1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,640 So good stuff. So how long has Unboxed Advisors been in business now? 2 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:06,160 How many days? 3 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:08,640 We just launched this July the 19th. 4 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:17,960 July 19th. Woo! Cool. This is like breakout, unboxing of Unboxed Advisors right on Vision 5 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:22,880 Pros Live. That's super fun. Awesome. You've been a CPA for how many years? I'm sorry to 6 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:23,880 put that on you. 7 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:24,880 21 years. 8 00:00:24,880 --> 00:00:27,880 21 years. So you started at 10? 9 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:30,320 At age 10? 10 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:34,440 Yeah. I started at age 10. 11 00:00:34,440 --> 00:00:40,080 Alright. 21 years and how many team members do you have in this, in the current and Unboxed 12 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:41,080 Advisors right now? 13 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:48,520 Right now there's three of us. And we've got plans to add a couple more advisors within 14 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:50,320 the next three, six months. 15 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:54,120 Okay, so you're looking for great advisors out there to join you. 16 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:55,120 Absolutely. 17 00:00:55,120 --> 00:01:00,000 Alright, as you grow. And welcome in to Vision Pros Live. 18 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:04,600 I'm Jackson Calame. I'm your show host. We'll be doing interviews for visionary entrepreneurs 19 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:19,680 and guest leaders who are building fantastic visions out there. 20 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:25,720 Welcome to Vision Pros Live. I'm your host, Jackson Calame, founder and CEO of First Class 21 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:32,400 Business. And I have Susan Bryant, CPA on the show. She's got other acronym titles, 22 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:36,960 but those are outside of my ballpark. I don't do acronyms. So she can teach us about what 23 00:01:36,960 --> 00:01:41,620 those are. Or if you're listening and you know what she does, then you'll be up to speed. 24 00:01:41,620 --> 00:01:46,960 But if you don't, those are opportunities for you, myself, and all the visionaries out 25 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:52,240 there to level up and make sure that you understand what her skill sets are and why those things 26 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:57,560 might matter. Because one of the greatest things we're guilty of as entrepreneurs is 27 00:01:57,560 --> 00:02:02,960 delegation by abdication. When I first heard that, I looked that word up. I had no idea 28 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:09,100 what it meant. And that was last year. And I was like, okay, I think I get the concept 29 00:02:09,100 --> 00:02:12,840 of the idea. Like I should probably delegate responsibly is what's being alluded to. But 30 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:17,840 I looked it up and sure enough, abdication is basically taking what you don't want to 31 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:21,840 do and placing it on the shoulders of somebody else and saying, you do it, I'm done with 32 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:26,640 this. And then unplugging and never really learning what they're up to. And if there's 33 00:02:26,640 --> 00:02:35,360 two areas that I see entrepreneurs doing that, and most commonly it is HR and finances. And 34 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:39,600 when I'm talking about entrepreneurs and talking about those who aren't investment bankers 35 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:43,160 at hand, those who aren't financial advisor, you're financial advisor and you're delegating 36 00:02:43,160 --> 00:02:48,080 your finances, you're responsible. I don't know what you're doing in life. But that said, 37 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:56,520 I digress. My sponsors, Icon Maker Live and capshow.com, Icon Maker Live helps people 38 00:02:56,520 --> 00:03:01,280 launch million dollar podcasts. They start with the process of helping you figure out 39 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:06,140 what your high ticket offer is and build a sustainable business model. And then going 40 00:03:06,140 --> 00:03:10,360 towards the route of launching your own podcast after learning how to get on other people's 41 00:03:10,360 --> 00:03:17,600 shows. It's all about the OPP, other people's podcasts. With that said, that's also why 42 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:21,020 Susan Bryant is coming on this show. That's why if you're a professional and you want 43 00:03:21,020 --> 00:03:25,220 to get hosted on a show, this is a great place to be. We're constantly looking for people 44 00:03:25,220 --> 00:03:31,440 to bring on, share your hero story, meet some of our audience members, of course, and also 45 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:35,240 get the hang of sharing your vision with others because that's what people really care about. 46 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:38,040 Your product or your service is secondary. There's millions of people who do what you 47 00:03:38,040 --> 00:03:42,960 do. But what makes you, you, is what people really care about when they consider who they're 48 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:48,120 going to bring in to help them with whatever it is that you do. That said, capshow.com, 49 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:55,420 C-A-P-S-H-O.com, the number one ranked AI copywriting generating system for podcasters 50 00:03:55,420 --> 00:04:00,520 by digitalmarketer.com. Again, I highly recommend this as well. Even if you're not in the podcast 51 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:04,340 space, if you have content that you're trying to get out there, this is an opportunity to 52 00:04:04,340 --> 00:04:09,920 upload your audio or video file. And then they give you a couple of free credits with 53 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:13,220 our affiliate link. I think you get one or two extra. And you can go in there. What I 54 00:04:13,220 --> 00:04:17,700 recommend doing is upload the episode or upload your audio and video file, and then just click 55 00:04:17,700 --> 00:04:22,040 as fast as you can on all the content creation buttons and let that AI go to work for you. 56 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:25,400 Don't even think about it. Just get it all done first because it's going to write your 57 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:29,280 copy for you. And then from there, you can decide which elements of that copy you want 58 00:04:29,280 --> 00:04:33,500 to use. Do you want to make any tweaks to it? It does things like create sound bites for 59 00:04:33,500 --> 00:04:38,280 you as well by taking different portions of your episode and splicing those together. 60 00:04:38,280 --> 00:04:42,800 It can save you a world of time or it can put you light years ahead of where you would 61 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:47,280 be without such a tool. Their testimonials are fantastic. Their case studies are fantastic. 62 00:04:47,280 --> 00:04:51,200 And it's obvious when you go into their community and you see how well they support you and 63 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:55,240 help you with your growth and how much they love being there for creators like you and 64 00:04:55,240 --> 00:05:00,860 me. With that said, we've got the water project as well. I shouldn't say we've got it. I don't 65 00:05:00,860 --> 00:05:04,840 have any affiliation with the water project. I just freaking love the vision. I love what 66 00:05:04,840 --> 00:05:09,760 they do. It's an opportunity to give back to communities who have super, super severe 67 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:13,360 needs. These are people who don't have access to clean drinking water and you get to see 68 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:17,760 what projects are available to support and help. You get to then donate either your dollar 69 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:22,240 or $10 million, whatever you have disposable to help them with growth. And you get to see 70 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:26,120 the impact as it happens because they share on social media exactly what they've done. 71 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:29,640 They're empowering these communities to know how to maintain these systems as well. That 72 00:05:29,640 --> 00:05:35,440 way the system has sustainable filtered water henceforth. And you can imagine over 10, 20, 73 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:40,320 30 years what that probably does for the people who live there. So I hope you take the opportunity 74 00:05:40,320 --> 00:05:44,920 to either give back to that or if you challenge me and you're like, I know a better charity, 75 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:49,520 we'll go give to them. Use this moment to be inspired to go give back. So without further 76 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:53,800 ado, I've got Susan Bryant coming on board. As I said, the talk to us about finances and 77 00:05:53,800 --> 00:06:00,400 how her vision's unfolding with Unboxed Advisors. She is new to her business, not new to business 78 00:06:00,400 --> 00:06:05,200 and not new to the game of helping with finances. So I'm excited to unlock her vision. Susan, 79 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:10,760 thank you so much for being here today. Yeah, super excited to be here. Thank you so much, 80 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:16,040 Jackson. It's great to be part of the show. Absolutely. So Susan, let's dive right in. 81 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:20,480 Who should be listening? Why should they listen to you specifically? And what are they going 82 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:26,960 to get out of today's show, do you think? So business owners, entrepreneurs, people 83 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:36,640 who are ready to break free from the, I would say it is this chaos that has enveloped them 84 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:41,520 because they have so many different things coming at them with the finances being one 85 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:46,600 of the key components, but also because they know that everything that's happening in their 86 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:51,040 business that is going to either go right or go wrong is going to show up in that set 87 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:56,880 of financials. So people who understand that connection and they want a better way, they 88 00:06:56,880 --> 00:07:02,880 want to talk about what should be happening versus what is happening when you talk to 89 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:07,000 someone who has an accounting background, like who has this, you know, who is a CPA 90 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:13,800 or who is assisting small business owners, I know, in attempting to grow. So why should 91 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:20,640 they listen to me? Well, I'm not, I wouldn't say that I am the expert on all things, but 92 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:26,800 I am a curious person. And so I'm always wanting to learn more about what other people do and 93 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:31,960 how they make money. And that gives me a unique perspective because I've really applied that 94 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:36,480 in my whole life. And so I've gathered a lot of information, working with thousands of 95 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:41,280 different types of businesses over my, in the course of my profession, you know, my, 96 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:47,600 my career. And so I really believe that that gives me the ability to speak to business 97 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:53,160 owners in a way where we can take information and cross apply it to other situations. So 98 00:07:53,160 --> 00:08:01,740 I think that's what I would say. Nice. I love it. And you covered quite a bit of the vision 99 00:08:01,740 --> 00:08:06,400 as well of what you do to serve those that you're working with. Let's dive a little bit 100 00:08:06,400 --> 00:08:16,760 deeper into that. So I know it says in 30 seconds, but I have more time. Let's expound. 101 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:21,560 What does that vision look like for those that you serve? Who do you, again, specifically, 102 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:27,720 who do you love to work with? And we'll go from there. So my vision is to restore the 103 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:35,680 CPA profession to what it once was. And that is that we are more than just transaction 104 00:08:35,680 --> 00:08:45,920 oriented compliance generating report making machines. And we have ample time. And so the, 105 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:51,560 you know, the, the, my vision is, is that we have ample time to ask questions, to truly 106 00:08:51,560 --> 00:08:56,360 advise holistically our clients so that they are making more money, that they are saving 107 00:08:56,360 --> 00:09:03,400 money and they are protecting their wealth. Right now, the way that CPA firms are structured, 108 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:09,040 it is just transactional. It's send your information in, we'll produce a report or a return and 109 00:09:09,040 --> 00:09:16,080 we'll send it back out. And there is not enough time, capacity, bandwidth, or even initiative 110 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:21,640 on the part of CPAs to say, this has to end. We must stop because we are not serving our 111 00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:28,360 clients the best of our ability. Yes. Okay. So this is, this is interesting. You use the 112 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:37,160 word restore and I'm, I take it that's before my time because what you describe is what 113 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:45,120 I've pretty much always seen at any, any company I've worked with. So what are we, when was 114 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:50,120 that timeframe when things used to function that way or what companies are doing that, 115 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:56,800 that you admire? Yeah. I think there's been a few things that have contributed to this 116 00:09:56,800 --> 00:10:06,160 over abundance of compliance work. And that is the tax law has changed dramatically and 117 00:10:06,160 --> 00:10:09,800 legislation keeps on coming and coming and coming. You know, just think about the stuff 118 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:15,000 from COVID, the employee retention credit, PPAP loans. I mean, the tax law that was just 119 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:20,640 preceding that in 2018 was like the biggest overall since 1986. We had more legislation 120 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:28,760 like there's, it's just constant, even like things like the wayfare case law that changed 121 00:10:28,760 --> 00:10:35,400 sales tax nexus. That's an accounting issue. So those types of, those types of compliance 122 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:40,600 issues and this over abundance and compliance work have caused accountants to just become, 123 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:46,200 they just keep taking on more and more and more clients instead of saying, I'm not taking 124 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:52,560 any more clients. I just want to serve the ones that I have. So I think that is just, 125 00:10:52,560 --> 00:11:00,160 that to me is the difference and what it is that should be the vision for accountants. 126 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:05,920 It's not sell as much work as you can and try to produce as many returns. The vision 127 00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:11,920 really needs to be how do we work with just the right number of customers and help them 128 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:17,920 to achieve a transformation from where they are to where they want to become and work 129 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:21,800 together to make sure that that is financially viable for both parties. 130 00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:26,960 Nice. Very cool. And so I'm going to shift a little more personally here. I love the 131 00:11:26,960 --> 00:11:30,800 business vision. We're going to come back to that and talk in depth about how you got 132 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:34,960 through, how you uncovered that, how that could affect people who are listening in today. 133 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:38,680 But what's your personal vision? What are you up to as a person? What do you want to 134 00:11:38,680 --> 00:11:41,760 accomplish over the next 10, 15, 20 years? 135 00:11:41,760 --> 00:11:48,160 As a person, I view myself as an agent of positive change. That's just how I've always 136 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:54,000 kind of referred to myself. So my personal vision is to just leave an indelible mark 137 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:59,200 on as many people as I can and help as many people as I can as both a professional and 138 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:05,680 as a friend. And in a lot of cases, those kind of get blurry, right? My professional 139 00:12:05,680 --> 00:12:11,720 acquaintances and networking partners often become really good friends and just lift up 140 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:17,680 as many people as possible by being of service to them. So that's my vision. I hope to always 141 00:12:17,680 --> 00:12:24,880 be a great mom and a great wife and a great daughter and a great aunt. So all those personal 142 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:29,480 relationships are really important to me and hope to get better at them. I would say that 143 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:36,680 as an accountant, I've made a lot of sacrifices over the years in terms of time with my kids 144 00:12:36,680 --> 00:12:41,600 and relationships along the way. So it's becoming more and more important to me as I 145 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:48,600 get older to really take the time to make sure that people know how important they are 146 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:53,200 and show them and show up and be present in all the right ways. 147 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:58,280 That's awesome. I'm glad you incorporated that. And it's such a tempting thing. I'm 148 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:03,280 not going to call anybody else specific that's been on the show, but it's so tempting to 149 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:08,000 answer that personal vision question where you circle it back to your audience and why 150 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:13,320 it matters about what you're doing for people. And that's cool. And I get that. But I think 151 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:18,240 it's helpful for people to know who the leaders are out there that are also human and that 152 00:13:18,240 --> 00:13:24,640 also care about their family and care about those aspects of life. So thank you for sharing 153 00:13:24,640 --> 00:13:33,320 that boldly. And I am one of the people who puts family first. I'm dad before I'm CEO 154 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:40,440 and everything. And I've been a stay at home dad since I was 21. I've been perfect at it. 155 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:46,440 I have my errors and the things I lose sight of as well. But I think there's a great opportunity 156 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:54,720 for corporations and professionals to try to make more room for the balance and the 157 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:59,160 victories that could come from doing just that. So very wise of you. Anything you want 158 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:00,160 to add? 159 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:06,840 I would just say that you just can't get that time back. So choose wisely. 160 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:16,600 Right. Well said. Bittersweet. And most of us listening can appreciate that. And so again, 161 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:23,420 we're going to dive into this summer dive into a darker subject. What's your worst business 162 00:14:23,420 --> 00:14:24,920 experience ever? 163 00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:34,520 Oh, man. Are we talking about client experience? Are we talking about business partner experience? 164 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:42,720 I promise not to dictate. I will let you choose that route. Let's think, I would say, think 165 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:49,400 in your heart and your mind, whoever's listening in, what might they benefit the most from? 166 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:50,400 What story? 167 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:55,040 Okay. So I think at some point there was a question like on Facebook or something. What 168 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:59,520 would you tell your younger self? And I remember thinking to myself, the first thing I would 169 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:05,720 tell myself is always have my own legal counsel. Okay. So even when you think someone is looking 170 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:11,880 out for you and they are, oh, but they trust them and they're going to give you a great 171 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:17,500 job and pay you good money and blah, blah, blah, you get your own attorney and you make 172 00:15:17,500 --> 00:15:25,160 sure that every document is written that protects you in the right way. That would be my, like 173 00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:29,720 from a bad business experience, I would just make sure that you have all your I's dotted 174 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:35,640 and your T's crossed in every little document you sign. Make sure you know what is going 175 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:39,880 to, what might hurt you and what might help you. 176 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:43,560 It is interesting what superpowers come from our traumas. 177 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:44,840 That's true. Absolutely. 178 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:51,880 You know, I hear it and I would second that. I think it's very wise for people, you know, 179 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:57,760 you don't want to get stuck living in fear, but you also have a duty to learn how to protect 180 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:04,520 yourself. You know, as a business owner, you are vulnerable in so many different ways. 181 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:11,000 And some of us are more risk tolerant than others. Some of us recover or like the recovery 182 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:17,640 process, I guess, more than others. But, you know, that's not necessarily a good thing. 183 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:22,280 I would say you want to be prudent about that. Do you have any, I mean, this is outside of 184 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:28,680 your scope and I get that. Nobody here listening right now can listen to me for financials, 185 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:33,720 for legal advice. Let me just put all the compliance stuff down right now. We're speaking 186 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:39,120 friend to friend right now. But Susan, where do you recommend they turn for that? 187 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:44,560 Well, I think you have to build a team of people around you. And this is one of the 188 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:51,120 things that we like to do at our firm is we call it the ICO 25 in case of emergency 25. 189 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:56,880 There's 25 different roles that need to be filled to surround you as a business owner. 190 00:16:56,880 --> 00:17:00,760 And you know, a lot of that translates into personal as well. You know, there's some overlap, 191 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:04,980 sometimes like insurance is both business and personal, you know, financial advisor 192 00:17:04,980 --> 00:17:10,200 might do both the company 401k and maybe your personal investments, right? So sometimes 193 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:15,560 there's some overlap there. But it's really sort of building this network of people around 194 00:17:15,560 --> 00:17:22,740 you who can help you. Now, I would say if you were, if I was going to talk to 28 year 195 00:17:22,740 --> 00:17:29,080 old Susan and say, hey, who are you going to call as an attorney to look out for you? 196 00:17:29,080 --> 00:17:33,320 I would, I don't think I had a network at that time where I would have known who to 197 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:39,400 call. So as for you, I would say the first thing is, is build a network. I don't care 198 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:45,240 how young you are, what, if you're in corporate America, if you are in an invite, you know, 199 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:50,400 professional services, network with people, build a network, go create a LinkedIn, go 200 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:55,400 talk to people, meet with people, have coffee, create the Rolodex. Maybe it's digital now 201 00:17:55,400 --> 00:18:01,720 and not necessarily paper based, but create this system for yourself. Stay in touch with 202 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:07,980 these people. Don't be afraid to refer business and, and, and build your own set of trusted 203 00:18:07,980 --> 00:18:14,000 advisors who eventually you will begin to lean on as you move forward in your career 204 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:19,440 and as you meet people who need them. And it will be win-win for you in the end. 205 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:24,600 Wow. I love this. This is going to be one of my favorite episodes. I think for a very 206 00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:31,560 long time, and here's why most of us as visionaries live in the future. I mean, we're looking 207 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:34,800 at the future, but from the standpoint of like what we could accomplish, where we can 208 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:39,520 go with the service you could provide. What's so interesting about your vision is, and it's 209 00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:44,680 funny too, today I also interviewed Neil Katz, great interview. He also brought up networking 210 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:48,760 as an important element. So he brought in the people that had to do with the vision, 211 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:53,840 but you've also brought up the structure of legalities and the people as they pertain 212 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:57,600 to the existing entity. And what it reminds me of is, and this is all a giant game to 213 00:18:57,600 --> 00:19:01,440 me, by the way, visionaries, like everybody's listening, like this is all supposed to be 214 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:06,320 a game, have some fun with it. But what I see when you're talking about vision is I 215 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:13,800 don't see a light speed direction towards this thing you're endlessly hoping for. You're 216 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:21,280 like talking about the, like building a city, laying the roads in interconnect, the buildings. 217 00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:26,200 You've kind of got me grounded on the here and now in a visionary way, which is really 218 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:30,440 unique and cool. I appreciate it. So I'm like, oh yeah, the Rolodex. Oh, I take that for 219 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:37,920 granted. I back up my contacts at least once a year, you know, and get them onto multiple 220 00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:43,800 email accounts. I've never told anybody that. Right. And I don't remember who taught me 221 00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:50,400 that, but some old dude a long time ago probably taught me to do that. And those are, again, 222 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:56,520 those things like you don't want to go through the nightmare of missing out on the foundation 223 00:19:56,520 --> 00:20:00,000 of your vision. That's what it is. It's foundation. I kind of got the wrong... 224 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:04,160 It is foundational. You're right. And it is sort of, you know, maybe I think I really 225 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:10,060 like that analogy of sort of it being like a city because I believe that what we have, 226 00:20:10,060 --> 00:20:16,420 we just have to sort of reorganize it both in our mind and I guess in some type of reality. 227 00:20:16,420 --> 00:20:25,800 And once we do, it's more geared towards helping us to achieve those purposes. Right. We can't 228 00:20:25,800 --> 00:20:32,600 completely throw out like, I'm like, I can't throw out my entire profession. Although some 229 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:39,680 people said it needs to die. However... Some people say stupid things. Right. That's true. 230 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:46,160 I mean, there's some business models and strategies. I think we can all say, okay, everyone just 231 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:51,440 needs to stop doing that because it doesn't work. We don't like it. Right. So if we all 232 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:57,580 spent time and we can reorganize our reality into something that had a better foundation, 233 00:20:57,580 --> 00:21:01,720 it sort of becomes like a trampoline. Right. It's this, you know, can give you this springboard 234 00:21:01,720 --> 00:21:06,120 to the future. And that's sort of what I like to think about when I think about what we're 235 00:21:06,120 --> 00:21:10,680 creating and unboxed is, you know, we're not going to throw it all out, but we are going 236 00:21:10,680 --> 00:21:15,280 to reorganize it. And maybe it's like turning over the puzzle pieces so that we can have 237 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:20,560 a better picture. Right. And actually have more clarity going forward instead of it being 238 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:25,680 so fuzzy. Like, does my CPA do that? You know, who does that? Like there's a new law that 239 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:32,160 just got passed called the Corporate Transparency Act. And one of the questions out among professionals 240 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:37,800 is are the accountants going to do that? Are the attorneys visited? Like who's going to 241 00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:43,560 do it? Like, because the accountants don't want any more to do. Right. I bet attorneys 242 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:48,720 don't either. Just guessing. Yeah. Well, you know, they still know about hours. So, you 243 00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:57,360 know, that's true. That's true. CTP, Certified Treasury or what is that? Certified Tax Planner. 244 00:21:57,360 --> 00:22:02,760 Oh, certified tax planner. Okay. I went too far. I was looking on Google too. I was like, 245 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:06,880 hold on. What is certified treasury professionals? That sounds like- 246 00:22:06,880 --> 00:22:11,400 For a banker, that would be a good thing to have. So a certified tax planner. So there's 247 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:17,240 an organization called the American Institute of Certified Tax Planners. Okay. And believe 248 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:25,120 it or not, not all accountants think strategically. I find this hard to believe, but this is a 249 00:22:25,120 --> 00:22:30,880 very true statement. Yes. So- Aren't they humans? I find humans make a lot of errors. 250 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:38,280 Me included, by the way. So it doesn't surprise me. I was kind of surprised to learn this. 251 00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:43,240 However, in the process of preparing a tax return, one of the things that you have to 252 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:48,160 do is you have to think about all the possible ways that you could avoid tax through, you 253 00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:54,600 know, legal changes in operation, entity organization, another advanced tax reduction strategy is 254 00:22:54,600 --> 00:23:03,200 like, and there's lots of them to explore. But most people preparing tax returns just 255 00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:09,680 put the numbers in, send it out, and don't even ever think about it. And that is like 256 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:16,640 mind blowing to me. So when I started really getting into tax planning several years ago, 257 00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:22,160 and it was like, we set an initial goal. I remember one year to save people $750,000. 258 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:26,560 And like within the first week, it was like, the whole like the little thermometer, you 259 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:31,560 know, like completely filled up. I was like, we're gonna need to raise the goal. How much 260 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:35,840 more millions of dollars are we going to save people? And so over the course of the last 261 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:44,080 four years, I've saved people in excess of $25 million in taxes. Yeah, sweet, crazy amounts 262 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:50,520 of money. And the government's not happy with you, by the way about that. But the rest of 263 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:58,520 us are. I rest is in me, I guess. But not really, because there's, there's actually 264 00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:05,480 an author by the name of Tom Willwright. He's wrote a really awesome book. And it talks 265 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:11,320 about how the government is really your partner in in your business. I mean, that's kind of 266 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:12,320 a weird thing. 267 00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:18,040 Well, yeah, in Texas, you're not going to get very far with that. That voice message. 268 00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:22,480 I get that. But I think it's worth it to hear the outside perspectives. And so I'd love 269 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:23,480 to hear it. What is he? 270 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:28,160 It is so I mean, the concept is, is the tax code is like the government's way of being 271 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:33,120 your business partner, in a way. I mean, they don't own any part of your company. But, you 272 00:24:33,120 --> 00:24:37,880 know, for every, you know, they're going to give you the ability to take deductions, right? 273 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:42,280 And maybe you have a loss in the current year when you start your business. But next year, 274 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:46,640 when you make money, you'll have the ability, you know, you won't get the benefit of those 275 00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:50,400 deductions from the prior year, because you would have taken those losses before. And 276 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:55,240 so now you have to share in the income, you know, share, you know, have a greater amount 277 00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:58,440 of tax due on that income, because now you got to share more with the government, because 278 00:24:58,440 --> 00:25:02,160 you've benefited from prior year by taking the losses. So, I mean, when you start to 279 00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:06,560 think about it that way, I was like, you know, that's actually sort of a positive way to 280 00:25:06,560 --> 00:25:14,600 kind of look at the IRS. So, um, it's, I think it's so liberating to try to do that, because, 281 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:20,280 you know, it's very rare that something is inherently evil, or inherently good. Right. 282 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:25,120 And you got people who've made improvements to the tax processes, you have people who 283 00:25:25,120 --> 00:25:30,720 screwed it up, probably. You have people who have to try to fix that, right. And so it's 284 00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:35,840 a constant balance of, of trying, and the system's so large, there's millions and millions 285 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:40,000 of people, but, you know, you can cry about it, you can moan about it, you can, and then 286 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:45,980 accept it, or you can learn to utilize it for your benefit. But as an entrepreneur, 287 00:25:45,980 --> 00:25:50,460 that's not my job. I'm not supposed to do that. I'm supposed to run my business and 288 00:25:50,460 --> 00:25:56,040 run the city, not mess with the sewer lines of the business or the bank vaults of the 289 00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:59,960 business. Right. There's other people who are supposed to do those aspects. And that's 290 00:25:59,960 --> 00:26:03,360 where somebody like you comes in, it sounds like. That's something you kind of get a kick 291 00:26:03,360 --> 00:26:07,440 out of learning those things. Yeah. So the great thing about every business is they're 292 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:13,740 totally, every business is different. So the learning curve is like, it's cool to me to 293 00:26:13,740 --> 00:26:19,320 learn how somebody is, A, making money, because I've been surprised over the years, like, 294 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:23,980 wow, they're making money doing that. Okay, cool. That's awesome. And then just the way 295 00:26:23,980 --> 00:26:32,200 that a business is organized, how they staff things, divide work, operations, all different. 296 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:37,160 All of them are very different because the people who've founded them and, you know, 297 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:41,120 kind of cast their vision, they're different. So it's great to come in and kind of learn 298 00:26:41,120 --> 00:26:45,360 like what it is that they want to accomplish. So similar to the questions you're asking 299 00:26:45,360 --> 00:26:51,760 me, if people have questions or they have goals that are financial related. So whether 300 00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:57,720 that's, you know, I want to buy, you know, sell my business one day and retire, or, you 301 00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:02,760 know, I want to run it passively, get investors, I mean, you know, lots of different options, 302 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:07,200 give it to your kids or something like that. So it's nice to sort of understand sort of 303 00:27:07,200 --> 00:27:12,680 where they're going and what is in their mind, not only what they want to accomplish in terms 304 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:17,600 of purpose and their mission, but also in terms of like that, what that means financially, 305 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:22,480 because there's usually a number that accompanies that. Like I'll know I've accomplished my 306 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:26,360 mission when, and I also have X dollars in the bank. 307 00:27:26,360 --> 00:27:31,960 Right. Absolutely. That makes sense. So let's talk real quick about, I shouldn't say real 308 00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:39,120 quick, but what's your best experience in business? 309 00:27:39,120 --> 00:27:51,840 One of my best experiences was creating this opportunity for a business owner to protect 310 00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:58,800 an immense amount of their wealth by both saving taxes and leveraging a really advanced 311 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:06,320 strategy. It was super complex, but it resulted in for, this was a young, he was younger on 312 00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:12,600 the other side, you know, early thirties, running a business, profitable business in 313 00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:18,440 the strategy that we created when he's in his sixties, he'll have access to, you know, 314 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:26,840 in excess of $10 million of after-tax income, just like money is just sitting there to do 315 00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:32,400 whatever he wants, pay taxes, buy a property, blah, blah, whatever you want. Like that type 316 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:38,120 of financial freedom to me, like being able to help somebody achieve that is remarkable. 317 00:28:38,120 --> 00:28:47,880 Yeah. One in a million, you know, or more. And that is pretty cool. So where do you think 318 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:50,440 you would have been, how do you not worked with you? Just curious. Think you would have 319 00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:56,240 figured it out or what could have happened? What does happen when they don't have the 320 00:28:56,240 --> 00:28:57,960 right person? 321 00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:06,040 Usually people, as you know, most entrepreneurs choose the path of least resistance when it 322 00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:13,240 comes to accounting, taxes and financial planning. And the path of least resistance is do nothing. 323 00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:20,040 Well, stay with the same accountant. I'll stay with the same financial advisor because 324 00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:25,160 it's a pain in the, you know what, to change. And that lack of action is what hurts them 325 00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:33,840 the most. So, and I totally get it that like when you got started, it was your dad's accountant, 326 00:29:33,840 --> 00:29:40,160 you know, or your roommate from college or frat brother from whatever. I get it. Okay. 327 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:47,440 But you got to, as your company begins to become a little bit more sophisticated, you 328 00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:53,280 got to go back and evaluate those relationships because I will tell you in most cases where 329 00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:59,480 people have friends who are helping them, their friends are not doing them any favors. 330 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:04,680 They've taken that relationship for granted. Like they're charging them very much to do 331 00:30:04,680 --> 00:30:11,840 it, but they're not helping them either. So maybe that would be like, Susan, maybe that 332 00:30:11,840 --> 00:30:18,480 Sue, what's your best advice in business? Like pay for good professional advice, pay 333 00:30:18,480 --> 00:30:24,800 the money. It's worth it. You are the beneficiary as the person making the payment. You will 334 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:30,480 win every time. It might seem like, wow, that's a lot of money, but you will ultimately, like 335 00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:36,880 it will pay dividends down the road. Yes. All right. So let me switch the screen thing 336 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:43,880 up. I want to pull that comment back up. I went ahead and posted it for us because, and 337 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:48,320 it's probably not going to be every entrepreneur's favorite quote ever to hear, right? We're 338 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:53,320 not winning massive friends here, but I'm going to double down with you on this because 339 00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:59,840 I support it and we need our vegetables as much as we may enjoy our desserts, right? 340 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:06,000 Most entrepreneurs choose the path of least resistance, right? And that makes sense in 341 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:10,000 life, right? When you've got so many things going on, so much to do, it makes sense to 342 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:15,760 try to do that. But another way of saying that is you're taking shortcuts. Another way 343 00:31:15,760 --> 00:31:22,160 of saying that is you're kind of falling for the get rich quick traps, right? Those are 344 00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:28,000 all your, yeah. And I don't know if you can call an entrepreneur lazy. I guess it reminds 345 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:32,280 me of the J O B people you talked about with somebody who just files a tax return and doesn't 346 00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:37,200 think about it. Like, yeah, there are some who think that entrepreneurship is just funny 347 00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:40,440 games. Those are more independent contractors though. I don't think they call themselves 348 00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:44,400 entrepreneurs at that stage. I didn't when I was that lazy independent contractor. You 349 00:31:44,400 --> 00:31:50,640 know, I hadn't quite graduated the, do I call myself an entrepreneur yet or not? So, but 350 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:56,720 I think this is so critical for people to hear and wake up and realize like, Hey, you 351 00:31:56,720 --> 00:32:02,880 know, the path of least resistance, there's a lot of, there's a lot of dangers around 352 00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:10,040 that path versus doing things the right way. So you and I, we help entrepreneurs almost 353 00:32:10,040 --> 00:32:13,920 in a similar capacity. I did use that city analogy on accident for the purpose of the 354 00:32:13,920 --> 00:32:18,800 foundation, but it does want to use often with entrepreneurs, right? So when you're 355 00:32:18,800 --> 00:32:24,040 building a business, you have all sorts of different things that are priorities. Depends 356 00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:28,480 on who you're working with, doesn't it? So some people are like, Oh my gosh, I would 357 00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:32,320 never have a city without a fire department. And somebody else is going to be like, yeah, 358 00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:35,040 but what about the hospital that needs to come first? And somebody else is going to 359 00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:38,480 say, but the police station, because otherwise we're on during a kind of like track method 360 00:32:38,480 --> 00:32:43,480 for criminals. Right. And so each element, well, our businesses are the same way, right? 361 00:32:43,480 --> 00:32:47,240 Do I mess with finances first? Do I do vision? Do I, do I get my product and service out 362 00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:54,040 there first, et cetera? How do you go about deciding how to guide entrepreneurs down that 363 00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:57,960 pathway? What do you start with? Or do you let them figure that out? 364 00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:03,080 Yeah. So we actually have created a six step onboarding process. We spend about two hours 365 00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:07,200 a week. That sounds so planted. I just want everybody to know I did not plant that. We 366 00:33:07,200 --> 00:33:11,680 did not plan the six step process. No, that's totally random. I'm cool with it. I'm excited 367 00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:17,840 to think about it. Sorry. Go ahead. So this, it's, we created this because most of the 368 00:33:17,840 --> 00:33:24,560 time when accountants become involved in the business, it's really just to kind of do what 369 00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:28,800 I would call like an order list, right? Like, okay, you need to file an 1120 S we're going 370 00:33:28,800 --> 00:33:34,240 to do your payroll monthly bank reconciliations, produce your W-2s at the end of the year. 371 00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:39,480 Like we're just making a list of all the things that need to get done. We've sort of erased 372 00:33:39,480 --> 00:33:43,320 that. Yes, those things need to get done. But where we really need to start is by asking 373 00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:47,400 these bigger questions, not because I'm the person who can solve all these things. Like 374 00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:51,200 I'm not an attorney. I'm not an HR expert. I don't know everything there is to know about 375 00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:57,400 sales and marketing, but it's my job to ask the questions so we know what's on the business 376 00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:03,120 owner's mind. Uncover just question after question after question, because in order 377 00:34:03,120 --> 00:34:09,560 to achieve true chance transformation, we have to know where it is they think they are and 378 00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:14,720 where it is they want to go. So this change in state, right? So it's like, you know, caterpillar 379 00:34:14,720 --> 00:34:19,120 to butterfly kind of thing, right? This is where you are. This is where you want to be. 380 00:34:19,120 --> 00:34:24,960 So the goal is to go through and ask all of these questions in a regimented way. We give 381 00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:32,400 them homework, there's quizzes. And the idea is that we're creating this roadmap for them. 382 00:34:32,400 --> 00:34:36,000 And by the end of that onboarding process, we basically have a list of priorities of 383 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:42,680 all the things that we are going to go through and help them to kind of quarterback. And 384 00:34:42,680 --> 00:34:47,200 this is where we're different and kind of why I think this is such a great need in the 385 00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:51,920 marketplace. So many business owners, I can't even tell you the number of times I've suggested 386 00:34:51,920 --> 00:34:56,960 great idea after great idea to business owner, like you guys should really implement a 401k. 387 00:34:56,960 --> 00:35:02,200 And they're like, that's a great idea. I need to do that. And the financial advisor sends 388 00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:06,760 out the paperwork and first question they get to is what's the match going to be? And 389 00:35:06,760 --> 00:35:11,000 they're like, I don't know, how much can I afford? I don't know what to do. And then 390 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:17,520 they just like mark unread in the inbox and it just sits there, right? That's where I 391 00:35:17,520 --> 00:35:23,640 feel like we need to be more involved as part of the advisory team of say, hey, let's factor 392 00:35:23,640 --> 00:35:28,520 that into forecast. And you can see scenario one, two, and three at a three, four or 5% 393 00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:32,320 match. What do you want to do? This is how it's going to impact your profitability. This 394 00:35:32,320 --> 00:35:35,760 is how it's going to impact taxes. This is how it's going to impact cash. Those are the 395 00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:38,920 types of things like painting a little bit of a vision of the future for them. That's 396 00:35:38,920 --> 00:35:45,960 the stuff they need. And then take the paperwork away from them. Like it's not on your to do 397 00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:52,800 list anymore. We'll do it for you so we can be both up. This is like done with you and 398 00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:57,440 done for you. A little bit of both. Like they need somebody to hold their hand, but at the 399 00:35:57,440 --> 00:36:01,520 same time they need somebody who can make an actually pass it on to and say, you got 400 00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:07,040 this? Yeah, I got it. Okay. I know. And people are so again, passively, I love that you use 401 00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:11,160 that term path of least resistance. Like we love our acronyms as entrepreneurs. We want 402 00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:17,120 everything simplified into three letters. But at the same time, like it lets, you know, 403 00:36:17,120 --> 00:36:21,420 take a step back there and I'm glad you did. I also catch that you're very nurturing individuals. 404 00:36:21,420 --> 00:36:28,680 So I would, I'd feel comfortable asking you dumb questions. And that's an important thing 405 00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:35,360 when you're dealing with 401k. So you're dealing with all benefits and all these things. So 406 00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:40,000 it's nice to have a CPA who doesn't talk over your head. Yeah. I mean, I'm sure that your 407 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:44,280 audience knows, like, I mean, you made a list of the things you got to learn when you start 408 00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:50,720 a business. I mean, I mean, even just like setting up social media accounts. I mean, 409 00:36:50,720 --> 00:36:55,920 it's all, it's all really hard. And there's one ebook that did not do very well. And that 410 00:36:55,920 --> 00:37:01,400 was the 101,000 steps to set it up. But just kidding, but it's about like that. I've tried 411 00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:08,880 many times. It is right. And, and you had to learn all those things. I, I, I feel like, 412 00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:16,320 especially with accounting money, it makes people really nervous. They know that cash 413 00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:21,280 is the life, you know, blood of their business. If they, if they don't get the finances right, 414 00:37:21,280 --> 00:37:26,160 like it's disastrous. They also have a lot personally on the line, you know, and it's 415 00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:31,440 really not even like the business bank account. It's like, they don't want to fail, right? 416 00:37:31,440 --> 00:37:35,840 They really want to do a good job. They really want to help people. I mean, they got into 417 00:37:35,840 --> 00:37:42,880 this for a reason. So sometimes people come to me in their books or like, they really 418 00:37:42,880 --> 00:37:46,560 are, they're messy, right? Cause they're not accountants when they started it, they 419 00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:52,520 kind of just pieced it together. And sometimes they can feel a lot of shame around that. 420 00:37:52,520 --> 00:37:59,080 And I, my advice to people when they start to kind of feel that way, it's like, it's 421 00:37:59,080 --> 00:38:08,360 okay. Just know that you are not alone. Most, every mistake you've made as a business owner 422 00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:13,680 or can stay accounting or taxes, everyone else has made those too. Yeah. And I like 423 00:38:13,680 --> 00:38:18,280 this quote that you guys have here. You know, it's, I had to bring it up. I was like, all 424 00:38:18,280 --> 00:38:23,720 right, I'm going to bring this up right now just to look at it because, you know, it's, 425 00:38:23,720 --> 00:38:29,360 it's, that's what we should be on the lookout for is somebody who can help us feel empowered 426 00:38:29,360 --> 00:38:33,960 to be able to break free of that. And it was actually going to be the support. And I hope 427 00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:38,340 some of the people listening gather that from you. Yeah, I hope so. And I really hope people 428 00:38:38,340 --> 00:38:45,280 will go back and kind of not, I don't want them to tolerate a bad relationship with someone, 429 00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:49,920 especially for accounting and taxes, because it's too important to their business. Like 430 00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:54,920 don't tolerate bad service. If somebody doesn't call you back, they don't get your return 431 00:38:54,920 --> 00:39:00,680 on time. They don't respond. They don't explain things clearly. Find somebody different. There 432 00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:09,320 are much better people out there. Just don't tolerate bad. Don't do it. Like it's hurting 433 00:39:09,320 --> 00:39:15,720 you more to not have the right advisor in that area of your business. Yep. Absolutely. 434 00:39:15,720 --> 00:39:20,280 We're not going to talk about it today, but finding your exit strategies too, and how 435 00:39:20,280 --> 00:39:25,160 you go about that is mission critical. Whether that's talking to somebody like myself or 436 00:39:25,160 --> 00:39:29,240 Susan trying to find out like, well, how do I go about that? You know, how does this transition 437 00:39:29,240 --> 00:39:32,400 take place in a way that doesn't piss off the person who's been managing my finances 438 00:39:32,400 --> 00:39:39,520 for X amount of years? Or better yet, have a conversation that includes both advisors 439 00:39:39,520 --> 00:39:47,160 in that capacity, because then it's like everybody's knowledge in the room helping you to get the 440 00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:54,320 most out of your enterprise. Yep. And I think too, we're not going to cover it, but there 441 00:39:54,320 --> 00:40:01,520 are protections when it comes to CPAs and CTPs that exist to protect you as a business 442 00:40:01,520 --> 00:40:08,160 owner if you end up in a situation where somebody's not playing nice. And those are things that 443 00:40:08,160 --> 00:40:13,240 don't exist for marketers, for instance, or operations individuals. They don't have those 444 00:40:13,240 --> 00:40:17,160 types of checks and balances that exist. But if you don't know what they are, that's another 445 00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:22,160 thing to ask Susan about and turn to her about. I don't have the answer for that. I would 446 00:40:22,160 --> 00:40:27,880 go to a number of different CPAs. I would ask all three of them. I'm super skeptical 447 00:40:27,880 --> 00:40:31,580 when it comes to stuff about compliance, and it's because I don't know enough about it. 448 00:40:31,580 --> 00:40:37,120 So I want to be well protected. I'll ask somebody old, I'll ask somebody young, and I'll ask 449 00:40:37,120 --> 00:40:42,160 somebody who I find very intelligent and open on the matter. And then I'll take all three 450 00:40:42,160 --> 00:40:48,680 of those pieces of advice and piece together what I think is the best path for me now that 451 00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:52,320 I'm a little bit more well-informed on the subject. So if you're listening and some of 452 00:40:52,320 --> 00:40:58,640 the stuff that's going over your head, know that I have full confidence that Susan will 453 00:40:58,640 --> 00:41:02,400 break it down for you in a patient way. On the flip side, if you're listening and you're 454 00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:06,880 like, guys, talk about more depth. Well, we're just trying not to leave people out in the 455 00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:12,920 process. I think Susan could go as deep as needed when it comes to tax planning and finances 456 00:41:12,920 --> 00:41:16,800 and what else you could do. The six-step process makes sense. What you should be looking at 457 00:41:16,800 --> 00:41:21,640 is the fundamentals of the individual that I have on this interview, and I find them 458 00:41:21,640 --> 00:41:28,920 sound. So what powerful lesson can other visionaries learn about your experience, from your experience 459 00:41:28,920 --> 00:41:34,480 so far, and running your business? 460 00:41:34,480 --> 00:41:40,880 So I actually wrote a little booklet called The Secret Sauce to Unboxed Success, and sort 461 00:41:40,880 --> 00:41:46,720 of did like a brain dump of like all the things that over the course of my career, I'm like, 462 00:41:46,720 --> 00:41:51,920 okay, here's everything you need to know. I feel like that might be like version one 463 00:41:51,920 --> 00:41:57,360 right now. I might have like version two in like a few years because it keeps evolving 464 00:41:57,360 --> 00:42:02,840 the more and more things I learn. We're in not only working with like doing my own business, 465 00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:08,920 like running my own business, but also working with other business owners. Okay. So I would 466 00:42:08,920 --> 00:42:20,040 say the most powerful lesson that I have learned is that leadership matters. Leadership matters 467 00:42:20,040 --> 00:42:30,680 on everything. The absence of leadership matters. Leadership, leadership, leadership, leadership. 468 00:42:30,680 --> 00:42:35,240 Everything that's happening in your business is a reflection of your own leadership. 469 00:42:35,240 --> 00:42:40,320 Again, we're not making super fans here out of everybody, but I know you're making the 470 00:42:40,320 --> 00:42:41,320 right fans. 471 00:42:41,320 --> 00:42:48,480 Yeah, they're hard lessons. I mean, it's hard to see it. I mean, I would actually even go 472 00:42:48,480 --> 00:42:55,880 a little bit further and say that whatever you see in your financial statements is a 473 00:42:55,880 --> 00:43:04,960 reflection of you too. So I mean, all this stuff is just it's like a mirror. So I do 474 00:43:04,960 --> 00:43:14,600 think that though your mindset and how you lead and influence the way you dream, ideate, 475 00:43:14,600 --> 00:43:19,520 brainstorm, solve problems, your action-oriented behavior, your core values that are driving 476 00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:25,240 you things, the passion, the conviction, all of those things to me are like the essence 477 00:43:25,240 --> 00:43:33,360 of leadership, right? And how you convey that to other people and help them to find all 478 00:43:33,360 --> 00:43:40,040 those same things in themselves. And in a lot of cases, I'm working with business owners 479 00:43:40,040 --> 00:43:46,080 who they haven't got that figured out yet. And I'm working with my own staff who I'm 480 00:43:46,080 --> 00:43:51,760 trying to bring up into these roles. So it's a... 481 00:43:51,760 --> 00:43:53,360 It's multifaceted. 482 00:43:53,360 --> 00:43:56,800 It's multifaceted. And then you yourself are continuing to learn. I mean, like nobody has 483 00:43:56,800 --> 00:43:58,760 all the answers, especially on that. 484 00:43:58,760 --> 00:44:04,720 It's multifaceted. But it is that it's so humbling and so important to... And it's such 485 00:44:04,720 --> 00:44:09,440 a refreshing... I think it was refreshing for me to figure it out, to realize, to be self-aware 486 00:44:09,440 --> 00:44:13,840 that everything that happens in my business is my fault at the end of the day. Good and 487 00:44:13,840 --> 00:44:20,360 bad. The buck stops at me. And that doesn't mean we take credit away from people. Of course, 488 00:44:20,360 --> 00:44:24,760 you don't when you have your victories, but it's also extremely important to own things 489 00:44:24,760 --> 00:44:29,840 that go wrong. I just had an interesting experience right on the subject. And again, I have to 490 00:44:29,840 --> 00:44:35,200 own it. Realize like, okay, I made my missteps in this too. So just a minute ago, Susan was 491 00:44:35,200 --> 00:44:39,520 talking about her six steps and I pulled myself off camera because I had to go answer the 492 00:44:39,520 --> 00:44:43,720 door. Somebody's knocking on my door. And they knocked twice. I know they're not going 493 00:44:43,720 --> 00:44:47,920 away. And I'm like, okay, interesting. What do I do here? So you're in your six steps. 494 00:44:47,920 --> 00:44:52,360 I was like, okay, I'll just go answer the door. It was a client of mine who just exited 495 00:44:52,360 --> 00:44:58,920 with us in a non-peaceful fashion. She handed me some materials, rolled her eyes and walked 496 00:44:58,920 --> 00:45:04,200 away. And it's okay. I had to come back in here anyway. I wasn't ready to talk, but she's 497 00:45:04,200 --> 00:45:09,800 choosing, they're choosing how they want to go about this. And it's like, oh man, like 498 00:45:09,800 --> 00:45:15,880 right in the middle of the podcast. And those things, they happen and we have to be willing 499 00:45:15,880 --> 00:45:22,280 to take a look at, okay, what can I do better in the future to provide? What can I do better? 500 00:45:22,280 --> 00:45:28,040 I make sure I align with the people who are coming on board. What can I do to help people 501 00:45:28,040 --> 00:45:33,320 understand expectations as they're going to play out with working with us? Our program's 502 00:45:33,320 --> 00:45:40,240 180 days. They were at day 93. So it's kind of like, well, you know what, what happened 503 00:45:40,240 --> 00:45:48,960 with understanding that this program's not finished. But I digress. Point being, we all 504 00:45:48,960 --> 00:45:56,080 lose at times. We all have opportunities to take a step back. And, and you might be great 505 00:45:56,080 --> 00:46:01,480 at leading the band, right, with your guitar, but that does not mean you're good at leading 506 00:46:01,480 --> 00:46:05,720 the concession stand. And it does not mean you're good at leading the financial department. 507 00:46:05,720 --> 00:46:08,800 That does not mean you're good at leading those three departments to connect together. 508 00:46:08,800 --> 00:46:11,280 That does not mean you're good at leading the conversations with the government in your 509 00:46:11,280 --> 00:46:16,640 business, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. There is almost no end to the depths of leadership 510 00:46:16,640 --> 00:46:19,640 that you have to learn as an entrepreneur if you're going to win and be successful. 511 00:46:19,640 --> 00:46:23,640 Yeah. I think one of the other things too, that I feel like in the last year that has 512 00:46:23,640 --> 00:46:33,800 been coming more and more apparent to me is that it reminds me of the movie, You've Got 513 00:46:33,800 --> 00:46:40,220 Mail, where good soundtrack, great sound, great soundtrack. And Tom Hanks is new characters 514 00:46:40,220 --> 00:46:45,320 trying to start in that big giant Fox books in her store is going to close or whatever. 515 00:46:45,320 --> 00:46:50,000 And they're in their little AOL chat room or whatever talking about, like, he's like, 516 00:46:50,000 --> 00:46:54,560 well, you're going to have to fight back, take it to the mattresses. And she's like, 517 00:46:54,560 --> 00:47:00,440 but it's personal. Like it's, it's, it starts with being personal. That I believe is the 518 00:47:00,440 --> 00:47:05,760 fundamental thing that we need to get back to. I think even in terms of leadership is 519 00:47:05,760 --> 00:47:09,880 first and foremost, it's going to be very personal. Your relationship, your staff, your 520 00:47:09,880 --> 00:47:16,320 stores, your vendors, all of it. It's personal. We are people. It all starts personal first. 521 00:47:16,320 --> 00:47:23,080 So I would just say like, we just had to be more human about it and less business way. 522 00:47:23,080 --> 00:47:29,080 Yeah. The logic and the heart, you know, they, they got to line, at least for the types of 523 00:47:29,080 --> 00:47:34,160 businesses that I construct and work with. I would agree with that. And if you don't, 524 00:47:34,160 --> 00:47:39,240 then you know, you find people who align with that and good luck. I mean, all the, may, 525 00:47:39,240 --> 00:47:45,160 may I say, I wish you well on that. So vision pros listening in. We'd love to know what 526 00:47:45,160 --> 00:47:49,400 you appreciate about this episode. Let's definitely leave a comment on it. If you have questions 527 00:47:49,400 --> 00:47:52,680 for us, let us know. I'm sure Susan would be happy to chime in. If we see it, we'll 528 00:47:52,680 --> 00:47:58,120 make sure to tag her. If you leave a question for her. And she's got lead magnets coming 529 00:47:58,120 --> 00:48:03,640 out too. And, and different types of elements that you can, you can go to our website and 530 00:48:03,640 --> 00:48:06,880 key in on, but they can, can they connect with you on LinkedIn as well? Oh, absolutely. 531 00:48:06,880 --> 00:48:12,000 Yeah. Susan Bryant, just so it appears here on the screen, CPA, CTP, you'll find me there 532 00:48:12,000 --> 00:48:16,840 on LinkedIn. I'm very active on LinkedIn. I actually just got a top voice recognition 533 00:48:16,840 --> 00:48:21,560 today. Some type of award where I'm a top voice. I got the email and I was like, Oh, 534 00:48:21,560 --> 00:48:25,800 what does that mean exactly? So now I can all these articles. Like, yeah, it's pretty 535 00:48:25,800 --> 00:48:32,440 cool. So you'll find me there a lot now. Awesome. Awesome. Find your Michelle Pfeiffer 536 00:48:32,440 --> 00:48:38,440 look alike on linkedin.com then and enjoy the process. Vision Pros. It's always great 537 00:48:38,440 --> 00:48:42,200 to serve you. If you need anything, let us know, subscribe, like review. We would love 538 00:48:42,200 --> 00:48:46,000 that. We appreciate you very much. And we will see you on the next episode. Susan, thank 539 00:48:46,000 --> 00:48:51,200 you for being here today. Thanks so much, Jackson. Thank you for being here today. I'm 540 00:48:51,200 --> 00:48:56,260 really happy that you tuned into Vision Pros live. I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions 541 00:48:56,260 --> 00:49:00,360 as these episodes continue to move forward. This is going to get more and more fun. We'll 542 00:49:00,360 --> 00:49:04,400 have more and more engagement as well. We'll invite people to participate in the show. 543 00:49:04,400 --> 00:49:31,400 And thank you for giving us your time and attention. Have an excellent time.