Brittany Hopp already has left her mark on Springfield. After a stint in the Big Apple, the Drury University graduate returned to the Queen City to start York & Hopp CPAs LLC in 2009 with a friend and their former professor. Starting without even an office in place, Hopp has helped grow the firm to over 200 clients and five full-time staff members. The firm’s tax practice leader, she has guided the company’s tax revenue upward by over 300 percent since 2012. Hopp’s skills extend to charity work as well. A five-year board member of the Betty & Bobby Allison Ozarks Counseling Center, she helped overcome a $50,000 budget shortfall and raise $270,000 to pay off its building in under three years.
What was your first job? It was a special project as a research assistant at the Financial Accounting Standards Board in Norwalk, Conn., where I worked on a short-term project.
What is your theme song? According to the BuzzFeed quiz I just Googled, “Run the World,” by Beyonce.
When did you realize you had grown up? When 95 percent of my first bonus went to replace something in my car.
What did you learn the hard way? Dropping everything to move across the country and start a business was one of the scariest but best decisions. It definitely hasn’t been easy, and I had no idea of the amount of crazy things that business ownership entails. Things from overnight drives to Ikea, conflict resolution, to calling an ambulance for a stranger in the parking lot – starting a CPA firm has been the hardest, yet most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.
What about your job would shock clients? Accounting isn’t math.
