This Week We Feature Young Professional Bria R. Guishard
Even though it might sound cliché to say that Bria R. Guishard loves her profession, in the case of our Young Professional for this week, no statement is a truer one. She lives for the profession of accounting and, even after a Bachelor's Degree in the technical subject, is seeking to elevate to higher levels of certification.
Bria was born on Tortola and grew up in the Huntum’s Ghut area but then she moved at a young age to Parham Town, East End where she spent most of her childhood years and then from aged 14 she moved to Paraquita Bay where she is at present. Her mother Yvette Anthony and father Romeo Guishard were also born on the main island of Tortola.
She attended the Althea Scatliffe Primary School where she graduated with a Grade One and then went into the Elmore Stoutt High School where she also graduated with a Grade One.
Because Bria rated in the top 20, she earned a Government scholarship and as such she went on to the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College where she was a member of the Honour Society and graduated Cum Laude.
“And then I went off to university, Missouri Southern State University in Joplin Missouri [where I obtained] my Bachelors of Science Degree in Accounting,” she said.
Accountant at Tortola Pier Park Ltd
Bria is the Accounts Officer at Tortola Pier Park Limited and does all of the entity’s accounting. Her goal, however, is to gain enough experience in order to eventually become a Certified Public Accountant. “Being that it is a new company I help organise the accounting information systems,” she said.
Our Young Professional said her favourite subjects during primary school were mathematics and social studies.
However, in high school she added Spanish and English to her list of favourite subjects. “I had a bookkeeping class, I took different computer classes and that is when I decided I wanted to do accounting as a career,” she said.
Asked what was it about accounting that she liked so much, Bria said she just likes the fact that it is challenging. “That is like the main point of any business. You need accounting. You need someone there to make sure that your financial statements are in order. To make sure that the financial stability of the company is maintained and that everything is growing.”
She called accounting the core of any business enterprise.
Assistant Librarian
Apart from Tortola Pier Park, Bria worked as an Assistant Librarian at the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College (HLSCC) for about a semester and before that she did job training at One Mart Supermarket. She said her training at One Mart also added to her interest in accounting because while she was there she was circulated to different departments and as soon as she landed in the accounts department she just knew that this was the career she wanted to pursue. This she said was back in fourth form.
While at Missouri Southern State University, Bria worked with a company called Sodexo. This she said helped her with her customer and public speaking skills. “So I am not afraid to have a full blown conversation with someone that I have just met,” she said.
Talking a little about her experience at the US school, she said that having transferred all of her credits, she was bounced up to a sophomore in her first semester. However, the work got harder in the second semester and her advisers would bump up her class schedule with some advanced classes as she was a junior now at the age of 18.
“My last semester was a bit challenging as now I am doing a lot of upper level advanced classes. I would communicate with my professors if I had challenges,” she said, adding that because of the university being a small one, there seemed to be more focus on the students by the faculty in terms of helping with internships and whatever else students need.
“The faculty and staff were really helpful and they were really understandable because they knew I worked at the same time so it was really good,” she said.
Bria also was a part of the international students club at the university and also a part of the accounting club. “I also had student membership in the Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants,” she said.
As she only returned to the territory in May 2015 and is focused on settling in her job at Tortola Pier Park, Bria has not had much time for any other extracurricular activities.
“But I am still trying to set my foot out in society because I really want to keep up with certain activities. I have a love for animals. I have two cats and I have always wanted to volunteer at the Humane Society. That is something that I really want to do. I would love to go to Rotary, that is something that I also have on my bucket list to do,” said our Young Professional.
Advice to young people
“I know they all heard this before but I would tell young people to work hard and never give up. Remain motivated and don’t let other people make you feel bad for doing something that you love. If you can’t get a job in the field that you love, still go at it, apply, volunteer, still do things to make yourself feel appealing,” she advised.
25 Responses to “This Week We Feature Young Professional Bria R. Guishard”
Proud of you Bri Bri
You've grown into a smart and beautiful young lady! Continue to keep your head on, the sharks out there!
truth turned out to be, every time i interact with her, I see a new beautiful face off her personality.
congrats Ms. Guishard
You are truly a shining star!
Love you madly!
Queyanna
My sister
Quéyanna