CPA Practice Advisor

40 UNDER 40 2012

Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.

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– instead the news actually broke on Facebook as Mark Koziel caught wind of my work experience update (which led to the news spreading like wild fire). Another amus- ing example of social media at its finest is my first eight months of working with Jennifer Warawa. We met at last year's Sage Summit, but up until this past spring, had only interacted on Twitter via DM (direct message)…she had to send me a Twitter message asking for my email when we finally needed to send each other attachments. What tips on social media do you think are essential, but perhaps missed by professionals? Earlier this year I attended the Maryland Association of CPAs annual Innovation Summit (which is a phenomenal event, by the way) and sat in on the Social Media panel session. One of the panelists, Barrett Young, had a tip that is far too good to not share: be human. I was humbled as he continued to use me as an example of a human us- ing social media to gain traction for my company as well as myself. In reality, we all want to interact with people, and by leveraging our personalities over social media, we have the opportunity to put a face on our companies that a corporate logo just can't compete with, regard- less of how many followers they have. Another personal Blog: www.viewfrommyshoes.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/#!/kimberly.hogan.14 Twitter: www.twitter.com/xcmkim LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kimhogan77 Education: Bachelor of Science, Business Administration with Sales & Marketing Emphasis – Chapman University, Orange, CA (2004) Professional Associations/Memberships: Information Technology Alliance (ITA – serving as Co-Chair of the Vendor Committee and active member of the Future Leaders Committee insight I've gained from my interaction over the past few years has been the stark contrast between people who use Twitter as a community to interact with peers, clients, partners, and friends as opposed to those who simply think of it as a vehicle for news and announcements. It's not that one way is right or wrong, but I do think that those who invest in the community will be the ones who get more out of the experience both personally and pro- fessionally. What ONE piece of technology could you absolutely not live without? I predict that anyone who says something besides their iPhone is lying! Hands down, there's nothing I need more than that. I think I've put mine through its paces recently when I was able to pay all of my bills online through my phone (after forgetting to do so before leaving for vaca- tion), and, more importantly, was able to get first dibs on the Nordstrom Half-Yearly shoe sales right from my iPhone app (while multi-tasking at the gym mind you). NOT including your current employer, what company do you most admire and why? Anyone smart enough to paint the soles of shoes red, then charge $1,000 a pair for them is someone I admire. Christian Louboutin is a genius. Not only has he found a way to take unused real-estate on a shoe and turn it into his signature, but he's also created such an unbelievable demand for these self-proclaimed "ridiculously uncom- fortable" stilettos (specifically through very limited distri- bution), that women will do (and pay) just about anything to get a pair. Imagine how his approach would fly in the accounting world: "Oh, I'm sorry, KPMG, but we only made one workflow solution in your size, and E&Y; just bought it last week." Louboutin also understands the im- portance of putting a face on a brand. He makes frequent appearances all over the world in order to maintain that face time in front of his adoring fans/clients. To someone who places such a huge value on personal branding as I do, it's hard to think of anyone who has done a better job of branding themselves for their company. What sports team/championship event do you abso- lutely refuse to miss? This question could get a SoCal girl in A LOT of trouble with her Boston-based company…especially her Boston- based company with a conference room named "Fenway Park". Let's just say that it didn't take me long to see that New Englanders take their sports a tad bit seriously. I'm afraid I must take the fifth amendment on this one, for fear that my Celtics-loving, Red Sox-adoring, Patriot-wor- shiping management team and colleagues might retali- ate. In my defense, there were no sports questions on my XCM Solutions employment application… What is your favorite professional mobile app, and why? Zappos – oh, I'm sorry, professional app, right. That would have to be WordPress. I've just recently launched my own blog, and the ability to manage, update, and even post to it from my iPad or iPhone is absolutely vital to my ability to maintain it while I'm constantly on the go meeting with clients and prospects. 34 | 2012 CPA Practice Advisor 40 Under 40 BACK TO PAGE 4

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