Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Michele Tobiassen

"They let you have a personal life..."

Michele-Tobiassen

While I was in college, I worked for a woman who had her own successful business and a family. The way she was able to balance her work and home life was wonderful and I thought that this was exactly what I wanted to be able to do.

When I graduated, I worked in auditing for 6-1/2 years, then did private accounting for a law firm, then worked as an assistant controller for an accounting firm, but it was always the same situation. I was working 60-hour weeks with constant demands on my time and no way to have any balance with my home life. I knew I had to pay my dues and that working hard and being successful comes with a price but everything in my life was work. When I got married and had a daughter, and went back to 16-hour days, my husband and I decided that I needed to find something part-time.

Everyone told me that part-time accounting jobs in New York City didn’t exist. Luckily, I stumbled onto the YPTC website and after several interviews I was hired part-time in September 2013. It was like a whole new world. The frustration wasn’t there. I now had the balance of being able to spend time with my family and to be successful at my job. I had never thought that it would be possible to be good at home and good at work: I had always thought that to be successful in one you had to block out the other.

After I had my son I came back from maternity leave and it wasn’t a disaster like it had been after I had my daughter. It was just like a regular day. With the support I was getting from YPTC staff and from my clients I knew I could do it all and I could do it well. The staff support at YPTC was like nothing I had ever seen. They love you and let you grow on your own and be successful. They let you have a personal life and I think that’s especially important for women in New York who are told that this isn’t possible.

Every day I make sure my boss stays happy, my clients stay happy and my family stays happy. We can work it out the way it needs to be worked out.

Want to schedule a quick chat?

We can't wait to meet you!

close
Facebook IconTwitter IconVisit Our InstgramVisit Our Instgram