"I've located one descendent who was the focus of a 1700s article in Benjamin Franklin's Philadelphia Gazette and another relative who, while selling his goods in town, was apparently chased by some British Redcoats."

Maryann Holloway, CPA, RMA, PSA, CMFO

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The Time Traveling CPA

I write, I create — telling stories, sharing facts — my words read worldwide.

"My dad passed away when I was four years old," says Maryann Holloway, CPA. "And it was left to my mom to raise me and my four siblings." Holloway's dad would have been proud. She graduated magna cum laude from Rowan University in 1997 with a B.S. in accounting. "The year after I graduated Rowan, I started at Bowman and Company auditing government clients," says Holloway.

Holloway cites an accounting career path based, in part, on her appreciation for "keeping things in order." But why take the next step and become a CPA? "The CPA designation puts you one step ahead of others, and it's a credential you can carry with you for the rest of your life," she says.

In her spare time, Holloway has been rather active on Ancestry.com. "Interestingly, I've located one descendent who was the focus of a 1700s article in Benjamin Franklin's Philadelphia Gazette and another relative who, while selling his goods in town, was apparently chased by some British Redcoats."

Often the yin of someone who works with numbers for an occupation leads to the yang of an interest in words in his or her spare time. Such is the case with Holloway. "A couple of years ago, I was reading some online blogs and thought 'I can do this,'" comments Holloway. She began writing an almost-daily blog of historical anecdotes: "If I Only Had a Time Machine. I've written a few haikus and some short stories, one of which was published as part of an anthology on Amazon.com," she adds. Her “blog, has nearly 500 followers.

Encouraged by the positive feedback from her followers, Holloway started another blog, this one a little more personal. Never really knowing her father, she wanted to tell his story by telling the story of the ship her dad served on during World War II, The U.S.S. Hornet (CV-12). The blog, “USS Hornet (CV-12) — A Father’s Untold War Story” traces the timeline of the ship through the battles it participated in. “It’s a way to get a little closer to the dad I never knew,” says Holloway.