When Questian read through 31 pages of divorce paperwork and added it to her Ta-Da List (see Ep. 25), it cracked open a conversation she and Nancy had been circling for a while. This episode gets honest about navigating divorce while running a business and raising kids — what it means to grieve something you chose, and why relief and devastation aren't mutually exclusive. They dig into radical acceptance, the DBT concept that two opposing truths can coexist, and what it looks like to keep showing up professionally while your personal life is in freefall.ResourcesThe Ta-Da! List on She Counts - She Counts | Ta-Da! Celebrate the Little Things (They’re Actually Big) Valerie Heckman on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/valerieheckman/Advisory Amplified - Advisory Amplified | Live Financial Advisor Events 2026 Scaling New Heights 2026 - Scaling New Heights 2026Jennifer Dymond - Safeguarding Your Firm: Contingency PlanningDBT & Radical Acceptance Resources:The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook: Practical DBT Exercises for Learning Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotion Regulation, and Distress Tolerance by Matthew McKay | Goodreads Emotional Agility: Get Unstuck, Embrace Change, and Thrive in Work and Life by Susan David | Goodreads Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With the Heart of a Buddha by Tara Brach | Goodreads SPONSORS: [BILL, RELAY, KARBON]  Join Our LinkedIn Page!https://www.linkedin.com/company/she-counts-podcastSubscribe on YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/@SheCountsPodcastFollow She Counts on IGhttps://www.instagram.com/shecounts.show/Connect with Nancyhttps://www.thedancingaccountant.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-mcclelland-cpaConnect with Questianhttps://www.reqoncilefinancials.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/questian-telka-ea-78383666Earn CPE for Listening to This Podcasthttps://www.earmark.app/This podcast is a production of Earmark Media

Questian and Nancy close out Season Two with Valerie Heckman, Accountant Community Manager at OnPay, and a deceptively simple idea: the “Ta-Da!” list. Instead of measuring your day by what’s left undone, what if you kept track of what you actually did? Valerie shares how this practice helped her interrupt burnout, why women in accounting are especially prone to dismissing their own wins, and how sharing those moments with others can change the culture of your firm. Although a Ta-Da list isn’t a cure-all, it is an effective tool that can shift how you end your day, how you see your work, and how you show up for each other. Because the little things? They're actually the big things.ResourcesConnect with Valerie on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/valerieheckman/OnPay - https://onpay.com/about-us/author/valerie-heckman/Gretchen Rubin “Happier” podcast - https://gretchenrubin.com/podcasts/Lynnette Oss Connell on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynnette-oss-connell-cpa/Valerie Heckman at Scaling New Heights 2024 - https://report.woodard.com/articles/scaling-new-heights-2024-day-2-recap-snhwrKatie Helle on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mkatiehelle/Nancy Jacobson on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyjacobsoncpa/DuoLingo accounting friends - https://www.duolingo.com/profile/KristenKea6https://www.duolingo.com/profile/000752.beemH9GFhttps://www.duolingo.com/profile/NayoCarterGrayGold star chart for adults - https://www.etsy.com/listing/4310943720/adult-star-chart-printable-habit-tracker“The Art of Blessing the Day” © 1999 by Marge Piercy - https://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/authors/piercy/poem.htmlSome scientific studies on how the Ta-Da list can be helpful for mental health:“Gratitude Enhances Health, Brings Happiness — and May Even Lengthen Lives,” Harvard Health - https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/gratitude-enhances-health-brings-happiness-and-may-even-lengthen-lives-202409113071Savoring in Positive Psychology: 21 Tools to Appreciate Life - https://positivepsychology.com/savoring/Contemporary self-reflective practices: A large-scale survey - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691822002839PERMA model of psychological well-being - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PERMA_modelSPONSORS: [Forwardly, Relay, Client Hub] Join Our LinkedIn Page!https://www.linkedin.com/company/she-counts-podcastSubscribe on YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/@SheCountsPodcastFollow She Counts on IGhttps://www.instagram.com/shecounts.show/Connect with Nancyhttps://www.thedancingaccountant.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-mcclelland-cpaConnect with Questianhttps://www.reqoncilefinancials.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/questian-telka-ea-78383666Earn CPE for Listening to This Podcasthttps://www.earmark.app/This podcast is a production of Earmark Media

It's Questian's birthday, and your hosts are celebrating with the most creative gift they could think of: a crowdsourced collection of "You know you're a woman in accounting when..." moments from their community. From conference survival strategies to scheduling babies around busy season, the hosts laugh, vent, and commiserate over the absurdities of life in this profession. Plus, a bonus visit from Nancy's best friend Shawn Simmons, who joins Nancy and Questian to share her sabbatical project using graphic design and fiber arts to build community around women's menopause journeys.ResourcesMenopause Resources 5-min Survey - https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeLXGxG-pYYJNS63ppsPC34o1-GVJtnsLkbLmTSvskxa_xiOg/viewformShawn Simmons on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawn-simmons-6783208/Bookkeeping Buds - https://www.bookkeepingbuds.com/Theatre of Public Speaking - https://publicspeaking.mistymegia.com/?ref=857055Aileen Gilpin on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/aileengilpin/Candy Bellau on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/candicejohnsonkramerica/Lynda Artesani on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynda-artesani/Melissa Miller Furgeson on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/melissamillerfurgeson/Vanessa Vasquez on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/quickbooksenespanol/Mindy Leubke on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mindyluebke/Ellen Oliver on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellen-oliver/Dr. Jackie Meyer on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjackiecpa/Robina Bennion on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/robina-bennion/Jean Zick on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeanzick/Jennifer Weed on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferweed/Dr. Sam Graber on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsamgraber/Dawn Slokan on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dawnslokan/Terry Saracino on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/terry-saracino-098644187/Stephanie Steinke on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-steinke/Olivia Henley on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/olivia-henley-756b468/Gail Perry on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/gailperrycpa/Misty Schachtell Megia on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/misty-schachtell-3a634a2/Theatre of Public Speaking on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/theatreofpublicspeakingCindy Schroeder on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/brightbooks/Bookkeeping Buds on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/bookkeeping-budsSPONSORS: [Forwardly, Relay, Client Hub] Join Our LinkedIn Page!https://www.linkedin.com/company/she-counts-podcastSubscribe on YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/@SheCountsPodcastFollow She Counts on IGhttps://www.instagram.com/shecounts.show/Connect with Nancyhttps://www.thedancingaccountant.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-mcclelland-cpaConnect with Questianhttps://www.reqoncilefinancials.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/questian-telka-ea-78383666Earn CPE for Listening to This Podcasthttps://www.earmark.app/This podcast is a production of Earmark Media

After one of Nancy's slide decks recently turned up in someone else's presentation without her name or her invitation, she and Questian decided to dig into the many forms plagiarism takes in professional life. From blatant reuse of materials to the murkier territory of borrowed ideas, they explore why credit tends to drift toward higher-status voices; what the research says about how this affects women differently; and why speaking up — for yourself and for each other — is the most important thing you can do about it.ResourcesStudies and articles cited:Nature, 2022 - Women are credited less in science than men - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9352587Research Policy, 2024 - Gender homophily - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048733323001798articles by women receive fewer forward citations from menNature, 2025 - Smaller attendance in female talks highlights an imbalanced visibility in academia - https://www.nature.com/articles/s44185-025-00100-xPsychology of Women Quaterly, 2024 - On the Perception of Men and Women Researchers in Gender Stereotype-Inconsistent Domains - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/03616843241236397Psychological Bulletin, 2023 - Exploring Gender Bias in Six Key Domains of Academic Science: An Adversarial Collaboration - https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/15291006231163179SPONSORS: [Forwardly, Relay, Client Hub] Join Our LinkedIn Page!https://www.linkedin.com/company/she-counts-podcastSubscribe on YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/@SheCountsPodcastFollow She Counts on IGhttps://www.instagram.com/shecounts.show/Connect with Nancyhttps://www.thedancingaccountant.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-mcclelland-cpaConnect with Questianhttps://www.reqoncilefinancials.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/questian-telka-ea-78383666Earn CPE for Listening to This Podcasthttps://www.earmark.app/This podcast is a production of Earmark Media

When an Ernst & Young seminar told female executives that women's brains absorb information like pancakes soak up syrup, as opposed to retaining information like men, whose brains are more like waffles, it made headlines — and it still stings. Nancy and Questian dig into why sexist trainings on topics like women's clothing and appearance remain a workplace issue in accounting, from vague dress code language to the cognitive toll of constant self-monitoring. The conversation gets personal, gets real, and ends with a three-question self-test that has nothing to do with what anyone else thinks.ResourcesDress for the job you want meme - https://www.facebook.com/OfficialLyndaCarter/photos/dress-for-the-job-you-want-/1159144220762794/Erica Goode LinkedIn post re: physical attractiveness comment - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/erica-goode-cpa_opentowork-activity-7394630117991309312-LD3k“Professionalism” often codes male and white… unless you’re Will Ferrell on SNL - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mLsU46h8IAStereotype Threat - https://thedecisionlab.com/reference-guide/psychology/stereotype-threatStudies & Articles Cited:https://www.huffpost.com/entry/women-ernst-young-how-to-dress-act-around-men_n_5da721eee4b002e33e78606ahttps://www.app.com/story/money/business/main-street/2021/06/02/ernst-young-training-program-nj-investigation-fine-power-presence-purpose/7489879002/https://people.com/human-interest/women-ernst-young-told-dress-act-around-men/https://news.bloombergtax.com/financial-accounting/ey-settles-n-j-charges-over-offensive-leadership-traininghttps://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jul/27/ey-oceania-staff-bullying-racism-sexual-harassment-elizabeth-broderickhttps://www.fastcompany.com/91229638/lookism-is-alive-and-well-and-getting-worse-heres-why-your-appearance-is-judged-more-than-performancehttps://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00108.xSPONSORS: [Forwardly, Relay, Client Hub] Join Our LinkedIn Page!https://www.linkedin.com/company/she-counts-podcastSubscribe on YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/@SheCountsPodcastFollow She Counts on IGhttps://www.instagram.com/shecounts.show/Connect with Nancyhttps://www.thedancingaccountant.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-mcclelland-cpaConnect with Questianhttps://www.reqoncilefinancials.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/questian-telka-ea-78383666Earn CPE for Listening to This Podcasthttps://www.earmark.app/This podcast is a production of Earmark Media