Employee Spotlight, Monica Gill, Partner
Welcome to another edition of our Employee Spotlight blog series. In today’s interview, we’re shining a spotlight on Bridgepoint Principal, Monica Gill.
- As Principal, Monica helps lead our Financial Consulting practice, and has been crucial to helping us continue to grow our business and identify new opportunities to further expand our service lines. Her primary focus is on establishing long lasting relationships built on integrity, trust and a “client-first” mindset. Monica’s client projects encompass services ranging from interim accountants to the CFO level for start-ups to $1B NYSE companies. She has worked with fast-growing companies including Bazaarvoice, Hanger, CSID, Snap Kitchen, Q2 Software and Homeaway, to name a few. Her ability to serve clients in a myriad of situations and circumstances is incredibly impressive! She also works closely with our five Principals to help make critical business decisions that impact our clients as well as our team of 140+ professionals.
But the most impressive aspect of Monica’s role at Bridgepoint, is that over the past nine years, she has played an active role in mentoring and developing the capabilities of our team of 70+ consultants in our Financial Consulting practice, over 50 of which are currently women!
Just last week, we learned that our fearless leader had been named a finalist for the Austin Business Journal’s 2017 Profile in Power Awards. Monica is one of eighty five influential women leaders to be nominated for this honor and one of twenty to be named a finalist. We decided to sit down with Monica to learn more about her role at Bridgepoint, her views on leadership and why she loves the world of consulting.
GETTING TO KNOW…
Name: Monica Gill
Title: Principal
Department/Practice Area: Financial Consulting
Time at Bridgepoint: 9 years
Hometown: Victoria, Texas
Education and Certifications:
- Bachelor of Business Administration, Stephen F. Austin State University
- Certified Public Accountant in the State of Texas
What do you like the most about your role at Bridgepoint?
I really enjoy partnering with business leaders as a trusted advisor, helping them to navigate through the daily tactical as well as strategic challenges that they are facing due to high growth and other business issues. One of the best aspects of my job is identifying top talent and helping to grow their skillset to meet the evolving needs of our clients. It’s truly satisfying to be able to work with such a great team of smart, amazing people!
What do you find challenging about the accounting and finance field?
Like most parts of a business, the needs and requirements in the accounting/finance world are ever-changing. You must stay current and relevant to be effective. Also, as it applies to the consulting environment, you must understand how to scale those solutions to the client needs for where they are in their growth lifecycle. When I approach client challenges, I often pull from my experience as a former consultant. That helps me keep their perspective, challenges and needs at the forefront of the decisions we make.
What gets you excited about going to work each day?
“It’s like a box of chocolates…you never know exactly what you are going to get.” I always have an agenda for my day, but the reality is that we are in the people business, so I know it will be fluid. The best part of my job, is that many days, you know you have helped your clients overcome a challenge. I also care about our consultants and am truly invested in their success – both professional and personal.
What has helped or hindered your career?
I am so grateful to have had amazing mentors and supervisors helping me throughout my career. A great mentor is one that not only provide guidance, but also challenges and empowers you to stretch beyond your comfort level. This is a lesson that I learned early in my career, and have continued to apply as I have grown into a leader myself. Being competitive in nature has also helped me to continue to challenge myself, strive to “win” and always push beyond the status quo.
What does leadership mean to you?
I’m a big believer in leading by example. I have always been inspired by the great leaders that I have worked for. Not because they micro-managed me, but because they trusted me enough to make decisions and mistakes, and to learn from that. I try to use that same approach with the people on our team. Leadership also requires you to face nay-sayers, failure, questions about your motives, high demands on your time, as well as other challenges. If you are truly committed to your work and genuine about your motives, any obstacle can be overcome.
Do you have any advice for other women trying to achieve leadership roles?
The first step to being a great leader is hiring great people and empowering them for success. Recently, I had the opportunity to engage with a group of former employees, who I had hired more than 15 years ago when I was a CFO. As I looked around the table, I realized that each of them were now enjoying their own success in finance leadership roles in local companies here in Austin. This was an “ah ha” moment for me, where I felt successful and realized I had made a real impact on each of their lives. The lesson here is that to be a great leader, you don’t have to know all of the answers. But, you do need to ask a lot of questions, surround yourself with great people and listen actively, with passion and purpose.
What do you like to do in your spare time? Do you have any fun hobbies?
As a busy mom, my spare time is often spent getting my two young daughters to and from their events. When I’m not doing that, I really enjoy running, playing tennis and trying to catch up on live music in this great city of ours. I also enjoy staying active in the Austin community and have served on the board of Creative Action since 2013. I love supporting this non-profit, because it focuses on the academic, social and emotional development of our youth.
Tell us something (a fun fact) that might surprise us about you.
In college, I was the quarterback of our ladies flag football team. We were undefeated and especially enjoyed beating the sorority teams.
Check out additional Bridgepoint Employee Spotlight stories here.
