Four years after graduating from Cal Lutheran, Allison Payne ’21 is soaring through the career of her dreams. This year, the accounting graduate became a senior financial analyst at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, a global biotech company with a commercial manufacturing facility in Thousand Oaks. Before this, she spent four years working for a local biotech startup, where, in her first job out of college, she was promoted twice.
Payne credits her rapid rise in a highly competitive field, in large part, to her alma mater. As a smaller institution known for providing individual student support, Cal Lutheran is dedicated to helping guide its graduates into their careers — and it doesn’t hurt that many of the university’s faculty members are in close contact with the local business community.
“At Cal Lu, students get so much more of a hands-on experience than at larger universities,” Payne said. “I encourage you to leverage your Cal Lu resources and faculty. … It’s built into the system, they have the connections, especially locally, and they’re very willing to use them to get the students connected.”
It was directly through one of her accounting professors — Kyle McIntosh, a lecturer in Cal Lutheran’s School of Management — that Payne landed her first job, at Capsida Biotherapeutics, a small startup in Thousand Oaks.
McIntosh had strong ties to the local biotech field, having spent 23 years in corporate finance and accounting roles at local biotech firms, including Amgen, before he started teaching at Cal Lutheran in 2020. His students soon began to reap the benefits of his many professional connections.
“I knew the CFO at Capsida, from Amgen,” McIntosh said. “She reached out to me seeking new talent for her company.” He immediately thought of Payne, who was preparing to graduate.
“I referred Allison, and I was thrilled that she landed this role at Capsida,” McIntosh said. “I knew that my former colleague would challenge Allison as she launched her career.”
Apparently, it worked. Hired as a finance associate with Capsida, Payne earned two promotions to senior associate positions before moving on to Takeda.
Payne’s early career path has been a classic success story in a dynamic field where connections matter, and impressions can be lasting. “The same CFO has come back to me several times and said, ‘I need another Allison,’” McIntosh said. “Every time she goes to a new company, she wants to rebuild the new team with new talent and now she asks for ‘another Allison.’”
McIntosh is not surprised. “Allison’s got the whole package,” he said. “She’s got a good technical background. She’s very skilled when it comes to accounting and finance topics. Also, she’s a good communicator with a strong work ethic. … It’s those things she displayed at Cal Lutheran.
“There are a lot of great students here,” McIntosh said. “Allison is an outstanding example.”
Paying it forward
Payne’s career arc has been a simple equation so far, starting with her early decision to apply to Cal Lutheran.
“I grew up in Ventura, so Cal Lu was not very far from home,” she said, “so that’s what led me to stay local — being able to live on campus but not be too far from home. … Plus, it’s such a beautiful place, with a great reputation. … I just always knew I’d go there.”
A business degree was also in the cards for Payne, whose mother works in accounting. “I knew I’d be some kind of business major; the accounting just fell into place,” she said. “I went in as an accounting major … and I stuck with accounting, because of job security, for one. And two, I’ve just always liked numbers.”
As she progresses in her career, Payne remains grateful to her alma mater, and she’s especially thankful for McIntosh.
“I owe a lot to Kyle,” Payne said. “His help was so important, because the job market is hard right now, so if you have those resources on your side, it pushes up your chances.”
Attending Cal Lutheran was a smart choice, she said. “It’s so much easier to build a network and leverage your connections there than at larger universities.”
To express her gratitude, Payne continues to give back to Cal Lutheran. Among other things, she serves on the school’s Accounting Advisory Council, which meets quarterly; stays in regular contact with her professors and other faculty; and makes herself available to students seeking advice, individually or at campus events.
“I help however I can,” Payne said. “Cal Lu has given me so much.”
That feeling is mutual. “I’d like to tell every high school senior about Allison,” McIntosh said. “I’d say, ‘This could be you in eight years. When you’re 24 years old, this could be you.’ She’s just a great example of the outcomes we deliver across Cal Lutheran.”
Learn more about the bachelor of science in accounting at CalLutheran.edu/accounting.