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I had the good fortune of being able to sit down with Monica Reyes and discuss her journey from community college to consulting. In this episode, we cover a variety of topics ranging from college expectations from family to accounting internships in the public and private sectors to the struggles of the CPA and how to push through adversity. You can find Monica here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monica-reyes-238071136/ --- Feel free to connect with me here! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay... Instagram: http://instagram.com/davidpaykin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.paykin Twitter: http://twitter.com/dpayki2

Monica shares her experience as a full-time risk consultant at a large accounting and financial services firm. In addition to walking through the type of work, Monica also shares how she approaches managers with questions and what specific day-to-day tasks she does within her role. You can find Monica here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monica-reyes-238071136/ --- Feel free to connect with me here! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay... Instagram: http://instagram.com/davidpaykin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.paykin Twitter: http://twitter.com/dpayki2

Monica shares her experience starting as a hostess and transitioning to an accounting intern for a restaurant group that boasts over 130 different establishments in their portfolio. You can find Monica here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monica-reyes-238071136/ --- Feel free to connect with me here! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay... Instagram: http://instagram.com/davidpaykin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.paykin Twitter: http://twitter.com/dpayki2

Monica shares her experience balancing being a tax intern during busy season while also going to school full-time. She also covers what her hours looked like as an intern versus full-time and how she used observations to make decisions about her future career. You can find Monica here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monica-reyes-238071136/ --- Feel free to connect with me here! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay... Instagram: http://instagram.com/davidpaykin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.paykin Twitter: http://twitter.com/dpayki2

Monica chronicles her journey through college. Specifically, she covers why she decided to start at a community college, College of Lake County, as well as her decision to transfer to DePaul over other schools. You can find Monica here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monica-reyes-238071136/ --- Feel free to connect with me here! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay... Instagram: http://instagram.com/davidpaykin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.paykin Twitter: http://twitter.com/dpayki2

In this clip, Monica discusses her authentic story around pursuing her CPA and the adversity that can come with that journey. She also dives into why the CPA is important for her role and how she is navigating her future by leveraging her experience and certification(s). You can find Monica here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/monica-reyes-238071136/ --- Feel free to connect with me here! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay... Instagram: http://instagram.com/davidpaykin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.paykin Twitter: http://twitter.com/dpayki2

Over the course of an hour, Billy and I cover a wide range of relevant topics to what's going on in the lives of young professionals today.  These include the return on investment of higher education to ways to engineer your career path and how to take risks early on. Billy also provides his experiences as a business analyst for the Chicago Bear, a game design intern for a startup, getting his masters at Carnegie Mellon, and his undergraduate adventures at University of Illinois. You can find Billy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billylawton/ --- Feel free to connect with me here! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay... Instagram: http://instagram.com/davidpaykin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.paykin Twitter: http://twitter.com/dpayki2

Peer pressure within careers is a real thing. However, doing the same thing as your friends can be catastrophic to your internal desire to do something that you truly love. In this clip, Billy and I chat about this dilemma and why you should follow your gut. You can find Billy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billylawton/ --- Feel free to connect with me here! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay... Instagram: http://instagram.com/davidpaykin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.paykin Twitter: http://twitter.com/dpayki2

Using this single tactic improved my results DRASTICALLY at the career fair. This is the ideal place for students to practice interacting with recruiters because these professionals are expecting you to be nervous. Thus, if you can show them your more "human" side, it can do wonders for separating you from the pack. I try to be as practical as possible by offering a tool that ANYONE can use regardless of what industry or job they're pursuing. You can find Billy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billylawton/ --- Feel free to connect with me here! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay... Instagram: http://instagram.com/davidpaykin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.paykin Twitter: http://twitter.com/dpayki2

What I believe to be the most important opportunity for young professionals to give back regardless of their industry or role. You can find Billy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billylawton/ --- Feel free to connect with me here! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay... Instagram: http://instagram.com/davidpaykin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.paykin Twitter: http://twitter.com/dpayki2

The business case for putting out content around your journey as a young professional and the experiences you have in your job. Also, we cover what is being observed at the associate and senior associate level at accounting firms and why senior leadership needs to be aware of what's going on.  The maturity and scale of the internet is putting transparency & practicality on a pedestal.  You can find Billy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billylawton/ --- Feel free to connect with me here! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay... Instagram: http://instagram.com/davidpaykin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.paykin Twitter: http://twitter.com/dpayki2

Billy shares his experience as a Business Analyst for the Chicago Bears. You can find Billy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billylawton/ --- Feel free to connect with me here! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay... Instagram: http://instagram.com/davidpaykin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.paykin Twitter: http://twitter.com/dpayki2

Billy gives his take on the environments at both University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign & Carnegie Mellon. You can find Billy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billylawton/ --- Feel free to connect with me here! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay... Instagram: http://instagram.com/davidpaykin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.paykin Twitter: http://twitter.com/dpayki2

Billy and I chat about a unique addition that colleges and universities around the globe could incorporate to improve practicality in the classroom. You can find Billy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billylawton/ --- Feel free to connect with me here! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay... Instagram: http://instagram.com/davidpaykin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.paykin Twitter: http://twitter.com/dpayki2

Billy and I discuss his unique experience as a game development intern and the lessons he learned that can differentiate him from others in future roles. You can find Billy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billylawton/ --- Feel free to connect with me here! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay... Instagram: http://instagram.com/davidpaykin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.paykin Twitter: http://twitter.com/dpayki2

Billy and I discuss the importance of maximizing the use of your time outside of work to find your passion and how to do so. You can find Billy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billylawton/ --- Feel free to connect with me here! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay... Instagram: http://instagram.com/davidpaykin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.paykin Twitter: http://twitter.com/dpayki2

Billy explains why he chose University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC) for his undergraduate degree. You can find Billy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billylawton/ --- Feel free to connect with me here! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay... Instagram: http://instagram.com/davidpaykin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.paykin Twitter: http://twitter.com/dpayki2

Billy provides insight on his path to starting with the Chicago Bears. You can find Billy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billylawton/ --- Feel free to connect with me here! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay... Instagram: http://instagram.com/davidpaykin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.paykin Twitter: http://twitter.com/dpayki2

Billy and I share some of the things we learned as we were transitioning from college to the real world.  I also discuss why there's an argument for asking younger workers about their experiences versus those who are further on in their careers to understand what a culture or workplace environment for a specific company is like since they work in that space that you may work in as well. In other words, they're in the same stage of their career that you would be in 1 to 2 years. Asking senior leadership about their experiences is still important because they'll provide unique insight that a young professional can't, but I would argue you should get advice from both and calibrate the context in which they're providing you insight. You can find Billy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billylawton/ --- Feel free to connect with me here! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay... Instagram: http://instagram.com/davidpaykin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.paykin Twitter: http://twitter.com/dpayki2

I'm a big believer that if you do things with the good-hearted intent and making a difference, it changes how you judge yourself, which empowers you to keep the judgment of others out of your head. I never let the compliments NOR the criticisms take up too much space in my head and it's a distinguishing trait that allows me and others who employ this strategy to move quickly in their craft. You can find Billy here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billylawton/ --- Feel free to connect with me here! LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay... Instagram: http://instagram.com/davidpaykin Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/david.paykin Twitter: http://twitter.com/dpayki2