Trailblazer.(finalentry)

In 1963 Glenda M. Bayless of Apple Valley became a CPA and dove headfirst into what was mainly a man's profession. She worked tirelessly as a self-employed CPA and board chair of Inland Community Bank, which she helped start. As time went on and her successes grew, Bayless paved the way for future career women to follow in her footsteps. For these reasons, and others. Bayless is this year's recipient of the CalCPA Trailblazer Award, part of the Women to Watch Awards, awarded at the 2010 CalCPA Women's Leadership Forum.

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Bayless' list of professional and civic involvement is long and impressive. A CalCPA member for 47 years, she has taught classes throughout her career and prides herself on the employees she has helped put through school.

California CPA caught up with Bayless amidst a busy and demanding schedule to discuss her journey in the accounting profession.

Tell us about the early days of your career.

My career as a CPA happened by chance in 1963. 1 never had any intention of becoming a CPA and did not have any idea what a CPA did. A former employer, Davis Wire, paid for my education and salary with the intention that I would return to the company and work lull time with them after I completed my two-year internship with a local CPA firm.

At that time there were very few women in any university accounting and business classes, and in many classes I was the only woman with about 50 to 100 male classmates. When I would arrive late to my classes--as I had to drive about 40 miles to my night classes after working all day--my male counterparts and instructors would always clap their hands and make comments about me being late all the time.

I wanted to get through my classes as soon as possible, as 1 was starting a little late in life at age 33. I had married at age 17 in Idaho, had a daughter at 18, moved to California and worked many jobs, divorced my husband and was single at the time I decided to gel my four-year degree. While 1 was taking classes at (Jul State Long Beach, I took a course in taxation and became interested in learning more about taxes. 1 got good grades and mv tax instructor encouraged unto work with a CPA for a couple years to complete my two-year internship and eventually become a CPA. I went on to teach tax courses for several years.

My first job in the accounting world was with a firm in Santa Ana. There was only one woman CPA to every 99 male CPAs at the time I started working there. It was all men at that firm, which had something like 30 accountants. Those guys gave me a pretty hard time for a while, until 1 finally went to the boss and said, "Get these guys off my back or I'm walking out."

I eventually moved to Rialto for my husband's work. He was a dynamite distributor for DuPont. We had to move to a place where we wouldn't blow up people. It was in Rialto that I started my own firm, Bayless Accountancy Corporation, in September 1965. Over the years my firm has been located primarily in San Bernardino, Rialto, Apple Valley, Laguna Beach and Laguna Miguel. In the beginning (here were very few woman-owned firms and I may have been among the first.

What are the biggest changes you noticed in the profession?

The biggest change is the type of equipment we used. The young-people don't know anything about comptometers, which I started out using. We didn't have any computers when I started. My first computer was an enormous monster that had to be kept in an air conditioned room and cost me $ 1.6,000! The advancement, of technology since then, and things like being able to do tax returns on the internet, is a really nice change for me.

Things have changed on a more personal level, too. 1 will always remember how I was treated when I started my business and bought a building. I was the owner of the business, but they made me get my husband s signature for the account before turning on my utilities. I thought it was unnecessary, but those were the rules at the time. So I started using my initials so when people looked it up in the yellow pages, or saw it elsewhere, they wouldn't know if it was a man or a woman.

What other trailblazing achievements stand out in your mind?

I started the first California chapter of the American Women's Society of CPAs while staving on the national board of the American Society of Women Accountants in 1974. I was also elected first chapter president for the Inland Empire affiliate. Our first meetings were about 15 to 20 members from about four counties in Southern California.

We all felt there were a lot of benefits to us being able to discuss our careers and opprtunities for advancement and other woman-related challenges for CPAs. At that time, women did not have the same career promotion opportunities and pay as men did. Things have really changed as it now seems that there are more women than men getting their accounting degrees.

What advice do you have for young CPAs?

I would tell them that, although it's a bit of a rough path starting out as a CPA, the rewards are many. By educating yourself and continuing to improve yourself, you will have a really great career. I just can't encourage the voting people enough. CPA