103: Transitioning from Public to Industry in Tax – Audra Fahey, VP of Tax with NuStar Energy

Audra Fahey, the Vice President of Tax with publicly-traded NuStar Energy, was our guest for this episode of Life In Accounting, a podcast production of Where Accountants Go.

It Was Meant To Be…

One of the interesting points that came out early in the interview was that Audra was hired right out of school to be an auditor actually. As luck would have it though, she also was offered an internship in tax with the same firm for her last semester in college.  After she graduated, the firm had a need in the tax department and she had enjoyed it, so she ended up starting on the tax side instead.  It was a fortunate turn of events.

With Accounting You Can Work Anywhere

With her husband being in the military, they were transferred to San Antonio. One of the reasons she had decided to pursue accounting as a career in the first place was that you could work literally anywhere, and that decision paid off with this relocation.  Audra was very quickly hired at KPMG and stayed with them over a decade.

Transitioning to Industry…

As her position became more and more involved with Sarbanes Oxley work, she decided it was time to transition out into industry. She joined Valero Energy, but in the division that was spun off only a few months later into the newly-formed NuStar Energy, another NYSE-traded company.  It was the opportunity of a lifetime, as she got the chance to build the tax function from the ground-up with NuStar.  Now in her role as Vice President of Tax, she oversees all tax functions including international tax, with the exception of property and payroll taxes, and has a team of 16 highly-qualified professionals.

And we haven’t even gotten to the part where she began teaching a Master’s level tax course at a local university!

For more details on this successful story of a career built in tax, listen to our conversation with Audra Fahey by clicking on the player below.