Maria Utley didn’t intend to work in accounting. And just to prove it, she earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees in political science with a concentration in policy analysis. She focused her work on China, doing her graduate directed research on Rural to Urban Migration and the new Chinese Economy. Yes, she speaks Mandarin.

But Maria’s degree also included 40 hours in business and that propelled her into a variety of work positions that saw her monitoring everything from ledgers for clients as a contractor to FDA research compliance for University of Louisville’s surgery department encompassing nine different specialties.

A decidedly understated (yet hilarious) person, Maria gets animated talking about her work at UofL, at one point calling it “so much fun.” Fun? Why?

“Because it was just like it is here,” she said. “A rapid growth environment where you can really see the boots-on-the-ground folks improving the quality of people’s lives. You see people constantly working to solve problems that will put them out of business and there’s a lot of beauty in that.”

That beauty is one of Maria’s favorite things about her work as a grant accountant with Catholic Charities: she gets to work with and see the tangible results of work done by every program except MRS. (Julio Rodriguez owns that responsibility.)

But Maria’s absolute favorite thing about working at Catholic Charities? “My colleagues.”

Maria describes herself as a “freakishly extroverted introvert” who loves people and chance meetings but is equally happy to be at home with her dog Mabel working a puzzle or reading a good book.

Mabel is Maria’s third pit bull mix rescue and came to Maria six years ago from a drug house in Southern Indiana. She’s “rascally” and “so darn expressive” and a phenomenal companion. “I live alone with my dog, but I am never lonely,” Maria said. When asked if Mabel is mischievous Maria laughed. “I don’t know because I let her do whatever she wants. I don’t think she feels restricted.” Mabel has her own resume, which you can read below.

When Maria graduated with her degrees in political science, she was offered opportunities to pursue her Ph.D. in Taiwan but turned them down, in part because she was the new mom of her family’s only granddaughter and “they pretty much forbade me to go anywhere.” Today her 24-year-old daughter is in the second year of her own Ph.D. work.

Like her dog Mabel, Maria seems unhindered by restrictions, even having worked as a sous chef while she was in college. Maria said she’s not a great cook so much as she is “really good at making stuff up and making it taste good.” She makes “every variety of killer lasagna.” And if she were to have you over for dinner tonight? “I would fix an unbelievable black bean and Andouille sausage bloody Mary chili.”

We need your address, Maria. Right now.

Read Mabel’s resume with lots of photos!

Maria’s daughter Eve as a toddler.