Bryan University Employee Spotlight: Lori Heinlein, Staff Accountant

Meet Lori Heinlein, a Staff Accountant at Bryan University. Lori is approaching her two-year anniversary at BU, and she’s grateful every day that she was led to this position. 

Lori handles various tasks in her role, and it’s one of her favorite things about her job. She’s responsible for all accounts payable, billing student tuition, handling credit transfer estimates, and much more.

“I never get bored because there’s always something new and different coming up,” she said. 

She loves the variety and said it also challenges her. She often has to switch gears between responsibilities that have different requirements. 

Lori said BU’s core value, Win Together, resonates with her the most because that’s exactly what her department does. 

“Our department is very collaborative, everyone works very well together and is willing to help each other out. It’s a great department from the top down,” she said. 

For anyone considering a career at BU, Lori’s advice is to get on board. “The leadership is amazing, their communication is always open. You always know what’s going on. I feel like I can go and talk to anyone in the company and that it would be received.”

Lori said she learned an entirely new side of accounting when she started at BU. Learning how tuition works and all of the regulations around funding. She hopes to continue that growth at BU during the coming years. 

For anyone just starting their career or starting a new career, Lori’s advice is to take notes and ask questions — even if you have to ask the question more than once. She said it can be overwhelming to start over somewhere new, but even now, nearly two years later, Lori said she still refers back to notes from when she started at BU. 

Lori stays motivated in her job because she knows that other people depend on the work she does. “Somebody can’t do their piece of work until my piece is done. Just knowing that somebody else can be affected by me not doing it, it just makes me want to make sure I get it done quickly and efficiently.” 

Within BU, Lori said her biggest inspiration is Omar Cupich, Corporate Controller. “He’s just willing to explain everything and show you the details of everything. I’ve never been worried about asking him how to do something, and he’ll really explain to you the ‘why’ instead of just telling you to do it a certain way.”  

Lori said her biggest accomplishments are her two sons, who make her extremely proud. “They were both either on the honor roll or principal’s pride lists the entire year, they both got awards at the end of the year, and they get awards quarterly. I’m just proud of how good they do and how hard they try and that they’re both willing to try new things.” 

In her free time, Lori enjoys off-roading and loves the water, whether it’s pools, lakes, or beaches. She also enjoys camping and said her favorite thing to do is spend time with her family. 

The Bryan University Employee Spotlight is an initiative that recognizes employees monthly. All employees of Bryan University are eligible. Learn more about Careers at Bryan University.