“I have always been curious about how things work.”

Nicolette Godston

Staff Accountant / Tax Preparer
 

Nicolette Goldston was raised in the Hanford/NAS Lemoore area. Her father, now retired, was career military and her mother worked for the Kings County Office of Education as a budget accountant. So Nicolette’s first glimpse of the accounting world came through her mother. While growing up she spent nine years dancing with Lemoore Dance Workshop and then did technical theater in high school.

Her first job was as a barista at Java Heaven. She knows how to make really good coffee. There she learned how to train new employees, how to prep for the following day, and how to close out the register.

When it came time for college, Nicolette studied business administration and accounting. She says, “I have always been curious about how things work.  As a sequential and quantitative thinker, I was naturally drawn to accounting and the variety of options available in the field.  When I began taking the upper-division tax course, I was really fascinated with the logic behind it all.  It was complex, yet motivating.  I knew that as a tax preparer, work would never be monotonous.”

Her first job out of college was for a San Diego startup accounting firm that worked with other startup companies. She learned firsthand the advantages and constraints of growing companies, as well as the importance of analytics and utilization. While there she worked in numerous industries including biotech, retail manufacturing, and construction.

Eventually, she wanted to come back home to Hanford. She found a job opening posted for Martin C. Garcia Accountancy and she succeeded in landing the job.

Nicolette especially likes preparing tax returns and resolving tax problems. She is confident in her ability to learn and grow at the company. “This office has been really supportive. Someone has always been available to go over any questions or curiosities that I have.  I feel confident that I will develop a strong knowledge base and understanding of tax issues.”

She also likes the small company environment. She notes, “I’m not an ‘ant’ in this company. My work will be valued and I will be challenged to achieve the depth of experience to serve our clients well.”

And Nicolette is looking forward to those challenges. She says the best advice she ever received was from a former client, Mark Paiz, President of Sherpa Clinical Packaging, who told her, “Enjoy the challenges.”

When not working, Nicolette enjoys creating things with her hands. She likes to build and restore furniture, garden, cook, and brew beer. When she comes across anything that she admires, her first thought is, “How can I make it myself.”