Page 16 - Final 10th Anniversary PDF For Printer

Our 10th Anniversary Women of Distinction

Maria Burns

Helping to Make Life Easier

both Spanish and English was of great nity, she decided that she needed to be
help to the large number of Oregonians able to help them in additional areas
who still struggled with learning and besides tax preparation. Maria went on
understanding the English language. to become licensed in Insurance, Real
"The horror was that because some Estate, and as a Notary Public.
of these individuals could not com- Maria decided she needed a
prehend what they were being told, change of scenery so she moved to
many professionals viewed them as San Diego and into her current office
easy targets. One woman came to me in Vista in 2013. She has several
extremely upset. She signed on with a professionals who specialize in insur-
N THE YEAR 2000, A YEAR law firm who told her she owed the IRS ance, tax, and real estate, so they help
Ifilled with trepidation for many of five thousand dollars, which included her provide excellent service to her
us, a young woman with two boys their fee. She scrambled to get the mon- customers. With specialists working
decided to pack up herself and her ey together to pay them, but couldn't with her, she can focus on each client’s
boys and make a journey from Mexico understand how she could owe this needs and be certain that they are cov-
to Oregon. For anyone, this is a scary much money. She came to see me, and I ered in each and every area without
endeavor, but especially for someone told her I would check with the IRS and the chance of being taken advantage of
who at the time had little command of the woman wanted to know the cost for due to language issues.
the English language and no family to me to do so. I told her there was no cost Maria’s two boys are now grown.
run to if things did not go as planned. for me to check, apparently, the other One lives in Mexico, while the other
This is exactly what Maria Burns did. firm had charged her several hundred is in Oregon, the state Maria and her
She registered in school so she could dollars, just to tell her what she owed. boys moved to when she came here
learn the language that was so foreign The reality was when I researched her from Mexico 17 years ago. The boys
to her and took the first job she could files she owed nothing to the IRS. This remain very close to their mom.
get cleaning homes. She enrolled her is only one of the many stories I started I asked Maria what it was that she
boys in school and started working hearing from those who came to me liked most about the career she finally
long hours to provide for herself and and were not fluent in English." chose and her answer was simple.
her children. "I wanted to have a career Realizing how great the need was “I am really happy with what I do. I
based on honesty and integrity, but for the non-English speaking commu- am really happy to come to my office
I didn't know quite what that would
be, so I searched around and explored
many job opportunities. I always loved
to learn, so learning new skills in all
of these jobs was fun for me. I always
believed that when you are looking for
opportunities, they will come to you."
One of her jobs finally proved to
be the right one. Maria was hired as
a receptionist in an income tax office.
"This job was so interesting to me that
I decide to obtain my license as a tax
preparation professional” Soon Maria
Maria soon learned how much her
services were needed especially for the
Hispanic population. Being fluent in

16