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/

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay...

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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/

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay...

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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/

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Feel free to connect with me here!

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay...

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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/

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Feel free to connect with me here!

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay...

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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/

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Feel free to connect with me here!

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay...

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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/

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Feel free to connect with me here!

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay...

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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/

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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/

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay...

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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/

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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/

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pay...

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