Anna Cox, a recent graduate from Embry-Riddle with a degree in Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination, now works as a financial analyst at RTX while also running her own solo accounting practice. Anna’s entrepreneurial spirit served her well even before she graduated; one of her favorite campus experiences was re-launching the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners student club. Anna recognizes that her work feeds into a global system of safety and security. Concise writing, especially in PowerPoint presentations and client emails, is paramount. Word count minimums do not exist in the business world like they do in some writing classes. For current students, her advice is to get involved in college activities beyond academics—extracurricular projects and experiences matter a lot more than your GPA.
Episode Transcript:
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Abby:
All right, hello everybody, and welcome back to another episode of What's the Word. I'm your host, Abby, and today we have a very special guest for you. Today we're joined with Anna Cox and Anna, why don't you give us a little bit of background about yourself?
Anna:
Hey, I'm super excited to be here. So, a little bit of background about me. I graduated, actually, like five months ago now from riddle, I graduated in May of 2024, from the Prescott campus. I majored in forensic accounting and fraud examination, one of the little, teeny, tiny majors, and I minored in security and intelligence studies. I currently work as a financial analyst at RTX, and I also just started my own business. So super excited to be here. Thank you.
Abby:
Wow. Yeah, what kind of business did you just start? That's awesome.
Anna:
Yeah, I just started my solo accounting practice, but it's going pretty slow for right now. But, you know, it's a new business. I'm also working full time as it is, but we're getting there. I wasn't planning on starting it right after college, but here we are.
Abby:
Right. Yeah. Oh, that is so exciting. And now, before we dive more into your job and your new business, do you have a favorite memory from Embry Riddle you'd like to share with us
for sure?
Anna:
So, there were really too many favorite memories to pick. Honestly, some of some of the best years of my life was spent at riddle with all my friends there. And, you know, learning so much about my major that I'm really passionate about, I would have to say my favorite memory was probably restarting the Association of Certified Fraud Examiner student club at the Prescott campus. It was started previously it died down around 2019 you know, around COVID time. And so, I and a couple of my friends in the program restarted it. And it was really awesome to see just how much it brought our major together. As I mentioned, the Fauci major is a really tiny little major. There was about 50 of us total across all classes, and there was about 10 of us in my graduating class. So really super small major. And we had a lot of likes, we've worked together a lot, but we it didn't feel like, until we had this club, that we really had a connection outside of class. And now with this club, pretty much all of us were part of it. So, it was basically just, you know, a bi weekly hangout time for all of us, friends accounting majors, and we also talked about some of the stuff that we did in class and, you know, things that were going on in the industry, stuff like that. So that was probably my favorite memory.
Abby:
Oh, that's awesome. That's very cool that you got to bring the club back to life and do it with your friends, who I'm sure are going to be lifelong friends, absolutely. Yeah. And now shifting back to your work life, what does a typical day look like running your own business and working full time?
Anna:
Well, so let's start with working full time. So, this is my first actual job that's like the one that I put first on my resume, as opposed to my business. That's more of a side gig for right now, but I'll talk about that in a minute. So, I am a financial analyst at RTX. I interned with RTX during the summer of my senior year, and then also during my senior year. So, I've got a good bit of introduction to it. So, a lot of what I have been doing now is financial reporting. I've been doing so much financial reporting my Mondays, you know, the start of the week is very hectic, to say the least. They are extremely busy. It kind of tapers off during the end of the week. My weeks are very front loaded at RTX, but there's always something to do, always something new to take a look at, always something new to you know, be involved in. There's plenty of opportunities for growth and learning and my job, and that's one of the things that I really like about it. Another thing that I really like about working at RTX as a financial analyst is I'm actually doing something useful. My work is part of a bigger thing that's actually having a positive impact, not just like, you know, in my community or in the US, but in the world as a whole, the work that I'm doing is supporting things, initiatives that are going on in other countries that are making the world a better and safer place. And that's something that I really like about it. So, I started an accounting practice, and as I mentioned, I wasn't going to when I first graduated, I was like, I'm going to start. I'm going to do it, you know, three years from now, maybe five years from now, something like that. And then it got to be, you know, July, August, three months after I graduated, and I was like, okay, I want to start my accounting practice now. So here we are, and what I have been working towards for right now is providing sort of a like a one. Glove financial management strategy practice for stylists and salon owners. And that's kind of an interesting strategy for me, because I don't know a whole lot about it just yet, but it's been an interesting challenge to sort of dig into that industry. And, you know, find their pain points, find the things that they really care about when it comes to the financial management of their businesses, and so that's been a really interesting challenge. Eventually, I want to start a friend’s accounting firm, which is specifically related to my major. So, I'm kind of looking at this business as sort of entrepreneurial practice.
Abby:
Awesome, very cool. Now, is there a certain thing that spurred you wanting to start it early, more so than your plan?
Anna:
Yeah, there was, I could say, I guess, a catalyst of some sorts. I'm very active on LinkedIn, and I met a business coach on LinkedIn who specializes in startups, and I did, you know, one of those 30 minutes like discovery call kind of things with her about my business idea at that point. And I was telling her, yeah, I want to do this. But, you know, in three years, in five years, something like that, and she asked this one question, and that's something that I have been thinking about every day in so many situations since then, and it wasn't that long ago, but I have a feeling this question is going to stick with me for a long time. The question was, why not now? And I was like, you know, that's a good point. That's a good point. Why not now? So that's kind of something like I said that I took it to heart. I was like, why can't I start my accounting firm now? Why can't I, you know, do this now, learn this now. Yeah, that's something that has really stuck with me. You know, it's carried over not just into my business, but into my work with RTX as well.
Abby:
Oh, that's awesome. And that advice is actually really good for just everyday life, absolutely yeah. And now transitioning a little bit, are you able to tie writing into your full-time job or into your startup business?
Anna:
Yes. So, at R TX, I write so many emails like I heard, I read somewhere that office workers send an average of 40 emails per day, and that is absolutely the case for me, I definitely send at least 40 emails a day, and obviously not all to the same people, thank goodness, but definitely at least 40. And on Mondays, as I mentioned, you know, the front-loaded week, it's probably closer to 60 emails a day. I do a lot of email writing, and the same goes for my business as well. You know, doing networking, talking to potential clients, you know, things like that.
Abby:
Yeah, emails are very important. But do you have a second form of writing that you rely on heavily as well?
Anna:
And R TX is probably actually PowerPoints. Something interesting that I have learned since being like in the workforce, you know, for the last four months, or whatever, is that there's not actually that much like true report writing like in, you know, in college, how we, you know, we write these like essays, things like that. There's actually not that much of that in the workplace. These PowerPoints that I do take the place of those physical reports. So, there's, there's a lot more of like visualization and charts and things like that in it, GPA doesn't really matter in the workplace, even if you go get a master’s 3.5 is still just fine. Employers don't really care if you have a 4.0 GPA. They want to see the experiences that you have, you know. So go join, join or lead a club. Go, you know, get an internship, even while school is in session. You know, you can do 10 hours a week, 20 hours a week, depending on how well you manage your time, you know, conduct a research project that is impactful to your industry, something like that. I know riddle is really, really, really good with having clubs that are tailored towards student interests, there's a whole program for undergraduate research. So, I think that's something that if I could tell students that are currently at riddle one thing that would be it, go get involved in your college. Go, you know, even just, you know, make friends, go hang out at a four Fun Club, something like that. It's just It looks really good on your resume to have those experiences. And honestly, it makes the college experience better to get involved.
Abby:
And that is great advice. Thank you, Anna. Everyone be sure to get involved. Enjoy the college experience to the fullest. There are so many clubs at riddle that are so much fun to join. But that wraps up this week's episode of What's the word we want to give Anna A big thank you for being on with us this week. We loved having you on, Anna. If you're new to our podcast, you can find us on Apple podcasts, YouTube or Spotify, and stay tuned for more.
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Amelia:
This podcast is supported by the Department of Humanities and Communication at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona. Our hosts are Abigail Bradberry and Owen Smith. Matthew Haslam is the Department Chair, and I'm Amelia Chesley, Assistant Professor of Professional Writing. Many thanks to the Prescott campus Writing and Design Lab for hosting our transcripts. The intro and outro music is Wanderer by Aylex. You can find us where most podcasts are found, and please do reach out if you are a Prescott campus alumnus, we'd love to feature you in a future episode you.
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