From Audit Bags to TikTok Tags, Gen Z Talks Success | ARC

In this episode of Student-led Conversations, accounting leaders and emerging pros share how staying open can change everything.

Accounting ARC
With Arpan Grewal and Harshita Multani
Center for Accounting Transformation

In an era where the definition of success is increasingly personal, a recent Student-led Conversations episode of the Accounting ARC podcast brought together two Gen Z hosts and two seasoned accounting leaders to unpack a deceptively simple question: What does “freedom to be” really mean?

• MORE Accounting ARC: Students Challenge Accounting's Traditional Career Path | True Grit: Recognizing Struggles That Shape Our Successes | More Admins, Fewer Students, No Plan | What Career Advice Gets Wrong for Gen Z - And How to Fix It |Your Identity is Not a Liability | What Happens in Vegas… Gets Reported on a Tax Return | Burnout, Be Gone: Accounting Needs a Boundary Breakthrough | The Ultimate Business Hack You’re Probably Ignoring | Resilience, Real Talk, and the Road to Mental Wellness | Blockchain Could Still Reshape Accounting | What Gen Z Wants from Business | Firm Differentiation Depends Upon Client Service

For hosts Arpan Grewal and Harshita Multani, both interns with the Center for Accounting Transformation, this wasn’t about GPAs or résumés. Instead, they explored how independence, cultural influences, and resilience intersect in the personal and professional lives of accountants.

Joining them were Kristine “Tina” Caratan, CPA, CGMA, a veteran consultant to California’s nonprofit sector with 51 years in the profession, and Calvin Harris Jr., CPA, CEO of the New York State Society of CPAs. The discussion spanned immigrant family expectations, systemic barriers, generational shifts, and even the unexpected role of TikTok in modern accounting outreach.