Speakers

I am a native of Seeley Lake, MT.   My parents were business owners in Seeley until their retirement a few years ago.  Following my graduation from Seeley Swan High School in 2000, I spent nine months in northern Italy as an exchange student where I was fully immersed in Italian culture while living with an Italian family.  After the completion of my exchange program, I enrolled in the University of Montana’s Business Administration program.  I spent two semesters at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu on a University exchange, followed by a six-week summer school term in Salamanca, Spain, where I studied Business Spanish.  I then returned to Missoula where I obtained my Bachelor of Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting in December 2005.  I went on to the Master of Accountancy program at UM, graduating with honors in June 2007 and obtaining my CPA certification in 2009.

While in graduate school, I completed a summer internship with KPMG in Seattle.  I was then hired to return full time after I completed my final semester.  I moved to Seattle in 2007 and worked for KPMG in their audit department for two years.  The first year was primarily at a large publicly traded wood products company.  My second year I spent a lot of time on benefit plan audits.

In 2009, I switched paths and went into private industry.  I worked as the Project Accountant for PSF Industries, Inc., in Seattle, an engineering, fabrication and field construction company that worked on pressure vessels, heat exchanges, tanks, etc.  After three years in the Project Accountant Position, I was promoted to Controller.

In 2011, my then-husband and I decided to become foster parents, with the intention of adopting.  We were fortunate enough to have three amazing children, ages 2, 3 and 5, placed with us in August of 2011.  We were able to finalize the adoption of those children in 2016.

In 2014, my family and I returned to Montana.  We wanted to raise our children here and be closer to family.  We returned to Seeley Lake, and I obtained a position with Washington Corporations in Missoula as an Accounting Manager.  I commuted from Seeley Lake while working for Washington Corp for four and a half years.  In 2018, the position with Pyramid Mountain Lumber opened up.  It was important to the leadership of Pyramid to have a Controller that lived in the community.  Because of my ties to Seeley Lake and my business background, I was the perfect fit.

As the Controller at Pyramid Mountain Lumber, I oversee all financial reporting, manage banking relationships, supervise office staff, and work with departmental supervisors on various aspects of operations.  In addition to my financial responsibilities, I track inventory, work with management on the sawmill schedule and log yard inventory management.