In a world filled with opportunities, the A Day In The Life Series is here to shine a light on the many different career paths you can pursue, with sage advice from amazing women who are doing the work! Throughout the series, we’ll hear from women in many different roles across many different industries with one major thing in common - a desire to help you win with whichever path you pursue.

In today’s A Day In The Life segment, we had the privilege of connecting with Erica Wilson to talk more about the life of an Advisory Services Manager. Check out our conversation below!

Tell us about yourself.

My name is Erica Wilson. I am 31 years old–I grew up in a small town in Maryland. Atlanta has been my home for the last 15 years. Two of my favorite roles are wife and mom. My son recently turned a year old and he is ON THE MOVE. In my free time you can catch me cooking, decorating my home, or reading a good book.

Tell us more about your career journey.

My career started over ten years ago through internships while I was studying accounting at Oglethorpe University. I was tapped early on by recruiters of a larger public accounting & professional services firm and upon completion of my internship I was fortunate to receive a full-time job offer prior to graduating with my bachelor’s degree. I started my first full-time job post-graduation in External Audit, which is all about accounting–essentially going into different companies and verifying that their numbers and financial information is accurate. Though the strong accounting focus was not my cup of tea, I later learned that working for a professional services firm that allowed me to interact with multiple companies across different industries was something I enjoyed. It took me some time to figure out exactly where my strengths and interests would lead me. Fast forward to today– I’m at a smaller professional services firm in a role that helps my clients manage risk.

What are your main responsibilities in this role?

The best way to describe my current role as a manager is to help my clients manage risk (financial, operational, regulatory, fraud, etc.) while keeping everyone aligned and moving in the same direction. Let me elaborate–in my field, we work in teams to service our clients in whatever capacity they need. My clients are typically larger companies and we have projects that are defined up front prior to the initiation of the project. This means the number of team members, length of the project, and type of deliverables can vary project by project.

At the manager level, I work with our leadership team as well as my clients to help establish the details of how the project will look, the approach, the resources needed, etc. and I track this through the duration of the project. This is the project management aspect of my job (I am a certified Project Management Professional and love it!).

Many times project managers are not part of the execution teams–that is not the case for me. I am an active member of the team that carries out the established plan. Since I helped to develop the project plan, it is my responsibility to provide guidance and oversight for the less experienced team members, and I also have to know when to escalate certain issues/discussion points to the client or my leadership team.

What does a typical day look like?

A typical day for me is pretty interactive with both my teams and the client though it varies depending on the project. As I mentioned, I help companies manage their risk. That can happen in several ways, but the two I focus on are performing assessments of current processes to see how well they are managing risk and assisting companies with the implementation of risk management strategies by making recommendations and providing guidance. Both of these scenarios require information and interaction from the client. Pre-pandemic, we spent alot of time on client sites and what felt like even more time traveling. Now, we are able to accomplish our goals through a combination of remote and on-site work, depending on preferences.

On any given day you can find me having meetings with the client to understand processes better, meetings with my team to divide responsibilities, taking some time to complete my tasks, or having status updates with my client and leadership to ensure we are on track.

What do you enjoy most about the job?

I enjoy the variety that my job offers. I get to work with several different companies, industries, client contacts, and even internal team members. I always say some people like to be very specialized and invested in one particular area or company. I like to switch it up and try new things regularly and my job not only allows that, but encourages it!

What would you consider the most challenging aspect of the job?

The most challenging aspect would be keeping everyone aligned constantly. At this level there are many parties that depend on me to accomplish goals, give them guidance, and deliver results. I have to keep myself on track in order to keep everyone on track and that takes practice.

What would you say are the top skills needed to succeed in your role?

I think a few different skills are necessary, number one being the ability and desire to interact with others to understand their needs. Another necessary skill would be project management. And third would be the technical skill of whatever consultant or advisory service you are performing–in my case, risk management.

What advice can you give someone who is looking to pursue a career as an Advisory Services Manager?

I have two pieces of advice–first, a good attitude goes a long way. Being willing to step up is over half the battle even if you don’t know exactly what you are doing yet. I work in a team based environment where you learn as you go. It is much easier to help someone with a positive, willing attitude.

Second–hold tight to the relationships you establish. Often times the term networking is scary because people think the goal is to know and be known by everyone. In my career field, that is not the case. The quality of the relationships that are developed holds more weight than the quantity. Every position I got, starting with the recruiters back in college led to relationships that will benefit me today.

Anything else you'd like to add?

Thanks to you, Candyss, for creating a platform for women to encourage one another. And thank you for thinking of me!

Thanks for tuning into the A Day in the Life Series! Be sure to check out the other segments for a glimpse into other roles you may be interested in pursuing.