Christopher Johnson
Johnson Risk Advisory (JRA)
Tampa, FL USA
"It is tempting to assume the ideas of your peers or be pessimistic, but I chose not to listen and it turned out to be one of the best decisions I have made in my life."
Career Roadmap
Christopher's work combines: Technology, Business, and Helping People
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Here's the path I took:
High School
American Senior High School
Bachelor's Degree
Accounting
Bethune-Cookman University
Here's the path I recommend for someone who wants to be a Project Management Specialists:
Bachelor's Degree: Accounting
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Life & Career Milestones
My path in life took a while to figure out
1.
When in high school, I was swindled out of $500. This lead to the decision to study business, so I can earn money.
2.
During college, I initially majored in business management but decided to switch my major to accounting to compete with a smaller group of job candidates and work in an industry that deals with money.
3.
Considering the small number of African American CPAs in the U.S., I decided to become a CPA to be one of the few that contributed to changing the low numbers and make myself attractive to employers.
4.
Passed all 4 sections of the CPA exam and received job offers from PWC and EY, all in the same week! I decided to start my career with EY, which was my goal during college.
5.
Considering I worked in IT risk and audit at EY, I studied and received my Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) license to improve my understanding IT audit topics.
6.
Departed from Big 4 and learned the value I can bring to small and medium sized businesses as a result of my Big 4 work experience.
7.
Started my own company serving small and mid-size organizations with IT controls, information security, and compliance.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Peers:
Accounting is a lot of work.
How I responded:
Honestly, I have heard many discouragements during the course of my career. The biggest one was: "Accounting is a lot of work." It is tempting to assume the ideas of your peers or be pessimistic, but I chose not to listen and it turned out to be one of the best decisions I have made in my life.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
Considering my education was in accounting, I found it very challenging to work within IT. I had to learn IT topics while working in the profession. It was challenging, but I eventually became specialized as an IT audit professional.