When Carol Carden was a child, she dreamed of growing up to be a nurse. To Carol’s surprise, as she began to pursue her interests, she realized it was the business classes she’d taken in high school that really held her attention, setting her on a new path that would eventually lead to a degree in accounting.
As a woman, it can be daunting to forge a path in a typically male-dominated profession, though recent numbers indicate that now “more than half of the accounting labor pool is made up of women,” according to Inside Public Accounting (IPA). If, at the beginning of her career, Carol noticed that she was outnumbered, it didn’t serve as a deterrent. Today she is a CPA and an equity principal with PYA, a national management consulting and accounting firm headquartered in Knoxville, where she has worked for more than two decades.
PYA was recently ranked by IPA as having the third-highest percentage of female owners among the Top 100 accounting firms in the nation, with 40% female ownership—more than double the industry’s average. Today, when Carol reflects upon the path her career has taken, the shattered glass ceilings of her past don’t look like restraints to her. They represent years of hard work, a willingness to take on new challenges, an open-mindedness to “follow the road less travelled,” and a propensity for seeking out the right environment in which to succeed.
In the spirit of International Women’s Day (March 8) and Women’s History Month, we recently spoke with Carol about her climb to the top.
Q: What was your dream as a child—what did you aspire to be when you grew up?
A: As long as I can remember, I wanted to be a nurse. So, I guess it is not surprising I ended up in healthcare, just on the business side of the industry.
Q: What drew you into finance and valuation and why?
A: I ended up in accounting when I decided to change my major from nursing for a couple of reasons. In high school, my mom insisted I take a couple of business classes, more so I could get a part-time job and be well-rounded. I discovered that I really liked them. My mom had gone back to college as an adult and was majoring in accounting, so I decided to give it a try. Several years in to my tenure with PYA, I was approached to determine my interest in pursuing training and a credential in valuation. We had tried to recruit someone with the requisite credentials and just could not find the right fit. I agreed to take on the challenge and have been doing valuation full time for the past 12 years.
Q: When you first started your career, what were opportunities like for women?
A: I have never felt particularly disadvantaged as a woman in this profession. There were certainly more male partners early in my career, but I have been blessed to work with people who have never really made gender an issue.
Q: What initially attracted you to PYA?
A: I left public accounting shortly after I got married. After a stint in the industry, I realized that the routine life of a financial accountant, where you are closing the books every month, was not for me. I knew of PYA because our now firm president, Marty Brown, whom I had worked with at KPMG right out of college, had come to work at PYA. The more I learned about becoming a consultant, the more the nature of the work appealed to me. It never occurred to me that a consultant could be hired right out of college. I thought you had to be an “expert” first. When the time came for me to look for a new opportunity, I reached out to PYA.
Q: How long have you been with PYA? Describe the firm when you first started.
A: I have been here 22 years. We probably had 40+ employees when I joined. We definitely did not have the infrastructure that we have now. However, with the smaller firm, it was easier to know everyone and their families.
Q: What do you think are the greatest barriers to women for workplace achievement?
A: I think the toughest thing is persevering to find the right work-life balance. I am a big believer in the saying, “You can have it all; you just can’t have it all at the same time.” I think too many times, women get overwhelmed, particularly when they are raising a young family, and can’t see down the road when they will be able to commit more to their careers. So, they throw in the towel and don’t give themselves the opportunity to reach their full potential professionally.
Q: What about PYA has fostered your growth and enabled you to achieve?
A: PYA has given me the freedom to advance as quickly or as slowly as I needed to keep my priorities in balance. As a result, I was able to have a much slower career progression in the early years, when I had more family responsibilities, without feeling like I was not able to contribute. The firm saw me through that season of my life, and when I had more time to commit, the door was still open for me to grow into the role of an owner. I believe, that to hold on to our female talent, we need to have this long-term view of an employee’s tenure. We all have seasons of our life where our career cannot be the sole focus, but we are still able to be productive employees.
Q: What is significant about PYA’s recent honor as 3rd in the nation among accounting firms in terms of percentage of female ownership? How is this percentage different than the industry “norm?”
A: I am so incredibly proud of this honor. We are double the national average for not only accounting firms, but professional services firms in general, like law firms. What makes me so proud of this ranking is that we did it—not because we were intentionally trying to hit a particular number—but because we have built a culture that allows all employees to thrive and see their potential as business owners.
Q: What does the future look like for women in the accounting field?
A: There are so many options for professionals in the accounting field whether they are male or female. No longer do professionals have to choose between only audit or tax. Because there is so much diversity in the opportunities, I think women can choose what best suits where they are in their personal and professional lives when applying their accounting skills.
Q: What advice would you give to a young woman just starting her career?
A: Keep an open mind and seek out a mentor. When the season of life comes that makes it hard to devote your “all” to your profession, a mentor can help you see how to balance your responsibilities while leaving the door open for times later in life when you might have more to commit.
