My Story

I have always enjoyed accounting but never considered it as a career. Especially when I was younger, I wanted to be a fashion designer.

My senior year of high school I did the minimum due to my overall lack of interest and teenage attitude. I was a solid B student and often cut classes, except for my college level Accounting class which I actually enjoyed and for me was an easy A. It made sense to me and spoke to my inner need for organization, that everything has a place and a balance. During my first semester of junior college I had no idea what I wanted to do yet so my schedule consisted of Accounting 2, Yoga & Kickboxing, not your typical college Freshman schedule but I enjoy taking the road less traveled. It ultimately took me nine years to graduate with my Bachelors from college, mainly because I had to work to pay my own way and I took a few semesters off along the way to travel and mature. I worked in restaurants throughout that time so I was fortunate enough to receive two educations at the same time. Hosting, waiting tables, bartending and managing taught me customer service, how to handle complaints, problem solve, prioritize, multitask, how to be decisive, manage others, and think on my feet. By the time that I transferred to a university, I was in my mid 20s and ready to learn. I majored in Business Management because I knew that I wanted to have my own business, but I wasn’t sure yet what business that would be but I knew that I would eventually figure it out... Those were definitely my best years of college, even though I went to school full time and worked full time as the Assistant General Manager of a busy restaurant in Sacramento, CA. I still found time to spend with family, friends, and train for my first and second half marathon. I was focused and fortunate that my wild years were behind me and were not able to distract me from learning. My maturity allowed me to sit in the front of my classes, ask multiple questions, talk to the professors during their office hours and make the most of my college experience. It took a long time but it was all worth it. I wouldn’t have learned or retained as much if I would have graduated college when I was younger. During my hardest years of school I finally had straight As. It gave me confidence to see what I could achieve when I applied myself. One of my proudest moments was the day that I accepted my diploma and graduated with Honors and a 4.0 college average. It was also a proud moment for my family since I was the first woman in my family to graduate from college. It was important to me that I set an example for my nieces and nephews that they can achieve anything they put their mind to.

After college I left the restaurant industry and did a variety of jobs including working for the US Dept of Immigration, being a Personal Chef and a Receptionist at a small tax office. I stayed the longest at the tax office, which was owned by the mother of my friend from college, who also worked there (since he got me the job.) It was difficult and humbling at first since I came from managing restaurants making $40k a year with a college degree to making $10 an hour answering phones, but I persevered. I stayed there for seven years and that is where I found my career. It wasn’t just taxes, we helped fellow small businesses in every way that we could. I realized that in all my Business courses in college, they prepared you for working in a large corporation but what was there to prepare you for working in a small business? Not much, what I noticed was a lot of good-hardworking people just trying to figure it out and do the best they could to support themselves and their families. That was it, these are the people that I want to help.

As the only girl with four brothers and a large extended family, I have learned to be tough when I need to be, especially when protecting or looking out for others, and soft when it counts. Just as Accounting fit my need for organization and balance, small businesses fed my passion for protecting others and helping them find a voice. I could use the tools that I learned in college and adapt them to empower small businesses. That is what I have set out to do. After I learned everything that I could from the tax office and a consulting firm in Philadelphia. I have enjoyed working remotely these past few years so I can expand my reach to partner with small businesses, coast to coast. They are the backbone of this country, yet they get hit the hardest because they are not big enough to fight back. I am working to remedy that, one client at a time.

I have been very fortunate to work with hundreds of small businesses during the past ten years and to see the similarities across industries as well as the nuances that make them different. With that, I also understand the vulnerability of sharing business operations, and financials, so I think it is only fair that I am transparent as well. I am also a small business and my drive is to always take pride in what I do, to constantly learn from my mistakes and to become better in order to help others become better too. I aim to help by partnering and collaborating so that we can all succeed....