Introducing Your Life & Leadership Coach…Amber May!

Welcome to my blogs for Silver Lining Potential, LLC.  My name is Amber May, and I am a trained life and leadership coach.  I want to take a few minutes to introduce myself so you can get to know me while you do your research. 

It started many years ago in a galaxy far, far away…okay, maybe not.  I was born and raised in Colorado and have a knack for head knowledge.  Boy, did I excel in school!  I was one of seven valedictorians in my high school; for us, that meant a 4.0 GPA all four years we attended school.  #nailedit  I think my journey probably started my senior year of high school, because my sole goal most of my life was to achieve valedictorian.  And I did.  Then what?

I went to the University of Wyoming for undergraduate education and majored in Accounting and Psychology as dual majors.  My dad, who is a very influential person in my life, had talked me into going into forensic accounting, so while Accounting and Psychology seem like odd bedmates, they actually work for that particular field.  I graduated in four years with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and headed directly to Georgia Southern University for graduate school: they had then and still have (in my humble opinion) the premier education for forensic accounting in the country.  And since that’s what I wanted, I dedicated myself to achieving that.  I #killedit in grad school and came back to Colorado with a Masters of Accountancy with a Concentration in Fraud and Forensic Accounting. 

I hunted for a forensic accounting role in Colorado and could not find one; everyone wanted experience in tax or audit first.  Pishaw, I said.  I have education!  After spending years in the field, while I don’t necessarily disagree with the position of having experience in tax or audit, I don’t think they’re explicitly necessary for forensic accounting.  That’s just my #twocents.  And I digress.  I reached out to my network and got a job at a Big Four accounting firm in Houston, Texas.  So, I packed up my bags and moved to a gorgeous apartment in Houston and got to work…where I got my first introduction to truly corporate workings.  I was passed over for a promotion despite doing more work than the individual who got the promotion because I hadn’t been there long enough…what?  To this day, it doesn’t make sense to me, but that’s just me.  My manager wouldn’t nominate me for the next step up unless I worked on different jobs within the firm, but he didn’t support me leaving the job I was on…again, what?  So, I put in not quite two years in Houston and found a job back here in Colorado doing what was truly forensic accounting work. 

My job back in Colorado was…let’s go with unique.  Yes, I got to work on true forensic accounting cases.  #winning  And everyday was something different, which I loved.  The firm I went to work for in particular was, in my humble opinion, a disaster.  The department head, a shareholder in the organization, I am convinced in my opinion, is actually a psychopath.  It was not unusual to put in 15 hour days.  The pay was NOT commensurate with the hours, and there were some, in my opinion, shady things happening in the department.  I honestly tried…I stayed longer than any of my teammates, convinced that I was wrong about the organization, that things would get better.  I bought the lies that the head of the department fed me…this person also said I could be a manager and then took it back.  That was the last straw.  I left there and found another firm to work for.  This is where the tragedy happens.

I know part of it is my fault; I think I viewed this firm as saving me from the awfulness (and that is a light term) of the previous firm.  I had expectations that frankly were never met or ceased being met that I thought would continue.  I went to work for this organization and it was a true step up from where I had been.  Great cases and an opportunity to leverage my knowledge and experience!  But something was happening…I don’t know when the bottom fell out, but something changed in my relationship with my manager.  She humiliated me in front of coworkers.  She refused to fill me in on details of cases I worked on while sharing all the details with another coworker who hadn’t worked the case.  Seating was “reorganized” and I was told I talked too much.  I did make a couple of mistakes; heaven forbid I show my humanness…at least I admitted them and we didn’t commit a violation of statute.  Still, it hurt me.  I was given a $1,000 raise.  I know what that means in corporate speak.  And when I shared my shock and hurt, I was told there were expectations I didn’t meet – expectations that were never shared with me – and that’s why the raise was what it was.  I was put on a Performance Improvement Plan, and I sought every which way I knew how, did everything that was asked of me, to improve.  In the end, it wasn’t enough.  I was given the option to resign or be fired.  It’s not a choice.  On paper, I have resigned from that position.  As a practical matter, I was fired.  The bottom of my world fell out.  Forensic accounting jobs are few and far between in Colorado, anyway…how in the world was I going to find another one?  How long would it take me to find a job?  How was I going to support myself?  I had just bought a new home close to work that I was told “they would work with me” if things didn’t work out…they didn’t.  I was left with so many questions and SO. MUCH. HURT.

So, I wandered.  For nearly a decade, I wandered.  I did recruiting, administrative assistant roles.  Bookkeeping, taxes, and payroll.  Apartment appraising.  I tried multi-level marketing.  I became a Certified Bob Ross Instructor®.  I was given a heck of an opportunity to be the face of a small but thriving and growing tax business here in Colorado with some training and a few busy seasons under my belt.  That’s when I realized that I didn’t want to know all that my boss knew…accounting just wasn’t for me.  That’s when I realized that I wasn’t much of an accountant, anyway.  I LOVED the report writing and legal analysis and strategy that came from forensic accounting.  And, to a degree, I loved some of the analysis.  But accounting itself was not my jam.  So I let my licenses that I worked so hard for lapse.  That hurt.  A lot.  So much time, so much money, so much effort.  And it seemed like such a waste.  Devastating. 

In March 2024, I finally hired a career coach to support me in my journey of wandering.  I knew the wandering had to stop.  It was time to buckle down and find what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.  And it became life changing.  I looked at a psychologist and a mediator; I had previously looked into going to culinary school.  I settled on coach.  I did some research and found Accomplishment Coaching Coaches Training Program -  a year-long program that offers not only coaches training, but personal transformation, as well.  I started this program in August 2024 and will graduate in July 2025.  It is ontologically-based, meaning the study of being – who we need to be in order to achieve what we want.  It’s a fantastic program.  If nothing else, the personal transformation has been rewarding.  Do your own homework on the organization; it’s a top-notch program and International Coaching Federation-accredited.  Let me know if you want to come visit…I can support you.  Coaching speaks to me in ways that forensic accounting never did.  I got a real rush out of aspects of forensic accounting, and coaching feeds me.  It also supports me.  It’s a total #winwin.

I still live in Colorado, currently with my dog Roxie.  I am seeing a wonderful guy.  I love to read, and cooking is my JAM.  In my downtime, you’ll find me watching America’s Test Kitchen, Cook’s Country, or something similar.  Or, you’ll find me watching Dateline and similar shows…murder mystery is my not-so-secret pleasure.  My goal now is to support others become the best version of themselves.  The greatest thing about this goal is that it can’t be met!  There will always be more people who want support in becoming their best selves.  #lifegoals  

I know what it is like to wander lost, to be left bereft and without direction.  YOU have all the answers; you just need support in teasing them out.  I know how to do that for you.  I look forward to getting to know you!