What is the story that pertains to your life?
You know, I was speaking with some people about this last weekend.
I am a very driven person and I think part of it comes from kind of having a tough childhood.
But when the most poignant moment that I can look back and say that that right there is when I
decided I was always going to push as hard as I could. I was looking for a manufacturing company
in their print shop and I kept applying for ads to get out of it. I was looking for something
where I wouldn't be in that grunt role anymore and I kept getting turned down
to get out of that print shop and I was like, gosh, you know, I don't understand. I'm very
personable. I'm smart. Like point me in a direction and a company can take me and mold me into
whatever they want to make me. I was 21 at the time, young, no direction. And I went to talk to
the head of HR and I said, you know, what's the story here? I keep applying for these jobs.
You can take me and mold me into whatever you want me to become as a company person. I'm at that
point where I'm ready for it. And this woman looked at me and said, you're never going to be
better than a $7.50 hour wage. And I looked at her, I said, excuse me? Yeah, you just don't have what
it takes. And my next words out of my mouth were fine, I quit. And you just made a big mistake.
I turned around and walked out. And that was the inspiration for me, really wanting to find
something that I could throw my whole passion into. Yeah, so that's the story behind it. That
was the first catalyst moment that I can point to with my career and say, okay, that really got me
to a point where I just wouldn't be okay with just anything. Yeah, well, that's a powerful story.
Yeah. If you don't mind me asking, if you can recall in that moment, what was it that made you quit?
Was it the rejection or someone looking down at you or was it the fire, hey, I'm more than this?
What is it? What was that? It was the lack of belief in who I was and what I could become.
If this company didn't see value to me, then I shouldn't waste another moment there. I'm going to make it and I'm going to figure it out.
It may take me a while, but I'll figure it out. I'll get there. And that's exactly what I've done.
So that HR lady, she probably is a terrible leader with the fact that she said that. I understand that.
Yeah. But she didn't represent the company. It was the owner of the company who did that.
A lot of times when people say stupid stuff like that, it's because they're not well-trained.
They are not sure. I don't even know what would have made her say that.
But where did you go from there and how did you get started into this tax side of you where you go and come help people with debts?
Yeah. So I floated around for a while. I had been in St. Louis where I'm originally from and moved to Colorado
where I had a couple of friends from college. And I said, hey, I'm going to couch surf for a little bit. I need to get my feet under me again.
It was a great opportunity to kind of sever what had been holding me back and moving forward and being open to what comes along.
And I spent some time waiting tables, working at a hotel. I was working in a candle shop on Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado.
Bored out of my mind. Just I knew I had so much more in me.
And I answered an ad for an administrative assistant for one of the pioneering companies that does tax debt resolution.
And I remember going to the interview and the gentleman said to me, well, we handle tax debt for people.
I said, what do you mean you handle tax debt for people? And I just wasn't sure about it.
And I went home and I called my dad, who is a retired lieutenant colonel now in the military.
And I said, dad, well, the interview was really good. But have you ever heard of people owing money to the government for taxes?
And he just like I could hear him shaking his head. It's like, daughter, you have so much to learn. Yes, it's a thing.
Try it out. If you don't like it, you can go find something else. And I happened upon this this industry that I love.
I was just speaking with a bookkeeper on the East Coast just an hour ago.
And we were talking about the passion that drives us and what inspires us.
And I said, my gosh, I get to help people when they're in this situation that they don't know how to get out of.
They don't know who to trust. They don't know who to turn to.
They don't know who to believe when somebody is saying to them, oh, I can I can solve this, but you got to pay me a bunch of money up front.
And I get to step in and really take these people by the hand and say, you know what? I'm going to get you there.
Just grab my hand, follow my guidance. Let's take it one step at a time. And you're going to get to the other side of it.
And it is just such an amazing feeling. So when I when I happened upon this industry, it was something where like all these light bulbs in my head went off.
All these connections of I get to play with numbers all day. I get to debate. I get to provide guidance and help. I get to educate people.
I get to sometimes educate the people at the IRS and the state on what they can and can't do.
I get to I get to work in a world where I provide solutions to people who really need it at some of the most trying moments in their life.
So that's that's amazing. Thank you.
I want to bring back what I was saying earlier.
Yes, you had a bad experience with that HR lady and that made you go be part of the tax.
I want to call it a firm. So how did you get started knowing that there is that said that to that Lisa that you what held you back and how did you get started into your own entrepreneurship journey or solo ownership journey?
I don't know where you're at, but well, OK, now I want to break off from them and actually go do my own thing.
Yeah, you know, going back to the HR lady, it's more something that I look back and kind of laugh and say, you know, if I wouldn't have had that catalyst moment, I don't know if I would have had the the wherewithal to break away from what had become very comfortable.
In lieu of finding something that spoke to me as much as as the industry than I have spent the last twenty five years and I don't think that I would have done it.
So everything happens for a reason. And I just kind of chalk it up to that. But you never you never stop hearing that at some point in your life.
It's something that you look back on. Now, I look back on it and say, OK, that's what you thought. But obviously, it was absolutely incorrect. And I've proven it.
And I'm grateful for having that experience, because, like I said, it was the catalyst for me to reach outside of my comfort zone at the time.
But I think when I was in the industry and I got to a point where I had reached as far as I could go with the organization that I first started with and I said, OK.
Things are stagnant. I feel like I've reached the max potential here. I can do more by stepping out on my own and setting new new expectations for the way we handle clients.
The way I expect me and my team to handle clients is very white glove client.
When I am on the phone with you, you are 100 percent my attention and I spend more time educating you about how you ended up where you are versus just sit there.
I'm going to tell you what I'm doing and you're going to be fine. Like I grab their hand and I walk them through it step by step.
So there is no question about what we're doing. We invest more into our clients and into creating collaborative resources and team team building with the clients.
CPA with their accountant or their bookkeeper or their financial advisor. We really invest in that relationship as well. So they know that all of us who are hired to look out for the client's best interest.
All are in agreement with every step of the way. And that's something that I'd never been able to do before.
We could touch on it but not get too too involved with it. And I have found that clients love the approach that that me and my company Golden Lion really focus on for each of them individually.
So just seeing how other people have done it and taking it in a bit of a deeper and different direction that has an even better outcome for the client.
That's awesome. That answers my question. And you also answered your being a solo entrepreneur.
Yeah.
That's awesome. I have one more question for you Morgan today.
Sure.
Actually two questions. I think that would be better said.
Okay.
First question is you mentioned something held you back all those years ago or throughout. What was that that held you back? And now that you've figured out who you are and what you want to do, where are you going with your vision?
Great question. So what held me back? I think when you're younger, what other the box that other people put you in is pretty important. It becomes part of your identity.
Instead of having the inner strength and the wherewithal to say, you know what, you all see this for me, but I don't see it for me. I see heading in this different direction. And that was that tie to family and the community that I was in the friends I had did stifle me a bit because you fall into this comfortable role.
And nobody wants to rock the boat when they're that young. If they're feeling like they've got this community wrapped around them. It's hard to say, you know what, I'm comfortable here, but I'm going to step away and I'm going to try something that is more in line with how I am and what I feel rings true to me.
It's hard to have that confidence when you're in your early 20s.
So I think that sense of community and wanting to be in a small nurturing environment created that comfort level that stifled me a bit.
So the comfort level was that held you back.
Yeah.
Now, where are you going with your vision?
That is a fantastic question. I've spent a lot of time thinking about that as I think any entrepreneur does.
What I want to do for my company, I think there's two different ways to answer that. For the company is I want to develop and invest more in collaborative relationships with other tax professionals.
I want other tax professionals to know that we are an ethical, sound, dependable option to partner with them for the betterment of their clients.
And we're looking at doing that a few different ways. But the other direction that I'm focusing on for the company is how do we provide solutions for people where it doesn't make sense for them to hire a professional?
We were talking a little bit earlier about this webinar series that we are going to be publishing and it's going to focus on that segment of the population who maybe owes $12,000 in income tax.
They shouldn't pay somebody $1,500 or $2,000 to handle the debt for them.
That's not a great use of their money when they have a $12,000 tax debt and can't address it at one time.
So this webinar series is going to be touching on solutions for that kind of client.
For the kind of client who owes similar tax debts, but maybe should submit a settlement or a compromise petition to the IRS or the state, we're going to introduce that.
We're going to introduce innocent and injured spouse solutions for people as well.
So we're really looking at when it doesn't make sense to hire a professional to handle it, how do we guide you to handle it yourself?
So that's really exciting. And then personally, within the business, I love doing this. I love speaking with people.
I love focusing on meeting more people in our industry.
And we're at this tipping point where I'm starting to elevate out of the client work and depend on my staff more and more and expand more and more.
So that's really what we're doing with the infrastructure of the business.
Thank you for being here today. I'm really happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live.
I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue to move forward.
It's going to get more and more fun. We'll have more and more engagement as well.
We'll invite people to participate in the show. And thank you for giving us your time and attention.
Have an excellent time building out your vision and becoming a Vision Pro yourself.