Melissa Sargent

Background

About Melissa Sargent

I will always remember the day that I decided to become a CPA. During the first year of my Commerce degree, a guest speaker from CA Ontario came into my Financial Accounting class to pitch us on why we should pursue a career as a Chartered Accountant and I knew before she wrapped up that it was the career path I had been looking for. During her sales pitch about becoming a CA, she also discussed the leadership skills required to achieve some of the roles and success stories she was using as examples. I went home and over the next few weeks, I mapped out with my faculty advisor how I could take the accounting courses needed to get into the CA/CPA program and take as many other courses to help build those leadership skills she discussed. This quickly turned into a decision to take summer classes and overload courses so that I could complete a double major in accounting and human resources management. They may have changed the name of the accounting certification programs, but about five years after that presentation, I finally walked across the stage as one of Ontario's newest CPAs. I began my career in public accounting with a firm that would allow me to experience a little bit of everything. BDO allowed me to work with all types of engagements as well as different types of clients; Not for Profits, Public Sector, Small and Medium sized enterprises. From there, I made the move to industry to work with a Publicly traded telecommunications company that has since been acquired by a private equity firm. From there I spent a year working with plant managers of a wire manufacturer helping theirs get a better understanding of their financial data before finding a home with 807 Management Services as the Manager of Bookkeeping Services. Outside of accounting, I spend most of my free time on figure skates teaching skaters of all ages and levels the fundamentals of skating and figure skating. I do not remember a time, when skating was not a part of my life. As a kid, I always wanted to be a teacher, but I realized that I didn't want to teach in a high school classroom, I wanted to have that impact on the ice instead. I hope that I can have the same impact on my skaters that my coaches had on me.