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+1-802-778-9005Accounting as a field may sound more creative. Still, in a society where people create and innovate outside normal employment, such celebrities have humble beginnings in the accounting field.
Revered celebrities like Janet Jackson, Mick Jagger, and, most recently, the King of the United Kingdom, Charles III, have set benchmarks on how accounting expertise can lead to unprecedented performance.
Learn about their experiences in finance and numbers and the careers they have taken up in the following topics. Let us discover their inspiring stories and show how it is possible to launch a second career and find one’s true calling.
Janet Jackson was born in 1966 in Gary, Indiana, and she is part of the Jackson family, which is well esteemed—born to Joseph Walter ‘Joe’ Jackson, Janet, along with her siblings – the Jackson 5, who was also brought up and initiated into the entertainment industry at a tender age.
It was only in her adulthood that she decided to venture into music despite hailing from a musical family. She began working as an accounting professional in the family business and always concerned herself with the financial aspect.
Soon, she was not on center stage, but her talent was quickly being exposed. Janet’s first album came out in 1982, whereas her third album, Control, was released in 1986, and she was already famous on her own.
Her decision to change her career from accounting to performing was not a big challenge—she was a musician by nature, and she did not have a backward glance. Today, Janet Jackson is known as one of the world’s leading pop singers, with years of experience and numerous Grammy Awards on her belt.
Mick Jagger was born in Dartford, England, in 1943. He originally wanted to be a football player, but music interested him from a young age. His father was a teacher, and his mother was a hairdresser.
Jagger, who comes from a family that believes in the importance of education so as to improve the family’s standard of living, enrolled in a finance and accounting program at the London School of Economics. His parents probably expected this to be a solid profession for him; however, Jagger had different plans.
Being a student, he formed a band with friends, which later became The Rolling Stones. From what was originally just a pastime, it quickly consumed his interest more than his schooling, though. Once the band had become popular in the 1960s and Jagger gained recognition, he stopped dreaming of an accounting career.
Today, Mick Jagger is one of the most recognizable rock singers in the world, and his path has made it evident that sometimes extracurricular activity can take center stage.
John D. Rockefeller, born on a family farm in Richford, New York, in 1839, had little to inherit, as was the case with many similar families across the New World. His father worked as a salesman, while his mother was a devoted Baptist.
Rockefeller himself started work as a 16-year-old bookkeeper and the job that was best suited for him. He was a hillbilly but was very thoughtful; at a tender age, he had a vision of what his future would be like if he were to scale the ladder to success and that to succeed, one must learn how to save and invest his or her money wisely.
The turning point in his life, as well as the formation of one of the greatest companies of the later years, was the establishment of Standard Oil in 1870. By employing his natural talents in the financial aspect and possessing commercial-friendly intuition, he changed the oil industry and grew a colossal business.
Rockefeller’s change from an accountant to an entrepreneur was brought about by his desire to control the flow of oil. Over the years, Rockefeller improved his status, and in 1934, he was officially recognized as the world’s richest man; however, he also made his contribution towards philanthropic causes and changed the face of modern capitalism.
J. P. Morgan was born in 1837 in Hartford, Connecticut, into a very rich banking background. Junius Spencer Morgan, his father, was a famed banker, and that left no doubt about J. P. continuing his work.
Having obtained his education in finance, he began his working career as an accountant. In particular, it became a basis for him to establish a strong grounding in numbers and economics.
Morgan’s career changed when he ventured into banking and applied his accounting prowess to weaving complex webs of power. He proceeded to form one of the most potent banking dynasties in the United States, Harvey, overseeing the money of several corporations and playing a role in fashioning the American industrial economy.
James Pierpont Morgan continues to be associated with a multinational financial services company, JPMorgan Chase.
The FBI Director, Thomas J. Pickard, was born in 1950 in Woodside, New York. Unlike his predecessors, he did not start his career in law enforcement.
From 1984 to 1985, Pickard earned his degree in business administration, after which he worked briefly as an accountant. However, his desire for justice and sense of duty made him abandon the accounting profession.
Born in 1953, Pickard started working with the FBI in 1975 and got promotions as quickly as possible. His experience organizing financial flows later helped him work on cases of white-collar crimes.
Three years later, in 2001, he was appointed as the acting Director of the FBI just before the 9/11 tragedy. Pickard, who switched from accounting to law enforcement, is an example of how there are unlimited opportunities within that career field. Still, his accounting knowledge is vital at his workplace.
Bob New hart was born in Oak Park, Illinois, in 1929, and his original background was not related to acting.
Bob’s father was a businessman, and so Bob graduated with a degree in accounting to join the world of business and work. Newhart took up a job as an accountant, where he used to compute different companies’ accounts.
But humor was always his passion, and he began to update them as often as he could.
To fill his spare time, Newhart recorded comedy routines and soon achieved an iconic album, The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart, in 1960. He also had a gift for using charisma and dry humor and subsequently became a comedian and an actor.
Newhart’s comedy career showed that it is possible to make jokes and funny faces even as an accountant by profession, and he is still seen as one of the greatest comedians on television.
King Charles III was born Charles Philip Arthur George in Buckingham Palace, London, on November 14, 1948. He is from one of the most recognized families globally, the British Royal Family. He is the firstborn child of Queen Elizabeth II of England and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.
Born as the future king of England, Charles was also prepared for royal responsibilities from childhood; he attended Gordonstoun school and later studied at Cambridge University, where he took courses in Archaeology, Anthropology, and History.
It is interesting to note that King Charles III himself has connections with accounting, but he was not formally trained for that; however, in 2007, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW) admitted him to their ranks, making him an honorary member.
This ignited in him the passion for accounting, which he planned to engage in to attempt to solve some of the global problems, notably the environmental ones.
This led to the establishment of the Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) initiative, a foundation he helped to fund, thus promoting sustainable business and the company`s financial reports to include ESG factors.
Although he was interested in accounting as a career, Charles’ passion for environmental issues formed the basis of his career aspirations, relegating any role in the accounting field to the background.
He served as a director at the A4S, where he introduced the concept of accounting to climate change throughout the world of business.
Today, the same man is King Charles III, who remains vigilant in his fight for the preservation of the living environment while performing all other royal obligations of the British monarch.
Kenny G was born Kenneth Bruce Gorelick in 1956 in Seattle, Washington, to a middle-class family with no hereditary link to musicians or entertainers. His father was a plumber, and his mother was a housewife.
Even though Kenny G was a student in saxophone from his early years, he chose to study accounting at the University of Washington as this was a more safe course.
Kenny G struggled to be an accountant for a while, but he later dropped it completely and became a musician. His smooth jazz style caught on, and then, in the mid-eighties, the records that he released were chartbusters. His debut album, Duotones, was released to market in 1986, and this made him famous.
Today, Kenny G is one of the most selling instrumental musicians to date, indicating that, at times, going for passion can be profitable.
Chuck Liddell, aka the Icy, was born in the early seventies in Santa Barbara, California, and he lived with his single-parent mother.
He attended California Polytechnic State University, where he took a course in business and accounting, as well as being a wrestler. The young Liddell, after getting his degree, did get a job with an accounting firm, but he did not find it exciting enough to keep him interested for long.
Liddell developed an interest in mixed martial arts, which turned him into a professional fighter. He won his fights mostly with knockout punches, and due to his aggressive look in the ring, he was given the nickname “The Iceman.”
He changed his profession from accounting to professional fighting. He achieved great success, becoming the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and contributing much to the promotion of this sport worldwide.
Today, Liddell has stopped competing in the fight but continues to be an active member of the UFC organization.
John Grisham was born on February 8, 1955, in Jonesboro, Arkansas. His family was of moderate means: His father was a construction worker, while his mother was a stay-at-home mom.
He first attended Mississippi State University to get an accounting degree and then went to law school. Grisham became a tax attorney; however, even after working several years as a lawyer, he was not satisfied.
Afterward, Grisham discovered his calling in writing and wrote his first legal thriller, A Time to Kill, in 1989. While the book was not very popular at first, his second, The Firm, was a major success and was made into a movie.
Since then, Grisham has authored many other legal thrillers, many of which have been made into films. Today, he is one of the best-selling authors around the globe, a man who can have no connection to such boring activities as tax law and accounting.
