Consultants Club Spotlight: Kathryn Simpson, CPA

What do you get when you rack up 5000 hours of billable work or referrals as a consultant at CCN? You become an official member of the Consultants Club — and that means an all-expense-paid trip to Las Vegas!

Today, we’re celebrating Kathryn Simpson, CPA, who’s back for a second year in a row after making the Club in 2023. Watch her conversation with Andy Cox in our new podcast episode or read on to get to know her.

Background

How did Kathryn find herself in the world of accounting? Her story actually began at a young age.

“I had an aunt who was a CPA, and I just I looked up to her so much as a kid,” she shares. “I remember in third grade, our teacher had us write an essay about what we wanted to be when we grew up, and I wrote about wanting to become an accountant … And at my high school graduation, my third-grade teacher actually handed me my essay.”

After graduating from Texas A&M, she had her eye on Austin and made her way to EY. After that, she spent over seven years at American Campus Communities before becoming a consultant.

“Most kids were like, ‘I want to be a Barbie or a firefighter,’ but no, I wanted to do taxes!”

Becoming a Consultant

Kathryn’s consulting journey began after she gave birth to her first child during the pandemic lockdown of 2020.

“That was quite the experience because he was born premature as well,” she says. “At that point in time, we were like, okay, ‘we’re definitely not bringing this little premature baby into a daycare into this world right now.’”

After taking a year off with her son, she began to have doubts about heading right back to her old corporate lifestyle: “Am I going to go back into that crazy grind? Am I getting home really late at night? Am I sometimes dedicating all of my weekends to work? … That wasn’t the right fit for me at that time for my family.”

At that point, she got in touch with CCN, and the rest is history.

“I think there’s like a stigma around consulting … you don’t know what to expect. You think you’re going to get thrown into a client and be in over your head and not know what you’re doing, but that’s not the case at all. I feel like CCN does a really good job of placing us with clients that are a good fit for our skill set.”

Now, as a consultant, Kathryn likes the variety and exposure she’s getting to new ideas and new challenges.

“One month, I can be working on an end-of-month close task, and then another, I can be working with an engineer to build out internal accounting software,” she shares. “I’ve really had the opportunity to see a bunch of different facets of things, and I’m always learning and getting new experiences.”

Work-Life Balance

Outside of work, Kathryn loves reading or listening to books, and she likes to stay active.

“Every day I’m getting out there,” she says, “getting my 10,000 steps in to go walk or going to a Pilates class or something like that.”

She and her husband are also big foodies and love to travel. Next up, she’s going to Paris in May where she will see Taylor Swift!

But more than anything, Kathryn says that family is number one.

“I walk my son to school every morning, I pick him up every day with his bike, and I could have never done that in the full-time world.”

Celebrating in Vegas

Kathryn will be joining the rest of the CCN team on an all-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas in May. She and her husband are looking forward to great food, relaxation, and enjoying the city.Connect and congratulate Kathryn on Linkedin.