Heather Blanchard

"Everything lived up to what I hoped it would be..."

I came from the for-profit community. After 15 years the company I was working for was going through some changes, I didn’t have any work-life balance, and I was looking for something more fulfilling than online retail. YPTC seemed like it would be a good fit and I feel very fortunate because I didn’t think I’d be hired because I didn’t have any nonprofit experience.

When I was hired everything lived up to what I hoped it would be. There was a learning curve but I was fortunate with the clients I was given coming out of the gate and I was able to ease into nonprofit accounting and learn as I go. As my skills were evolving I’ve been able to use them with my clients. The progression has been very natural and that’s something I am grateful for.

Everyone is really great to work with. The competitive element between employees doesn’t exist. It’s a very supportive environment which is very refreshing. It feels like the work you’re doing is more worthwhile when everyone is on the same team.

I like that the structure isn’t as hierarchical as I’ve seen in other jobs. The senior executives have an open-door policy so if you have a problem they make it clear that they don’t want you to be intimidated to go to them if you need to. And they say it enthusiastically, not begrudgingly. They’re earnest and they want to work with you. That’s also refreshing because there aren’t a lot of places like that.

I enjoy working with clients, which I had never done before. And for me the work-life balance was a game-changer. Just having control over my schedule didn’t exist in my prior life.