Today we’re kicking off a new series of blog posts profiling Luminex employees. We’re proud that the Luminex brand is well known in the life science community, but we wouldn’t be where we are today without the terrific people behind the company. In this blog series, you’ll get a chance to meet some of the employees who make this company special.
We begin with this Q&A featuring Kendel Martin, Vice President of Accounting. She’s a CPA and veteran of financial reporting and auditing who has been with the company for nearly nine years. A Tennessee native, she still contends that Memphis barbecue is better than Texas barbecue — and she’s on a mission to convert the rest of us!
Q: What are your responsibilities at Luminex?
A: My group ensures that the financial information that is presented to the world is accurate. That includes worldwide accounting and tax, budgeting, and financial analysis to make sure we have the right information to make the best decisions possible. Our job is to present the facts — accurate, unbiased data — without influencing the conclusions.
Q: What drew you to the company?
A: Accounting is not usually industry-specific; I can count semiconductor chips, medical devices, or assays. When I interviewed with Harriss Currie, the Chief Financial Officer at Luminex, I saw someone who was strategic in his thinking but also realistic and practical. That’s really hard to find! When I got to Luminex in 2007, we were a very different size. We’ve expanded into lots of different countries, and each country has unique accounting rules and needs.
Q: A lot of that expansion has come from acquisitions. How do you handle the financial component of that?
A: Once the acquisition is completed, a chunk of the integration falls to my group. Accountants have a reputation as not being the most creative thinkers, but it takes a different mindset to integrate a new company. We’re behind the curtain pulling all these levers and changing all these accounting procedures and trying very hard not to mess up anything in front of the curtain. We spend a lot of time learning about the acquired company’s business and how to account for it accurately.
Q: What did you do before joining Luminex?
A: I worked at Ernst & Young as an auditor for 13 years before working in internal auditing at Cirrus Logic and financial reporting at Freescale Semiconductor. I was always very into math and am naturally a frugal and practical person. My degree is in economics, and I took every accounting class I could and passed the exam to become a Certified Public Accountant.
Q: If you could solve any clinical or genetic challenge, what would it be?
A: My family has an inherited condition called Lynch syndrome, which increases the risk of colon and other cancers. It has taken out my family tree. When I had my daughter I got tested, but didn’t realize how worried I was about it until they called and told me that I did not have it, which means my daughter can’t have it. I started crying at work. Anything furthering genetic testing and counseling to make strategic health decisions is what I’m most excited about.
Q: If you weren’t at Luminex, where would you be?
A: I would probably be a caterer. Last night I had 90 people at my house for my daughter’s college freshman sendoff! I catered my way through college to earn money. I’m really practical at work all day and then I need to go home and be creative through cooking. I also have the ugliest sweet tooth. I grew up helping my mother making a fresh, full dessert every night.
Q: What is something about you that no one at Luminex knows?
A: I have never had a cup of coffee or a soda. When I was a child my mom told me those were adult beverages, like alcohol, and by the time I was a teenager I didn’t like them. People say, ‘This is you not on caffeine?’
Q: What is your favorite thing to do in Austin on the weekend?
A: Austin is probably the animal rescue capital of the world and has these great outdoor spaces. My favorite thing to do is to take our two rescue terriers out to open land to run and play. Austin is so pet friendly with tons of parks and no-leash areas.
