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“She believed she could, so she did.”

That’s Lizette Ochoa Phillips’ motto.

After she got into a bad car accident when she was 18, doctors told her she might not walk again. 

After her husband died when she was 30, she became a widow and single mother, unsure of her next step. 

In each case, she believed she could rise to the challenge, so – with discipline, drive, faith, and family – she did. 

At UL ��˾��������’s Summer 2023 Commencement, she walked across the stage with her motto written in glitter on her cap. She earned her MBA in just 13 months while working full time as a single mother. 

And she’s not stopping there. 

Bouncing Back

When Phillips’ husband, Nathan, passed away unexpectedly in 2018, she didn’t quite know what her path forward would be.

Together, they were a great team. They both had children from previous marriages, and planned to lean on each other’s strengths to provide for their blended family. 

“He was a handyman who could fix anything, and I was like a computer who could figure out any program,” she recalls. “Together, we wanted to build a legacy of rental houses we could give to our children one day and create a passive income.”

But when Nathan passed, those goals shifted. 

“After he died, we were straight up focused on just surviving,” she recalls. “Eventually, I realized I needed to stop dreaming the dreams we had as a couple and start dreaming for me.”

She credits God for helping her get to that point.

“I was able to get to the point of believing in myself because of my faith in God,” she says. “It’s not in my power but in God’s strength.”

It took four years to reach that mindset. Once she did, Phillips knew she needed to level up her career to give her daughter the life she wanted for her. 

“I had found my soulmate who I wanted to be with forever, and he passed away,” she says. “I wasn’t looking for somebody to take care of me. I was looking to take care of myself and my daughter.”

As a ��˾�������� native, she looked to the University for online graduate degree options. She chose the MBA for its broad and useful curriculum. 

“I knew the MBA program was going to give me that push and open more doors,” she says.

It Takes a Village 

Phillips wanted a graduate program that would let her be there for her daughter.

“I did the MBA program online,” she says. “When I started the program, my daughter was 10. I didn’t want to take away her time with the parent she still had.” 

The online program let Phillips do her schoolwork after her daughter went to bed, while still spending evenings and weekends with her. 

Luckily, her parents were there to help her with her parenting duties. 

“My mom and my dad helped me with pick up and drop off at school for my daughter. My mom would also cook for us, so we wouldn’t have to worry about dinner sometimes. My dad would even come and take care of the grass and house stuff.”

On Sundays, her parents took care of groceries and weekly prep. That gave Phillips time to catch up on her work.

“I’ve had a village to support me,” Phillips says. “My family is always there, even if they weren’t there to support me financially through school. I want to give my daughter that same support when we're older, and to do that, I need to excel and grow in my career.”

Finding Her Future

While in the MBA program online, Phillips worked on building a strong support system.

“You’re going to get as much out of the MBA program as you put into it,” she says. “If you’re putting in the bare minimum, you’re going to get the bare minimum in return. But if you engage in the discussion forums and the people in your classes, you'll have a network of people you can connect with even after you finish.”

Moreover, the program allowed Phillips to explore paths she didn’t know existed. She loves accounting, and the required accounting coursework in the program showed her options beyond earning a CPA license.

“I don't really care to be a CPA just because I've never wanted my own clientele. I don’t even do my own taxes anymore,” she says. “I prefer internal auditing because I like to find errors. I like to investigate. I like to follow the money. It’s like putting puzzle pieces together.

“In the MBA accounting course, they showed us the Certified Internal Auditor, Certified Fraud Examiner, and other government courses you can take. You don’t just have to be a CPA.” 

Phillips’ current role is in the Acadiana Planning Commission’s accounting department. She keeps the agency’s records and finances organized so the team can continue its work to improve quality of life in the area. 

“With the grant work, for every dollar we spend, we do about 20 pages of documentation behind it,” she jokes. “That’s what accounting people like me do.”

Her goal is to continue advancing in the accounting space and, in the process, create a better life for herself and her daughter. 

Since earning an MBA, she’s already been promoted from bookkeeper to accountant.

And whatever she believes she can do next, we know she will.

“I know I have faced many challenges in my life, but God has carried me through,” she says. “I know He will continue to carry me through.”

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