Connie Thomas is an associate at YPTC in the New York City market. She earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees in accounting from the University of South Carolina. After college, she began her career in public accounting, as many accounting majors do. However, after four and a half years, she realized that she desired a better work-life balance than what the public accounting firm could offer. She transitioned into this industry a few years before joining YPTC, where she finally found the work-life balance she had been seeking for many years.
Interview Transcript:
Which aspects of the YPTC culture do you consider most impactful?
Oh, my goodness there’s so many things, but the top one that sticks out to me is support. When you join YPTC, they offer so much support in the sense of what’s available online when it comes to training and webinars and educational tools, resources you relate to, you know, almost 800 employees that have such a diverse background and experiences that you can continuously learn from. It truly is everybody’s willingness to lend that helping hand to help you when you need it. Everybody knows what it feels like to constantly be spinning your wheels, not truly knowing how to solve a problem, but everybody’s willing to jump in and help with that. Also, just the flexibility that comes with it. They ask you to work 35 hours a week if you’re full-time, [and] they don’t expect more. They don’t look at you differently if you only do that. So, flexibility, the balance of working on that, really gives me that idea of a great place to work.
How has YPTC’s open-door policy created a positive work environment?
It’s truly important to me to have an open-door policy. Even working remotely, you know it’s not physically a door open to the CEO with access to go in, but it’s just knowing that you have access to them, through a market leader, etc. For me, it’s been seeing our CEO Jennifer Alleva at our in-person meetings and to be outside during a break and being able to take a selfie with her. You know that the accessibility to somebody who’s running, like we mentioned earlier, this fast-growing company and here she is, working with an associate that has only been with the company for a year. Just that accessibility and approachability is all important because you also want to feel like you can approach the executive leadership, not just that they’re there, but that you feel comfortable enough to approach them. And I think I truly believe that knowing that there’s office hours where executive leadership are there for you to drop in and ask questions. Again, just showing that they’re there to talk to you, they’re there to listen to, and they’re there to take in any comments that you have. I truly believe that they do register those comments and take them back. In the short term I have been here, I’ve heard of things that have been requested and have been implemented. It’s great to know they are listening. It’s not just getting shoved in a drawer somewhere, they are taking them into consideration. Your voice matters here. They want to know, they want to hear it, and they’re going to take whatever steps they can to hopefully make changes that benefit the entire company.
How would you describe your work with nonprofits?
It’s rewarding, right, because you see what they’re doing. The main goal is to have them focus on their mission, on the impact that they have in their community and not to have to worry about their finances. So, if we can give our client comfort in that regard, it’s really truly amazing. Then again, just to learn about them and to know that you have a small role in it, that makes accounting fun.
YPTC is hiring. If you’re an accounting professional looking to use your skills for good, visit yptc.com/work-for-us and check out available opportunities. We can’t wait to meet you!
