An Interview With Chi Nguyen-George About Passing The CPA Exam As A Mom

Every CPA has a story – we all have a journey we’ve taken to get us to where we are. This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Chi Nguyen-George. Chi is a CPA, a working mom of 2, and a military spouse. After spending 5 years in public accounting she switched to government accounting and currently works as a government auditor.

During this time she created a blog, sharing how she passed the CPA exam as a working mom, titled Organized CPA. She also provides resources for military spouse accountants.

Here are the highlights from this interview:

Chi was a young mom, having her daughter right after high school
She originally thought she wanted to go to school to become a school teacher, but was concerned about the job market
She went into business with her mom, purchasing a nail salon, but realized she needed to take some business classes at the local college
That was when she discovered that accounting could be an option and she loved it
She feels like her entire journey was being an accounting mom because she was a mom the entire time she studied accounting, went for her MBA, and passed the CPA exam
She met her husband when she had taken a year off from school and became a military spouse
He encouraged her to go back to school but she knew she would need to study time management in order to make it all work
She wound up finishing her undergraduate degree in a year and a half after returning
She went into public accounting and discovered that she loved non-profit accounting
The firm gave her a flexible schedule so that she could go for her Master’s Degree and then sit for the CPA exam
Although the firm was supportive, they didn’t promote her because she was part-time
She was undervalued and underpaid so she decided to leave
A friend told her that there was “transparent pay” in government positions so she decided to switch
She started her blog, Organized CPA, to help other moms manage their time and pass the CPA exam
The day before her daughter started first grade, her daughter’s father passed away suddenly in a car accident
This was a pivotal moment for Chi – she realized how out of balance her life had become and she decided she needed to put her family first when scheduling her time
Once she shifted her mindset, she passed the remaining parts of the CPA exam much quicker and with less study time
She realized that her “why” for becoming a CPA has always been to help non-for-profit organizations
You can read Chi’s blog, Organized CPA, HERE

An Interview With Chi Nguyen-George About Passing The CPA Exam As A Mom

Chi was a young mom, having her daughter right after high school

She originally thought she wanted to go to school to become a school teacher, but was concerned about the job market

She went into business with her mom, purchasing a nail salon, but realized she needed to take some business classes at the local college

That was when she discovered that accounting could be an option and she loved it

She feels like her entire journey was being an accounting mom because she was a mom the entire time she studied accounting, went for her MBA, and passed the CPA exam

She met her husband when she had taken a year off from school and became a military spouse

He encouraged her to go back to school but she knew she would need to study time management in order to make it all work

She wound up finishing her undergraduate degree in a year and a half after returning

She went into public accounting and discovered that she loved non-profit accounting

The firm gave her a flexible schedule so that she could go for her Master’s Degree and then sit for the CPA exam

Although the firm was supportive, they didn’t promote her because she was part-time

She was undervalued and underpaid so she decided to leave

A friend told her that there was “transparent pay” in government positions so she decided to switch

She started her blog, Organized CPA, to help other moms manage their time and pass the CPA exam

The day before her daughter started first grade, her daughter’s father passed away suddenly in a car accident

This was a pivotal moment for Chi – she realized how out of balance her life had become and she decided she needed to put her family first when scheduling her time

Once she shifted her mindset, she passed the remaining parts of the CPA exam much quicker and with less study time

She realized that her “why” for becoming a CPA has always been to help non-for-profit organizations

You can read Chi’s blog, Organized CPA, HERE