"I try to take a very
positive outlook on things and believe that most problems are solvable."
Long before she became the company's
audit and assurance lead partner, Lacey Goggans was the kind of person who
wanted to understand how things worked…and how to make them better.
Business came naturally to her early on,
but for a brief stretch in high school, she considered a very different future:
meteorology. Fascinated by storms and weather patterns, she worked at a local
TV station where she helped prepare the daily weather announcements and briefly
appeared on air.
But despite her fascination with complex
atmospheric data, in the end, practicality won out.
Lacey had already seen accounting up close through her mother—a CPA who returned to school after Lacey was born and built a successful career in public accounting. As she got closer to college, Lacey realized what energized her was not so much the numbers as the problem-solving side of business. She liked the challenge of taking complexity, organizing it, and finding a clear way forward.
"I feel like accounting is the language of business, and for someone eager to build a meaningful, long-term career, it felt like the right foundation—no matter which route I took in my professional career."
Audit clicked for Lacey early. At
Georgia Southern, she pursued a minor in fraud examination and a master's in
accounting with a concentration in forensic accounting—drawn again to the
investigative, analytical side of the work. She even considered joining the IRS
Criminal Investigation division before deciding she wanted to stay closer to
home and family.
That instinct for both challenge and
connection ultimately led her to Nichols Cauley, where she entered as part of a
large hiring class of young professionals. What struck her most was the access
to partners and high-value work, even for the younger recruits.
She recalled: "I was given real
responsibility quickly, and sooner than expected. The first year I definitely
felt like a fish out of water—in a good way."
But that early exposure accelerated her
growth, and within her first year, she realized she could build a real career
in public accounting.
And while she loves audit and assurance
work and helping clients on the advisory side, what really fuels her passion is
helping others within the company move upward and onward. She sees leadership
as a multiplier—dedicated to mentoring team members and equipping them with the
knowledge and tools required to become trusted advisors themselves.
"When you consistently coach and lead your team forward, the impact grows far beyond any one person."
Her superpower may be best described as
bringing calm, clarity, and optimism to moments of chaos: creating a plan,
steadying the team, and moving everyone forward.
As someone who found her place and loves
her work, she has advice for others finding their way…
