The story of Stamford”™s Colette Lesperance has taken its own peculiar twist, where an established bookkeeper displays a flair for writing and in the process skewers forever the belief numbers people can”™t do words and vice versa.
Lesperance was born in Haiti and grew up in Stamford. She started on her professional path earlier than most; in high school and through college she worked in the accounting department of Cummings and Lockwood law firm in Stamford.
“That”™s where I caught the bug,” said Lesperance. “I started my accounting career from there.”
Lesperance received her bachelor”™s degree from Eastern Connecticut State University in accounting, and went on to receive her MBA from Sacred Heart University.
Upon graduating from Eastern Connecticut State, Lesperance began a bookkeeping and accounting services business called L and L Group.
“I started working straight out of college in accounting,” said Lesperance. “I had an offer before I graduated; I was on a track.”
After her first accounting job, Lesperance went on to become an auditor for the state of Connecticut.
“Most of my career has been with the state of Connecticut,” said Lesperance. “I spent nine years there.”
Lesperance was part of the auditors of public accounts where she helped to review and keep in line state agencies.
“We made sure that funds were being spent as budgeted, everything from the Department of Motor Vehicles to universities,” said Lesperance.
In 2007 Lesperance went to work for Navigators Insurance Company and in 2008 she was laid off.
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Lesperance was still running L and L, but had ample time to spend with her now four-year-old daughter and two-year-old son. She began to build on some of the stories she had written about her children”™s habits.
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“There are so many interesting things they are doing alone and together; fascinating and amusing words they choose to describe their thoughts,” said Lesperance. “It”™s impossible for me not to smile during the day; whether I”™m right next to them or at work.”
Lesperance”™s stories and love for writing tales directed at her children began to grow. She began refining the stories and found an artist to illustrate them. She has recently self-published her first book, “Baby”™s First Christmas,” and has two waiting to go to print for 2010.
“The first story is about a baby boy enjoying his first Christmas,” said Lesperance. “It recently became available online at Barnes and Nobel and Amazon.com.”
Lesperance”™s books can also be found on her web site, colettechildrenbooks.com.
“My kids are indeed my inspiration in writing children”™s books, and I already have new stories and book ideas in the works,” said Lesperance. “Now, I just cannot, and will not, stop writing.”
Lesperance has done book readings at Greenwich, Stamford and Norwalk area libraries and pre-schools. With her book Lesperance is pursuing a “buy a book for an underprivileged child” program for this Christmas season.
Lesperance, who is also on the Connecticut Ballet board of directors, will be returning to school soon for her doctorate in business and is applying her found aptitude for writing to a motivational book for young adults.
“People used to tell me you can”™t do this and that,” said Lesperance. “You can do anything you want; you just have to prepare yourself.”
