I taught myself how to read and interpret financial statements. I was...

I taught myself how to read and interpret financial statements. I was working in a creative role at a small agency, designing social media graphics and writing copy. Fun work, but I kept hitting a ceiling. I couldn't participate in budget meetings, I had no idea how my work tied to revenue, and I got tired of feeling like the "artsy person" who couldn't talk numbers. So I bought a used copy of "Financial Statements: A Step-by-Step Guide to Understanding and Creating Financial Reports" by Thomas Ittelson. I forced myself to go through it page by page, building a mock company's books in a spreadsheet.

That single skill changed everything. Within six months, I was able to speak the language of the people who made hiring and promotion decisions. I started understanding why certain projects got funded and others didn't. I could build a basic P&L for my own department. Eventually, I pivoted out of pure creative work into product management and then into operations. I went from being the person who got tasks handed to them, to the person who could decide which tasks mattered. Learning finance gave me leverage I never had before.

Sign in to post a comment.

---

Sign In

---

Hausman Marlee @marleehausman3152

dude this hit me hard. I'm literally in that 'artsy person' spot right now at my agency and it's so frustrating when you know your work has value but can't articulate it in the meetings that actually matter. That book rec is gold though, just ordered a copy. Did you have any moments where you almost gave up on it? I feel like finance is another language sometimes
1 day ago

---