COVERSTORY
LAUREN
MCCALL FITCH
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, HANNIS T. BOURGEOIS
BIO
Hometown: Baton Rouge Age: 38 Family: Spouse, Derek, and three children, Beckett (10), Rivers (8) and Adley (4) Years with company: 2 years
MILESTONES
2009: Graduates magna cum laude from Southern University Law Center and passes the Louisiana Bar exam. 2010: Focusing on downtown revitalization, works on two complex tax credit-funded development projects while serving as general counsel to an organization with stimulus funding administered by Louisiana Housing Corporation. 2012: Becomes a local accounting firm’s first chief operating officer at age 29. 2014: Opens Jolie Pearl Oyster Bar with husband and partners in downtown Baton Rouge. 2016: Earns Forty under 40 award from the Baton Rouge Business Report. 2019: Serves on the national board of directors for the Certified Public Accounting Firm Management Association. 2020: Becomes chief operating officer of Hannis T. Bourgeois, a nearly 100-year-old public accounting firm with offices in Baton Rouge, Denham Springs, New Orleans and Hammond.
Q&A
First experience as a leader I’ve played sports my whole life. As a setter on the volleyball team, the job is to direct the passers to send the ball over so that I could then call the play and set the ball up for the attack or spike. Always gravitating toward the shot-caller positions, I was also the pitcher on the softball team and the point guard for basketball. In each of those jobs you are under pressure to perform. Sports are a great way to prepare you for the real world as no one works completely alone; you must rely upon others to get the job done. Lesson for young people You must be resilient in your career and don’t leave too quick. Sometimes your work will need correcting and sometimes you will face a negative person in the workplace. Sometimes you must miss special moments to meet a deadline. Some people “peak” later in life and take longer to get the promotion. It’s not one isolated event or person that should direct your attention to make a rash change. Look for patterns and be patient. Follow your gut and be strategic when you are seeking out a change.
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