Meet Author Pat Williams
When Patricia Lane Williams, CPA, first became an accountant, she was fascinated with money, mainly how people managed their money or didn’t. Clients were reluctant to give her their bank accounts because, as one man said, “I didn’t want you to know how I spend my money.” She didn’t judge her clients on how they managed money.
She simply needed their bank accounts to be sure she had all the information needed to file their tax returns. Clients often came to her after they had made a foolish mistake with money or circumstances had led to the loss of a great deal of money that resulted in bankruptcy.
Her first career was as a public-school teacher. On the way to a divorce, she went back to school and got a master’s in accounting which made it possible for her to become a CPA. She worked in a large regional firm before starting her own practice. She combined her teaching background with accounting experience to teach accounting in community colleges that led to spending eight years in New York City at the American Institute of Public Accounting (AICPA) in continuing professional education (CPE). After leaving the Institute, she worked for MicroMash, the first company to make it possible for candidates to study for the CPA exam and take CPE programs by computer. When the company was sold, she decided to write and teach CPE and has authored over 40 continuing education programs.
Pat’s not judgmental because she too, has been well-off, some-times actually rich, and broke. Over the years she’s experienced the roller-coaster ride life gives us all: the highs of graduating from college with an actual job, a marriage partnership that led to wealth, her own small accounting firm, working at a prestigious association, and developing and teaching continuing professional education (CPE) courses for accountants for a publishing company specializing in programs for accounting practitioners. Of course, there were lows: divorce, medical bills, and really dumb decisions.
The highs and lows and really dumb decisions led her to establish Nitty Gritty Press, LLC dedicated to getting back to the basics. The first book from Nitty Gritty Press, Money: Get It, Save It, Grow It, Before Debt Steals It examines money: what it is, how it changes, and how you can understand and get control of your money before debt gets control of you.
Calling Colorado home, her free time is spent on the road, traveling in her classic “Red Jeep.”
www.PatWilliamsAuthor.com