Oak Park, Illinois was my birth place. The first and only child of my mother and father, who divorced when I was about 4 years old. Moline, Illinois is where I grew up with my mother, step-father, half-sister, 6 years younger and half-brother, 7 years younger. A couple times a year I would travel alone, with a kind black "porter" who looked after me on the Rocky Mountain Rocket train to visit my father in Chicago.
At Moline High, I had the opportunity to be in a unique English class, which focused on newspaper writing. I was also in a Spanish club that went to nursing homes and sang Spanish songs, a library club, and was chosen to be the mother in a play. Also, I worked at the public library as a Page, restocking shelves and helping the assistant librarian with clerical work.
After one year at Beloit College in Wisconsin and one year at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, I married an Augustana graduate from Chicago, I met at a summer camp when I was 16 years old. After the birth of 2 boys, Jack and Rick, we moved to San Bernardino, California. Within three years we had another son, Rob.
Over several years I was involved with little theater, a civil service job with the U.S, Forest Service, became divorced and went to work as an accounts maintenance clerk in the hospital food service division for the Department of the Army on the Monterey Penninsula.
During that time I enrolled in enough junior college classes to equal another semester. One of the classes I was particularly interested in was Accounting, and was rewarded with an A.
In 1968 and '69 my former husband and his wife, who had moved to Santa Rosa, were willing to care for my boys while I earned a BA in Creative Arts from San Francisco State.
Within a few months I found a house to rent in Santa Rosa and a job at a savings and loan company that seemed thrilled to have me learn how to become a loan officer. However, on the first day of work I discovered that not only was another woman hired for the same job, we were being trained by a young married woman who wanted the job herself!
Within a couple of months my competitor was let go. However, I was not happy about the obstacles the "trainer" created, or the job itself, so I had a talk with the manager and began scanning the want ads. Almost immediately I saw an ad for a bookkeeper for the Sonoma County People For Economic Opportunity, a non-profit agency for disadvantaged people.
I knew about their mission and had actually approached them for a job when I was first looking for a job in Santa Rosa, At that time they had no job for me and even if they did, I had no car.
However, when I saw their ad, they had moved to new offices within walking distance of my house! I immediately applied - along with about 30 other applicants, who no doubt had bookkeeping experience! Several applicants were asked to come in for an interview, and I was one of them. Before I left the interview, I asked the interviewer when he would make his decision. Every Friday I called, and was told he had not had time to decide. Finally after several weeks, he said I could have the job, because I had shown I really wanted it and was so persistant! I was thrilled! My career was launched.
During the four years I worked there I not only did the bookkeeping (posting and balancing to a set of books - before computers) but kept the accounting for 5 individual programs, including budgets, funding and expenses, payroll, A/R and A/P, filing, supervising low income students, creating a personal manual and annually working with an outside CPA auditor.
For 13 years I worked for three non-profit agencies and one year for a profit company.
In 1983, after learning to use an Apple computer (with no accounting software, and only an early version of Excel called MaCalc) I was hired as an Independent Contractor for a woman who owned a spa and health food store. For many months I provided payroll and other accounting tasks, until I decided to look for a computer job with a company that had proper software and benefits.
It turned out that the engineer owner of the massage table company I was hired to work for, had pieced together his version of a computer and the software he had was purchased at the flea market - it had no manual or phone number to call when I had questions!
During the four years I was employed at Living Earth Crafts as the full charge bookkeeper, I became the working supervisor of two bookkeepers, the customer service department and clerical staff. I also prepared and audited data for monthly financial statements and year-end corporate tax return information for the outside CPA.
During the next few years I was self employed for a time, worked part time for an advertising agency where I had the experience of converting their accounting construction software on a PC to MultiLedger on a Mac, which was more appropriate software for their business What a relief! (I've personally owned a few Macs, although in order to take a Quickbooks online class, I purchased an HP PC, which I use only occassonaly.)
Because I knew MultiLedger and the Mac, I was sought out and hired to work full time with another profit making business, which sold wine online. (Every bookkeeper I have "followed" left the job in terrible condition! Nobody knew how or what the bookkeeper had been doing, so it was up to me to get it in shape! I came to consider myself an unappreciated, hard working, dedicated, employee and management considered me a necessary evil magician! (Bookkeepers may save money for a business, however, they don't make money for the business.)
Within a couple of years I became very involved with a couple of health oriented network marketing companies. Then my husband wanted me to stop and take a vacation to his childhood home in upper state New York, which I agreed to. However, soon thereafter, one of the network marketing companies was having a big get together in Hawaii. I really wanted to go, but taking two vacations so close together wasn't acceptable for that company, When I returned to work from Hawaii, I had been replaced.
Now with free time and sick of being a bookkeeping magician, I became consumed with researching, writing and self publishing a health book, Why Would I ... Eat Algae?
The book was very well received across the country by people who were also involved with the same company. Long after I stopped printing the book I had people ask for it. During that period I was also the treasurer of a related distributor support group that helped others with the marketing aspect.
In 1998 I was ready to go back to work on a part time basis, so searched the want ads for a bookkeeping job with a Mac. I quickly found just what I was looking for at a small printing shop and was immediately hired, probably because I was ready to work and willing to accept a meager pay! Their flexible and customizable accounting software was MYOB, which has become my software of choice.
After working for almost a year, I decided I could handle a second part time job, so I applied to a company that was looking for a bookkeeper who knew MYOB. Even though they only had a PC, and I was told the owner of the company was very difficult, I was very interested in working in a beautiful office for a company that designed golf courses around the world!
Soon I was working over 10 hours a day and week ends between these two companies!
During this time my youngest son started his own advertising business, so I also volunteered to reconcile his bank statements, including a few other clerical duties.
In 2005 after giving up the demanding two part time jobs, I began doing more bookkeeping for my son. I continue to provide my services, as needed.
Now I had time to focus on my interests, which amazingly keeps growing. Our local newspaper The Press Democrat, and the Wall Street Journal provide me with so much interesting information on so many subjects, that hardly a day goes by that I don't want to save some article or keep the whole newspaper, because I didn't have time to "mine" it!
In October 2004 I started a Sonoma County Chapter of the American Society of Dowsers. www.dowsers.org. After our chapter was certified, I was elected the volunteer president and assumed the roles of treasurer, speaker scheduler and e-mail communicator to over 125 people - and growing, who have participated in our "get togethers".
In October 2005 I became the owner/manager of Dianna Coulombe's Healthy Solutions.
This is a small monthly Excel driven digital online ordering "store" for a small group of friends, who wanted to purchase healthy products at a discount. As the volunteer manager I have developed the process, the forms and have been only partially able to teach busy, computer reluctant participants how to use the Excel based process. Each month one of the participants is my assistant to consolidate the orders in Excel and on pick up day the assistant helps sort the delivered items.
The final reconciliations and other finishing tasks are now done exclusively by me, since consistency is not only vital, but is quicker and easier for me in order to be sure that all the numbers are accurate.
Since graduating from San Francisco State, I have taken a variety of Santa Rosa Junior College classes, including one on grant-writing for non-profits. I also attended several 1 day classes given by outstanding professionals, offered by the Volunteer Center of Sonoma County, regarding several aspects of non-profits, including the application, mission statement, grant writing, funding, managing , newsletters and finding compatable peope for the Board of Directors.
Several years ago I took a class regarding what is required to be a good manager. During my work experiences I found that most owners and managers don't know that type of class exists, and who dares tell them!
My second husband of 25 years and I live off Fulton Road between College and West Third in a tree filled mobile home park with a one mile walking path around the perimiter of the park.
My first born, Jack, graduated from Sonoma State University and has been in love with computers and their potential since his first Radio Shack Atari.
My second son, Rick, who graduated from San Diego State, is a CPA working from his home office. (During his high school years he was the local tennis champion, having been taught by his father, who had become an attorney after our divorce, and later a professional tennis coach.)
My third son, Rob, graduated from California School of the Arts and works out of his home office producing TV commercials and making media buys for his clients.
In about 1975 I took my first organic garden class at SRJC and became the treasurer for The Organic Garden and Nutrition Club. During that period of my life I was able to convert my yard, which was hard-pan clay soil, bound up with bermuda grass, into rich organic soil without pesticides! One of my most satisfying achievements!
Over the years I have experienced taking care of a canary, a rabbit, a duck, a guinea pig, 5 dogs, 11 cats, hamsters, white rats, a rooster, a snake, a turtle and fish. My regrets regarding how best to care for them are many! When we know better, we do better!
I'm more than willing to continue learning and sharing all aspects of living kindly and wisely on the Earth, and about life beyond, as explained by Betty White in The Unobstructed Universe written by her husband, Stewart Edward White. www.spiritwritings.com/stewartedwardwhite.html
Thank you for spending time with me! I look forward to spending time with you.
Kind regards,
Dianna
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