Employee Staff Spotlight on Karin Burgess
By: Jennifer Deroin
We have two offices at Nichols Accounting. The quiet office, Nampa, and the not-so-quiet office, Ontario. That description however can be measured in time as “BK” and “AK”, “before Karin” and “after Karin”. This past March, we were lucky enough to find a new Bookkeeper that just happened to have 17 years of experience as the Office Manager of another accounting firm in California . She was looking for something with less stress as she made her move to Idaho to begin a new chapter in her life, while staying in the industry she loves. An additional factor in the increased office decibel level, was a sudden growth spurt experienced in the company, which facilitated the need to combine a few (four) people into one office space, temporarily.
The room with four people may now be dubbed as the “unquiet” office space in Nampa, or as it’s cohabitants prefer, the “fun” office thanks to the cheery and vibrant addition of Karin Burgess, as well as her sidekick, Rhonda Hope. Karin’s a vibrant and welcome addition to the Nichols’s family, and I set out to learn a little bit more about this upbeat girl.
JD: Tell me what brought you to Idaho.
KB: I fell in love with a man that I’ve known for 20 years. He has two boys and I’ve known them for their entire lives. Their mom, my best friend of 40 years, had passed away from cancer. It’s been a few years now and I was coming out to help take care of the family, and it evolved into more. I’m now the stepmom to two great teenage boys, Cody 17 and Ryan 14.
JD: Wow, that’s quite a story! Do you like it in Idaho?
Mark and Karin Hunting
KB: Yes, very much. The outdoor factor is awesome. We enjoy boating and go to a new lake every weekend. That isn’t available in California. I enjoy running here more because it’s cooler, but that’s changing rapidly! I love gardening, so I started my first Idaho garden. I gardened a lot in Cali, but Mark built me a raised garden box so I can start doing that here. I’m learning to fish and went dove hunting for the first time last fall.
JD: Did you like that?
KB: Yes. It was different. I didn’t actually hit anything though (laughing)!
JD: What else?
KB: It’s just so different here.
JD: How so?
KB: It’s just not so busy. We’re outdoorsy people and on a whim we can go do whatever we want, because it’s all so close & there’s no traffic. I haven’t even been to the mountains yet, and I can’t wait. When we would go to a lake in California, it would be packed. When we went to Brownlee last summer, I thought, where is everyone? I thought, how can there be a place so beautiful like this, and it’s not packed? I’m also a lot more relaxed, but I think a big part of that is my job. It’s a lot less stressful here. Life is just lovely here and I’m thankful to have someone to share it with.
Karin and her two sons, John and Stephen
JD: What area in California did you come from?
KB: Southern California, the Long Beach area. I’ve lived there my whole life until I moved up here. My two wonderful sons, John, 28 and Stephen, 25 were the reason it was hard to leave, and also because the rest of my family is there too. They’re very happy for me though, and they’re anxious to get out here and visit.
JD: You were at another accounting firm down there. Tell me about your job there.
KB: I was the office manager for 17 years. I was very involved in tax work there, which is very different from my responsibilities here. I took care of several different areas. Here I’m focused on bookkeeping primarily. Prior to that though, I was a bookkeeper for my parent’s retail stores in Southern California.
JD: Do you like that?
KB: Yes, very much. And I don’t miss tax season in my new role!
JD: What would people be surprised to learn about you?
KB: I played and managed my Church’s softball team for over 25 years. The only times I didn’t play was when I was pregnant with the two boys. This is the team’s first year without me. I was also the treasurer and Sunday school teacher there.
JD: What position did you play?
KB: Pitcher for many years and then second base.
JD: So you’re saying you were the best girl on the team?
KB: Yes (laughing). They counted me as one of the boys. If your team had a girl that could pitch, then we could put all men on the bases. We won a lot, but we were very sportsman like.
JD: Well I would hope so. It is a Church league!
KB: I met some wonderful friends there. Not only were they from my Church but we would do a Saturday afternoon event together all summer.
JD: What’s something you’re really proud of?
KB: I am really involved in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life. I lost my first son to a malignant brain tumor. I formed “Team Sean”, and I raised a lot of money doing that. This will be the first year I haven’t done it. On the year he would have been 25, my goal was to raise $2500, walk 25 miles and have 25 people on the team and I surpassed all of those goals. I did the same thing year after year, and increased the number to match his age. That meant a lot to me.
I did something similar with the Avon Breast Cancer walks, to support Pam (Mark’s widow). I started doing the 39 mile walks when three of my friends had breast cancer that same year. You have to raise $1800 to even participate. I always far surpassed it. Each year I chose a different city to participate in and I’ve done the walk in San Francisco and Santa Barbara in California, Rocky Mountains in Colorado, and Charlotte, North Carolina.
Karin at the Avon Cancer Walk Finish Line
JD: It sounds to me like you’re enjoying life and have made the best of some difficult situations. It seems like you’re very thankful for where you’re at today.
KB: Most definitely!
**************************
We’re blessed to have Karin on our team!