🎙 From Self-Doubt to “Yes You Can!”: USOA Miss Texas 2026, Katherine Colig’s CPA Exam Success Journey The Mindset and Consistency Shifts That Helped Her Succeed on the CPA Exam and Beyond Episode Summary In this episode, Dawn is joined by Katherine Colig, United States of America’s Miss Texas 2026 and a licensed CPA in Texas. Katherine shares her CPA Exam Success journey, starting with the moment she decided to pursue the CPA and what happened once she became eligible to sit for the exam. Katherine explains that once she met the eligibility requirements, she “psyched [herself] out at the beginning,” saying she “got in [her] own way” because she knew “just how challenging the exam was.” She shares that it “instilled a little bit of fear… to even start studying,” and that she struggled with that fear for several months. She describes sitting with her CPA Exam book for “probably six, seven months,” opening it, getting intimidated by the material, immediately closing it, and “pretend[ing] I didn’t even see it.” Katherine talks about being a “recovering perfectionist” and says the biggest challenge in her CPA Exam journey was “you getting in your own way.” She shares how she learned to “be comfortable with being uncomfortable” and how that mindset helped her push through difficult material instead of avoiding it. She also opens up about failing FAR with a 73, calling it “gut-wrenching,” saying she was “two points away” and remembers thinking, “I can’t do this,” before deciding to buckle down and try again because she was “so close.” Throughout the conversation, Katherine shares how studying for the CPA Exam taught her how to handle doubt, failure, and discomfort — lessons she now uses in her career and in pageantry. 🎯 What You’ll Hear Katherine Share in This Episode One of the biggest things Katherine shares is that the hardest part of the CPA Exam wasn’t always the material — it was what was happening in her own head. She says plainly that “the biggest thing in the CPA journey is you getting in your own way,” and describes how fear and self-doubt made starting feel harder than it needed to be.She talks openly about being a “recovering perfectionist” and how being her own biggest critic slowed her down early on. Knowing how challenging the exam was didn’t motivate her at first — instead, she says it “instilled a little bit of fear” and kept her from even opening her study materials for months.A turning point for her was learning to “be comfortable with being uncomfortable.” She explains this through a fitness analogy: lifting heavier weights feels uncomfortable at first, but that discomfort is how strength is built. She connects this directly to studying — when she stopped avoiding topics she didn’t understand and stayed with them longer, things started to click.She describes moments where she “couldn’t get the concept to save [her] life,” but noticed that the more she threw herself into the material, the more she actually began to understand it. Instead of backing away from what felt hard, she learned to lean into it.That mindset was tested when she failed FAR with a 73. Katherine describes the feeling as gut-wrenching — being two points away made her think, “I can’t do this.” At the same time, she recognized how close she was and decided to buckle down and try again.Another shift came when she heard advice that helped take pressure off FAR: you need to know the material, but you need to know a little bit about a lot. That idea changed how she approached studying and helped her stop chasing perfect understanding of everything.Katherine also shares that she failed every section at least once except BEC. Realizing that failure was common — not a personal flaw — helped her stop personalizing each setback.She talks about “comparisonitis” as well: watching classmates finish faster, thinking she couldn’t keep up, and later realizing she never really knew what their journeys looked like behind the scenes.Throughout it all, she kept coming back to one simple phrase: “yes, you can.” She explains that it wasn’t about forcing confidence — it was about getting herself to do one more page, prep one more week, or simply pick the book back up when she wanted to stop.Key Takeaways (in Katherine’s Words) “Once you achieve it, you just feel like you can accomplish anything.” And: “It’s not so much, are you the smartest to pass — it’s how dedicated are you to studying and finding the ways that work for you.” Resource Mentioned SuperfastCPA Podcast Guest Info Katherine Colig, CPA and United States of America’s Miss Texas 2026 Instagram Personal: @katherine.victoria_ Instagram USOA Miss Texas: @usoamisstexas 👉 Join my Group Coaching Program if you're ready to study with confidence and pass with ease. 💬 Let's Chat on Zoom if you're stuck or overwhelmed and not sure what to do next. 🗓️ Join my 30-Day Study Challenge if you are in the start-stop study cycle and want to finally make progress. 📲 Join my Free Facebook Group and get real time support in my weekly LIVEs plus early access to my podcast episodes. 📩 Have a question or want to share your breakthrough? Send me a message—I’d love to hear from you! 🎧 Follow & Leave a Review if you found this episode helpful. Your support helps other CPA Exam candidates find this podcast! ©MIAMI COACH CONNECTION, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Miami Coach Connection, Inc. accepts no liability for the content of this podcast, nor for the consequences of any actions taken on the basis of the information provided. Individual Results Vary.
