Writing is my fourth career.  I was a CPA, I worked as a regulator, and then I worked on Wall Street.  I am now a full-time writer, and my website is aliceschroeder.com. So, I guess I would say my real career is reinvention!

Typically, when I master something, I start over in something new that interests me -- not trying to follow a linear path up a corporate ladder, but, rather, following my curiosity.

I began as a CPA, which is putting together the numbers that explain a company’s business.  Then, as a regulator, I worked at the Financial Accounting Standards Board. Those are the folks who decide what the rules are for putting together those numbers.  When I went to Wall Street as an analyst, I was at the other end of the pipeline, figuring out what the numbers meant, saying, “Gee, would I buy this stock or would I not?”  It was all kind of a circle around one subject, at increasing levels of complexity.  When I reached Wall Street, at age 37, many of the people in my field had been there for 20 years and had a lot more experience than I had.  But I’ve always sort of liked challenges.

I met Warren Buffett in 1998 when his company, Berkshire Hathaway, acquired a company whose stock I followed, General Re, which was bought by Warren's company Berkshire Hathaway. At the time, nobody followed the stock of Berkshire Hathaway.  It was ignored by Wall Street, and Warren Buffett, didn’t cultivate Wall Street.  It was a challenge and it was interesting and difficult, and I thought, “Well, this will be something new to learn.  And it will be fun.”  So I decided to become the first person to follow Berkshire. 

I never thought that I would even speak to Warren Buffett.  It was a shock when he reached out to me. I ended up following the stock for five years, during which I would meet with him once a year.  We talked on the phone periodically.  After five years, he started nagging at me to write a book, and the result was The Snowball.

Always trust your instincts. They'e the best advisor you'll ever have.