Let Her Give You Some Hope

[00:00:01] Speaker A: Friends, it's Sheri and I again today here at Collab Works. And today we're doing something a little different without our headphones. So hopefully nothing goes wrong with our recording because we're not going to know it until it's over, and then neither. [00:00:21] Speaker B: One of us can remember what we said. [00:00:22] Speaker A: That's right. And we're not going to redo it because we have a busy day. [00:00:26] Speaker B: That's exactly right. Busy week. [00:00:27] Speaker A: A busy week. [00:00:28] Speaker B: Busy week. [00:00:29] Speaker A: A really busy week. So, you know, Sherry, I didn't really feel like doing this today. [00:00:34] Speaker B: Even I really did feel like doing it today. So it's kind of interesting that we switched roles and I led you in the excitement of getting this done. So I've. The past few that we have recorded, they've made me nervous. It's something new, a lot of fears, things like that. But after we recorded last week, now I'm starting to kind of feel hopeful about them and starting to get. Did I know information with my body language should have showed that I was. I was nervous about it. But every week I feel a little bit better. And it's. It's kind of a fun thing. I. I enjoy it, and now I'm looking forward to it. It's on my calendar and. And I look forward to it. [00:01:19] Speaker A: So anyway, and it's on my calendar, and that's when of my goals of 2025 is. I'm really, really bad about my extroverted self. When I'm feeling like being really outgoing and doing extroverted things. I plan all this, and then I hit a day where my introverted self is at the forefront, and I just want to, like, withdraw and be in my shell. And it's really hard for me to do these things. But my 2025 goal is especially if I don't want to do it, and even more so, like, the more I don't want to do something, the more I'm going to really push myself to do something, because I think that's how I fail at some things, is I say no too easily. And then tomorrow, when I mentally feel better and my extroverted self has come to show up after the fact, then I'm upset because I miss an opportunity to do something I wanted to do. So. So, anyway, I'm probably not my best self today because I didn't want to do this because I didn't feel good about it. But I'm here and I'm glad that you helped me be here, so. And I'm also glad you sent us a subject for today to think about. So I'll just let you tell them what we're going to be talking about today. All right. [00:02:38] Speaker B: Well, I'm glad you're here today, too. I think you're fabulous no matter how you show up. So just keep showing up every day. So this morning I was thinking about last week we picked a word. This week we couldn't think of a word. Or I did actually think of a word, and I thought, she's going to think that's so stupid. I'm going to get something off the cuff from her. And actually, I shared the word with her as we were talking before we met, and it didn't go anywhere like what I thought. So the topic that I thought about today is how is accounting a hopeful industry? And you know, we're going into tax season, and if you are an accountant or you're in the finance industry, we all tend to share these negative feelings about, about tax season all of the time, the dreaded tax season. But you know what? It's another season, folks. It's kind of like winter here is right now in Kentucky. It is cold outside. [00:03:34] Speaker A: Oh, my gosh, it is so cold. [00:03:36] Speaker B: It is so cold outside of the year. [00:03:38] Speaker A: That's, that's today coldest day of the year. And that's kind of how what you're saying going into tax season feels like. Sometimes it's cold, not just for our tax preparers, but like firm, wide, it's cold. Even people who don't do taxes seem to dread tax season. So why is that? What, what, what built the culture like that and how can we look at it differently? [00:04:01] Speaker B: Sherry I don't know exactly what, what built it, but it's kind of, I guess it just started a negative snowball effect and then just kept growing and then it stuck kind of a thing. And I guess that's where a lot of things, a lot of people's beliefs start to become as they probably had a positive thought about them at first, I don't know. And then they just get so excited. [00:04:24] Speaker A: I want to prepare tax returns. I can't wait to prepare tax returns. It is a big piece of owning a business, too. [00:04:30] Speaker B: It is a big piece of owning a business. For me. I'm not necessarily as excited about preparing the tax return, but I am always excited about meeting the new clients that come in the door, the new businesses that are starting to open up, the opportunity to connect with people in the community. So that's the part that I'm really looking forward to as far as Tax season goes this year. So that's one way to me that the account. That accounting is a hopeful industry. [00:04:59] Speaker A: And that is, for me personally, as being in the accounting world. But even more importantly, I think what we should talk about is kind of what you and I were talking about while we were kind of preparing for this discussion is how do the clients. How do those businesses look at that? What's hopeful? How. How do accountants help them in a way that is hopeful? [00:05:24] Speaker B: Did I ever tell you about my first dream job? [00:05:28] Speaker A: Maybe I'm afraid to guess because you've told me a lot of things. So tell me, and then I'll tell you if you've told me. [00:05:35] Speaker B: You know, kids are hysterical. Everybody knows that kids are hysterical. And kids are big dreamers. And their dreams probably shouldn't always be squashed. They should be encouraged. Something will develop and grow out of it. For me, what I always loved was when we would go to the mall, I wanted to be one of those ladies that wrapped Christmas presents. [00:05:56] Speaker A: You have told me this, because I remember when you told me, I'm like, what? Who. What? You aspired to be the person to wrap the Christmas presents, which I can see, because Sherry, when she wraps a Christmas present or a gift for you, you don't even want to open it. It's beautiful. She wraps it up. She takes all this care, and everything is really like. When I wrap a gift, I'm like, fast. I don't care. Just wrap it. They're gonna tear it open anyway. But your approach to that is very different. So when you tell me that that was a career that you wanted to do, I see that. [00:06:36] Speaker B: Why the thought of, you know, being there, waiting for somebody that has that. They believe they have just picked the perfect gift. They've put a lot of thought and intention and in love in scoping it out, investigating it. Where's the best buy? You know, all of these different things, and I'm sure they have thought about the receiver of that gift, of this is something that they've wanted. This is something that they need. This is an answer to a prayer. All these different things and all of positive feelings that go forward with that. And they've come to me and they've given me the opportunity of let's. Let's tidy it up, let's wrap it up carefully, and let's put it in a box. And not put it in a box forever, but let's put it in a box and let's see what the surprise is, is when it's opened up and I Think about that, of how it correlates with a business owner. A business owner does put a lot of thought and prepar into thinking about what is a product or a service that I can offer to my community, a customer or something like that. That's going to help fill a need. Not only is it going to help fill a need, maybe it's going to create a job, maybe it's going to create a bunch of jobs. And I think about the ripple impact of that going out into our communities. One person has a good idea and as they take care with that good idea, they, you know, we wrap it up, we put, we get that business set up. I tell them about all of the different things that they need to do to have a good foundation to get that business going, what they need to do as they hire employees, just different steps that they can do, that they take care of their customers and their employees at the same time. And what the ripple effect is going to be out into that community. It just I get so about their. [00:08:40] Speaker A: Goals, their short term goals, their long. [00:08:42] Speaker B: Term goals, talk about some of the. [00:08:44] Speaker A: Obstacles and why they wanted to do the job in the first place. And so they give all this to you and let me guess, you wrap it up. [00:08:54] Speaker B: I hopefully wrap it up and you. [00:08:58] Speaker A: Tie some things together, you make it make sense. Is that where we're going? [00:09:04] Speaker B: That's kind of where we going. And then the customer will some, you know, a lot of times will come back and say, so is the package. [00:09:10] Speaker A: At the end the tax return or is it your business advisory services? Is it a little bit of everything? [00:09:18] Speaker B: I think it's a little bit of everything. [00:09:20] Speaker A: You're giving them lots of gifts. [00:09:21] Speaker B: It's a gift that kind of keeps on giving if you, if you put the intention into it the right way the very first time. Thank you. [00:09:30] Speaker A: So if a business needs a gift, they should come here because we do give a lot of gifts. Our whole team give gifts all the time. And I don't think probably get enough credit for the gifts that they give to the businesses they work with. And some of the gifts are just the time and the friendship and the camaraderie. Right. And just building partnerships, but also the years and years and years. Do you want to talk about how many years experience you have to come up with with the knowledge that you have to share that, right? So what. Because really you, you are a time warp creator, basically. Did you know that that's your superpower. [00:10:15] Speaker B: Oh, I didn't realize that. [00:10:17] Speaker A: Something that would take them how many years let's just say. How long you been in accounting? [00:10:22] Speaker B: I hate to say, because it's going to. It's gonna. I'm gonna get a lot of comments about this. I have been working for this firm since 1991. I have over 30 years. I hope I get the comments of, oh, my gosh, you must have started when you were two. That's going to be so fabulous to see those later. [00:10:38] Speaker A: And you will get those comments, I'm sure. But still. [00:10:41] Speaker B: Okay, over 30 years, you still learn. [00:10:43] Speaker A: Something every day about business, constantly. [00:10:47] Speaker B: Accounting is an industry that is always changing. Yesterday I had to learn, what do you do when you leave your computer at home? And you have to. And that's how you work. [00:10:58] Speaker A: Yeah. So. [00:11:00] Speaker B: But. [00:11:00] Speaker A: But back to this superhero that you have is you save that business because that. That business owner is on a different track. Right. They're on their own passion. They want to concentrate on the business that's driving them. But you're able to have them come in and then you condense time for them. So instead of them having to learn years and years and years of stuff to be able to do this, to help their business succeed, because, you know, there's. There's no 100%. You just find things that continually increase your chances of success. So when those businesses come see you, Sherry, you condense all that down. They don't have to go through the years of it. You give them all of that knowledge you've worked all these years to compile, and that business gets to benefit from that. And that is your gift. And it is a big gift. [00:12:00] Speaker B: Thank you. [00:12:00] Speaker A: And anyone out there that doesn't know Sherry Newcomb, you need to. And those of you who do know Sherry Newcomb, you've probably gotten a gift from her, and you probably would say, I know exactly what you're talking about with her. Don't fall off the pedestal. Oh, and I am gonna. I am gonna high five you, too. But that is a big pedestal. I'm not trying to put you way up there. I'm just trying to be really, really honest. That that is true, and that goes into the culture of La Miller over there in the accounting side is everybody is like that. They're very passionate. And. But Sherry leads a lot of the people in the team. She's, you know, they look up to her and they follow her, and she's created that kind of culture that those businesses are not just businesses. They're not just a number. They really, truly are our partners, our friends, and some of them want to be so Close that we do consider them extended family. [00:12:58] Speaker B: That's true. That's really true. [00:13:00] Speaker A: So back to this. Getting us back on track for a minute because, hey, we put timers out today, y'all. [00:13:06] Speaker B: Yeah, look. [00:13:09] Speaker A: Just like on Days of Our Lives. Times through the hourglass, because we were running a little long because Sherry and I talk a lot and get off track, and then we're like, where did we start and how did we get here? Which is exactly where we are. But so accounting. [00:13:24] Speaker B: Where did we start and how did we get here? [00:13:27] Speaker A: Industry of hope. [00:13:28] Speaker B: It is. Accounting is an industry. It really is an industry of hope for the clients that we serve and for the people that actually do the work. It does take time. It takes skill. It takes knowledge. I was thinking about that, too, this morning, how we all pray for something to happen really, really fast. Sometimes those are. Those are called miracles. Accounting isn't necessarily a miracle. It's a little bit at a time. So everybody just needs to. It's just a lesson that we all have to learn. It's a good. It's a great lesson. [00:14:07] Speaker A: I think that it's really interesting the more that I think about that topic that you brought to us today. I think about that because we get phone calls from clients because they get anxious when there's been a t enough time between when they've met with their accountant here or their advisor here. And they get anxious because they don't know what. They know the numbers and they think they know where they stand but sitting down. And once you do that for the first time and you actually look at those financials and you see a whole picture, you'll never be okay not doing that again. Because a lot of times it either brings a lot more clarity to that business owner. They definitely walk out saying, you told me things I did not know. And now I have a place to put my focus for the next, say, quarter, because quarterly meetings. Right, Right. We love to give hope to business owners in that because they get drained. They're out there just beating the pavement every day, working hard. And we know the toll that is taken on entrepreneurs. So coming in here, it is a little gift of hope. [00:15:17] Speaker B: I agree. It is a gift of hope. So if you are a client, I. Our. Our firm is taking new clients right now. When you call, you're going to dial my or you're going to get my extension. I'm going to meet with you, and we're going to talk about some things. It is. It is a little bit at a time. So it is a step by step process. As I talk to you about those things, I try to figure out what your circumstance is, what's going on, and how our office can serve you from there. After I do that, that, that meeting, I go back to my office and I type up all kinds of notes so I can transfer that information to our team. [00:15:55] Speaker A: The notes, like she writes journals about the clients, everything. Which is wonderful because anyone on our team then can look at those notes and know a lot about that business, what it does, who owns it, how we get in touch. So anyway, sorry to interject, but that's, that's really important. So detailed. [00:16:20] Speaker B: We did have a potential new client that came into the office last week. And one thing that stuck with me and our payroll department manager moved at the same time. And this individual made the one comment of I just really want to be seen. And that struck both of us and it's really stayed with us in today's society. We move so fast and we have become so, so desensitized to each other. And a lot of times people just want to be seen. So I love being that first. I love being that first touch here in our own office. I do hope to see you. I hope to find out what's going on with your business that you need help with. And I also want to find out one other thing about you personally that I care, I care about you today. And I just want to, you know, I just want to find out one thing about you and that makes my heart feel full at the end of the day. And I look forward to meeting the next one in the next couple of days. So. [00:17:26] Speaker A: All right, so if you're a business out there, even if you're an individual, if you need a little hope, if you need a partner not in crime. Although sometimes we say we're partners in crime, but we're not really, we hope. Then you call LA Miller, 270-575-3444. [00:17:46] Speaker B: Sherry, I'm extension number 101. [00:17:49] Speaker A: All right, call her. Set a time with her. Let her give you some hope. Let her help you with all those years experience that she has, and she'll be your superhero. [00:18:03] Speaker B: Thank you. [00:18:03] Speaker A: Until next time. [00:18:05] Speaker B: Until next time, we're gonna say bye. [00:18:08] Speaker A: Bye, friends. [00:18:08] Speaker B: Bye.