized that, for the
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most part, your background is irrelevant. Everything
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that you want to accomplish, those things that
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you want to have, that you want to achieve, are
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really dependent on what you're willing to do
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in your present and in your future. No matter
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your background. Focus on your present and your
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future. Start making those changes. And that's
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what I did. I had to make small changes in my
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life over time that built into a different set
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of habits that eventually got me to a different
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place in life. That's amazing. And I like how
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you said, you start pretty small, right? You
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start with a different set of habits, right?
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Because that's really what will help you do the
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long -term change we all want to see. So what
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would you say are some of the habits that helped
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you in that way? Like I said, it's going to be
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starting with the small things. Whatever you're
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doing, do it 100%. Do not do it 80 % and stop.
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Even if it's just cleaning up around the house,
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100%. Everything at 100%, the smallest task.
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If you're outside and you see trash on the street,
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and you walk by it. If it's something that you
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can pick up and easily throw away, then do that.
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Just the smallest habits. And those small habits
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turn into bigger habits that can really impact
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your life. Wow. And now that you're a CFO of
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the Atlanta Community Food Bank, what's the most
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exciting part about the role so far? Or maybe
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what was the biggest adjustment? You know, the
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most exciting part about the role is... The same
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thing that has excited me throughout my accounting
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career. I love information and I love problem
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solving. And every day that I wake up, I feel
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like I'm ready to solve a challenging crossword
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puzzle or a challenging Sudoku puzzle. And so
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I walk into work ready for those puzzles, ready
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for those problems, and I leave every day with
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a sense of accomplishment. That is the excitement.
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Each day of more than 20 years, I still approach
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each day of work with that problem solving puzzle
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mindset. And it's exciting for me. That's awesome,
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because I used to think that accounting was going
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to be boring. And 15 years later, I'm still looking
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to be bored. Yes, it's definitely not boring.
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There's a huge misconception out there for those
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that do not work in accounting and finance. They
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think that you're kind of just sitting there
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crunching numbers. And for the most part, you
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might do some of that in the beginning, but that
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is the preparation for the problem solving, the
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solutions oriented roles that you will move into.
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And that is very much what the CFO role is. It
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is a solutions oriented role. Wow. And for you
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getting to the CFO level, what would you say
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was the biggest adjustment for you? So between
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working in accounting and all the compliance
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and stuff, what was the biggest adjustment for
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you? I think the biggest adjustment was time
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management. There is a different level to the
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time management skills that you must have when
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you work in accounting. I think when I was a
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freshman in college, my first semester was horrible.
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I had no time management skills and I approached
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everything with the same mindset that I did in
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high school and at the end of that first semester
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I realized that you know what got me here won't
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get me there. I was in the bookstore one day
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and there was a huge stack of calendar planners
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just there for free so I took one and began to
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use it and that planner changed my life and I
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have used a paper calendar over, gosh, 20 plus
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years. I still use one today. But in addition
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to that, I use my Outlook calendar for work.
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And I approach my time management in much the
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same way that a nonprofit organization would
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approach zero -based budgeting. I zero -based
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budget my time. So if you open my Outlook, you
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will see that almost every block of a 30 -minute
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segment is booked towards something, whether
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it be... a report that I need to work on, follow
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up on a task, a meeting. I try to utilize all
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of that time and calendar, calendar, calendar.
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If you ask me something now and I say, oh, I'll
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look into that next week, I will go out to my
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Outlook and put a 30 -minute block out there
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to look into whatever that is so that I don't
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forget it and make sure to get back to you. I
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do the same. And a couple years ago, I discovered
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how you can drag an email into your calendar.
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Oh my God, that's like my favorite friend. Yes,
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it's a game changer. Now you mentioned you approach
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it as zero -based budget as non -for -profit
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do. Can you please speak more to that? Because
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sometimes I think that not many people realize
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the difference between corporate finance working
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for a for -profit versus a non -for -profit.
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especially when it comes to budgeting and planning.
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So since you work in both sectors, what are the
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key differences? How is the budget different
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when you're dealing with a not -for -profit versus
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a for -profit? I think the key difference lies
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with your stakeholders. So in a for -profit organization,
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of course, the goal is always to maximize profits.
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And in a non -profit organization, the goal is
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to maximize mission and impact. When it comes
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to the finances of a nonprofit organization,
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you want to manage your budget so that you can
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maximize your mission and impact while minimizing
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expense. Because a nonprofit organization is
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going to have just so much revenues coming in
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from grants, from donations, from whatever other
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sources. And the goal is to maximize the use
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of that revenue towards your mission and your
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impact. And so it's a delicate balance. The budget
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process is it can be a tedious process, but you
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have to keep that delicate balance in mind. And
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something that we're doing at the food bank right
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now that's fairly new is somewhat of a more inclusive
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budgeting process in which I am working directly
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with my stakeholders within the business, so
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to speak. So my ELT, my managers, my directors,
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I am working with them hands on for the next
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fiscal year budget. And so far so good. You know,
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it has been an eye opening experience for them.
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those that have never been involved in the budgeting
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process before. However, it gives them an opportunity
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to be hands on with the finances that they will
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be held accountable to as we work through the
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next fiscal year. And I think that that experience
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is going to motivate them to adhere to the budget,
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to maximize our revenues, minimize expenses,
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to make a greater impact. on our community. That's
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awesome. And I think now, especially with the
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political climate, the things that are changing
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in the economy, the policy changes, it's so important
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to be in tune with what the programs, the businesses
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are, whether you're in a not for profit or not.
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So what you're doing is so important. But what
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would you say are some of the things you kind
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of had to educate or lead change for them? Because
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it's like from finance handling all of it, now
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I'm involved. So maybe I'm scared. Maybe I don't
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know how to do it. Maybe I don't want to do it.
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Like how, what has been your experience? What
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may be some best practice you want to share for
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somebody starting something like you do it now?
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I think the best practice would be to approach
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what you are doing with a mindset of innovation
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and adaptability. And innovation, of course,
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includes technology, but I think the use of technology
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is much broader or can be much broader than it
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used to be. So, for example, if you had asked
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me in the early 2000s when I started my career,
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kind of what would be the most important skill?
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or non -financial skill for someone in accounting,
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the default answer would be technology. But now
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technology falls under a much broader umbrella
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of innovation. And so the key is to use technology
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as a tool to solve problems, to implement new
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ideas, to implement new ways of working and doing
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things, new ways of providing information, and
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Working in a nonprofit, I have found that being
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innovative with the technology that you have
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is probably the greatest skill that you could
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bring to an organization. You know, as you know,
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as we all know, nonprofits could have limited
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resources, limited technology. And so your innovation
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around the way that you use that technology to
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support the mission, to support the business
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is a valuable skill that any organization could
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benefit from, but I think it's especially valuable
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with a non -profit organization where your resources
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might be limited. Yes, and when your resources
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are limited, how do you advocate for more resources
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for your department? Because, like you said,
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technology is great. Technology is not free.
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You probably have the low tier, high tier, mid
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tier, but at the end of the day, it involves
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spending. And a lot of times, the grants may
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not have room for infrastructure or capacity
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building. So how do you advocate for more resources
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for your accounting and finance team? I think
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the simple answer is to do just that, to advocate
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for it. Lots of times, you know, with accounting
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and finance, you're not necessarily or well,
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not necessarily, you're not a revenue generating
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part of the business. And so you're kind of in
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the background and accounting and finance leaders
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will often forget to advocate for their teams,
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to advocate for resources. So I think it's important
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to do just that, to advocate for them. Now, as
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I mentioned, there's a delicate balance. And
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so when you advocate for those resources, you've
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got to find a way to sometimes maybe shift the
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focus of resources that you already have to meet
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your needs. And again, there's that innovation.
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You know, how do you Maybe use the technology
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that you have, the people that you have, the
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resources that you have to do something different,
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to fill that gap that you feel you need to maybe
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have a different resource to fill. Maybe you
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can fill that in a way that you already have
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and you're just not doing that. It's also good
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to kind of partner with your CIO or other technology
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professionals in your organization. because they
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may be able to help you fill that gap with existing
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technology, then there's always the option to
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get new technology, to get new resources, but
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it may not be when you want them. So you may
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have to make do until you can get that resource.
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And the food bank has done that for a long time.
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We are working to implement new technology right
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now, but I understand that my predecessor, Deborah
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Shope, she made do with a lot of the technology
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that she already had, innovative ideas around
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Excel, things of that nature. And often, being
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a nonprofit, you are able to get consultation
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from other experts at a reduced cost, maybe even
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free. And you have to take advantage of that
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to maybe get resources that you do not have.
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Yes. I know it's hard, like you said, in that
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period of you advocated for it. and the time
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you actually get it. So in that time, how do
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you manage your team? How do you maintain morale?
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How do you get motivated when they all have to
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be, you know, maybe stretched at some point or
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just like, ah, I don't know if I can still do
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it. How do you manage your team and lead your
17:54
team in those times? I'll say this. Positivity
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and optimism is my default setting. Every day,
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no matter what is going on in my life, I walk
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in, well, not walk in, I actually wake up with
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a mindset of positivity and optimism. And what
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helps with that is that I'm a very quick problem
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solver. And so, as you mentioned, when the team
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is stressed, when the team feels that they do
18:28
not have the resources that they need, I'm able
18:31
to quickly think of a way to supplement what
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they have, supplement those resources, think
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of a plan B, help them think in an innovative
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way about the problem that they're facing. And
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I do that while maintaining this default setting
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of optimism and motivation. And so it is contagious.
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It is contagious. And even in the most difficult
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times when you can quickly problem solve, when
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you can quickly pivot to an innovative solution
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for your problem and you can do it with optimism
19:09
and motivation and you can relay that and your
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team sees that in your face every day and they
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see that you're not stressed and that you are
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not unmotivated, even though sometimes I am,
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but I never show that. then they know that they
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can do it too. They can approach those problems
19:31
with that same optimism and motivation. That's
19:36
great. And it reminds me of something a former
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guest says, Cindy Wilson, about leadership being
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a lifestyle, but then being aware that how your
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personal life is. can affect how, what kind of
19:49
leader you show up to at work. So you said you
19:51
wake up motivated, you wake up this way. What
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are some things maybe in your personal life and
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what you do outside of work that allow you to
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be the leader you are at work? You know, it's
20:02
funny because my daughter asked me a similar
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question not too long ago, but over the years,
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I have just developed the ability to turn off
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home to Mika and be work to Mika. And when I
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leave work, I turn off work to Mika and I become
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home to Mika. And I just, I don't know if it's
20:23
a gift or a curse, but when I'm at work, I very
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rarely think about anything personal. Very rarely.
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I am in a zone of organization, the organization,
20:38
the organization. I am in that zone. And when
20:42
I leave that zone, I leave it. And so I can very
20:48
easily just separate the two. I want to know
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more. So give me some example of what work Tamika
20:55
does that may be home to Mika does not. Like
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now I want to know the difference between the
20:59
two. Well, you know, working 20 plus years and
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now being in my early 50s, I have had a life
21:08
of challenges just as anyone has. And... I think
21:13
I had to train myself early in my career to just
21:18
leave personal matters at home. And so, gosh,
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when I get to work, I can literally just turn
21:25
it off and be focused on the task at hand, the
21:29
mission at hand. And it's actually good for me
21:33
because if I am dealing with something personal,
21:36
I can shut that off and not have to worry about
21:39
it. not have to think about it for eight, nine,
21:42
10 hours. And it gives me a mental break from
21:45
that, actually, whatever the issue might be that
21:48
I'm going through personally, it gives me a break
21:50
from that. And so it's good for the organization
21:54
because I can be super productive, but it's good
21:56
for me because it gives me a little bit of an
21:59
escape. And so I've dealt with lots of things
22:02
over the years, death in the family, raising,
22:06
I've raised a daughter. All of those things that,
22:09
you know, and every mother knows. And I only
22:12
had one child, so I only know what it's like
22:15
for mothers of only children. But if something
22:18
is going on with your child, something is going
22:21
on with you. One thousand percent. Yes. And so
22:25
that is a struggle. When you're trying, you're
22:28
working early in your career, you're trying to
22:30
build a career and you have a small child, that
22:32
is a struggle. You have a school -aged child
22:35
and they go through the ups and downs that school
22:38
-aged children go through, the things that children
22:41
go through in middle school, the self -esteem,
22:43
the bullying, things of that type. Those things
22:46
impact you as well and you carry them with you.
22:49
And I think learning to turn those things off
22:52
when I work has been maybe an escape and an adaptive
22:57
mechanism for me over the years. And I just still
23:01
utilize that adaptive skill. That's amazing.
23:06
So what would you say maybe made you start in
23:09
the first place or maybe is it mentors or leaders
23:12
you saw like what got you to be the leader you
23:15
are today? Because I like how you said I'm mindful
23:18
basically of how I show up and I want to show
23:20
up in a positive way because you know it's going
23:23
to rub off on your employees. So you make that
23:25
mental decision, probably automatic now without
23:29
you realizing because you've done it for so long.
23:31
But what are some of the things that helped you
23:33
become the leader you are today? Realizing early
23:37
in my career that leadership exists at every
23:41
pay grade. If you look around in your role, no
23:45
matter where you are in your career, there are
23:47
opportunities to lead. And if you want to be
23:51
in leadership, so to speak, if you want to have
23:53
that leadership title, you must first make the
23:59
skill sets of a leader, the actions that a leader
24:02
would take. You must first make that part of
24:05
who you are. And you can start that at any level
24:09
of your career. And that is what I did. So when
24:12
I started my career as an accountant, one, there
24:15
were opportunities for leadership. They may not
24:18
have been as big or as visible. as they would
24:22
be as you progress higher in your career, but
24:26
those opportunities are there and you have to
24:28
start where you are. And so once you do that
24:33
and take advantage of leadership opportunities
24:35
that are available to you, as you move up the
24:38
ladder, so to speak, then you will find that
24:41
leadership becomes innate. And so when I am working
24:46
every day, I do not consciously think about being
24:49
a leader. It is now innate in what I do every
24:52
day because I have taken advantage of leadership
24:57
opportunities all the way from the bottom of
25:00
the ladder to the top. Oh, wow. And that goes
25:03
back to what you said earlier, your 100%. Yes.
25:07
You're doing it 100%. Absolutely. I learned that
25:11
early on. And, you know, I can remember thinking
25:13
to myself when I was about 18 or 19, as a matter
25:16
of fact, it was around... that same time of my
25:19
first awful semester in college, you know, when
25:22
I realized that I had to make a change or I would
25:25
soon be out the door on academic suspension because
25:28
my problem was not the learning. It was not the
25:31
education. It was not the classes. My problem
25:33
was time management. I can remember a specific
25:37
incident in college in which my English 101 professor
25:40
said, OK, turn in the papers. And, you know,
25:43
this was the early 90s. So we were literally
25:45
turning in physical papers. And Tamika did not
25:49
have her paper because Tamika forgot all about
25:51
the paper. And so I realized then that I had
25:56
to make some changes. And I said to myself, OK,
26:00
when I go to the doctor, I am dependent on that
26:03
doctor to give me 100 % of his efforts or her
26:07
efforts. If I am sick, I am dependent on them.
26:11
to show up and give me 100 % of everything that
26:16
they know as a doctor to help heal me. Why am
26:20
I not that same way in my everyday life? Why
26:25
do I expect that from my doctor, from my teacher,
26:29
from my lawyer, from any other professional whose
26:33
services I would need in my life? I expect that.
26:37
But am I doing that in my own life? No matter
26:39
what career I'm in, no matter what I'm doing,
26:42
am I giving people or am I giving this task 100
26:47
% as I would expect someone else to do? And that
26:50
is what I began doing. And when my daughter came
26:53
along, that is what I taught her. And if we were
26:57
walking in a store, if we were walking in TJ
26:59
Maxx and there was a sweater, that had fallen
27:03
on the floor and it was just sitting there and
27:05
everybody's kind of walking by that sweater right
27:07
up against the rack on the floor and I would
27:09
say to my daughter you see that don't walk by
27:12
that don't be like everyone else pick it up and
27:16
just place it across the rack don't walk by it
27:19
and leave it there and I raised her with those
27:23
types of tidbits I guess you could say over the
27:26
years it paid off and so now my daughter is now
27:30
27 and She has her master's and her master's
27:34
and she works as a therapist and she gives her
27:37
100 % every day and she approaches her work with
27:42
a mindset of positivity and enthusiasm and motivation
27:47
and she's really making a difference in the lives
27:51
of her clients with her therapy. That's so inspiring.
27:56
Wow. Congratulations to you and her. Definitely.
28:00
But at the same time, I'm wondering in my head,
28:02
like, if I try to give 100 % to everything that
28:05
I do, will I not burn out? Like, how do you know
28:09
what to drop, what to let go? Because sometimes
28:12
it's hard to do everything at the same time.
28:15
How do you give yourself grace? Even at work,
28:18
right? Your team cannot do every project at once.
28:21
Like, how do you find that balance? Well, 100
28:25
% doesn't have to be in one city. Mmm. OK. I
28:30
may do 20 % now. I may calendar 20 % for next
28:34
week, 20 % for the week after until I get to
28:37
that 100%. And like you said, you know, everything
28:42
you may not be able to give 100%. Everything
28:44
may not work out the way you want it to work
28:46
out. And that's fine too. And so you say, okay,
28:49
I put 30 % into this, but this isn't working.
28:53
I'll have to shift to plan B and see if I can
28:56
get to 100 % on that one. In my early career,
29:01
I started out as a teacher. I wanted to give
29:03
it 100%, but I realized that it wasn't for me.
29:06
And so I had to find that career path in which
29:09
I could put that 100%. And I did with accounting
29:12
and finance, and I'm very happy with that. Never
29:14
look back. You have to remember that with anything,
29:18
you have to be flexible, agile with your 100%.
29:22
Maybe 100 % for this particular task is 80%,
29:26
depending on what you can do. You have to think
29:28
about it with that mindset. Love it. Love it.
29:32
And how do you think, you just mentioned again,
29:35
how do you think those early days as a teacher
29:38
helped you in that transition? Because it is
29:42
quite a pivot to move. And I have such an admiration
29:45
for teachers after COVID. And I was stuck with
29:48
my own two kids and I was like, oh my God, can
29:52
you make it my kids? And so. What are some of
29:55
the things that you think helped you in that
29:56
transition and maybe the background, maybe the
29:59
work ethic, like what helped you in that pivot?
30:03
Yes, two words, emotional intelligence. That
30:07
is something that I would say. I would say that
30:10
is the most valuable skill that I gained from
30:14
being a teacher. Emotional intelligence, how
30:17
to read people. Is this child experiencing something
30:21
that has him off today? Is he not in the mood
30:24
for learning? Do I need to pivot? Is the class
30:27
as a whole not with it today? Can I sense where
30:31
the mood is? What's going on? Do I need to pivot?
30:34
Maybe this lesson that I had in mind for today
30:36
isn't going to work because they're too energetic.
30:40
They're too active. I need to pivot to a different
30:42
lesson that's going to help them utilize some
30:43
of that energy. And so just learning to utilize
30:48
emotional intelligence and build those skill
30:51
sets. prepared me for the shift from education
30:55
to the corporate world because in the corporate
30:58
world, I'm dealing with a group of people just
31:01
like a group of kids in the classroom. And I
31:05
have to use those same emotional intelligence
31:08
skill sets to read the room, to read my team,
31:14
to read the board, to read the executive leadership
31:17
team so that I can perform. in a manner that's
31:21
going to be most effective for what's going on
31:25
right now. Wow. I had to learn this the hard
31:28
way, and I almost feel great that you started
31:31
your career in a field that helped you build
31:35
it. I realized when you start right away in accounting
31:37
and finance, you're not prioritizing those softer
31:40
skills, the human skills, however you want to
31:42
call it, because you go straight into debits
31:45
and credits, straight into Excel, straight into
31:48
compliance and tying the numbers to the penny.
31:51
and you don't necessarily spend time on your
31:55
emotional intelligence, which, like you said,
31:57
it helps you read the room, read the people you're
32:00
with. It doesn't matter what age, it's still
32:02
important because we're human beings before being
32:05
business leaders. So what would you say to someone
32:08
that started in accounting and finance and not
32:11
necessarily like you did as a teacher, what would
32:14
you say can help someone build that emotional
32:17
intelligence, build those kind of skills? Let
32:20
me go back to something I said about leadership
32:23
earlier. I said that leadership opportunities
32:27
are at every pay grade. And no matter where you
32:32
are, you want to start now with those leadership
32:34
skills. Same thing with emotional intelligence.
32:37
You want to start now. Get to know the people
32:41
that you're working with. Network. Join those
32:45
professional organizations and get that exposure
32:48
to different types of people. different types
32:50
of personalities, different work styles, and
32:55
understand the broad scope of the type of professionals
33:00
that you will work with. Understand how those
33:04
people think. You can get that experience from,
33:08
you know, cross -functional tasks or projects
33:11
within your own company. Work with people in
33:14
IT. Work with people in sales, in marketing.
33:18
Just those cross -functional relationships will
33:21
give you that exposure to people of different
33:24
personalities, different mindsets, different
33:27
ways that they approach things. And it will take
33:30
time. And everyone has to develop those skills
33:34
around emotional intelligence in their own way.
33:37
But I think the similar base of developing those
33:41
skills is to get out there and get that exposure
33:46
to different types of people. within organizations.
33:50
Yes, get out there, be exposed, right? Because
33:53
some things you will only learn with experience,
33:56
not the textbooks or the courses. Right. And
33:59
if you spend your day every day kind of heads
34:03
down with similar people in accounting that are
34:06
heads down, you're not going to develop those
34:09
skill sets that you would need to read people
34:13
of various professions, various personalities,
34:17
various dynamics, expose yourself to what's different
34:21
out there. Cross -functional exposure is probably
34:24
one of the best that you can do because throughout
34:27
an organization you'll run into different types
34:29
of people that are in different parts of the
34:31
company that are totally different from accounting
34:34
and finance and you have kind of opportunities
34:38
right there at your feet to gain that exposure
34:41
to different types of people. That's so good.
34:44
That's so good. Thank you so much for all these
34:46
gems. I'm loving it. And I can tell the breadth
34:50
and the wealth of your experience and your perspective
34:53
and everything you said. So I have two last questions
34:56
for you. One, what's the best career advice you've
35:00
ever received? You know what? The best career
35:03
advice that I've ever received was really a corporate
35:07
slogan that someone said to me. And that's just
35:09
do it. Just do it. The best career advice that
35:13
I can give anyone is to just do it. There are
35:17
a lot of tasks, a lot of projects, a lot of things
35:21
that will come your way that you may not feel
35:25
are in your job description or at your pay grade
35:30
or at your skill set. But I find that if you
35:35
just do it, if you're just willing to do more
35:39
than you're getting paid for. If you're just
35:41
willing to do more than you would get recognition
35:44
for, if you're just willing to do that, at some
35:48
point, you will get that pay. At some point,
35:51
you will get that recognition. So don't be afraid.
35:55
Don't be reluctant. Don't be adverse to just
35:58
doing it. Do what you have to do. Just do it.
36:02
Yes, it will all come found in the end. Yeah,
36:04
now I can't believe I'm saying that I'm grateful.
36:07
for some things I did earlier in my career, and
36:10
I was like, I remember doing it mad. Like, wow.
36:16
But you did it. I did it. Like, really. Like,
36:19
I felt overworked, underpaid, what the heck,
36:22
and today I'm like, thank God I did this, but
36:25
it's hard to believe. Yes. Just do it. You know,
36:30
I was approached when I was... I was an accounting
36:34
manager, and I was approached with an opportunity
36:37
to travel and work weekly from Atlanta to Baltimore
36:43
for work, to fill in for a controller that left
36:47
a subsidiary company unexpectedly. And the assignment
36:53
was to be two to three months. I love corporate
36:56
travel. I love to work with new people. So I
36:58
said, sure, I'll do it. Well, three months turned
37:01
into a full year of flying to Baltimore every
37:04
Tuesday and back to Atlanta every Friday. A full
37:09
year. And my daughter at the time was about 14,
37:13
15 years old. And luckily I had relatives that
37:16
would take care of her during the week. And the
37:19
relatives lived in my school district, so it
37:20
was easy. But after about the fifth or sixth
37:24
month, I said, wow, I'm doing this. There's no
37:27
additional pay. This is stressful. I'm an accounting
37:31
manager. I'm filling in for a controller. This
37:33
is a skill set stretch. And no one has offered
37:37
me any additional pay, no promotion, no nothing.
37:41
But I stuck with it. I did it for a full year.
37:44
And after that year was over, the pay came. The
37:48
promotion came. And I don't think, if I had not
37:52
taken it, if I had not said yes to that opportunity,
37:55
I don't think that I would have progressed further
37:59
up the ladder into roles that got me where I
38:01
am today. And because I was willing to do that
38:04
at no extra cost to the company, other than the
38:07
travel expenses, you know, I didn't say, well,
38:09
I'll do it, but I'm going to need, you know,
38:11
30 ,000 more dollars. You know, I'm going to
38:13
need an increase. I'm going to need this. I'm
38:15
going to do that. I just did it. And in the end,
38:18
it paid off. It was hard work. It was a challenge.
38:21
My family suffered, so to speak. It was a huge
38:25
challenge, but it paid off in the end. So sometimes,
38:28
like I said, sometimes you just have to do it.
38:30
Sometimes you just have to do it. That's so true.
38:34
Yes. And people would say, people would say,
38:36
why are you doing this? Why are you? And I said,
38:38
well, it will pay off whether it pays off here
38:40
at this company or at the next company. This
38:43
experience will pay off. And it did. Yes. Kudos
38:48
to you. Congratulations for that. Now, my last
38:50
question. What's your favorite quote and why?
38:54
Oh, my favorite quote is something I found on
38:57
the internet years ago, and I wrote it down and
39:00
I used to have it taped to my monitor. And it's
39:03
often attributed to Abraham Lincoln, but I read
39:06
that it's not a quote of Abraham Lincoln. I don't
39:09
know, but it's a really good quote and it reads,
39:12
Good things may come to those who wait, but only
39:18
those things left behind by those who hustle.
39:23
So do you want to hustle or do you want to wait
39:27
for the leftovers? Wow. Drop the mic. I choose
39:31
to hustle. Yes, 100 % all the way. Wow. Thank
39:40
you so much, Tamica, for being on the show. Oh,
39:43
my. Thank you so, so much. Thank you for having
39:46
me. I've had a lot of fun. Thank you. And that's
39:50
it for today's episode of the Diary of a CFO.
39:53
Thank you so much for tuning in. If you enjoyed
39:56
the show, don't forget to like, review, subscribe,
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40:32
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