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Rebeccah Wassner Talks About Transitioning From CPA To Professional Triathlete

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Very few professional triathletes became elite athletes right out of school. For most professionals, choosing triathlon as a career came after already starting another job. In the case of American Rebeccah Wassner that other job was as a Certified Professional Accountant (CPA). Wassner talks about making the transition from the board room to the race course.

Rebeccah Wassner is an Olympic-distance specialist. Photo: Robert Murphy
Rebeccah Wassner is an Olympic-distance specialist. Photo: Robert Murphy

Ten years ago, I was sitting in a training session at a Big Four accounting firm, thinking about my answer to a question on a self-evaluation form: “Where do you see yourself in 10 years?” I remember exactly what I wrote: to be a professional triathlete winning the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon.

I knew that reply wasn’t exactly what the managers wanted to read (I’m sure everyone else has written something like “making partner” or “CFO”), and I thought about changing it to something a little easier for the managers to swallow. But I didn’t.

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