Forty Under 40: Jeannine Wheeler

Northwest Arkansas was not part of the plan for Jeannine Wheeler. Two months into her marriage, the accounting firm her husband worked for landed the Tyson Foods contract. They’ve been in the area for 13 years and have no plans to leave.

“It’s not just the quality of life, but the sense of community. We do Friendsgivings and get-togethers where most of us don’t have family in town, so it’s just building that sense of community,” said Wheeler, the CFO at CourtAvenue since June 2021.

She builds a lot more than community.

Wheeler, a St. Louis native, has a bachelor’s degree in accounting and statistics and a master’s degree in accountancy from the University of Missouri.

She worked at Rockfish, and when that company sold, she followed a Rockfish investor to CourtAvenue. She said CourtAvenue is a “mature startup” that provides strategic consulting and “creative work and website design.” Kia North America, Dell and General Mills are just a few of the many CourtAvenue clients.

The company has offices in San Diego and Cincinnati, with 55 people and 25 contract workers in Austin, Texas, New York and many other cities. In addition to her numerous finance duties that include “strategic guidance,” Wheeler is involved in hiring and managing people.

“How do you build a culture and keep people engaged across multiple time zones? That’s definitely been a challenge, but it’s been a good one,” Wheeler said.

She is also keen to help others in their careers to repay the mentoring she received.

“The quote I try to live by, and I’m sure you’ve heard this before, is ’Someone is sitting under a tree because someone planted one a long time ago.’ That’s how I try to live.”