John: Welcome to episode 42 of the Green Apple Podcast, where each Wednesday I interview a professional known for a hobby or a passion, making them stick out like a green apple in a red apple world. And I’m doing a little research for a book I’m writing about corporate culture so it would be super cool if you could just take 60 seconds and do my anonymous survey by going on the greenapplepodcast.com, click on the big green button there on the top right. It’s only a couple of questions because I know you’re super busy but the more data points I have the more legit my research so I really, really appreciate it.

Okay, now it’s time for this week’s guest, Amy Cooper. Not only is she an Accounting professor but just last month she was named Faculty Mentor of the Year by the great Northwest Athletic Conference. You’re a superstar, Amy, but before we get into it I’d love to hear how you ended up becoming an Accounting professor.

Amy: Sure, absolutely. It’s funny about how I got here because I teach Accounting now at University of Alaska Fairbanks so one of the classes that I teach is Principles of Financial Accounting so it’s students first exposure to accounting unless they had something in high school which is typically more bookkeeping than what we really think of as accounting. But whenever I introduce myself I’m trying to explain to them that they can do so much with an accounting degree, like the world is wide open to them.

John: Like standup comedy?

Amy: Exactly, standup comedy! You can do anything. I do tell them well maybe you can’t go do surgery but most things you could do.

John: I agree 100%, yeah.

Amy: It’s the cool thing about accounting. And I ask them, can anyone guess why I majored in Accounting and I explained to them that I majored in Accounting and I majored in French and it them takes a while. I kind of give them some hints then the reason that I majored in Accounting and French was I wanted to be an FBI agent and I wanted to for years, from like high school into college, like I went into Quantico, I talked to agents and asked them, “What would you do?” and they said they’d go back and major in Accounting because all the white-collar crime, they really need that understanding. And so they said they also took from a foreign language and they took from law.

So my plan was to major in Accounting and French although I could have picked another language a little bit more effective but I love French so we’ll go with it and then I was going to go to law school. So I had three of like the main five areas just to increase my chances. Then my junior year and I had studied abroad, but my junior year was like “I don’t think I want to be an FBI agent” and so at that point I was well into both of my degrees so I just finished. And thankfully, I mean I had no idea what it meant to be an accountant or a CPA, but thankfully the school that I went to as your senior accounting project, you had to do an internship so all these firms in Birmingham are used to this so they hired students and they would only come in from January 1st to March 15th and then the seniors because it was their senior year and they would come back and do like kind of special classes, shortened classes.

Well because I had actually transferred and I’d studied abroad I was like half a semester or as a semester also. When I was done with my internship, I was done, I didn’t have to go back for classes. And I was interviewing with Arthur Andersen in the Birmingham office and it was a small office and she said “Well, we already have our interns but is there somewhere else you like to go?” And I was like “Well, I’ve never been to Seattle and it sounds cool” and she was like “Okay” and I was at Seattle, Atlanta, and New York City and I’ve never been to New York City but I was like “That would be really cool.” But Seattle for some reason was my first choice and I talked to the managing partner one afternoon, on a Sunday afternoon, and he said “Sure, we’d love to have you.” And I went and of course they didn’t know my school, they just thought that there was an intern in the area and then April 15th came and they’re like “So, do you still want to keep working?” and I was like “That would be great because I moved out here.”

So that’s kind of how I was in public accounting, moved up to Alaska after almost two years in Seattle, went to a firm, and then we moved to Anchorage, worked in a small firm there as well. In the meantime, I started doing adjunct teaching and my first class it was a truth test in the sense of teaching because it was an evening class and so it’s four hours and I love accounting, like I love accounting, but teaching accounting for four hours is just a lot and I love it.

John: Especially at the end of the day, I mean, golly.

Amy: Especially at the end of the day when you’re doing it from like 6:00 to 10:00 and these people have all been working all day. Well then it turned out because I was doing adjunct teaching for a college that has a pretty strong relationship with the military and tries to work with them a lot for the military to get their classes and their degree, of the 13 students I had 11 of them were military and some were pretty high-ranked and I was the youngest of all these people.
So it was really kind of an interesting process for me because some of them kind of have this expectation that “I’m here because I showed up I should pass” and I was like no, you have to do the work to pass as well. But I had some great students in there and really, really liked it and so I did some adjunct teaching at University of Alaska Anchorage and then University of Alaska Fairbanks. And a position came open for I guess because of accreditation you have your PhDs who are kind of like they’re academically qualified and then you have those with master’s who have professional experience and that’s kind of where I fell in because they realized that with accounting programs you really need to have people who have relevant experience, not just a theory but people who can actually explain why a trial balance is important. I actually have seen this in practice, like this is our starting point.

So I moved up here in August to the university, in August 5th, 2009 and have been here since. And I teach the Principles of Financial Accounting, Principles of Managerial Accounting, and then Intermediate Accounting 1. The really cool part about that is I often have students start in the Principles of Financial Accounting and they’re usually taking it because they have to but then they really enjoy it. So I have a lot of students at all three classes so at the end of three classes I really have gotten to know them and kind of watched them grow and get excited about accounting.

John: Right, and slowly corrupt them.

Amy: I do, I do. They were like “You’re bringing us to the dark side”, I said “No, it’s the light side.”

John: No, it’s not tax, I’m not telling you to do tax, everybody, slow down.

Amy: All though slight thing is that what my Master’s at and I don’t get to teach it.

John: Oh, my goodness gracious. Wow! What did they give you, like a coloring book and tell you here you go?

Amy: It was a coloring book about IRC codes so you had to like… you know.

John: Right, memorize this.

Amy: Right, it’s Section 61.

John: Isn’t there a Tax Act, can we just use that?

Amy: Yeah, exactly, we’re all going to get up and act out the Tax Code.

John: No. I have no idea what tax people do so God bless you, all I know is it’s so annoying and like end of March when everybody wants to be my new best friend. And I have no clue what to tell you either and the stranger on the street, like I don’t know either.

Amy: Yeah, you’re actually probably have better luck at it than I would.

John: That’s awesome.

Amy: You know it is funny, I think that’s just an interesting perception of the public like you say accounting and they’ll ask you anything, like, anything.

John: Yeah, and if you don’t know it then they think that you’re a fraud, it’s amazing! And I also feel bad too because while I did pass the exam I know people that have not passed the exam that know accounting way better than I ever will. Especially now, I feel like I should just pass my credits along to somebody and be like “Here you go, buddy, it’s all yours now.”

Amy: I often tell my students and I’m like there’s definitely an expectation gap between like what the public thinks accountants can do and what they actually can do.

John: Yeah! Because everyone thinks like especially with taxes, it’s like “Oh, yeah, skim me, find the loopholes so I can get all this money back”, it’s like “Well, I didn’t write the rules, man. All I could do is just tell you what the rules are and if you didn’t do it right, sorry. It’s not my fault.”

John: Yeah, that was always interesting dealing with clients and taxes. And it’s like the IRS is pretty actually specific. Not always, definitely not always, and there’s definitely gray area much more than I think any of my students ever imagined, they think it’s very black and white which is not true. But there are times where it’s like “Oh, it’s pretty clear”, that you have to do XY and Z.

John: And I think that you brought up an interesting point of just that public perception versus reality and I think sometimes too like you said, your students, like people coming in to the profession buy into that public perception idea in whatever the stereotype is and things like that so I agree with that. And that’s why I’m trying to get this podcast up and keep it rolling because it get people talking about that’s not what you have to be.

Amy: No, absolutely not.

John: So I’m glad that you’re able to catch them early on and tell “Yo, it’s not that way, it’s not what you saw on the brochures. The nerds, you can go over to engineering, that’s where those people go.”

Amy: Exactly, exactly, we’re a little bit looser than that. I have something, a magnet on my door and it was actually the ASCPA did it and it said “Not all CPAs wear suit and ties”.

So I just love telling them when I talk to them about it I’m like it just opens so many doors, like you can’t go wrong because you can do anything. Why shut yourself off, go do it and if you end up doing anything– I know someone who is an interior designer– all sorts of different paths but they started with that accounting knowledge and being able to look at problems and analyze problems, and that is not a sort of stereotypical thing, all sorts of people can do that. I love looking at students because my students are a broad range, you look at a lot of them and they’ll be like not really any of them are stereotypical accountants because there is no such thing or there shouldn’t be.

John: Right, right, I agree. And that’s really cool that you see them coming in without any sort of influence and they are this broad spectrum, a wide variety, and by the time they’re in their mid-40s they’re all exactly the same. And it’s like what happened between then and now to where everyone just turns into a widget and it’s like what is going on. And honestly to me it’s professionalism is just kind of that thing, that cloud, that just kind of weighs on everybody and tells them this is how you’re supposed to act or this is how you’re supposed to behave and this is what you’re supposed to do. And it’s like no, no, no, you’re not, that’s ridiculous. Don’t be the stereotype. So that’s so cool that you get to see them early on.

Amy: I do.

John: That’s so great, that’s so great. So I know that being a professor is very busy and time-consuming and I’m sure than when you were working and doing that, I can’t even imagine your schedule then, but when you had some free time what sort of hobby or passion really consumes your time?

Amy: Well definitely in the fall I am a huge college football fan. I grew up in Alabama where you have to pick, you have to be a University of Alabama fan or an Auburn University fan. So War Eagle, totally Auburn University, it’s hard for me to say those others words. There’s a problem in one of my books, in my Financial Accounting book, and the authors always likes to do themes and one thing is college football. And so the business and the problem is Crimson Tide and I tell my students I can’t say that, I change it because I actually do a handout with it and I put War Eagle, that’s the name of the business because I cannot say those words. Like I’m going to say that a lot in this problem so we don’t do that and they’re all just looking at me like “What?”

John: That’s true. In Alaska, they probably don’t totally get it but I completely understand.

Amy: Exactly, and people who have lived elsewhere kind of get it. So really that’s what I love to do in the fall. And even my children, I have a seven-year old and a five-year old and they’re learning the Auburn fight song, they wear their orange and blue on Fridays and they know that we cheer for Auburn like that’s our team. I don’t really take up a lot of time with it in my class before class especially in the fall and I always tell my students in the fall I’m like “So unfortunately you have this class in the fall which means you might hear about Auburn football, it’s just the way it is.” But it is the one thing that’s really and there are a lot of great things about Alaska but in the fall you can watch football starting at 8:00 AM because of the time zone and it goes to midnight because of all the Pacific so you can watch football seriously all day long.

John: Oh, man, my wife would hate that but I would be in heaven.

Amy: My husband likes football but he’s not like I am because he grew up in Fairbanks so again, he doesn’t really quite understand how you can be so attached to it, and always like the first Saturday he’s like “Oh, I forgot what football season’s like” and then I was like “Oh, okay.”

John: Right, it’s that time again, oh, yeah.

Amy: I love watching football, pro-football as well.

John: It’s really funny because when I worked in accounting my hobby-passion was comedy, I guess that was my main one, but then once I started doing that full-time now when I’m out speaking and doing my keynotes people ask me well what is your hobby or passion. And it’s definitely college football 100%, I’m getting ready to be the least productive human for the next 12 weeks, it’s going to be terrible. On Saturdays, just forget about it.

Amy: It is, it’s the way it is.

John: Specifically, four hours in particular when my team, I went to Notre Dame so from 3:30 to 7:30 usually on Saturdays I’m locked up. But other than that, I’m probably going to get sucked in to some other games. I hear you, 100%, it’s so fantastic.

Amy: And it’s funny because I’ll have students for a couple of semesters and then I actually had one recently and she goes “What team do you cheer for again?” Like I really think that a lot of them will walk away not remembering much about accounting and what they will remember is that I loved football.

John: Well there you go, this is proving my point, this proves my point. This is so fantastic because yeah, that’s what people remember is the real you because that’s when your eyes light up and you get excited and you can tell in the tone of your voice and everything that just talking about college football, yeah, she likes accounting but college football, get a seatbelt, she’s going to be here for a while.

Amy: I remember I had one student, she had grown up here, and it was a couple of years ago when Auburn was doing really well. And it was the weekend of the championship and so I was explaining before class, okay, if you don’t have anything to do, I need you all to cheer for this team to lose and you need to beat them and so that Auburn can… And one of them she looked at me and she’s like “Seriously? Like you know those?” Yeah, so it was really important.

John: Right, this matters.

Amy: They did. I have a white board on my door and it’s actually not really funny but some of the students think it’s funny especially if they know football and it tends to be some of the male students just because they tend to follow it more up here and they’ll actually write “Roll Tide” on my door which they think is really funny, they love to get me going on that. But they know, they know. The staff knows.

I actually came back from the summer and they had surprised me with an Auburn table in the office. It’s pretty awesome. So they took my other very nice plain wooden table where I sit and chat with the students and I had some nice chairs and it’s now an Auburn table with three Auburn stools.

John: That’s so cool, that’s so great.

Amy: It’s very obvious and people have walked in and they’re like “I heard about that” and I’m like, yeah.

John: That’s so great, that’s so great. When you have to close the door you like hug it, when no one’s looking?

Amy: Oh, my God, I love this table.

John: It’s like everything you’ve wanted since you were ten.

Amy: And didn’t know I want it.

John: Santa’s real, he’s right here.

Amy: Yes, he showed up!

John: That’s so great. So what’s the coolest experience from going to an Auburn game, like your most fun Auburn experiences?

Amy: Well, last fall actually, it’s kind of hard to get down there from here for just the weekend but I was at a meeting in North Carolina and so I said okay, I’m going to go down to Alabama to see family and I was like I really want to get down there for a game. It was an Auburn-Georgia game, which is a great game till the end when they lost but we had said that okay, maybe we won’t go do tickets but we’ll just go down and tailgate and just hang out. And my brother and sister who both live in Alabama, I was going to go my sister, my brother was going to be there with the other friends tailgating.

And it turned out we were able to get tickets and we were able to get on the scholarship level, some friends gave them to us, it’s all-you-can-eat but it was this great view, you weren’t seated in the sun, it was awesome. And so we did the Tiger Walk and it was there because I was there with my nephew who was four at the time and it was just so much fun being with him because he was super excited. I think we are both like on the Tiger Walk when the players walked into the stadium and he and I both were like vying to get like patting the players’ hands and I was like just as bad as—

John: You and the four-year old.

Amy: Yes, like “Me, me, me!” And then I get to bring that back to my students and I actually in one class because I use my computer for the first part of the class, my screen was the beginning of the game and they’re like “Oh, yeah, that’s Amy.”

John: Right, right. So are there other Auburn fans up there in Alaska then?

Amy: You know, there actually are. There are a couple people, there aren’t a lot of people up here who have Master’s in accounting, at least when I was starting to teach. And one of the ladies that I worked with who got me into teaching, she had gone and gotten her Master’s degree at Auburn and her husband went to undergrad and got his Master’s degree at Auburn and then we have some friends in town who moved up here a while ago and they make me look like mellow. I think because we have a pretty big military presence in Alaska you got people from all over the world. I’ve been many times like in the store and someone will come up to me because I’ll have something Auburn and they’ll be like “War Eagle”, I’m like, “War Eagle”, or you’ll see Alabama fans and I will say “War Eagle” to them.

So there’s actually a lot more than you would think. I often run in to Alabama or Auburn fans and actually last fall my daughter and I were at the store and it was right after an Auburn game so we had Auburn stuff on. And a lady walked by and she said “War Eagle” and her husband had an Alabama shirt on, and I said War Eagle back and I think Alabama was playing Tennessee at the time, when I’d left to go to the store Alabama was actually losing and I was like “Go, Tennessee” and he just kind of rolled his eyes and he laughed and I was like “Hey”.

John: Right, but you’re just doing your duty.

Amy: I know, I know, we cheer for Auburn and any team that plays Alabama.

John: Exactly, as a good citizen in the United States of America, that’s how it should be.

Amy: Yes. And you know what I think is important about it with the students is that a lot of times they go into class and they listen to their professor and they don’t really get to know them but I share that with them so that they can see that like she’s a real person, like she cares about something, she’s passionate… I think they can see my passion for accounting and their success but they also see okay, there’s something more, she’s a person, she’s not just someone standing up there just talking the whole time, she is a person who has a passion, who has a hobby. And I think that makes it easier for them to connect sometimes to see that and I think that’s really important.

John: Oh, absolutely, and I think that that’s so important because it also shows them as a role model that you can be successful at your career and also show the side of you that your passion or your hobby or what you love to do on the side as well, that it doesn’t have to be all work all the time.

Amy: Right, and it shouldn’t be.

John: So that’s such a great role model for them to see that that isn’t how it has to be because when I was going through school, probably for you too, I didn’t have any role models like that, it was just all accounting all the time and then you’d get out and you’d start working, what’s this charge code. I have my survey that I’m doing for my research for my book and it’s amazing some of the people say “We don’t have a charge code for socializing” or “We don’t get paid to learn about each other” and it’s like why not, why isn’t there a charge code for socializing? That’s actually more billable than actually doing work, it has more of an impact on your business.

Amy: Absolutely, and you’re spending more time with those people than you are doing anything else in your life.

John: Sadly true, yes.

Amy: So why not cultivate that culture where you want people to know each other and support each other and their passions. There’s a firm in town, it’s a friend of mine and it’s a small firm and she just recently started hiring employees and she has interns. They’re all actually former students of mine which is kind of funny but one of them, small world, is actually originally from Birmingham but moved to Colorado and was a student of mine at University of Alaska Fairbanks but all her family is from Birmingham. But she mushes dogs, so she actually takes a sabbatical during busy season because that’s when you mush but they work it out and that’s when all the dog races are.

But it’s really fun to see they all know that, the dogs come to the office sometimes, so they all support her. So when she’s doing the big races they’re watching her, they’re following her, and I think one, it’s really neat to see but they can all be excited for someone else’s passion and it makes it more connected than just the job, just to go from 8:00 to 5:00, like you’re actually invested in the people in the company and you’re invested in what you’re doing and that’s just a big piece of it.

John: Right, and then when the crap hits the fan you’re able to hold on together longer because you have more connections to each other and stronger bonds there if than something goes bad or whatever then people just quitting left and right because they don’t feel valued or feel connected or supported. So that’s so great, very cool. That’s awesome, that’s so fantastic.

Amy: And that’s what I try to explain to students is that it’s really with accounting, obviously it’s numbers and a lot of people come in, say “I’m really good at math”, I’m like “Not really math.” I mean, you need to know some basic math, it’s that correlations that… And what I try to tell them is obviously you’re working with people’s numbers but it’s a very personal relationship that you’re creating with someone when you’re talking to someone who has started this business and this is their heart and soul. It isn’t just about the numbers, this is their passion and your job is to create that relationship and yes, to help them, but you also have to create that bond between the person.

And that’s hard for them to see because I think some people come in thinking “Okay, I’ll go in accounting, I won’t ever have to talk to anybody.” I think anyone who’s in a typical accounting profession whether that’s public or private will tell you that most of their day is communicating with people.

John: Absolutely, sometimes poorly but it’s still communicating.

Amy: We got to work on the poorly part but yes, whether it’s good or bad.

John: That’s absolutely right. And so going back to that firm with the dog musher, I think that’s such a cool story. I guess when you think about who the onus of opening up and sharing or creating this culture, is it more on the top-down, the organization as a whole or is it on the individual to actually be willing to step up and say, “Hey, look, I mush dogs and I’m going to need to have these couple months off.”

Amy: I think it’s got to be both, it’s got to be something top down because if you have people at the top who aren’t going to share themselves and who are going to come in and close their door and not really invest in relationships with the people in their firm, then you’re not going to have brand new staff come in and say “Hey, look what I’m doing.”

So I think it’s definitely just because I see students who are starting, they’re nervous about starting, they don’t know what they’re doing, they don’t know what it really means to work in accounting, whether that’s private or public, they just don’t have a real sense. So they’re pretty nervous and I think you’re going to have some who will come in and say “Hey, this is what I want to do” and I think this young lady in particular was able to do that because it meant so much to her. But I think some, they really kind of have to see that example from those around them and then they’ll be willing to do that. Especially when you have younger staff, when you got people who maybe are coming back to school, your non-traditional students, and then they go out and look for a job, they probably have the maturity and they’ve been through situations where they realize, okay, if this is what I want I’m going to have to step forward. But I think with new staff coming out of college, your younger staff, that’s got to be something that is part of the firm culture that has been established and I think when they see other people sharing they will be more willing to share.

John: Right.

Amy: And I think it’s just the role modeling is for them to see that it is important to be a little bit open and to share that. You don’t have to share everything, I think the idea of TMI is very true, but there is opening yourself up, sharing something about yourself I think is important.

John: Right, it’s not drama, I’m not talking about that. It’s just this is what I love to do, it’s not my third boyfriend just broke up with me or whatever, it’s like no, we don’t need that, that’s gossip. Just this is who you are, this is what’s inside you, this is what you’ve been doing since you were a child or what have you or even just started a year ago, whatever it is, but this is your hobby, your passion and that third dimension to who you really are. I think that’s such a great answer and especially in a smaller firm and a smaller group, the tone at the top I think has even more of an impact than if it’s a huge organization then maybe you can carve out a niche. But definitely, the smaller groups, that’s for sure.

Since you get to deal with the students and see them early on are there any words of encouragement that you share with them to see the benefits of this?

Amy: Well I think that what I hope they see in what I do is that I really love my job, like I love what I do. I love accounting and I love teaching and they get to see that. And then also especially in the fall they get to see my passion college football so they get to see what I’m really excited about I guess. And what I have told students is that you got to find what you love to do, you have to find… I would love for you to go into accounting but if accounting is not your thing, what I want more for you than anything is for you to find the job that you love as much as I love mine, like that’s really what I hope for all of them.

And I think that once they find that kind of place, I think that they will naturally want to share. Because some of it is a little bit organic like if you were really in a comfortable spot and you feel like you’re really contributing in what you’re doing, you just enjoy. Like you get out every day and you’re like “I want to do this”, then other people are going to see than and it’s just you’re going to want to share.

John: Right, right, yeah, because you’re going to have that camaraderie and you’re going to feel comfortable, you’re not going to feel threatened or that you have to put on a fake face or façade or whatever, and pretend to be what you think an accountant should be today which is hilarious to watch but yeah, absolutely. That’s such a great profound point, just do what you love, feel comfortable and then the rest will just fall in line. Yeah, that’s really great, really great.

Well, I think we’ve all gotten to know you really well, Amy, but maybe more than you anticipated. But I have my rules for whether or not we should probably watch college football together based on my 17 Rapid-Fire Questions. This is also how I recommend firms interview new hires, it’s over in a couple of minutes and you pretty much know everything you need to know. So let me fire this up and here we go. The first one, cats or dogs?

Amy: Dogs.

John: Sudoku or crossword puzzle?

Amy: Definitely Sudoku.

John: So Star Wars or Star Trek?

Amy: Star Wars, totally.

John: How about when it comes to computers, a PC or a Mac?

Amy: I’m a Mac.

John: So when it comes to a mouse on a PC, right click or left click?

Amy: Right click.

John: Right click, yeah, that’s the wild one. Do you have a favorite color?

Amy: Probably blue and orange.

John: Right, I knew what it wasn’t, that’s for sure. There you go, least favorite color?

Amy: That would be crimson.

John: Solid answer. What did you have for breakfast?

Amy: Yogurt and granola, always my favorite.

John: Do you have a favorite cereal?

Amy: I guess my favorite cereal is probably this granola cereal that you can get at Trader Joe’s. We don’t have a Trader Joe’s in Alaska, go figure, so whenever I’m near Trader Joe’s I always get this. It’s like ginger cashew crunch or something, definitely my favorite.

John: Yeah, yeah, I’ll ship you some, we have them all over in Brooklyn. When it comes to financial statements, balance sheet or income statement?

Amy: Balance sheet, it’s the key of all.

John: Right, you can’t hide anything in there.

Amy: You can’t, you can’t, it’s fundamental, financial statement.

John: Do you have a favorite Disney character?

Amy: Probably Minnie only because that’s what my daughter loves.

John: Sure, you’ve gotten an overdose of Minnie lately by default. When it comes to shoes, heels or flats?

Amy: Heels.

John: Nice. Do you have a favorite number?

Amy: Seven, and I don’t know why.

John: All right. Do you have a movie that makes you cry?

Amy: I don’t know if it makes me cry but I love Hoosiers. Old school basketball movie. And there’s just something about that that always maybe crying in a good way like it always can bring me to tears. But my husband will tell you that I cry at anything.

John: Commercials.

Amy: Oh, yeah.

John: I cry at college football games. I don’t know if that counts. Do you have a favorite actor or actress?

Amy: I’ve always liked Harrison Ford.

John: Oh, yeah, he’s always in good movies too. When it comes to reading, a Kindle or a real book?

Amy: Real book. I mean I have to use my Kindle but there’s nothing like a book.

John: Right, having a real book. And the last one, favorite thing you own or favorite thing you have?

Amy: Favorite thing I have is probably our kegerator in our living room.

John: In the living room, nonetheless.

Amy: Really bad, but we have great local brewery and so we can have their beer on keg. And it’s covered, it looks like college dorm because it’s just got people send us all like really random, random bumper stickers and so that is what covers it and then all the glasses are on top. And people are like “Why don’t you just move it downstairs, like the garage”, I’m like “Why would I walk down there just to get a beer?” I’m watching college football. I’m not going to go downstairs.

John: That’s such a rookie question to ask.

Amy: Exactly. That always turns people off when they come into our living room, they’re like “That?” Yes, that is.

John: Yes, it is, and if you don’t want to be friends with me, there’s the door. That’s so fantastic, this is so great. Well thank you so much, Amy, this was really, really fantastic. Absolutely.

Amy: Absolutely. This is a lot of fun, I appreciate it, John.

John: Wow, that was super fun. College football is a passion of mine too so I could talk about it all day long. But I really love how Amy is showing her students that you can be successful and show your passions at work. And she said this is the thing that her students remember most more than anything the accounting textbook stuff that she’s teaching. If you’d like to see some pictures of Amy on her way into Auburn’s Jordan-Hare Stadium or links to her social media. Please go to greenapplepodcast.com. And while you’re there, click on the big green button and do my research survey.

Thank you so much for sharing this with your friends and coworkers so they get the message that we’re trying to spread which is to go out and be a green apple.