The Meador Group LLC
Accuracy. Honesty. Individual Service.
My name is Jenna Meador, and I am the proprietor of The Meador Group, LLC.
I grew up in a small town in Middle Tennessee, and I've always had affection for numbers. When I was young, the school bus would take me to my mom's job as an office manager. Some days, she would have trouble balancing the cash drawer to the numbers on her notebook. I would volunteer to help find the discrepancies. Even at that young age, I could see a career path set out in front of me. The remainder of my pre-college years would be spent taking as many math classes as possible and working in my family's retail store.
Upon entering college, I declared Accounting my major. As you probably know, most people change their declarations multiple times before settling on a degree path. That is something I never changed. I started as an Accounting major with a minor in Business Administration. After attending Tennessee Technological University my freshman year, I transferred to Middle Tennessee State University prior to my sophomore year. With a full class load, I graduated from MTSU in 2005 with a 3.5 GPA in only 3.5 years. That is something I am truly proud of.
During my college years, I worked a couple part-time jobs to help pay for tuition and living expenses. I worked two years at a local bank. I began as a teller and then changed to customer service representative. As a bank teller, I truly enjoyed working with the public. I liked getting to know my customers and the speed with which I was able to work. My favorite position was the drive-thru window as I was never at a lack for something to do. When I transferred to the CSR job, I began to know my customers on a more personal level. I opened accounts for all sorts of situations. I heard happy and sad stories. And, I always tried to uplift the people I came across when still thoroughly completing my job. My second year on the job, I earned the award for part-time CSR of the year. This included all part-time positions at the 5 different banking locations in Murfreesboro. The award included the amount of traffic that I dealt with while also having the lowest problems with accounts that I had opened.
At the bank, I met my next employer, a CPA in Murfreesboro. Six months prior to my graduation date, he asked me to work for him. I happily accepted knowing that this job would propel me into the next step of my career. At this job, I controlled all aspects of accounting and bookkeeping for several small companies in and around Murfreesboro. This is when I truly fell in love with bookkeeping and payroll. I loved helping people with my knowledge of accounting while also learning about different industries from my clients.
Unfortunately, upon my graduation, there was not a job opportunity available for me at the CPA firm. I was fortunate to find a job at a manufacturing company in Shelbyville. There, I was responsible for Accounts Receivable for two of our plant locations. I helped reduce the AR by communicating with our customers. In my spare time, I helped our other accounting functions get caught up with anything they needed help on. After working for this company two years, I decided it was time to move on and expand upon my Accounting knowledge.
My next job led me to the healthcare industy. I worked there for over six years. I began as a Staff Accountant entering invoices for payment and completing all aspects of a small subsidiary. That job role grew over time. Throughout my career there, I was responsible for Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Cash Transactions, Banking, Employee Travel Reimbursements, Unclaimed Property, Asset Management, Budgeting, Recording Payroll, and Reviewing Finance Performance for over 40 departments. In the departmental meetings, we discussed monetary variances, departmental changes affecting upcoming finances, and the future of each department in regards to impending changes and budgeting/forecasting plans. At the end of each month, manual journal entries had to be completed to get the books in order. I was responsible for processing 50 monthly while also approving 100 entries of the two employees I trained and then supervised. I was known for getting my job completed fast, while being accurate. When I lacked for work, I would always ask around for more tasks to do. At the end of my career, I had been part of almost every aspect in our Accounting office.
While working at my last employer, I obtained my Master's degree in Business Administration. Working full-time, I attended classes at Middle Tennessee State University at night. I graduated with a 3.75 GPA. Part of my studies included travelling abroad to Austria. I was there for a five week period taking classes throughout the week and travelling to different countries on the weekends. I learned so much about myself. And, although I appreciated diversity before that trip, it gave me a deeper satisfaction of how unique we all are. This has helped me grow both as a person and in a business aspect.
Although my career has been fantastic thus far, I needed to do something I was passionate about; that is helping people. So, I started The Meador Group, LLC. I want to be the accountant you look forward to seeing, not the one you dread going to. My experiences, from working in retail and banking, has made me into the personable accountant you'll consider friend. My experiences in working the corporate world have expanded my knowledge more than I could ever have imagined. Without my job at the small CPA firm, I may not have realized where my true passion lies.
I compare going to your accountant like going to your dentist. No one wants to go. But, we all know it is something that has to be done. The experience is much more pleasurable when you consider the person a friend. Let me be there for you. The Meador Group LLC - Accuracy. Honesty. Individual Service.