The 2022 Top Consultants: Stacy Dow

Stacy is the national leader of RSM's financial consulting practice. She has over 25 years of experience providing audit, tax and financial advisory services. She has extensive experience with liquidity events and works closely with the management of middle-market companies to assess internal controls and assist with financial reporting needs.

Stacy supports both public and private companies in supporting their finance organizations to help solve technical challenges as well as identifying practical strategies for process improvements throughout the organization. The delivery of these services requires coordination and interaction with management as well as external advisors to ensure timely quality results. Her focus is on the technology, software, life sciences and medical devices industries.

What do you consider your greatest personal or professional achievement?

Taking a risk to start RSM's technical accounting consulting practice. It was a risk for me personally, but even more so for the professionals that joined an emerging team and trusted in our vision and ability to execute as a team. It has been personally and professionally rewarding to play a small role in the leadership and development of so many talented individuals and to see them take on partnership and other leadership roles in the practice and in the firm.

What advice would you give a professional just beginning a career in consulting?

I would say to learn as much as you can and to look at every experience as an opportunity to learn something from someone. I sometimes did not appreciate that I could learn something from people at any level in any role in an organization. Even now, I really try to listen and observe when I am in meetings so that I can understand and appreciate different perspectives, which is a real challenge for me because I also really enjoy talking!

What have you loved most about your consulting career?

I have loved the variety and challenges that consulting brings. I am never bored and am often faced with difficult problems that can make me uncomfortable at times. I have learned to be comfortable feeling uncomfortable by recognizing that I never have to find a solution by myself. I have learned to surround myself with great teams and together we are able to solve complex problems and find resolutions to difficult situations.

What's the best advice—personal or professional—you've ever received?

I am a very competitive person by nature. A longtime personal mentor of mine told me early in my career to stop comparing myself to other people and worrying so much about getting to a certain level or obtaining a certain promotion. He told me to do what was right for my clients, my teams and the firm, and the rest would follow. It seems very simple, but I still use it today to inspire others to not worry so much about metrics and concentrate on the right behaviors. With the right behaviors, good metrics will follow.

What does being honored as a Top Consultant mean to you?

I feel that is a great honor and to be honest I was very surprised to be selected. I do hope that it means that other professionals, especially women, will be inspired to take risks and be bold in shaping their careers. I spent many years wanting to start a technical accounting practice and just five years ago had the courage to transition my existing clients to drive growth in something I had been passionate about for most of my career. I hope that others find that courage a lot earlier and recognize that it is OK if you have some failures—I have had many and have learned from every one of them. I feel I am still very much learning how to be a top consultant and am very grateful and humbled to be in the company of so many great leaders.