This week I was given a surprise reminder of someone from my past I am thankful for. Mrs. Warren, Jill Warren, was my high school accounting teaching. She had such a tremendous impact on me. Before I took one of her accounting classes in high school, I had no idea what to do. And I was a bad student. I didn't even try.

But Jill Warren changed all of that. After taking the first accounting class with her, I took every class I could that she taught. All business related. A few years ago one of Jill Warren's daughters contacted me. A milestone birthday was approaching for her mother and the daughters had a wonderful surprise planned. They reached out to former students of Mrs. Warren and asked them to write a letter about her.

I begin to write a letter, but sadly, I never sent it. Sorry Mrs. Warren.

But this week I found everything I had written to Mrs. Warren in a notebook in my desk drawer.

So now is the time to thank Mrs. Warren and share this with you.

I call it Everything I need to know I learned in high school accounting. These are the 9 biggest lessons I learned from Jill Warren.

1. There is a reason to celebrate everyone.
2. A smile and a handshake can build trust and mutual respect.
3. It is tough to be grumpy when someone looks you in the eye, smiles, and shakes your hand.
4. Respect can level the playing field.
5. You can not always trust a smiling face and a generous handshake.
6. Timing is precious.
7. Appearance and perception matters
8. Patience.
9. You can have a big impact by impacting one person.

So it may be true that everything I needed to know I learned in high school accounting. Thank you, Jill Warren. I am positive I would not be who I am today without you.