Technically Speaking

Campbell’s first exposure to technology came at a computer programming camp when she was 12. "I made a rectangle move across the screen and thought I was hot stuff."

Ask Jaime Campbell her passions growing up and she says playing the piano and crunching numbers. "I played the piano from kindergarten through fifth grade," says Campbell. "But in fifth grade my mom really changed the trajectory of my life. She noticed that math came easily to me. So, she got me access to a special program and I was soon doing college-level math as an 11-year-old."

But late in her high school career, Campbell was drawn back to the piano, "partly because my mom said she was going to sell our piano if I wasn’t using it," she laughs. "I became the accompanist for the school choir and ultimately decided to major in music at college." She received a bachelor of music education from Florida State University in 1997 and soon thereafter became the music teacher at a Florida elementary school. "That was really my first entrepreneurial endeavor," notes Campbell. "I revamped the music program and got the kids' and the administration's buy in."

In 2000, Campbell moved to New Jersey with her husband but didn't want a career in music anymore. "Being good at math, I thought the accounting profession would be a nice use of my logical thinking. So, I began an accelerated M.B.A. program at Rutgers for non-business majors."

After graduating in 2003, Campbell began at Bartolomei Pucciarelli as a generalist doing tax and audits. Two years later, she went for her CPA license. "I'm a letter junkie," exclaims Campbell. "But it also enhances earning opportunities and helps build client trust. Whatever I focus on, I try to take it to the limit."

"I really fell in love with Excel in grad school," reveals Campbell. "You enter a couple of numbers and, like magic, instantly get an answer without doing manual calculations."

"When I got to Bartolomei Pucciarelli, I continued to develop a deep expertise in Excel and QuickBooks. I went from being a tax preparer for clients to their technology advisor. And the firm was able to expand its service offerings," says Campbell.

Campbell has been a recurring technology speaker, has taught at Kean University and is a Certified Technology Trainer and a Microsoft Certified Trainer. She's even authored the QuickBooks Cookbook for Experts which focuses on QuickBooks and was in the top 0.4 percent in sales on Amazon.

The Campbells moved to South Carolina in 2013 and formed a consulting firm that uses technology to help make clients' finances work smarter. "It's wonderful to be entrepreneurs and parents all from the comfort of our home," says Campbell.