So you want a career that meshes your love for finance and problem-solving with an instinctive desire to help others and exercise your creativity? What you’re looking for sounds like a rewarding career as a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), and it’s just at your fingertips!
By blending finance, accounting, and strategic problem-solving, a career as a CPA empowers you to deepen your expertise and confidently leverage your skills on the path to entrepreneurship.
We spoke to CPAs and financial influencers Gabrielle Chung and Jennifer Chun about how they’ve taken their CPA journeys on different routes, breaking the mould for what the career entails.
Meet Gabrielle Chung
Gabrielle is the founder of Balance and Wealth CPA and creator of the YouTube channel Gabrielle Talks Money. She says her career focuses on “empowering individuals through personal finance and tax education,” blending her accreditation with her passion for financial literacy.
So how did it all start for Gabrielle? She was first drawn to a career as a CPA as she felt it would put her on a stable career path and open many opportunities.
“Ultimately, I found the CPA path to be compatible with both my skills and who I am as a person,” she tells Daily Hive. Building her own firm from scratch while growing her YouTube channel has been a rewarding process that helps others make informed financial decisions.
“My firm grew as a professional extension of my YouTube channel — the channel focuses on empowering individuals through personal finance and tax education, while the firm helps small business owners gain clarity and confidence in their business finances,” she says.
Meet Jennifer Chun
It’s these transferable skills that also allowed Jennifer Chun to take her CPA background to new heights. While completing the CPA program, which she says taught her to “stay calm in complexity and to see patterns where others see chaos,” she started her blog Jenthinks to document her journey. That was back in 2019, and Jennifer is still dedicated to her blog, all while starting a rewarding career at 1Password this year.
For her, there’s a natural ebb-and-flow that comes with the CPA lifestyle.
“My work often inspires my content, and my content helps me think more deeply about my work. They continue to build on each other naturally,” she says.
Jennifer says her CPA designation not only gives people confidence in her work, but it also reminds her to live up to that trust. Working with students learning to budget or seniors planning for retirement, she makes sure to approach each person without judgment.
“Most people don’t need complex strategies; they just need clarity and confidence. I focus on small, practical steps people can actually follow because progress builds trust in themselves. That’s what I hope to give them,” Jennifer says.
Pave your own CPA path
Although working in different areas of finance, Gabrielle and Jennifer have both paved their own paths with their CPA designations.
As they both note, working as a CPA provides a variety of opportunities to connect with and help others. It’s a valuable designation that means something. For those thinking about starting on that journey, take this one valuable piece of advice from Jennifer: “Stay curious.”
“The designation will give you structure, but curiosity will keep you growing. The profession is changing quickly, and being open to new ways of thinking, whether it’s about technology, people, or yourself, will be what sets you apart,” she tells us.
That same message is echoed by Gabrielle. “Every industry — whether it’s gaming, beauty, or energy — needs accountants. The CPA designation is well-recognized and respected, and it gives you an advantage in almost any field you choose to enter.”
What will your success story sound like? Find out more about becoming a CPA.
Photo of Gabrielle Chung courtesy of Vanessa Mayberry Photography.
Photo of Jennifer Chun courtesy of Bobo Zhao Photography.
Originally published by Daily Hive.
