A better version of ourselves in pursuit of our dreams and life’s purpose.

Josephine 'Josie' Guico Villanueva served as President of the Association of Government Accountants (AGA) Guam Chapter for the 2022-2023 program year. This article is adapted from her President's Message, published in AGA's Guahan Gaseta.

A few weeks ago, my two daughters asked me what my topic will be for my October 2022 President’s Message. I thought to myself, why would they ask? Was it a compliment? Were they interested? My family is my best critic, and I always ask them for their opinion when composing my President’s Message to share with me any comments or takeaways they have. Whatever my daughters’ intention was in asking about the topic I’m planning to write about, I responded and said, “Let me surprise you.” My husband chimed in and said, “Perhaps you should talk about yourself this time, so it is more relatable and easily remembered.” It made sense so here we go:

Have you ever heard of the saying, “Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve” by Napoleon Hill? Our brains are hard-wired, and as we are all amenable to it, it is difficult to form a habit, such as studying, getting things done, focusing, exercising, or eating a healthy meal. But how do we shift that mindset and force ourselves to have that mental commitment?

The Throwback:

The first photo above was taken during my weekend visit to the Archdiocese of Agana Chancery office in Hagatna, and on the second photo (Keisha, Kim, Almira, and Gelli) was my extraordinary/autopilot accounting team bonding before dinner at the golf driving range. Bowling was closed at the time so they got no choice but to consider my therapeutic sports. They seem to like it though.

During one of our mentorship sessions, my mentee asked, “If there is anything you could have changed in your past in terms of your career, what would that be?” My initial thought was, perhaps it is the multiple shifts of companies I worked, so I could easily say that I have been in this or that company for 10 years+/- or I could have maximized my leave credit hours based on my tenure. Taking a hard look at it, I don’t regret it because it gives me many opportunities to see different practices, processes, and perspectives among different spectrums of industries. The accounting and finance profession is always portable whether it be within the department or any other department in an organization.

It was almost 6 years ago when I attended one of the AGA Chapter Executive Committee (CEC) meetings in one of the Thai restaurants in Hagåtña. At that time, I was about to transition to a new place of work and asked the CEC for their input because I consider most of them as my mentors and role models. It was when I was about to join the Archdiocese of Agana (AOA) and accept the position of Archdiocesan Finance Officer position. I received divided advice, and some – those who have known me for years – jokingly said they will bet that I will only last for six (6) months. The factors considered are the rising number of sex abuse lawsuits and the stability of the church finances due to existing contingencies. Despite deferring opinions even from my family and friends, I followed my heart and intuition, and today, I never regretted that as it was one of the most rewarding paths I have ever taken. In 2019, the church filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after a few years, just in time, after we instituted standardizing and automating financial reporting and implementing many other SOPs. The almost 4-years of bankruptcy proceedings had stretched many of my accounting team, including those that work at the parishes and schools. The monthly operating reports, legal discovery demands, and sporadic depositions schedules were tough. Thankfully, we are in the process of exit, and we can foresee some sense of normalcy after the federal court ruling was received approving the 5th Amended Plan of Reorganization. There is more work to be done, but this eventful experience teaches us, accountants, perseverance, endurance, strength, and hope for better days.

In my personal view, staying in one company or making multiple bold moves truly depends on you. Seizing opportunities and finding meaning in your work or calling is something. There will always be pros and cons regardless of the choices that we make, but no matter what path you choose, remember one of the popular quotes by Steve Jobs, “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking.“

In the Now:

I missed the AGA General Membership Meeting on September 28, 2022. I traveled to Washington DC to take advantage of my conference scholarship and attended the annual Diocesan Finance Officer conference. Thanks to our President-Elect, RG Palingayen, and Awards Committee Chair, Vince Duenas, who spearheaded the meeting and our program crew, Ms. Pilar Pangilinan (National Chapter Council Rep), and Danica Batac (Education Committee Co-Chair).

While AGA Guam Chapter is nonpartisan, and there is no way the organization signifies the endorsement of any of the attending firsttime candidates to this forum, we are thankful for the Guam First Time Electoral Candidates that were in attendance. They were Roy Anthony Benavente Quinata, Dwayne Thomas Diaz San Nicolas, Darrel Ghristoher Barnette, Jonathan J. Savares, Bistra Ivanova Mendiola, Thomas J. Fisher and Ian Dale Catling. Hearing their candidacy platforms and advocacy inspire us and allows us to re-valuate our chosen career paths or some may call it, life’s calling, whether it be at present or in the near future.

This month, we also have the 1st Coffee Klatch of the program year which was held by Ms. Maripaz Perez, Past President, with her Committee Co-chairs – Royelle Carter and Thyrza Bagana. It was a fruitful discussion of sharing progress and initiatives to encourage more CGFM exam takers and plans of incorporating CGFM review on the upcoming GPDC. On another note, congratulations to our New CGFM – Ms. Cheryl Estrada!

Last August was another memorable event for my eldest daughter, Nikkie, who is entering her clinical years as she is now in her 5th year in dentistry. When we went up to the stage to wear her white coat and sign her pledge of commitment to Dental Medicine, it was a very emotional moment at the stage. I whispered to her to be reminded of its deep meaning and symbolism. There is a long way to go, and there comes a time when she calls me and vents about the difficulty of her exams, memorization, repeat cases, and prototypes. She would tell me she should have taken accounting instead. I jokingly said that if you become a doctor of dentistry, you will only need to account for 20 primary teeth and 32 secondary (permanent) teeth during a human’s lifetime, while in accounting, there are many numbers involved and various items to account for. In life, there are no shortcuts. There is no elevator to success, and oftentimes, you need to pass many hurdles to get there.

Take Aways:

On my trip to Washington DC for the annual Diocesan Finance Officer conference, I actually traveled with my family. My work-life integration was tested because of my conflicting obligations between my professional development and my family. I had to book their tour, schedule their plans while I am attending the conference, and squeeze some adventures in between. I realized that my two daughters, as they grow old, prefer to do different things when they travel. My eldest, Nikkie, wants scenery and to take lots of photos. My youngest, Miah, is serious and wants to spend the whole day at the Museum and National Library.

I needed to create a happy medium between their varying wants. I was able to squeeze in a day trip to New York and grant their wish to see Times Square and The National 9/11 Memorial and Museum. Hitting multiple birds with one stone, I also checked off from my bucket list, walking at the Brooklyn Bridge with my family. In my first office in Guam, I bought an acrylic painting of the Brooklyn Bridge to hang on my office wall. I was often asked what its’ significance to me was, and I told them, I will go there one day. I was practicing the power of words, and the law of attraction, and for some, it is creating a visionary board. How about you? Do you have a vision board or is it time to create one?

It was a hectic week, and I could not imagine how to survive. Waking up as early as 3 am and sleeping as late as 11 pm at night. It was, indeed, a self-inflicted schedule, as I needed to prepare to take another professional certification. I call it my last hurrah (to be continued in my next President Message). Thank God it was over, but I can’t deny that I have not fully recovered from the shift in schedule. It has taken a toll on my health, and I felt very exhausted. I promised myself then, that after giving a good fight, I will re-program myself and develop good habits, particularly instilling regular exercise and a healthy lifestyle as I do what I love to do. Yes, it is difficult to re-program my hard-wired brain, but this time around, I will give it my best shot as I institute Mel Robbin’s 5-second rule – shifting the brain to do what it hates doing by counting 5-4-3-2-1, just like launching a rocket ship. Or to implement Nike’s famous slogan, “Just do it.”

AGAPresidentsMessageOctober2022.pdf

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