“I am richly and abundantly blessed. I am so very thankful. Indeed, my cup runneth over,” declared Leah Hearn.
Leah Hearn has a desire to help all those around her and a humble nature. She works hard each day, and she has a strong desire to see others succeed. Working hard is nothing new for Leah. In fact, she has always been a hard worker.
“Throughout my college and teen years, I had several jobs, such as working at a daycare, working customer service for a car dealership, and working as a college temp in the Polymer Science Department for the University of Southern Mississippi,” stated Leah.
Eventually, she found her passion and pursued her dream to be in accounting.
“My interests eventually led me to public accounting and then on to banking where I have been for the last 17 years. I obtained my accounting degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and went on to obtain my Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license shortly thereafter. Recently, I graduated from the Louisiana State University Graduate School of Banking, which is an intensive three-year program designed to sharpen banking and management skills,” explained Leah. “The accounting and banking worlds can be challenging with all of their regulations and rules. However, I enjoy that each day brings something different and that I am able to play a small part in helping customers achieve their financial goals and dreams.”
Leah doesn’t stop at just helping people through her job. She also contributes to helping others through various community activities and functions.
“I am an Ambassador for the East Mississippi Business Development Corporation (EMBDC). As an Ambassador for EMBDC, I help with ribbon cuttings for new businesses, emcee events as needed, and provide support for local events happening in the Meridian/Lauderdale County area,” expressed Leah. “I am also a facilitator for the Leadership Lauderdale program where I help to teach the ‘7 Habits of Highly Effective People.’”
Although Leah has received numerous awards for both her job and her community involvement, she is very humble. Leah explains that she did not achieve any of her honors without the help and encouragement from others and would love to be able to use her experience to pass along the lessons she has learned over time.
“Recently, I have had the honor and privilege of being named EMBDC Ambassador of the Year for two consecutive years (2018/2019 and 2019/2020),” acknowledged Leah. “I try to always focus on and bring light to the individuals that have invested in me over the years to make those types of awards possible. There have been many such people in my life, and I want to strive hard to be a positive role model in the lives of others so that I can pass along those teachings and life lessons, such as hard work, dedication, commitment, etc.”
As much as she loves her job, Leah loves her family even more. She is married to Matt Hearn, and they have one son, Noah. Spending time with her family is her favorite thing to do and is where she gets some of her favorite memories from.
“I love spending time with my family. As I get older, I am understanding just how important family is in my life. I have been blessed with parents and grandparents that instilled many things in me—from teaching me about God and the importance of my faith to showing me that honesty and hard work really do matter. They are a monumental reason that I am who I am today,” explained Leah. “My childhood is full of great memories: walking down dirt roads with my grandfather looking for animal tracks, traveling with my parents on vacations, spending hours playing with my dolls and barbies, setting up pretend schoolhouses to teach all the children, etc. Fishing is something that my parents and I enjoyed when I was growing up, and I’ve now been able to enjoy it with my husband and son as well. I love to see our son learning new fishing tips and techniques from his grandfather, Bill Williams, and it’s always a fun competition to see who has the best luck with each fishing trip!”
Her love of fishing is not the only thing that Leah has shared with her son. She has also passed down another passion to him: reading
“A good book can take you anywhere! Reading has always been something I am interested in, and I try to take the chance to read whenever I can,” said Leah. “It makes me happy to say that my love for reading has been passed down to our son. It is hard for us to find enough books to keep him busy, and that thrills my heart!”
Unlike many others, Leah enjoys being able to do public speaking.
“I enjoy public speaking because it gives me the chance to meet so many new and wonderful people,” stated Leah. “It is amazing to think how many special friendships I have made through speaking for various groups and for different events.”
She takes her faith seriously and loves to be able to participate in various things at church and be with her church family as well.
“My family attends church at Coopers Chapel Church in Quitman. A large part of my involvement in Clarke County has been through my church. That involvement would be things such as community outreach sponsored by the church: ladies seminar, meal packaging, etc. During my time at Coopers Chapel, I’ve had the privilege of being involved with the music program, teaching children’s classes, and being part of various committees as needed,” declared Leah. “I am so very thankful for my church family! While being part of a church provides my family with the opportunity to worship together with other believers, it has also provided us with a support system that cares for us and encourages us daily. I feel like we have this network of people walking through life together. We can pray for one another and support one another in so many different ways.”
Over all, Leah truly loves her home here in Clarke County. She is able to find everything positive about it and desires nothing more than to encourage everyone in Clarke County to continue to be loving and welcoming to all those who come.
“Clarke County has been a community that welcomed me with open arms. From making friends in the community to finding a church to call home, this loving and welcoming spirit helped me to put down roots and find ways to become involved,” encouraged Leah. “I hope that the citizens of Clarke County will continue to realize the positive impact they can have on people’s lives. In a world that appears to be growing dark in many ways, my hope is that we would continue to work together to make positive change for our small corner of the world and to shine the light of Jesus into the lives of all those around us!”
