If you’re looking for a quiet powerhouse in Centralia, someone who has blended family, business, and community into a life well lived, look no further than Tena Hoyt. A 1990 graduate of Centralia High School, Tena has built a thriving career as a CPA and business owner, raising two successful children while staying deeply rooted in the town that raised her.

She wasn’t a student who racked up sports accolades or music awards, but she was present—engaged, committed, and deeply woven into the social fabric of the school. “I was a cheerleader all four years,” she recalls. “And I was May Fête Queen in 1990. That was a big deal back then.” It still is. Her family has since turned that moment into a legacy, with both of her younger sisters serving as May Fête attendants.

After high school, Tena attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale, graduating in 1994 with a degree in marketing. She and her husband—also a CHS alum, Class of ’88—moved briefly to Georgia before returning to Centralia. They worked in the family restaurant business, JJ’s Buffet, until the competing needs of parenting and the demands of weekend and evening work led her to reconsider her path.

That decision turned out to be transformative.

“I had been handling the restaurant’s bookkeeping,” she says. “Just the basics—payroll, bills, that sort of thing. But when our accountants mentioned they were hiring, I took a shot.” She started working at what was then K. Gary and Frazier in 2002. It didn’t take long for her to decide she wanted to go deeper. With two young children at home, she returned to school to earn her accounting degree—and passed the CPA exam in 2007.

“It was a lot,” she says. “But when you grow up in a family business, you learn how to juggle. You learn how to get it done.”

In 2013, her business partner, Bruce Gary, passed away suddenly. Tena took over full ownership of the firm—now Hoyt Advisors, PC. What started as a bookkeeping role evolved into full command of a respected accounting practice that now employs seven people, including her husband, who manages operations, and her daughter, Abby, who joined the firm in 2024 as a second-generation CPA.

Her son, Tanner, is an aerospace engineer living in Cedar Rapids. Both children graduated from CHS and went on to the University of Illinois. “We’re proud of them,” she says with a smile. “They’ve done well, and they’re good people.”

Her own professional identity is shaped as much by her personal experience as by her education. “Accounting isn’t just about numbers,” she says. “It’s about problem solving. It’s about helping business owners find their footing. You have to be creative. You have to be curious.”

Tena’s seen firsthand how running a business requires resilience and flexibility. “I watched my dad run a grocery store and then a restaurant. I knew what it meant to work. I knew the pressure. I saw what happens when a business doesn’t have the right leadership or attention. I carry that with me.”

That perspective gives her clients more than spreadsheets—it gives them someone who understands. Someone who’s walked in their shoes.

Even now, she and her team are intentional about work-life balance. “We work long hours during tax season,” she admits, “but we pull back after. Half-day Fridays, a rhythm that respects the human side of the work.”

As she looks ahead, she’s proud of the firm she’s built, the family she’s raised, and the community she continues to serve. “You don’t have to leave to build something great,” she says. “You just have to show up, do the work, and invest in the people around you.”

From cheerleader to community leader, Tena Hoyt’s story is a quiet anthem of persistence, vision, and grace. Centralia is lucky to have her—and she’s the first to say she feels the same way.