The hero sitting next to you

General, Local 2 Minutes

From Answers.com:

he·ro (hîr‘ō)

n., pl. -roes.

  1. In mythology and legend, a man, often of divine ancestry, who is endowed with great courage and strength, celebrated for his bold exploits, and favored by the gods.
  2. A person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life: soldiers and nurses who were heroes in an unpopular war.
  3. A person noted for special achievement in a particular field: the heroes of medicine.
  4. The principal male character in a novel, poem, or dramatic presentation.

Some twenty-plus years ago, I was working for the IRS. I recall meeting Gloria Steinem during that time. She was in town for a book signing and I had a chance to chat with her. What sticks in my mind from that conversation was that she said “CPA” was a construct of the male-dominated world and that “bookkeeper” was the term for females.

I hadn’t thought of it in those terms, but as I looked around, I realized that women CPAs were certainly a small number. Things were very different for women in the early 1980s. I remember that the CPA firms that I visited in the course of conducting audits had rules against female employees wearing pants!

So I was pleasantly surprised to meet a female partner in a local CPA firm. Not just any female partner, mind you. I believe Amber G. Best was the first female partner in a local CPA firm. It was only in passing – after all, I was just a lowly IRS auditor – but it made such a tremendous impression on me and was part of the reason that I took the CPA exam.

Over the years, I’ve seen Ms. Best around at various meetings. For the past few years, we have served together on a board. Even so, I never took the time (mainly because I was still in awe) to tell her what an inspiration she had been to me. Today I had the opportunity to do that and I did. As it turns out, this was her last meeting on the board. Not only was I able to tell her personally, I was able to tell the board that we had a real hero sitting next to us, one who helped to blaze a trail that we no longer even think about anymore. Women dominate the accounting profession today. We have the Amber Bests of the world to thank for that.

And about those pants – I don’t think a single woman at the meeting this morning had on a skirt!

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