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When you know, you know. And for Louisville Water Vice President of Finance and Treasurer Lynn Pearson, she knew.
“I’ve always loved numbers. I love finance,” Pearson said. “I wasn’t one of those people who went to college for a while and then be like ‘I want to change my major’. I was business school from the beginning, specifically accounting, and I stuck with it. I loved it.”
A Louisville native and Eastern High School graduate, she’s quick to add, “I’m a UK (University of Kentucky) graduate. I gotta get that in, go Blue!”
After leaving UK, Pearson set off on a career that included public accounting, banking, and eventually vice president of finance for a media company in Alabama. But then, a door opened to bring her back to the Bluegrass and closer to family.
“I was just looking for the right opportunity. (I thought) I’m gonna look until I find the right fit. And Louisville Water was the right fit.”
Pearson arrived at Louisville Water in August 2015 and hit the ground running.
“I walked in the door right on top of budget season and the (municipal) bond issuance.”
Coincidentally, she is retiring 10 years later, on the heels of the largest bond sale in the history of Louisville Water. It’s one of the things she’s most proud of.
“We’ve now been through four bond issuances during my time at the company, and every one of those when we got the news that we’ve kept our AAA (rating), it was huge. It’s a reflection of the strength of the entire company,” Pearson said.
During her tenure, Pearson and her team helped create the company’s Small Business Equity Program. With the help of outside consultants, they also revamped and improved the financial forecasting and cost of service models, the budgeting process, and the water rate structure which has resulted in helping Louisville Water maintain very affordable rates.
“Setting our water rates and the structure of our water rates is very important. The financial planning process is critical to that. If you don’t have a strong planning process, you can get surprised.”
As Pearson has climbed the corporate ladder, she has never lost her passion for crunching numbers.
“The higher up you get in a department, the less you get to get in the weeds and in some ways, I miss that. I just love a good spreadsheet, and I want to get in there,” she laughed.
Leaving Louisville Water is bittersweet.
“I have really enjoyed the people I worked with here. We have great people in my department. I mean they’re just amazing. I hope they’ve learned something from me, as I’ve certainly learned a lot from them,” Pearson shared.
Her plans for retirement include traveling with her husband, volunteer activities, and digging into the dirt.
“One of my big hobbies is gardening, landscape design. I have big plans for lots of projects including a new walled garden; I have all these big ideas.”
And she’s thrilled about doing it all at her own pace.
“Honestly, (I’m) just looking forward to every day, not having to have a plan. Just kind of go with the flow and just see what comes.”
