Paula Gold-Williams, a CPA and the CEO for CPS Energy, joined us for this week’s episode of Life In Accounting: The Where Accountants Go podcast.
From accountant to CEO
For those not in south Texas, in order for you to have some perspective on the interview CPS Energy is the electric utility that serves San Antonio and the surrounding area. The annual budget for 2017 is in excess of $2½ billion. So naturally, with a CPA being the CEO of such an important organization we had to request an interview.
Paula started along a fairly traditional path. She was influenced to try accounting by her bookkeeping teacher in high school – Mr. Ramirez. From there she went through school and ended up starting in an audit position with Ernst & Whinney, or EY as it is known today. Over the years through her diligent effort and by following the philosophy that saying “yes” to opportunities even when there is some ambiguity involved, she has worked her way through the ranks to controller, then CFO, and now CEO at CPS Energy.
Evaluate opportunities holistically
Paula makes a few comments in the interview regarding moving laterally, or even taking an occasional step back career-wise. I asked her about how she made those particular decisions, or how she knew it was the right thing to do so-to-speak. She shares with us in the interview that she’s always felt that it’s important to evaluate job opportunities not just on the title, but more holistically in regards to what the job encompasses and what it may lead to. I believe the exact quote was, “there are opportunities everywhere.”
Don’t let your mistakes paralyze you
Make sure you listen all the way to the end where Paula shares the advice of not letting mistakes paralyze you, as well as the details of one of her biggest mistakes. She passes on to our listeners everything she learned by going through that unfortunate mistake. It not only benefited her personally to learn that lesson from the long-term standpoint, but continues to benefit others such as ourselves through her transparency and willingness to share the story.
I hope you enjoy this episode. I was very honored that Paula made time for us to record it.
Stay tuned for next week’s episode! There’s more to come…
Mark Goldman CPA
President – Where Accountants Go
www.WhereAccountantsGo.com
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