MSCPA #MemberMonday – Pamela Herndon, Kevin P. Martin & Associates, P.C.

Name: Pamela Herndon
Title: Senior Tax Associate
Organization: Kevin P. Martin and Associates P.C.

1. The best advice you ever got:  Be the change you want to see. I know it might sound trite, but it’s been a helpful mindset for me, especially in my career. All people in a career field have the opportunity to influence the way change is made, even if it is in very small way. As accounting changes, it’s exciting to think about how I would like to change along with it. If I want to see how automation can influence efficiency and accuracy, I can research automation and learn how other industries and accounting are using it. I can also implement it in my own work and practices, so I am ready to speak up for the benefits and the snags that I’ve seen in my own trial of automating.
2. If you weren’t doing this... I’d be a professional organizer. Specifically, for people who are moving, or need to down-size, or are dealing with possessions from a person who has passed away.  
3. My favorite blogs/social media accounts you follow: I love to listen to podcasts, especially on my commute. Before my day begins, I listen to Harvard Business Review or their affiliated podcast, Women at Work. On my way home from work I like to listen to something light hearted, so, either Judge John Hodgman: a comedian adjudicating real life disputes (should we or shouldn’t we cut down the tree in our front yard?) or, By The Book: two friends who read a self-help book, live by it for 2 weeks, and then report on their findings.
4. What was the last book you read? Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
5. What was the last TV show you watched? Brooklyn Nine-Nine
6. Where is your favorite place to vacation?  I went to Iceland after last tax season and it was everything I wanted. The landscape is open and vast. It’s sparsely populated, so, very quiet and relaxing (for an introvert). I’m thinking of making it my every year tradition. The plane ride is short enough that you could go for a long weekend easily.
7. What was your first job? I got my first job when I was 14 (the legal age for kids to work, back then). The job was cleaning horse stalls and I worked at that job all through middle school and high school. It was hard work, and smelly, but I liked having a job and my own money.
8. What’s your go-to joke? What time is it when you have to go to the dentist?Tooth-hurty
9. What word do you think you say the most every day? “Ok.” As in “Ok, what I’m going to do next is…” or “Ok, so, we covered topic #1, let’s change gears to topic #2.” I talk out loud a lot to myself at work and I’m sure my co-workers within ear shot would agree that they hear these very words from me quite often as I chatter on and on to no one but my own self.
10. What is your favorite benefit the MSCPA offers?  The learning and development resources. It’s comforting to know I am part of a wide network that offers resources for my own career development and other resources that may support me where I need assistance.
11. What organizations do you like to give back to/volunteer for?  I volunteer with the Boston Area Gleaners. They harvest food from local farmers and donate it to food pantries and soup kitchens.
12. What about accounting excites you the most? Client -services. Being able to offer a service that small businesses and entrepreneurs need but do not have the time, interest or knowledge to successfully execute. 

Do you know someone who should be featured in #MemberMonday? Email Brendan Sullivan at bsullivan@masscpas.org!