FRAN RANDALL

In college, Fran Randall formulated her career goal: She wanted to specialize in international tax transactions. While she initially envisioned herself working at a law firm, Randall realized there were other career paths — and that her comfort working with and analyzing data made accounting a good fit.

One thing Randall never fathomed — all the places her career in accounting would take her, including trips in the past few years alone to Germany, England, Mexico, Spain, France and Singapore. “I’ve been able to visit countries that were not even on my bucket list.”

Also not on Randall’s bucket list? Leaving Ernst & Young after 17 years. While that decision was difficult, she says, a higher power was calling her elsewhere. After four years at RyanSharkey in Tysons, Randall joined Dixon Hughes Goodman (now Forvis Mazars after two mergers) in 2019, and, just over two years later, she was leading the company’s Richmond market.

While travel is a perk that Randall highlights when mentoring younger people to choose a career in accounting, she also touts the flexibility she’s long enjoyed — including standing calendar appointments to attend all of her daughter’s gymnastics and cheerleading events. “To be able to learn things every day, to be able to drive your day and your career and to be able to meet a lot of people, that’s what I really love.”

RELATED STORY: 2024 Virginia Women in Leadership Awards