Behind the Numbers: Christie Blaylock

[This is part of our ongoing blog series, “Behind the Numbers,” during which I talk to various individuals in the profession and shine a little light on what they are like when they sign out of the accounting cloud.]

In this Behind the Numbers profile, I spoke with Christie Blaylock, a 27 year-old QuickBooks ProAdvisor and Accountant/Government Contractor Consultant for Anglin, Reichmann, Snellgrove, & Armstrong, PCin Huntsville, Alabama. She has a BSBA in Accounting and MAcc and is active with ASCPA & WID (Women In Defense).

During the day, Christie performs CFO services for multiple clients who use Deltek GCS or QuickBooks and prepares incurred cost submissions and forward pricing budgets, compilations and quarterly payrolls. When she’s not in the office, Christie is participating in various sports and outdoor activities, such as softball, volleyball, aerobics, water and snow skiing, hiking and playing with her dogs. She likes to stay moving – it keeps her calm.

Where did you grow up?
I was born in Jackson, Mississippi, then my family moved to Houston. Then we moved to Montgomery, then Tuscaloosa, then Birmingham. This was all before I was five. I moved to Huntsville, Alabama, with my husband, and now we live in Decatur, Alabama.

Do you have children? If so, how many, and what ages?
We are expecting our first, due the first week of November. We also have two Jack Terrier Russell mixes. They are very energetic and like to play in the park.

How do you like to spend your time away from work?
My husband and I are both into water sports. We recently bought a jet ski. Decatur has a huge river that runs through it and we’re not even 10 minutes away from it. My parents just moved and they now have a lake by them. I love to waterski, although my husband can’t because he tore his ACL.

I’m also involved in a lot of church activities. I am the coordinator for Sunday School activities and I plan a lot of baby showers and wedding showers. My husband and I are also involved in church softball – we both play shortstop. Church softball was a great way for us to meet people after we moved. We both do a lot of community outreach.

And I teach aerobics two to three times a week. I also started classes at my firm. It’s just a little 30-minute class and some of the partners come. Aerobics makes me feel better – there’s nothing better than working out and getting rid of some of the built-up stress.

How did you become an aerobics instructor?
I started taking classes my freshman year in college. A couple of the teachers encouraged me to go to workshops to become a teacher. I started teaching my sophomore year, and then became certified. I was teaching three classes a day, sometimes four.

You mentioned you like water sports, are there any other sports teams or events you absolutely refuse to miss?
We are big into sports – not so much pro sports but definitely college sports. We’re big college football fans and have University of Alabama stuff everywhere. Also, hunting and target shooting is a big thing down here. My husband is a huge hunter. I don’t really like hunting, but I’ve gone out with him a few times.

What is one thing you would like to share about being an accountant?
You have to be social to be an accounting, especially working in consulting and audit. You have to have the social skills build the relationships. You are not just bundled up crunching numbers on a calculator. My husband’s an accountant too. He does taxes and he’s not shy at all. In fact, everyone always asks, “Are y’all really accountants?”

If you work in the accounting profession and would like to be featured in a future blog post, please contact Taija Jenkins at taija.jenkins@cpapracticeadvisor.com.