As a Certified Public Accountant and the Controller here at Claris Networks, Melissa’s a self-proclaimed “numbers nerd” and “a little bit of a redneck.” She’s getting married Memorial Day weekend, too, so we wanted to take a few minutes to introduce you to one of the people that makes it all happen here at Claris Networks. Meet Melissa Burch (soon-to-be Melissa Holbrook).
Born and raised in rural Illinois, she spent a good amount of time in Texas and claims to be a “Redneck at heart.” “I love country music, going to demolition derbys, old county fairs, rock crawling, drag races and tractor pulls. Since moving to Tennessee, I haven’t had the opportunity to do as much of those activities. Lately, I’ve really enjoyed hiking, backpacking in the mountains and I’ve even been skydiving. My fiancée recently got a sailboat, and we’re both really looking forward to learning how to sail, too.”
Melissa The Accountant
“In high school I took one accounting class and said ‘Yep. This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.’ Once I know what I want to do, I’m totally fine with it. I just have a peace about it. Eventually, my high school ran out of accounting classes for me to take, so I began college courses. I like how in accounting it all has an answer, everything has a place.”
As Controller at Claris Networks, Melissa gets to see a lot of the inner workings of the company and actually does a lot more than a typical Controller would, which she says is part of why she likes her job.
“I like seeing how things in a business all tie together. Process improvement, strategic plans, operations, procurement, whatever. While those things aren’t necessarily my passion, they definitely help make me a better accountant. The people at Claris are what I love the most though. During and after college I worked for Caterpillar, which has over 100,000 employees. It’s the size of a city. I love working for a growing company that still feels small. Claris is a family. We pray together, rejoice together, laugh together. It’s not just work. It’s people caring and supporting you in work and outside of work.
“I went to Germany last year for two weeks and on the way back I realized that I missed talking and laughing with the people at Claris. I was excited to come back to work after a vacation. That’s crazy. That’s when I first realized I really loved my job”.
Gettin’ hitched!
“Our wedding is this Saturday, May 24th and I have no clue know where we’re going on the honeymoon. My fiancé, Casey, is keeping that a secret. We’re getting married at a church in Fountain City and we’ll have a party afterward at a fun venue downtown with our family and friends. We’ll have dancing, a photobooth and the Cruze Farm Ice Cream truck there. We just want people to rejoice with us and have fun and enjoy themselves.”
Melissa is one of the people that keeps Claris working and making IT work for our partners. Her passion for providing our customers the most excellent service they will ever experience comes out in her drive to improve operations and processes internally. She’s a humble, hard-working, joy to be around, and is part of what makes Claris so great.
If you want to brag on Melissa or congratulate her on her big day, just head over to our Facebook page!
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