September 19, 2023
Grit at Work: Joy Kimbril
Please tell us about yourself
I am the HR director at Opendoor Church & Education in Winterville.
I have worked in various fields – from chiropractic assistant, estate planning legal assistant, youth pastor, criminal legal assistant, and business administrator to now HR director. I celebrated ten years at my current employer – Opendoor Church & Education. I was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa in December 2017 and the National Society for Leadership and Success in April of 2018 while attending Pitt Community College. I am also a Certified Church Administrator (July 2021) through The Church Network, a non-denominational organization of church business administrators who help facilitate the business side of a church.
I was inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma in November 2021. My career philosophy is to help whatever organization I get to be a part of and steward the resources that God has placed in their hands. I took accounting in high school and enjoyed it, but I did not want to sit at a computer all day and look at numbers, which is now funny because a big part of my job has been to sit at my computer and look at numbers. However, I know that every number I look at working for Opendoor ties back to a church member or student attending our education programs, which is rewarding
What made you decide to complete your degree?
I originally thought about pursuing graphic design, but I enjoyed my job at Opendoor and wanted to learn more about business administration and non-profits to be a more well-informed employee and contribute more to the organization. I enrolled at Pitt Community College in August 2017 to pursue a business degree. Even though I had earned an associate degree, almost none of the credits transferred since they were from a bible college, so I had to start all over. My original plan was to take only one class at a time. However, I soon realized it would take me ten years to finish my undergrad degree as I worked 40+ hours per week and could only handle two courses simultaneously. I took fall, spring, and summer classes and graduated from PCC in July 2019. Before transferring to ECU and the College of Business, I had to decide whether to pursue a finance or accounting degree. After talking to several mentors, they advised me to pursue accounting.
Why ECU and the College of Business, and what have you enjoyed about being a business student?
Ever since I moved to Greenville, I wanted to be a Pirate. I looked at other 4-year schools, but the location and atmosphere didn’t compare. The biggest thing I have enjoyed as a business student is applying what I’m learning in the ‘classroom’ to my job. I remember when I sat in a classroom (January 2020), looked around at the other students in the classroom — most of whom I was old enough to be their mom — and realized the life experience I brought to the table helped me retain the information I was learning. I understood why a journal entry is recorded a certain way and how it affects the financial statements in a way I didn’t understand before. With the education, I now feel I can contribute more to the conversation than I did before. Practice interviews and answering “Why should we hire you?” questions have equipped me with questions I can now ask potential employees. I don’t regret for a minute going back to school. This was the right time and season of life to do this!
Are there any new occupational goals after your degree is completed?
I hope to move up in the future as the organization grows. I may pursue a master’s later, but my brain needs a break right now.
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- Accounting