My EA Journey

For me, like many others, becoming an enrolled agent was a second career. It started with a part-time seasonal job preparing taxes while I continued my full-time career as an elementary music teacher. I began studying for the SEE exam and became an enrolled agent the following summer.

Membership in NAEA and particularly the Indiana Society of Enrolled Agents (ISEA), has had a huge hand in shaping my career. It has gone from being a dream to a reality with the support of seasoned tax professionals willing to mentor and guide me – as a professional, a leader, and as a person. Today, ISEA is a small but active society with a rich history of innovation and engagement. As the current president, I am honored to share a bit of this history with our membership.

Lee Byrd, EA, past president, wanted ISEA to be a society people wanted to join. He also had an eye for talented enrolled agents. He would pursue them, asking them in a gentle way to become an active member of the society. While he was proactive, he also set high standards and expected all members to give their best to the society. Lee was integral to the recruitment and development of the last three ISEA presidents, as well as other board and committee members.

Lee Byrd was very quick to see the benefits of NAEA’s Schuldiner/Smollan Leadership Academy (SSLA) to our board and asked all of our board members to attend. Andrew (Andy) Stadler, EA, past president, attended SSLA with several other board members. Andy also found great benefit from leading a board with a strong foundation and understanding of leadership qualities and principles. He emphasized the importance of SSLA to our society and encouraged every board member to attend. At one point, 90 percent of ISEA’s board members had attended SSLA.

Andy was innovative and instrumental developing what is now the Educating America Committee. Within Indiana, he had encouraged local colleges, universities, and technological schools to include an enrolled agent program within their curriculum. Indiana continues to exemplify the goals of the Educating America Committee with Ivy Tech offering an enrolled agent SEE preparation course as well as an enrolled agent course certification at all of their campuses across Indiana. Most recently, the Indiana Marketing and Promotion Committee developed posters for office and classroom walls idealizing the Educating America program.

Janet Sienicki, EA, immediate past president of ISEA, displayed her innovation and leadership through the development of the “Just Hang Up” campaign designed to help taxpayers avoid scam phone solicitations. She had witnessed well-educated clients falling victim to these scams as they became prevalent several years ago, and led the society in taking action. You can see the public service announcement she developed at indianaenrolledagents.com/just-hang-up/.

Throughout the years, ISEA and its members have been the recipient of awards. These include Lee Byrd, EA, receiving the Outstanding Volunteer Award in 2012 and Andy Stadler, EA, receiving Excellence in Public Awareness Award in 2014 and the Founder’s Award in 2017. Under the leadership of Janet Sienicki, EA, Indiana received an Affiliate of the Year Award for going above and beyond in driving for membership. I was honored to receive the Emerging Leader Award in 2017.

It has gone from being a dream to a reality with the support of seasoned tax professionals willing to mentor and guide me.