Employee Spotlight: Wendy Chen

Managing accounts receivable (A/R) is the lifeblood of any company’s ongoing vitality and success. This is especially important when working with the U.S. federal government. Why? Well, all those checks and balances of course (haha, yes, that pun is intentional).  

Good thing we have Wendy Chen and her knitting needles!    

Knitting Together Elements from Across Domains

Yes, Wendy is a prolific knitter in her life outside of NetCentrics. This creativity should come as no surprise if you’re reading this series because creativity is key to problem-solving in all domains. As just one example in Wendy’s department, her colleague Bill Bride is a photographer. 

Wendy immigrated to the United States from China in 2002, where she’d excelled in math and studied accounting. In the years since she worked in accounting for several non-profits and for-profit companies. Then, in 2018 she joined NetCentrics thanks to an employee referral.

(NetCentrics employees are encouraged to recommend talented and trusted peers. Some highly sought-after Secret and Top Secret positions even pay NetCentrics’ employees a generous referral bonus on top of our other many benefits. Browse open positions here.)

Wendy started processing timesheets first, but eventually moved into A/R. “I like the detailed work,” she says, comparing it to an ongoing puzzle where pieces must fit together in the right sequence. This mirrors Wendy’s love of knitting.

Wendy first learned knitting from a roommate in college. Since then she’s knitted mittens, scarves, sweaters, vests, and other warm items for friends and family, “mostly for my Mom, Dad, daughter, husband, and son,” she says. She prefers wool for its nice texture and sustainability features, but she also uses cotton and synthetic yarns too. It depends on the project.

“I like knitting because you count the stitches, look at the pattern, and need to remember both and pay attention to the details to create something new.”

This sounds like accounting and accounts receivable, doesn’t it? Both require sharp attention to the correlations between multiple components to produce an accurate outcome.  

Tending to Details Caring for Plants

Gardening is another hobby that keeps Wendy’s creativity flourishing. She maintains houseplants, grows vegetables, and tends to outdoor perennials. Her landscaping outside includes hydrangeas, roses, and lilies. She cares for pink and red peonies in Spring and a blue butterfly bush and bright yellow black eyed susans in the Summer. She grows tomatoes and peppers in her small garden. Hot peppers grow in pots inside the house. “These are for cooking, we like them a lot,” she says, noting that cooking is another pursuit at her home in Fairfax, Virginia.

NetCentrics is fortunate to have Wendy’s keen eye. Her work ensures that we pay our vendors promptly. She ensures that our company’s receivables are managed accurately and responsibly. Working with others in Accounting, she ensures NetCentrics’ stability securing our nation.