After 10 years of working in public accounting, Holly Olson decided she was ready for a change. A few years ago, she found what she was looking for at the Neighborhood Finance Corp. On March 1, she was promoted to executive director of the organization, which is a home loan originator that serves parts of Des Moines the city has targeted for revitalization. After living on the East Coast for much of her life, where housing prices are steep, Olson fell in love with Central Iowa after moving here in 1997, so she put down her roots by becoming a first-time homeowner.

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in North Central Pennsylvania, in a town called Williamsport. My family has had season football tickets at Penn State since 1960, so I go back a couple of times during the year to go to football games and see family. I ended up moving to the (Washington) D.C. area after high school to study accounting at George Washington University. I started working in global accounting firms in D.C after college.

What was life like in D.C.?

I met my husband in D.C., and he and I got tired of the daily grind of living there. On a good day, the commute takes about 45 minutes to go 11 miles. Housing is really out of sight for the pricing there, so we both worked a ton of overtime. We decided that if you’re not in an industry where it’s important to live in that area, then it’s time to move.

What brought you to Iowa?

After living in D.C., we moved to Vermont, but after being there for a few years, my husband decided that he wanted to go back to school to become a veterinarian. His family had moved to Iowa in the early 1970s when his dad became a department chair at Iowa State University. We moved back here in 1997 for him to re-establish residency and go to veterinary school. We decided that we both liked Iowa a lot, so we decided to stay here.

What did you like about Iowa that made you want to stay?

We liked the quality of life. Here, I think there is a pretty big focus on having a balance of lifestyle, and overtime is not stressed here nearly as much as it is in the D.C. area. And there is a lot to do here in Des Moines and Central Iowa, and the affordability of real estate here was also a huge plus. What people pay for a decent-sized house here, you’d be paying for a studio department in D.C.

What kind of work did you do after moving to Iowa?

I was still doing public accounting. I had transferred from KPMG (International) in Vermont to its Des Moines office. I was in public accounting until May 2002, when I came here as the vice president of finance and administration.

Why did you decide to leave public accounting?

After 10 years, I knew that I did not want to go for partner, and I was at the point where I wanted to move on. But I do not regret one day I spent in public accounting. It was a great learning experience, and I can honestly say that I learned something every day.

What attracted you to Neighborhood Finance?

That it was a non-profit, but that it was run like a business. I saw that it goes about trying to do good things in the community by doing them in a very smart way.

What was the biggest adjustment you had to make after leaving public accounting?

When I came here, I joined a shop of 12, which was a huge change after coming from a global accounting firm. I knew that I was going to be wearing a variety of hats: being half the accounting department, being the human resources person, the IT person, handling daily issues and other duties as assigned. I knew that I would not be bored.

Did it take long for you to adjust to this work environment?

During the first 10 minutes of my first day here, I’m sitting in my new office with our temporary chief financial officer, and one of the staff people came to the office door and said she was having a problem logging in. Realizing that we were probably going to have to restart the server, I reached for my phone and asked, “Who do we call?” They told me, “You’re it.” I said “OK,” grabbed a pencil and paper and learned how to restart the server. It takes some getting used to, but when you know how everything runs, you’re a lot more cognizant of the cost of the business and overall efficiency.

What do you like about working here?

You never get tired of seeing the look on someone’s face when they get the keys to their first home. There was one time I was heading out the front door to go somewhere and it was definitely a “Kodak moment.” This couple had just closed on their first house, and he was so excited that he was picking her up and swinging her around. We get a lot of thank-you notes and a lot of positive feedback from our borrowers. You can also drive around the community and see the homes and projects that we have helped finance, such as the Vine Street Lofts and the East Village Square that Jack Hatch is now working on. You can see what you’ve helped others accomplish in terms of making the community really great.