Consultant Club Spotlight: Lisa Allen, MAFM

We’re excited to introduce another one of our 2024 Consultants Club winners, Lisa Allen, MAFM!

Lisa lives outside of Houston and has been with CCN since 2022. She’s a first-class consultant and experienced problem solver who quickly integrates wherever she’s put on assignment.

Read on to get to know Lisa as we welcome her into the Consultants Club.

Background

Lisa became interested in accounting at an early age, inspired by her uncle. She worked for a tax accountant in high school.

She went to Arizona State University (where she took a slight detour to study psychology) before returning to get her master’s in accounting and finance management.

Over the following years, she worked a few notable stints for manufacturing companies, including GE, Honeywell, and Oshkosh Truck.

“General accounting is my bread and butter,” she says, “My thing was not so much climbing the corporate ladder but learning new skills. It was great experience working for these larger companies.”

Today, Lisa enjoys using that experience to build new processes and figure out complex problems for her clients.

“The teams I’ve been on treat me like one of them and know I’m there to help and support. I love being able to use what I know to make their business better.”

Becoming a Consultant

Several years ago, like so many accountants, Lisa found she had been working 60-70 hours a week for too long: “It’s expected. You’re living to work and not working to live.”

While she was taking a break, Lesa Theurer reached out on behalf of CCN, and the two started talking about consulting.

“She explained the model and the benefits, and it honestly just seemed too good to be true,” says Lisa. She decided to try consulting, and if it didn’t work out, she could always return to a full-time position.

As it turned out, she never looked back.

“I tell you what, I’m not going back unless the universe and God force me back into the permanent world because I love working for CCN. I love the flexibility that we’re not forced into taking whatever they give us. I love being paid for every hour I work, and I love working remotely. Everything’s been great.”

Achieving Work-Life Balance

Outside of work, Lisa has a daughter and a new grandbaby. She loves animals and spending time outside.

When she first started at CCN, she even found a place where she could volunteer with equine therapy — a fulfilling way to help people and spend time with horses!

As a new consultant, she also enjoyed what felt like her first real vacation in a long time: “I was able to go to Cancun, and honestly, it was so nice not to bring a laptop or a work phone. I just sat and enjoyed listening to the ocean. It was so awesome.”

Right now, she says that family and “life stuff” are pretty crazy and that consultant lifestyle flexibility is even more critical.

“I give 110% to my clients, but when I shut my computer off, it’s off. I don’t have this guilt hanging over my head. From a mental health perspective, this has been the best thing ever.”

Congrats to Lisa!

Unfortunately, Lisa won’t be able to make it for our trip to Vegas this year, but we look forward to celebrating with her on our next Consultants Club adventure!

We’re so grateful that consulting has made a positive impact on Lisa’s life because she’s certainly made a big impact on CCN and our client projects.

Help us congratulate Lisa and connect with Lisa on LinkedIn.