Lily Snyder

Does your friend every do something professionally you’re so proud of you just have to share it?

My friend, Kaila, went live on LinkedIn in an interview to talk about her career, how it grew, and where she’s going next. The LinkedIn live was hosted by Jaime Cohen, a communications coach and personal branding consultant.

I’ve known Kaila since a marketing class we had together in college. Now she is an accounting manager at Aon, a leading global professional services firm.

Here are a few highlights from her interview that stuck out to me. I encourage you to watch the full thing (it’s only 20 minutes) here.this is fine but I want more.

On Career Growth

“You’re a few years out of college. You learned a few skills but you didn’t know what you wanted to do. I needed a company that had those opportunities and would expose me to a lot of different work streams.”

“Look for guiding managers who will give you feedback and put you in touch with others who will help you get where you want to go.” – Kaila Richardson

Tweet

“Pursue continuing education to open doors.”

On Accounting

“The CPA exam is the MCAT of accounting.” – Jaime Cohen

“Accounting is the language of business (from a numbers standpoint). I want to use my knowledge of numbers and data to paint a picture.”

On Networking

“Something that’s very exciting for me is meeting people from different walks of life. I want to speak debits and credits in a way they can understand as well.”

One of the reasons I’m proud of Kaila is because she is in the process of getting her MBA. She is in the early stages of research. Jamie pondered, “MBA – the formal education of LinkedIn?”

An MBA – the formal education of LinkedIn?

Tweet

“Networking is an icky word. Let’s talk about what we’re each interested in and see how that can forward our careers.”

On Leadership

“You can be a leader without having a title.” – Jamie Cohen

Tweet

I’ve been hounding Kaila on the benefits of Toastmasters for years. As you all know, I’m a big fan. She went to her first meeting the other day. She says, “It’s a valuable tool. The meeting structure allows for everyone to speak.”

“Keep the poor student eating Ramen mentality so you can have money later.”

When Kaila said this, it reminded me of the The Rock (otherwise known as Dwayne Johnson). He is always talking about the wolf scratching at the door. Kaila mentioned the poor student mentality because she’s seen too many people get a pay increase but then blow it. As an accountant, she’s all about the numbers, and budgeting for self-improvement and the future.

Watch Kaila’s full interview HERE.

Don’t forget to say hello on LinkedIn. 🙂

---

Photo by David Lezcano on Unsplash