JEN FLINCHUM

Before video conferencing existed, Jen Flinchum was a trailblazer for remote work.

Women made up a small portion of the professional accounting workforce in the 1990s, and she wanted to change that.

Flinchum joined Keiter CPAs, a certified public accounting firm, in 1999 and is now a partner specializing in tax planning and compliance. She was the third woman to reach senior leadership at Keiter.

Soon after she arrived, Flinchum advocated for Keiter to allow employees, especially parents, the flexibility to work from home. She also supported her staff who needed to shift to part-time work.

“I’d rather have part of a great employee’s time than none at all,” she says. “I helped staff, mainly women at that time, find solutions for their careers that fit each stage of life.”

Over the past two years, Flinchum has been pleased to see remote work become more common. She thinks it communicates to employees that the company cares about them.

“I really care about the success of my staff and my clients,” she says. “Not just from a tax standpoint, but from a life standpoint.”

Flinchum says her greatest accomplishment is building and maintaining long-term relationships.

“I take the time to really get to know people and have a genuine interest in what people are doing,” she says. “Relationships are everything.”