Some careers follow a straight line.
Mine hasn’t.
When people look at my work, they often see several different paths: forensic accounting, fraud research, education, documentary filmmaking, writing, and public speaking. On paper, those interests might seem unrelated. To me, they’ve always been connected by one thing: curiosity.
That was one of the themes I explored during a conversation on the Life in Accounting podcast—a discussion about career paths, lifelong learning, and the unexpected places that curiosity can lead.
Following Questions Instead of Titles
My interest in accounting began with a fascination for how organizations work and how financial information can tell a story.
What started as an interest in numbers quickly evolved into an interest in people.
As I moved through undergraduate studies, graduate school, professional practice, and eventually academia, I became increasingly interested in the questions behind the data. Why do people make unethical decisions? What drives fraud? Why do some individuals speak up while others remain silent?
Those questions continue to guide my work today.
Fraud, ethics, governance, and accountability all exist at the intersection of numbers and human behavior. The accounting provides the evidence, but understanding the people behind the evidence is often where the most important insights emerge.
The Unexpected Path to Filmmaking
One of the topics we discussed was All the Queen’s Horses, the documentary I created about one of the largest municipal fraud cases in U.S. history.
What began as research into a fraud case eventually became something much bigger. It became a filmmaking project, a storytelling project, and ultimately an educational tool.
At the time, I wasn’t a filmmaker.
I was an accounting professor trying to find a new way to help people understand fraud.
The experience challenged me to learn entirely new skills and approach familiar topics from a different perspective. It reinforced a lesson that has stayed with me ever since: expertise in one area should never limit your willingness to explore another.
Some of the most rewarding opportunities come from stepping outside your comfort zone.
Learning Never Stops
Lifelong learning is a concept that has shaped every stage of my career.
It’s easy to think of learning as something tied to degrees, certifications, or formal education. In reality, some of the most valuable lessons happen long after those milestones have been achieved.
Whether it’s learning a new technology, developing a creative skill, researching a fraud case, or exploring a completely unfamiliar field, growth often begins when we’re willing to become beginners again.
That’s a mindset I encourage my students to embrace as well.
Professional success is important, but curiosity is what keeps us growing.
Connecting Education and Storytelling
The longer I’ve worked in fraud education, the more I’ve come to appreciate the power of stories.
People may forget statistics, formulas, and technical definitions, but they remember stories. They remember people. They remember the decisions, consequences, and ethical dilemmas that make those stories meaningful.
That’s why storytelling has become such an important part of my work.
Whether through teaching, filmmaking, writing, speaking, or developing educational resources, my goal is always the same: make complex ideas accessible, memorable, and relevant.
Because when people connect with a story, they are far more likely to connect with the lesson behind it.
Staying Open to Unexpected Paths
One thing I’ve learned throughout my career is that meaningful opportunities rarely arrive exactly as planned.
The path from accounting student to forensic accountant, professor, filmmaker, author, and educator wasn’t mapped out from the beginning. It developed through asking questions, pursuing new interests, and staying open to possibilities that didn’t fit neatly into a job title.
Looking back, curiosity has been one of the most valuable tools I’ve had.
And more often than not, the most interesting opportunities have appeared when I was willing to follow it.