January 29, 2025 • 27 mins
What if transforming your financial stress into empowerment was more achievable than you thought? Join us as we sit down with the inspiring Margo Masry, a formidable CFO from New Jersey who recounts her personal journey from financial adversity to leading others toward fiscal empowerment. Margo's story challenges the perception of finance as a burdensome necessity, demonstrating instead how it can be both approachable and transformative. Through her authentic approach to finance and taxes, Margo reveals how aligning your financial strategies with genuine intentions can lead to a more fulfilling personal and professional life.
Mindset plays a crucial role in how we approach our financial goals, and Margo shares insights into how aligning actions with intentions can revolutionize your relationship with money. We explore the intricacies of mindset and neuroscience, shedding light on how our conscious and unconscious behaviors shape our experiences. Together, we discuss practical strategies for setting intentions and managing influences, highlighting the evolving impact of AI on consumer awareness. Margo's insights into avoiding stagnation and fostering growth through intentional living offer a refreshing perspective on achieving financial success.
Navigating the complexities of modern finance doesn't have to be overwhelming. Margo guides us through the challenges of staying current in the commercial real estate sector, emphasizing the importance of creative strategies and resourcefulness over substantial upfront capital. From handling years of backlog to embracing the balance between intense work and rest, Margo's experience offers a blueprint for achieving professional growth. The episode concludes with powerful stories of personal transformation, underscoring the importance of aligning personal and professional aspirations for a truly fulfilling life. Connect with Margo on LinkedIn for continued insights and support.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Heather Ewing, the CRE Rundown.
I am your host, Heather Ewing,and today I am a delightful
guest for you.
It is none other than MargoMasry.
She is the heartfelt CFO, Margowelcome.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Thank you so much for having me.
How are you?
Speaker 1 (00:21):
I'm doing well.
It's a little chilly here inWisconsin, but that's all part
of the charm, right?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Oh, it's really cold here too.
Where are you?
Speaker 1 (00:30):
remind me.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
We just moved to New Jersey actually, and here I
think it's like 12 degrees.
It might've even been likenegative eight this morning.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Right, yeah, it's.
It's definitely the time of theyear I always joke.
You know that it it just helpsyou to make your roots go deeper
and stronger right.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Literally.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Yeah, definitely so.
We've known each other onLinkedIn, I think, for about a
year or so, but for those in mycommunity that haven't met you
online or in person, can youshare a little bit more about
yourself?
Speaker 2 (01:04):
in person.
Can you share a little bit moreabout yourself?
I'm a mom of two.
I live in New Jersey.
I do a lot of fun things on theside I love yoga, I love
swimming, I love to learn moreand have like an open mindset.
Love nature, cooking, shoppingwho else doesn't Right?
My lifelong purpose is to helpbusiness owners and individuals
(01:27):
around the money, business andtax and all of the in between,
which is where my company hasevolved over the past 20 years,
and I just have a passion forgiving people the idea that so
much more could happen with adollar than what they really
think is actually possible.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Definitely there's a lot of room for leverage in that
right.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Literally.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
So, backing up, how did you get into this right Like
what?
Was it a just an inner calling?
Did you meet someone?
How did it all start?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Growing up life was really, really difficult.
I saw how money was such ahardship with my parents and it
just seemed to always be like Icall it now like low level
emotions, anger, frustration,sadness, like things really to
bring out a lot of hardship.
And one day I was in the storewith my dad and I wanted this
(02:26):
jacket and all the cool kids hadthis jacket and I thought it
was going to be my lucky dayhaving this jacket.
We got to the register and itseemed that it was still a
little bit more because you addthe tax.
It was hard for my dad and Isaw that face on him and I was
like I never want to see that onhim or another human Again.
(02:49):
Everything around me was alwaysshowing how it was hard.
I saw that tax was hard moneyand I was like you know what I'm
going to make it that I didhave this, that people think
that money is fun, money isintimate, and that's really how
it began.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Which would be a huge mind shift.
Right, because it'd beinteresting if you took a basic
poll right.
You hear, you know, some of thetop issues of life is one
public speaking, two financials.
Right, it's really at the rootof a lot of challenges, or,
conversely, a lot of greatgiving and other things.
(03:26):
So how did you help to kind ofbreak down this massive topic?
Speaker 2 (03:32):
You nailed it.
So breaking down the challengesand also being public about it
was actually two struggles initself, and when I found myself
in the struggle because there'sthis complex around when you're
in the field that you shouldknow everything, you have all
the answers, and it's like thismagic wand that you have that
(03:53):
poof people come and you'regoing to give them all the
answers, the prosperity thatthey're looking for and all the
things.
However, not until you take thesteps and actions does things
really evolve.
So as my life evolved andthings were happening and it was
happening on autopilot and onauto repeat I was like wow,
these are processes and I couldcontinue to evolve and showing
(04:17):
up how my life was.
Clients were asking me forthings.
My first client was actually afamous designer and he really
just gave me this like wildopportunity to dive in and I
said to him I was like I don'treally know much and I was like
in college and he was like Iwant you, margo, and it was all
(04:38):
about because I had the skillsand the involvement.
And really communicating it topeople was a separate thing and
I'll be honest with you.
I have a lot of gratitudetowards my first coach and
writer for this, because mycoach helped me find this writer
to really get my voice outthere around it.
And when you see peoplereceiving it and needing it
(05:02):
because you think it's taboo,you want to spread it more and
sharing that people could reallyalign with where they are and
not feel like money and tax ishard or that gorilla and in the
room and really see it evolveover time.
There's nothing better.
I don't sell people.
(05:23):
I solve problems.
I literally look to when peoplehave the.
There's nothing better.
I don't sell people, I solveproblems.
I literally look to when peoplehave the pain.
There's always an education ora value or something that we
have to give and it aligns andusually people do.
But the how was really justsharing and living in it,
because I'm the example, my kidslive it and what you want is
(05:47):
probably what, something else,that, what people have.
So, and as a leader, people sawthat I was living that life and
clients over time it just grew,which is like it's just magical
in itself because, uh, I wasprobably the struggling
bookkeeper to now really havingbeautiful clients, a team and
(06:08):
just constantly people lookingto evolve, which is really what
it's about.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Definitely.
And there's a couple of thingsthat really popped up for me as
you were talking.
One is authenticity.
I think so frequently it isshining the light in the
scariest spaces of life that wedo uncover those deeper levels,
those deeper meanings, andreally flesh out the challenges
that we're experiencing.
(06:33):
And I think in taking thosebold steps, you, one, help
yourself transition to adifferent point.
But then, two, you're also ableto share that.
And two, you're also able toshare that.
And I think you know I don'tremember if it was Jim Rohn or
who had came up with a statementyou know something that luck
favors the prepared.
And with that first client thatyou were seeing, you know
(06:56):
you're kind of like why me?
He saw within you and I wouldthink too, a lot of times, so
much of it is when your ethicsalign.
A lot of times, so much of itis when your ethics align, I
think people give you moreopportunities also because they
know that you will be forthright, you'll be honest, and that
they are in good hands and thatyou will figure it out.
So I think you saw many aspectsof your leadership in those
(07:18):
early days that are reallyflourishing, thank you, thank
you.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Authenticity is just really the name of the game,
because if you don't share it inthat way, people are not going
to follow you and lead and yourlife's purpose is not going to
evolve.
And when I really did firstshare I mean I also was learning
through debt at a time Ilearned to understand credit
(07:45):
card and loans, how to use itproperly, however, without being
proactive, like you just saidand you have intentions, the
rest align.
And being a mom and being afeminine leader, you know, and
(08:12):
this really does have itscomponents, because the feminine
, along with the masculine, isreally a big thing, like if you
think about Michelle Obama andHubby and how they align
together, there's a lot ofthings that changed because of
that.
So, having a feminine CFO atyour fingertips I mean, our tax
(08:34):
manager is male there's just awhole different paradigm that
could happen.
And I will say if you meetyourself where you're at,
authenticity won't be hard.
And it hurts me so much when Ihear that people think
authenticity is hard becausewe're then in our own way and
(08:56):
that's the first step to anyevolvement around money,
business and tax.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Oh, definitely Right.
Well, it's interesting.
Oh, definitely Right.
Well, it's interesting.
I don't know if you've seenthat there's an assessment
that's going around and it'sreally quick.
I think it's like 50 questions.
You just answer with a gut feelbut then it tells you
(09:25):
youronounced his name.
Sorry about that, chris, butanyways, you know, speaking
about taking that deep dive anduncovering some of those
different things, that's wherethe magic is and it's.
You know, I always say it'sugly before it's beautiful.
It's flushing out the old forthe new path that lays ahead.
So, with all of this, you knowbalancing of the masculine,
(09:47):
feminine energies, speaking fromthe heart also, you know
understanding all of the numbers, all of those important factors
as well.
How do you see mindset having arole in all of this?
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Mindset is huge.
It's huge.
Over the past five years, Iwould say I took a deeper dive
into it, because what I saw wasis that I was acting robotic and
not from an aligned standpoint.
And when you act from a roboticof what you're told, it's a
(10:22):
very different way of operating.
You will max out at a point.
It's a very different way ofoperating.
You will max out at a point.
So if people tell you how tomake money, if people tell you
what to do, versus you reallyfeel connected to it.
It's very different.
So mindset and really knowingwhat you want to bring in and
what your fears are is reallythe first step.
(10:42):
I'll tell you a story.
I just worked with this mom andshe just recently lost her
husband and when she firstconversed with me, you can feel
in her the grief.
And then when she came back,she was like ready to sign on
and she was like I just couldn'tget the mindset going.
(11:02):
But that's all we talked aboutwhen we had our VIP date
together, because she had thisbeliefs around things that were
really in her way.
However, what was really in herway is that that those maybe
just are not your people RightFrom there.
So much more open to open up toher ideal client and things
(11:24):
that she needed to bring in herideal schedule.
For me, mindset every day.
And then it intertwinesthroughout the day.
You know, throughout social andall the different blogs we see
the perfect morning routine isgoing to really do beyond your
wildest dreams.
Right, If you do in the morningthat hour or so or whatever it
(11:44):
is.
If you do in the morning thathour or so or whatever it is, if
you don't intertwine andintermingle throughout the day,
it's like as if it doesn'thappen.
So something simple likesetting an alarm clock on your
phone to see are you aligningwith the frequency of what
you're wanting to bring in?
Because if we're not on thatsame frequency of what we want
(12:06):
to bring in, that's exactly thereason why it's not.
Or something like I want tomake 60,000 a month, which is
like a random number, but youreally don't even know how your
own budget is, of what youreally need to bring in.
So meeting yourself where you'reat and creating, you know,
(12:26):
frameworks around this, whetherit's like I talked about before
swimming, yoga, going intonature I mean, I kill the trees.
Forgive me because I journalfrom here to tomorrow with all
my deep dives and plans, divesand plan.
(12:48):
But there's so much stuff, butthe most important thing I want
to share here around mindset isthat it's who you're learning it
from too.
If you don't feel the personwho you're learning from you're
really aligning with, to like acore degree and like we talk
about the values, then it'ssomething to think about.
It could be the coach ischallenging you.
Then it's something to thinkabout.
It could be the coach ischallenging you, but you want to
(13:09):
monitor what you're listeningto all over the place, who
you're following.
If you open up your social andsomeone is triggering you, you
want to remove that.
It might be at times fun, butit how long are you taking to
get out of that trigger that iswashing away income, hours of
your day that you could begenerating new actions and new
(13:30):
things.
So mindset just throughout theday.
I can't stress it enough.
It even starts the night before, setting your intentions how
you want to feel when you wakeup.
What do you want to bring inwhen you close the day, asking
yourself this question did Isqueeze the time out of the day?
Did I squeeze the lemon of thejuice out of the day.
(13:51):
Yeah, or did I just likela-di-da you?
Speaker 1 (13:55):
know, and I think what you know, what you're
saying beautifully, is to liveintentionally, and the way you
live intentionally is to connectwith the feelings that you want
to have to who you want tobecome.
You know, in your example of60k a month, what does that look
like, right?
(14:16):
Where are you spending it?
Where are you donating it?
How are you investing it?
You know there's so manydifferent ways to peel that back
and make it more real.
And then you, you know, youbreak the number down further,
by weeks, by hours, things ofthat nature, so that it's, it's
an easier nut to crack if you'renot there.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
And.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
I think, too, with that intentional living.
I couldn't agree more.
I joke that I went through anearly, early midlife crisis in
my 20s after a really bad caraccident, but with that too, the
beautiful gift was getting intomeditation and really
understanding the importance ofhow you start your day, end your
day.
And also with neuroscience, Ifind that extremely fascinating,
(14:59):
right?
Because we're all wiredsimilarly but yet different.
We have different perceptions,backgrounds, all of that
similarly, but yet different.
We have different perceptions,backgrounds, all of that.
And I think it's you know,there's, there's the scientific
stats to prove it of the wakinghours, the sleeping hours and
(15:20):
how that all affects theconscious, unconscious, and it's
kind of like anything right?
How do you maximize theperformance?
And we want to do that in ourbusinesses and our lives and our
joy, our love and in everyarena.
But if, if the focus is to getby, you're going to miss out on
all of those different elementsthat you're sharing to up level
and to continue going to ournext level and beyond.
(15:41):
So firm believer in everythingthat you're saying, margo.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Yeah, so shifting a little bit into you know what
you're seeing in the market.
Also, how do you see thingsevolving from a tax perspective
and anything else that mightjump out at you, like whether
it's AI or otherwise?
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Yeah, so I feel like people are becoming more
conscious, they're wanting to bemore involved.
Ai is kind of like when a lotof accounting apps came out
where people thought it wasgoing to replace a lot of things
it could complement.
It never replaces.
(16:22):
I remember when, you know,there were so many apps that
were coming out back to back inthe accounting industry around
the receipts.
The actual tax market evolvedand people were like, oh, I
don't need to hire you, andda-da-dee, da-da-da, but then
they got into worse scenariosbecause it's apps that they
really just never learned.
And AI is the same thing.
(16:44):
Nothing replaces the humancomponent.
Nothing replaces intention orbeing proactive.
What I see is definitelyevolving is that people wanting
to be involved more.
However, what's not happeningis that that literal jump of
that step of I'm going to do it,it's that it's a higher inquiry
(17:04):
, but it's still like on thesideline versus being in there.
And I would say that's mainlybecause of the fear of money,
when really money just wants tobe intimate with you in terms of
like, what do you want to bringout in the world?
What's your reason?
Hey, let me go find it for you.
Let's align In the real estateindustry.
(17:24):
I mean, the hard part here inthe CRE world is that a lot of
it is kind of like it's alwayscatching up and it's not in the
present time, and that's one ofthe core reasons of why people
don't really ever really savemoney or get out of tax debt or
back credit card debt and things, because they're always in
(17:46):
behind, they're never in thecurrent time.
Our process and our firm isbeing in the current time, in
the current realm of time, and Ican't say it enough like the
average client will come liketwo to six years of bookkeeping
and tax returns, so they're allexactly one client.
(18:07):
Now we're back.
I think we're like in 15 withher and um to her.
The reasons were hard at thetime and right until things
evolved and now it compiled.
However, it's the right personto work through with her one
year at a time and to prioritizeit, and that's the key is that
(18:30):
you may have a lot to do, butit's the person that's going to
take you through it and get towhat I call the garden, and the
garden is the place of whereyou're not in the mud, holding
that backpack of all of thisstuff that you're looking to
work through and like you'rereally holding on to, like with
a tight grip.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Right.
Well, I think so much ofcommercial real estate and life
is really taking those bigchunks whatever it might be
right, like your example, Iwould say, is definitely a big
chunk, and breaking it intosmaller amounts, and I think
that's that's one of the steps.
But it's really the predecessorto that step is finding the
(19:11):
right professional for whateveryou need help in right, because
then you have all the years 20plus years of experience, of
knowledge that you know what todo, what not to do, great
resources for ancillary type ofneeds that they might have, and
it just makes it so much easier.
But I think what happens ispeople shut themselves down
(19:35):
before they even begin.
Same with you know thebrokerage world of they think
that they have to have 200k todo anything and it's like oh, no
, no, there's so many otheroptions to get where you want to
go.
Yes, that is one, but there's alot of creative ways to merge
the gap.
And so, you know, I think it'sone of those, almost like a plea
(19:58):
for people of one, find theright resources to find how you
can work with them and three,start just breaking it down into
actionable chunks literallyjust.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
I always say take the goal and then work backwards
from there.
If you want to see it in threeyears, six months, 12 months,
whatever it is, break it downinto from, like, a three-year
goal to a 12-month goal and intoa weekly goal, and then break
it down into actions.
The most common question aroundthat I always get is I don't
know what to ask.
(20:28):
I don't know what to do.
Right, everyone has to startfrom somewhere.
So see where it goes, you know.
Take a whiteboard and see whathappens.
Open up a Google Doc and seewhat happens.
If you're out there and youdon't have the cash and you want
to do something, then how couldyou find the cash?
(20:49):
Maybe it's not 200,000, maybeit's a hundred thousand, maybe
it's 50,000, but we all have tostart somewhere.
If you were to tell me like nowmy firm is a full service firm,
20 years ago I would have beenlike that's a wild idea, because
I'm a bookkeeper and now we dotalks and it's very common that
(21:11):
clients come for the wholeshebang, right, right, and let
alone speaking and talking likeI am now.
I just would have said likeyou're just wild on lemonade.
So Exactly.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Yeah, no, it's.
It's interesting, isn't it, howthings shape and evolve.
And with that, I'm sure youknow, there was a lot of stress
at different times and stress isinevitable, right, Kind of like
.
When I hear balance, I'm likebalance is not seven or eight
hours a day In my opinion.
Balance to me is like you'regoing to have times in business
(21:47):
where there's a lot of hours andit might seem a little wild,
but it's for a certain amount oftime, and then then you take a,
you know, four day vacation orsomething like that, where it's
more.
So I see it as sprints.
What are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2 (22:04):
It's for sure.
Sprints, yeah, it's almost likehow you see your calendar and
like pockets of time, like Ihave certain days I do things
and it's literally for thatamount of time because you know
what you're gauging yourself forthat activity and then making
it happen.
And what happens is is fromthere you're like, oh wow, did
(22:25):
it, but you could do it again,exactly.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
Yeah, but I have a feeling like we could talk for
hours at a time, margo, but aswe wrap this up, what would you
say living fully means to you?
This is always the way I endeach podcast and it's one of my
favorite questions.
So what does living fully meanto you?
Speaker 2 (22:47):
You know, when I saw it on your questions, I thought
about it a little bit.
Yeah, I was like you know,because our podcast with you and
I got to late a little bit andit actually helps me because
it's actually the perfect timeto answer this.
You know, I just recovered fromsurgery and I had ankle surgery
and it was.
However, I look at the time andbecause of what I do, I was
(23:13):
able to be fully in the recovery.
I was able to really haveeverything I needed.
So, for me, living fully isthat I'm not.
I'm living with what I want.
Also because if I need to dosomething, it's there.
My family was taken care of andmy team was taken care of so
(23:34):
that I can do what I need.
So it becomes a choice.
There's no guilt and it's anoption.
It's not by default, it's notby somebody saying like you have
to do this Right.
It's living fully in your heartand what you want to do.
It's not.
It's it's trying to step intothat fear and really making
(23:56):
things happen that you want todo.
You know, we just moved intoNew Jersey.
My daughter got into afive-year program for
architecture and in terms ofwealth development for me, for
my personal life.
It actually evolved me intoanother level because I started
to rent my home and now doingother things.
So when you tap into one thing,you realize how so much more
(24:21):
can happen for you betweenhaving a healthy body, healthy
mind and really putting it alltogether.
So if you're living not livingfully out there and there's
something you want to do, justget it on the calendar.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Yeah, exactly.
It sounds simple, doesn't it?
Speaker 2 (24:38):
But that's how things happen, and put a picture too,
like put a picture with it sothat you see it to look forward
to Right.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Well, and then you feel it right, so it becomes
more real.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
You can't forget about that.
You got to feel it, and then itbecomes like day after day
where you get to cravings.
It's like it's coming closerRight.
The excitement builds.
Yeah, I mean this move.
It probably took almost twoyears to really make it happen.
However, like just, thingsshifted and so much more evolved
here because of what we wantedto happen.
(25:13):
It was really being intentionalaround what my daughter wanted,
what I was looking for.
I cared less about myself,because what she was looking for
I was totally in and wanted tohelp make that happen, and life
just took off.
You, you know business in adifferent way.
Opportunities, they say, whichmeans like you, you would change
(25:35):
your place, you change yourluck, and I was already happy
and this just brought indifferent things.
So, um, I love it, save formedical, and I just I want to
close with a story.
We have a client who she cameto me last year and she has MS.
She has very profitablebusiness and she was worried
(25:57):
about her MS, how things weregoing to evolve and people
default to insurance and all ofthese things, which is a good
basic step.
What happened with her is thatshe didn't really have the
proper basic bookkeeping andaccounting to see her cash flow.
The surprise was she needed totake a bigger W-2, so extra cash
(26:18):
for her, which really was hermedical savings.
So we stacked, taking care ofher medical.
She had a health savingsaccount.
She took care of her family andthen she had a health savings
account.
She took care of her family andthen she had a more peaceful
time off.
Oh, definitely, this is anexample of living fully and how
an accounting and tax systemcould stack and work for you I
love it.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Well, that is perfect , margo.
Thank you so much for joiningme.
It was a delight and I lookforward to connecting you with
others and, speaking of which,what's the best way for people
to connect with you?
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Please see us each day on LinkedIn.
We have a daily post.
Each morning we post blogs,infographs, videos and all of
the fun things.
Feel free to DM me.
I love voice texts from all ourfollowers or whatever suits you
, and I look forward to hearingfrom you around our social and
anything else you might need.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
Excellent.
Thanks so much, Margo.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Talk soon.
Thanks again All right, bye-bye.
Bye.
Welcome to Heather Ewing, the CRE Rundown.
I am your host, Heather Ewing,and today I am a delightful
guest for you.
It is none other than MargoMasry.
She is the heartfelt CFO, Margowelcome.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Thank you so much for having me.
How are you?
Speaker 1 (00:21):
I'm doing well.
It's a little chilly here inWisconsin, but that's all part
of the charm, right?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Oh, it's really cold here too.
Where are you?
Speaker 1 (00:30):
remind me.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
We just moved to New Jersey actually, and here I
think it's like 12 degrees.
It might've even been likenegative eight this morning.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Right, yeah, it's.
It's definitely the time of theyear I always joke.
You know that it it just helpsyou to make your roots go deeper
and stronger right.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Literally.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Yeah, definitely so.
We've known each other onLinkedIn, I think, for about a
year or so, but for those in mycommunity that haven't met you
online or in person, can youshare a little bit more about
yourself?
Speaker 2 (01:04):
in person.
Can you share a little bit moreabout yourself?
I'm a mom of two.
I live in New Jersey.
I do a lot of fun things on theside I love yoga, I love
swimming, I love to learn moreand have like an open mindset.
Love nature, cooking, shoppingwho else doesn't Right?
My lifelong purpose is to helpbusiness owners and individuals
(01:27):
around the money, business andtax and all of the in between,
which is where my company hasevolved over the past 20 years,
and I just have a passion forgiving people the idea that so
much more could happen with adollar than what they really
think is actually possible.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Definitely there's a lot of room for leverage in that
right.
Speaker 2 (01:51):
Literally.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
So, backing up, how did you get into this right Like
what?
Was it a just an inner calling?
Did you meet someone?
How did it all start?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Growing up life was really, really difficult.
I saw how money was such ahardship with my parents and it
just seemed to always be like Icall it now like low level
emotions, anger, frustration,sadness, like things really to
bring out a lot of hardship.
And one day I was in the storewith my dad and I wanted this
(02:26):
jacket and all the cool kids hadthis jacket and I thought it
was going to be my lucky dayhaving this jacket.
We got to the register and itseemed that it was still a
little bit more because you addthe tax.
It was hard for my dad and Isaw that face on him and I was
like I never want to see that onhim or another human Again.
(02:49):
Everything around me was alwaysshowing how it was hard.
I saw that tax was hard moneyand I was like you know what I'm
going to make it that I didhave this, that people think
that money is fun, money isintimate, and that's really how
it began.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Which would be a huge mind shift.
Right, because it'd beinteresting if you took a basic
poll right.
You hear, you know, some of thetop issues of life is one
public speaking, two financials.
Right, it's really at the rootof a lot of challenges, or,
conversely, a lot of greatgiving and other things.
(03:26):
So how did you help to kind ofbreak down this massive topic?
Speaker 2 (03:32):
You nailed it.
So breaking down the challengesand also being public about it
was actually two struggles initself, and when I found myself
in the struggle because there'sthis complex around when you're
in the field that you shouldknow everything, you have all
the answers, and it's like thismagic wand that you have that
(03:53):
poof people come and you'regoing to give them all the
answers, the prosperity thatthey're looking for and all the
things.
However, not until you take thesteps and actions does things
really evolve.
So as my life evolved andthings were happening and it was
happening on autopilot and onauto repeat I was like wow,
these are processes and I couldcontinue to evolve and showing
(04:17):
up how my life was.
Clients were asking me forthings.
My first client was actually afamous designer and he really
just gave me this like wildopportunity to dive in and I
said to him I was like I don'treally know much and I was like
in college and he was like Iwant you, margo, and it was all
(04:38):
about because I had the skillsand the involvement.
And really communicating it topeople was a separate thing and
I'll be honest with you.
I have a lot of gratitudetowards my first coach and
writer for this, because mycoach helped me find this writer
to really get my voice outthere around it.
And when you see peoplereceiving it and needing it
(05:02):
because you think it's taboo,you want to spread it more and
sharing that people could reallyalign with where they are and
not feel like money and tax ishard or that gorilla and in the
room and really see it evolveover time.
There's nothing better.
I don't sell people.
(05:23):
I solve problems.
I literally look to when peoplehave the.
There's nothing better.
I don't sell people, I solveproblems.
I literally look to when peoplehave the pain.
There's always an education ora value or something that we
have to give and it aligns andusually people do.
But the how was really justsharing and living in it,
because I'm the example, my kidslive it and what you want is
(05:47):
probably what, something else,that, what people have.
So, and as a leader, people sawthat I was living that life and
clients over time it just grew,which is like it's just magical
in itself because, uh, I wasprobably the struggling
bookkeeper to now really havingbeautiful clients, a team and
(06:08):
just constantly people lookingto evolve, which is really what
it's about.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
Definitely.
And there's a couple of thingsthat really popped up for me as
you were talking.
One is authenticity.
I think so frequently it isshining the light in the
scariest spaces of life that wedo uncover those deeper levels,
those deeper meanings, andreally flesh out the challenges
that we're experiencing.
(06:33):
And I think in taking thosebold steps, you, one, help
yourself transition to adifferent point.
But then, two, you're also ableto share that.
And two, you're also able toshare that.
And I think you know I don'tremember if it was Jim Rohn or
who had came up with a statementyou know something that luck
favors the prepared.
And with that first client thatyou were seeing, you know
(06:56):
you're kind of like why me?
He saw within you and I wouldthink too, a lot of times, so
much of it is when your ethicsalign.
A lot of times, so much of itis when your ethics align, I
think people give you moreopportunities also because they
know that you will be forthright, you'll be honest, and that
they are in good hands and thatyou will figure it out.
So I think you saw many aspectsof your leadership in those
(07:18):
early days that are reallyflourishing, thank you, thank
you.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Authenticity is just really the name of the game,
because if you don't share it inthat way, people are not going
to follow you and lead and yourlife's purpose is not going to
evolve.
And when I really did firstshare I mean I also was learning
through debt at a time Ilearned to understand credit
(07:45):
card and loans, how to use itproperly, however, without being
proactive, like you just saidand you have intentions, the
rest align.
And being a mom and being afeminine leader, you know, and
(08:12):
this really does have itscomponents, because the feminine
, along with the masculine, isreally a big thing, like if you
think about Michelle Obama andHubby and how they align
together, there's a lot ofthings that changed because of
that.
So, having a feminine CFO atyour fingertips I mean, our tax
(08:34):
manager is male there's just awhole different paradigm that
could happen.
And I will say if you meetyourself where you're at,
authenticity won't be hard.
And it hurts me so much when Ihear that people think
authenticity is hard becausewe're then in our own way and
(08:56):
that's the first step to anyevolvement around money,
business and tax.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Oh, definitely Right.
Well, it's interesting.
Oh, definitely Right.
Well, it's interesting.
I don't know if you've seenthat there's an assessment
that's going around and it'sreally quick.
I think it's like 50 questions.
You just answer with a gut feelbut then it tells you
(09:25):
youronounced his name.
Sorry about that, chris, butanyways, you know, speaking
about taking that deep dive anduncovering some of those
different things, that's wherethe magic is and it's.
You know, I always say it'sugly before it's beautiful.
It's flushing out the old forthe new path that lays ahead.
So, with all of this, you knowbalancing of the masculine,
(09:47):
feminine energies, speaking fromthe heart also, you know
understanding all of the numbers, all of those important factors
as well.
How do you see mindset having arole in all of this?
Speaker 2 (10:00):
Mindset is huge.
It's huge.
Over the past five years, Iwould say I took a deeper dive
into it, because what I saw wasis that I was acting robotic and
not from an aligned standpoint.
And when you act from a roboticof what you're told, it's a
(10:22):
very different way of operating.
You will max out at a point.
It's a very different way ofoperating.
You will max out at a point.
So if people tell you how tomake money, if people tell you
what to do, versus you reallyfeel connected to it.
It's very different.
So mindset and really knowingwhat you want to bring in and
what your fears are is reallythe first step.
(10:42):
I'll tell you a story.
I just worked with this mom andshe just recently lost her
husband and when she firstconversed with me, you can feel
in her the grief.
And then when she came back,she was like ready to sign on
and she was like I just couldn'tget the mindset going.
(11:02):
But that's all we talked aboutwhen we had our VIP date
together, because she had thisbeliefs around things that were
really in her way.
However, what was really in herway is that that those maybe
just are not your people RightFrom there.
So much more open to open up toher ideal client and things
(11:24):
that she needed to bring in herideal schedule.
For me, mindset every day.
And then it intertwinesthroughout the day.
You know, throughout social andall the different blogs we see
the perfect morning routine isgoing to really do beyond your
wildest dreams.
Right, If you do in the morningthat hour or so or whatever it
(11:44):
is.
If you do in the morning thathour or so or whatever it is, if
you don't intertwine andintermingle throughout the day,
it's like as if it doesn'thappen.
So something simple likesetting an alarm clock on your
phone to see are you aligningwith the frequency of what
you're wanting to bring in?
Because if we're not on thatsame frequency of what we want
(12:06):
to bring in, that's exactly thereason why it's not.
Or something like I want tomake 60,000 a month, which is
like a random number, but youreally don't even know how your
own budget is, of what youreally need to bring in.
So meeting yourself where you'reat and creating, you know,
(12:26):
frameworks around this, whetherit's like I talked about before
swimming, yoga, going intonature I mean, I kill the trees.
Forgive me because I journalfrom here to tomorrow with all
my deep dives and plans, divesand plan.
(12:48):
But there's so much stuff, butthe most important thing I want
to share here around mindset isthat it's who you're learning it
from too.
If you don't feel the personwho you're learning from you're
really aligning with, to like acore degree and like we talk
about the values, then it'ssomething to think about.
It could be the coach ischallenging you.
Then it's something to thinkabout.
It could be the coach ischallenging you, but you want to
(13:09):
monitor what you're listeningto all over the place, who
you're following.
If you open up your social andsomeone is triggering you, you
want to remove that.
It might be at times fun, butit how long are you taking to
get out of that trigger that iswashing away income, hours of
your day that you could begenerating new actions and new
(13:30):
things.
So mindset just throughout theday.
I can't stress it enough.
It even starts the night before, setting your intentions how
you want to feel when you wakeup.
What do you want to bring inwhen you close the day, asking
yourself this question did Isqueeze the time out of the day?
Did I squeeze the lemon of thejuice out of the day.
(13:51):
Yeah, or did I just likela-di-da you?
Speaker 1 (13:55):
know, and I think what you know, what you're
saying beautifully, is to liveintentionally, and the way you
live intentionally is to connectwith the feelings that you want
to have to who you want tobecome.
You know, in your example of60k a month, what does that look
like, right?
(14:16):
Where are you spending it?
Where are you donating it?
How are you investing it?
You know there's so manydifferent ways to peel that back
and make it more real.
And then you, you know, youbreak the number down further,
by weeks, by hours, things ofthat nature, so that it's, it's
an easier nut to crack if you'renot there.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
And.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
I think, too, with that intentional living.
I couldn't agree more.
I joke that I went through anearly, early midlife crisis in
my 20s after a really bad caraccident, but with that too, the
beautiful gift was getting intomeditation and really
understanding the importance ofhow you start your day, end your
day.
And also with neuroscience, Ifind that extremely fascinating,
(14:59):
right?
Because we're all wiredsimilarly but yet different.
We have different perceptions,backgrounds, all of that
similarly, but yet different.
We have different perceptions,backgrounds, all of that.
And I think it's you know,there's, there's the scientific
stats to prove it of the wakinghours, the sleeping hours and
(15:20):
how that all affects theconscious, unconscious, and it's
kind of like anything right?
How do you maximize theperformance?
And we want to do that in ourbusinesses and our lives and our
joy, our love and in everyarena.
But if, if the focus is to getby, you're going to miss out on
all of those different elementsthat you're sharing to up level
and to continue going to ournext level and beyond.
(15:41):
So firm believer in everythingthat you're saying, margo.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Yeah, so shifting a little bit into you know what
you're seeing in the market.
Also, how do you see thingsevolving from a tax perspective
and anything else that mightjump out at you, like whether
it's AI or otherwise?
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Yeah, so I feel like people are becoming more
conscious, they're wanting to bemore involved.
Ai is kind of like when a lotof accounting apps came out
where people thought it wasgoing to replace a lot of things
it could complement.
It never replaces.
(16:22):
I remember when, you know,there were so many apps that
were coming out back to back inthe accounting industry around
the receipts.
The actual tax market evolvedand people were like, oh, I
don't need to hire you, andda-da-dee, da-da-da, but then
they got into worse scenariosbecause it's apps that they
really just never learned.
And AI is the same thing.
(16:44):
Nothing replaces the humancomponent.
Nothing replaces intention orbeing proactive.
What I see is definitelyevolving is that people wanting
to be involved more.
However, what's not happeningis that that literal jump of
that step of I'm going to do it,it's that it's a higher inquiry
(17:04):
, but it's still like on thesideline versus being in there.
And I would say that's mainlybecause of the fear of money,
when really money just wants tobe intimate with you in terms of
like, what do you want to bringout in the world?
What's your reason?
Hey, let me go find it for you.
Let's align In the real estateindustry.
(17:24):
I mean, the hard part here inthe CRE world is that a lot of
it is kind of like it's alwayscatching up and it's not in the
present time, and that's one ofthe core reasons of why people
don't really ever really savemoney or get out of tax debt or
back credit card debt and things, because they're always in
(17:46):
behind, they're never in thecurrent time.
Our process and our firm isbeing in the current time, in
the current realm of time, and Ican't say it enough like the
average client will come liketwo to six years of bookkeeping
and tax returns, so they're allexactly one client.
(18:07):
Now we're back.
I think we're like in 15 withher and um to her.
The reasons were hard at thetime and right until things
evolved and now it compiled.
However, it's the right personto work through with her one
year at a time and to prioritizeit, and that's the key is that
(18:30):
you may have a lot to do, butit's the person that's going to
take you through it and get towhat I call the garden, and the
garden is the place of whereyou're not in the mud, holding
that backpack of all of thisstuff that you're looking to
work through and like you'rereally holding on to, like with
a tight grip.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
Right.
Well, I think so much ofcommercial real estate and life
is really taking those bigchunks whatever it might be
right, like your example, Iwould say, is definitely a big
chunk, and breaking it intosmaller amounts, and I think
that's that's one of the steps.
But it's really the predecessorto that step is finding the
(19:11):
right professional for whateveryou need help in right, because
then you have all the years 20plus years of experience, of
knowledge that you know what todo, what not to do, great
resources for ancillary type ofneeds that they might have, and
it just makes it so much easier.
But I think what happens ispeople shut themselves down
(19:35):
before they even begin.
Same with you know thebrokerage world of they think
that they have to have 200k todo anything and it's like oh, no
, no, there's so many otheroptions to get where you want to
go.
Yes, that is one, but there's alot of creative ways to merge
the gap.
And so, you know, I think it'sone of those, almost like a plea
(19:58):
for people of one, find theright resources to find how you
can work with them and three,start just breaking it down into
actionable chunks literallyjust.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
I always say take the goal and then work backwards
from there.
If you want to see it in threeyears, six months, 12 months,
whatever it is, break it downinto from, like, a three-year
goal to a 12-month goal and intoa weekly goal, and then break
it down into actions.
The most common question aroundthat I always get is I don't
know what to ask.
(20:28):
I don't know what to do.
Right, everyone has to startfrom somewhere.
So see where it goes, you know.
Take a whiteboard and see whathappens.
Open up a Google Doc and seewhat happens.
If you're out there and youdon't have the cash and you want
to do something, then how couldyou find the cash?
(20:49):
Maybe it's not 200,000, maybeit's a hundred thousand, maybe
it's 50,000, but we all have tostart somewhere.
If you were to tell me like nowmy firm is a full service firm,
20 years ago I would have beenlike that's a wild idea, because
I'm a bookkeeper and now we dotalks and it's very common that
(21:11):
clients come for the wholeshebang, right, right, and let
alone speaking and talking likeI am now.
I just would have said likeyou're just wild on lemonade.
So Exactly.
Speaker 1 (21:26):
Yeah, no, it's.
It's interesting, isn't it, howthings shape and evolve.
And with that, I'm sure youknow, there was a lot of stress
at different times and stress isinevitable, right, Kind of like
.
When I hear balance, I'm likebalance is not seven or eight
hours a day In my opinion.
Balance to me is like you'regoing to have times in business
(21:47):
where there's a lot of hours andit might seem a little wild,
but it's for a certain amount oftime, and then then you take a,
you know, four day vacation orsomething like that, where it's
more.
So I see it as sprints.
What are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2 (22:04):
It's for sure.
Sprints, yeah, it's almost likehow you see your calendar and
like pockets of time, like Ihave certain days I do things
and it's literally for thatamount of time because you know
what you're gauging yourself forthat activity and then making
it happen.
And what happens is is fromthere you're like, oh wow, did
(22:25):
it, but you could do it again,exactly.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
Yeah, but I have a feeling like we could talk for
hours at a time, margo, but aswe wrap this up, what would you
say living fully means to you?
This is always the way I endeach podcast and it's one of my
favorite questions.
So what does living fully meanto you?
Speaker 2 (22:47):
You know, when I saw it on your questions, I thought
about it a little bit.
Yeah, I was like you know,because our podcast with you and
I got to late a little bit andit actually helps me because
it's actually the perfect timeto answer this.
You know, I just recovered fromsurgery and I had ankle surgery
and it was.
However, I look at the time andbecause of what I do, I was
(23:13):
able to be fully in the recovery.
I was able to really haveeverything I needed.
So, for me, living fully isthat I'm not.
I'm living with what I want.
Also because if I need to dosomething, it's there.
My family was taken care of andmy team was taken care of so
(23:34):
that I can do what I need.
So it becomes a choice.
There's no guilt and it's anoption.
It's not by default, it's notby somebody saying like you have
to do this Right.
It's living fully in your heartand what you want to do.
It's not.
It's it's trying to step intothat fear and really making
(23:56):
things happen that you want todo.
You know, we just moved intoNew Jersey.
My daughter got into afive-year program for
architecture and in terms ofwealth development for me, for
my personal life.
It actually evolved me intoanother level because I started
to rent my home and now doingother things.
So when you tap into one thing,you realize how so much more
(24:21):
can happen for you betweenhaving a healthy body, healthy
mind and really putting it alltogether.
So if you're living not livingfully out there and there's
something you want to do, justget it on the calendar.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Yeah, exactly.
It sounds simple, doesn't it?
Speaker 2 (24:38):
But that's how things happen, and put a picture too,
like put a picture with it sothat you see it to look forward
to Right.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
Well, and then you feel it right, so it becomes
more real.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
You can't forget about that.
You got to feel it, and then itbecomes like day after day
where you get to cravings.
It's like it's coming closerRight.
The excitement builds.
Yeah, I mean this move.
It probably took almost twoyears to really make it happen.
However, like just, thingsshifted and so much more evolved
here because of what we wantedto happen.
(25:13):
It was really being intentionalaround what my daughter wanted,
what I was looking for.
I cared less about myself,because what she was looking for
I was totally in and wanted tohelp make that happen, and life
just took off.
You, you know business in adifferent way.
Opportunities, they say, whichmeans like you, you would change
(25:35):
your place, you change yourluck, and I was already happy
and this just brought indifferent things.
So, um, I love it, save formedical, and I just I want to
close with a story.
We have a client who she cameto me last year and she has MS.
She has very profitablebusiness and she was worried
(25:57):
about her MS, how things weregoing to evolve and people
default to insurance and all ofthese things, which is a good
basic step.
What happened with her is thatshe didn't really have the
proper basic bookkeeping andaccounting to see her cash flow.
The surprise was she needed totake a bigger W-2, so extra cash
(26:18):
for her, which really was hermedical savings.
So we stacked, taking care ofher medical.
She had a health savingsaccount.
She took care of her family andthen she had a health savings
account.
She took care of her family andthen she had a more peaceful
time off.
Oh, definitely, this is anexample of living fully and how
an accounting and tax systemcould stack and work for you I
love it.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Well, that is perfect , margo.
Thank you so much for joiningme.
It was a delight and I lookforward to connecting you with
others and, speaking of which,what's the best way for people
to connect with you?
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Please see us each day on LinkedIn.
We have a daily post.
Each morning we post blogs,infographs, videos and all of
the fun things.
Feel free to DM me.
I love voice texts from all ourfollowers or whatever suits you
, and I look forward to hearingfrom you around our social and
anything else you might need.
Speaker 1 (27:11):
Excellent.
Thanks so much, Margo.
Speaker 2 (27:13):
Talk soon.
Thanks again All right, bye-bye.
Bye.
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