Jessica Winn, at 29 years old, is one of the youngest Certified Public Accountants (CPA) at our firm. Jessica joined ADKF in 2021 as part of our Tax Staff. Raised in Chihuahua, Mexico, Jessica and her family moved to San Antonio when she was 14 years old. Jessica immersed herself in all things San Antonio, attended Alamo Heights High School, then went on to attend San Antonio Community College. She later transferred to University of Texas-San Antonio where she obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration-Accounting in 2015. After graduation, Jessica started working for American Funds where she specialized in foreign transactions. She worked for Industry for three years and during that time, went back to school to earn her Master of Professional Accounting from Texas A&M University-San Antonio. Jessica then set her sights on her CPA certification. In 2021, Jessica passed her final CPA exam and was officially certified as a CPA in October of 2021.
In her spare time, you can find Jessica at her favorite Cross Fit gym where she enjoys being outdoors and active. Jessica loves a good spoiler. When beginning a book, she is known to flip to the end to see how it all turns out, then make her way back to read the book as intended. Jessica has been married for 4 years and loves to travel with her husband Brady. This year they hope to travel back to Mexico and ultimately want to see Southeast Asia and Western Europe.
When asked what advice she would give to anyone considering the CPA exams and certification, she kept it short and simple:
- Start immediately. Do not wait or put off the work that lies ahead.
- Adjust. Adjust your life to make room for the work that must be put in to attain this goal. Whether that be a professional move, changing daily routines or rituals, or just scaling back on certain activities you may enjoy to make room for this new goal.
- Keep testing. Study and plan the tests consecutively. Don’t stop or take too long of a break before taking your next exam.
- Expect some failures. It’s ok to fail, allow yourself one full day to feel sorry or bad for yourself and then refocus.
- Get out of the house. Find safe spaces that are conducive to your study needs that are not your house. This eliminates the urge to lose focus.