Hi, friends.
We’re back and ready to introduce another member of our rockstar staff. Up next: Sheila Kemple, our chief financial officer. During working hours, Sheila oversees all things finance here at BRIGS, from budgeting to business planning to forecasting. (It’s a pretty big job.) Here, Sheila shared a little bit about her path to becoming our CFO. Now, she’s dishing on life outside the office—the shows she’s currently devouring, post-pandemic travel and some sage advice that’s stuck with her over the years.
What books are on your bedside table these days?
The Giver of Stars, by Jojo Moyes. This book is based upon the Pack Horse Library Project started by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. This project was created to help aid and educate the people in parts of Appalachia hit hardest by The Great Depression. A mostly female group of librarians would ride on horseback into the Kentucky mountains to deliver books to people and families.
Real books or e-books?
Real books. I like to feel the book—the story comes alive more for me.
What’s the last show you binge-watched?
My husband and I binge watched Yellowstone last fall. I am currently watching the documentary This is a Robbery: The World’s Biggest Art Heist. It is the story of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art heist.
I would like first to be together with all of my children and grandchildren on Cape Cod to hug and kiss them without any worries. One of my grandsons was born in late 2020 and I have yet to hold him. Can’t wait for that day!
Preferably window—then, I can be tucked away and just relax.
I love to cook from scratch and am always willing to try and adapt new recipes. On a cold winter day I love to make chicken pot pie, and in the summer, marinated steak tips and fish with a variety of salads.
Daily, I find myself drawing on or quoting advice my mom gave me until the day she passed. It is amazing to me how these pearls of wisdom pop out when I am talking, especially to my son and daughters. Sometimes, they even surprise me! A few I can think of right now are: “Don’t count the near misses”; “Just love ‘em, honey” (she’d say this when I would be frustrated with my kids due to something they did, or their poor behavior); and my favorite, “Sometimes you’ve gotta take a chance.”
I am very proud of having studied for and passed the CPA exam when I was first out of college working in public accounting. It was a big commitment but well worth the time, energy and tears. But what I am most proud of is being a mom to four amazing people.
I have spent a lot of time thinking about this over the years. I got into accounting due to my love of math. I really like the problem-solving aspect of accounting, and helping people understand it, but I think I really would have liked to be an engineer, allowing me to have a more positive impact on people.
