Follow your gut

Lindsey Stephensen CPA, CGA, has an uncanny knack for following his gut instinct. For some, that instinct might lead them to buy a lottery ticket or prevent them from some dangerous accident. In Lindsey’s case, his gut instinct has led him through three different careers and some big lessons to go with those careers. 

Rewind to the beginning when Lindsey obtained his bachelor’s degree in environmental science from the University of Lethbridge. With his new degree in hand, he headed to the oil patch to work on the rigs doing environmental consulting. “After being on call 24/7, I was like, ‘What am I doing with my life?’ It wasn’t what I thought it would be,” Lindsey says. 

Unsure of his next step, he thought about what his gut was telling him. “I really enjoyed working with Excel and numbers. I thought, ‘I’ll just go back [to school] for accounting,’” he says. “So I went back and upgraded and got a post-baccalaureate certificate in accounting and received my designation while working at a larger accounting firm.” 

Lindsey enjoyed accounting. So much so that he spent 15 years in various roles in public accounting and industry, and he ultimately landed at the Government of Alberta as a Senior Investment and Debt Accountant. 

But then, Lindsey’s gut instinct started to tell him a different story. “After a while, I started to feel like I’d lost my purpose, and accounting had lost its meaning for me,” he says. 

After the feelings of uncertainty came the tough questions. “‘Am I happy? What makes me come alive? What am I passionate about?’ Through that process, I learned I liked helping people, and that eventually led to the idea of psychology and, ultimately, to deciding to make a change,” he says. 

Now Lindsey is not only a Chartered Professional Accountant but also a Registered Provisional Psychologist. He spends his days providing individual counselling to adults with issues related to depression, anxiety, stress, and even life transitions and career changes (which he knows a thing or two about). 

Lindsey Stephensen CPA, CGA

As someone who spent a lot of time in post-secondary education, Lindsey describes being a student as “intense and demanding.” He advises students to remember it’s not forever, “It’s helpful to keep perspective of that,” he says. He believes it’s important to let the benefits you’ll have after your designation keep you motivated and prioritize self-care. “Very practically, what that means is doing things that fill you up and that you find enjoyable,” he explains. “It could be hobbies, exercising, spending time with friends or family, or even just going for a walk in the sun.” 

When he reflects on his unique career journey, Lindsey has no regrets. His experience as a working CPA is extremely relevant and helpful in his career as a psychologist. “As a CPA, I learned how to multitask, organize, prioritize, and even just practical things like communicating with clients and having a professional tone,” he says.

But that’s not to say Lindsey has left behind the world of spreadsheets and internal controls. “I’m an entrepreneur with my own counselling company. In terms of setting up my company, how to structure things, have the proper controls, cash flow, financial reporting, and taxes, it’s been instrumental to have that business acumen which a lot of people who might go into his field don’t necessarily have.” he says. “The experience I’ve gained being in this profession has been invaluable.”