On Your Mark, Get Set …
I get to interview athletes, the media and sports executives. We all have a story to tell.
"Growing up in Jamaica," says O’Neil A. Reid, CPA, "track and field is the sport of kings." That love for the sport stayed with Reid when he immigrated to the United States with his parents in 1989.
Reid began his college career at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica where he majored in economics. After he took a principles of accounting course, he fell in love with it, and it became his major.
After settling in Morristown, Reid enrolled at Rutgers University as a 21-year-old freshman where he graduated with a B.S. in accounting and a minor in math in 1992. He continued his studies at Rutgers and received an M.B.A. in 1995.
"I became a credit analyst at Panasonic." Thus began a career in private accounting for Reid. He did stints at Dun & Bradstreet; Brother International; and TRAC Intermodal LLC, where he's been since 2005. "I enjoy accounting because you're able to combine math and business. The numbers don't lie; one plus one always equals two," says Reid. "And with corporate finance, I enjoy the challenge of breaking down as well as building up financial statements."
"The CPA designation’s extremely prestigious. And I always want to validate what I do and add credibility to my work," adds Reid.
One tie to his Jamaican homeland is the sport of track and field. "I'm an avid fan," says Reid, who goes to many of the professional and collegiate track meets in the New York metropolitan area. Reid took his fandom one step further and began writing about the sport for TrackLedger.com in 2007. "I write athlete profiles, analysis, previews and recaps of meets," notes Reid.
Reid had been a guest many times on a friend's radio program that covers the Carribean sports scene, primarily track and field, basketball and cricket. Reid was such a natural behind the microphone that he was invited him to do his own show: The Sports Zone with the Professor on Jamminz Radio and 100.7 FM. "I love it," says Reid. "I get to interview athletes, the media and sports executives. We all have a story to tell."
Why the professor? It turns out Reid has taught at the County College of Morris, Burlington County College and Warren County Community College. Notice a theme? "I like to teach introductory courses at the county colleges because the students there are very 'bright eyed' about learning," exclaims Reid.