Finding My Path
When I graduated from ULM with a degree in accounting, I thought I knew exactly where I was headed: straight into the world of public accounting. I earned my CPA, went to work, and quickly realized something wasn’t right. While I had the skills, the work left me drained and unfulfilled. At the time, I couldn’t explain why — I just knew this wasn’t my path. What I never imagined was that one day I would become a CPA for nursing homes.
A Detour Into Technology
Disillusioned with public accounting, I accepted an invitation to join my parents’ business “temporarily.” That temporary role lasted seven years.
My parents sold stand-alone word processing units — machines that only had one function. Google it, and you may find a picture of a dinosaur on the same page. Still, being involved in the early beginnings of computer technology gave me strong technology skills that I continue to use every day for myself and my clients. Of course, technology moved on, and eventually the word processor went the way of the dinosaurs, along with my parents’ business.
A Desperate Pivot
Out of desperation — with an empty checking account and two small children — I applied for a position as CFO/Assistant Administrator at a local nonprofit nursing home. I didn’t know the first thing about long-term care (other than a few less-than-flattering stories from my grandmother), but something in me said to try.
Life often pivots on just a few moments. Taking that job changed mine. From day one, I knew two things: my grandmother was rolling over in her grave, and I had found my purpose.
Immersed in Nursing Home Life
Over time, I transitioned to a small, rural, for-profit nursing home in a similar role. Several years later, I married the owner and earned my nursing home administrator’s license — which meant my life was fully immersed in the daily chaos of nursing home operations: low reimbursements, staff call-ins, missing dentures, and families who weren’t always happy. No one seemed happy — not the families, not the residents, not the employees, and certainly not me.
Discovering a Better Way
But then came another pivot point. I learned about a movement that shifted nursing homes away from institutional models toward resident-centered care and employee engagement. It was radical at the time, and for our residents and employees, it was life-giving.
Connecting Finance and Care
Three years later, with a Master’s in Gerontology under my belt, I had a fuller understanding of how financial discipline, person-centered care, and staff engagement go hand in hand. Together they create healthier environments for residents, caregivers, and yes — healthier bottom lines for providers.
Still in the Fight
Fast forward several more years. Our nursing home has been sold, but I’m still right where I belong: at the intersection of finance and care. Along with my longtime colleague and fellow administrator, Jennifer Donalies, I now work with nursing homes, assisted living communities, home health agencies, and hospices. What we offer isn’t theory. It isn’t just numbers. It’s lived experience — through rate cuts, regulatory twists, census rollercoasters, changing reimbursement models, PDPM, and COVID. We lived through it, even when we thought we wouldn’t.
A CPA for Nursing Homes | Why It Matters
We’ve been there. We’ve survived the sleepless nights, the endless regulations, the budget cuts, and the pressure to do more with less. And because we’ve lived it, we bring something to our clients that most consultants and CPAs can’t: understanding.
That’s why today, my work is more than accounting. It’s about giving leaders in long-term care the clarity and confidence they need to keep going, even on the hardest days — because I know, firsthand, that the work, the residents, their families, and the caregivers are worth it.