June 9, 2026 • 41 mins
What happens when a high-achieving accountant realizes corporate success is costing too much at home? In this episode, Laura sits down with Melissa Broughton, accountant, business owner, and bookkeeping coach, to talk about how she walked away from a demanding corporate job, started her firm from her dining room table, and eventually built not one but two businesses designed to create income, flexibility, and legacy for families.
Melissa shares the wild story of quitting her job while on vacation, the unexpected accident that forced her to slow down and rethink what she really wanted, and how that season led to the launch of Busy Bee Advisors and later One Hour Bookkeeper, a program helping stay-at-home moms, dads, and military spouses start profitable bookkeeping businesses from home.
In this episode, you’ll learn:
- How Melissa went from burned-out corporate accountant to business owner
- Why bookkeeping can be a powerful work-from-home option, even for beginners
- What kinds of people already have the raw ingredients to build this kind of business
- How a bookkeeping business can buy back time, flexibility, and family margin
- Why so many people stay stuck believing they do not have a choice — and how to start thinking differently
Melissa also talks about:
- building a business without debt
- creating predictable income from a practical skill
- helping overwhelmed parents and military spouses find a path toward financial contribution without sacrificing family life
- why support, structure, and a clear roadmap matter so much when you are starting something new.
This conversation is especially encouraging for anyone who feels stuck in a job they hate, unsure how to contribute financially from home, or overwhelmed by the idea of starting a business. Melissa’s story is proof that practical skills, clear guidance, and a willingness to begin can change a family’s future.
Meet Melissa here:
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Laura (00:01):
Well, hello, legacy builders.
Thank you for coming back to thepodcast today.
I have a special guest for you.
Melissa Broughton is anaccountant by trade and a
bookkeeping coach by passion,dedicated to helping
stay-at-home moms, dads, andmilitary spouses build flexible,
profitable businesses from home.
As the owner of Busy BeeAdvisors, a Northern California
(00:22):
accounting firm, she bringsreal-world experience and a
passion for empowering others toachieve financial independence.
Through her coaching platform,OneHourBookkeeper.com, Melissa
simplifies the path to startingand growing a bookkeeping
business, making it accessibleeven for those with no prior
experience.
Her mission is to help everydaypeople create income, freedom,
(00:44):
and a lasting legacy for theirfamily.
So Melissa- Before we getstarted, I'm gonna ask you the
same question I ask all of myguests.
Melissa B. (00:53):
Okay.
Laura (00:53):
Whose legacy would you like to emulate?
Melissa B. (00:57):
I'm gonna say my grandmother's.
And I'll say the reason why isshe was the original, I'll say
stay-at-home mom- Mm-hmm or notstay-at-home mom, the original
single mom.
And, growing up raising a familyof four, my grandfather from all
tales was incredibly handsomeand, you know, very charming,
(01:19):
but he really didn't like tostay in one place for too long,
so she was pretty much taskedwith raising four kids on her
own in Chicago in the'60s, andshe really did it all and made
it all look easy.
One of the ways she did it, herfull-time job was she was a
radiologist at a hospital.
She did not drive, so she walkedto work in Chicago every day.
(01:42):
And then on the weekends to kindof bridge the gap to pay for
groceries to whatever, she hadclients that she did bookkeeping
for.
And I remember as a little,little kid sitting there, next
to her at her kitchen table, andshe'd have the tape with, the
calculator with the tape, andshe'd be totaling things up and
(02:03):
writing them down in ledgers.
And I think now how much easierour lives are with, with
everything that's as automatedas it is with, programs like
Quick- QuickBooks Online andstuff like that.
But I would say she would be whoI, who I would choose to
emulate.
If I could only have herpatience, I would definitely be
ahead of the game.
I, I don't think I ever heardher raise her voice or really
(02:26):
even get her feathers ruffledover anything.
Laura (02:30):
My mother used to tell me all the time,"Patience is a
virtue," and unfortunately itwas not one that I was given in
abundance.
Melissa B. (02:35):
I would say that is true for me as well.
Laura (02:38):
Oh, well, Melissa and I are going to be very fast
friends, I can tell.
For the listeners that h- aremeeting you for the very first
time, can you tell us a littlebit about who you are- Who you
serve and how you got into thisline of work
Melissa B. (02:51):
Oh, it's a crazy story.
So I did all the things you weresupposed to do.
I took my first accounting classin high school.
I kind of fell into it.
I needed one more elective.
The rumor was the teacher was,like, 1,000 years old, and it
was an easy A, and so it waslike,"Okay, I can figure out
math." Took the class, totallyfell in love with it, went to
(03:14):
college, studied accounting andbusiness, and graduated and got
my first job for a big firm.
Decided that the big firm reallywasn't where I wanted to be,
worked for a few mid-sizedcompanies, worked my way up the
ladder, and in the middle ofthat, got married, had two sons,
and found that I was missing-everything.
(03:36):
As I worked up my way up thecorporate ladder, I felt like I
had less and less time withthese babies that I adored, and
a husband that I still adore tothis day.
And the time just, like, fliesby.
And so my last position was backin 2015.
I was working probably a 60-plushour week, plus on top of that I
(03:58):
had an hour-and-a-half commuteeach way to work because of
traffic.
And so, I had asked for time offfor, like, a, I think it was a
water polo game or somethinglike that, a water polo meet for
my oldest.
And my boss acted like I wasasking for, you know, the moon.
And so kind of added a littlebit of...
I felt a little bit disgruntled.
My husband surprised me thatyear for my 40th birthday.
(04:22):
Don't do any math, anybody.
For my 40th birthday to, to takeme on a 10-day cruise.
I had not taken a vacation.
I had been with that company forabout five years, so I had
plenty of vacation time.
Of course, I gave notice that Iwas going on vacation.
Found a replacement to fill infor me.
So we leave on the cruise.
(04:43):
We're gone for, three days outto sea.
We get to, you know, land.
We land in Puerto Vallarta.
I make the mistake of callingthe office, and, like, all- Oh,
no proverbial crap had hit thefan.
The person that was supposed tofill in for me never showed up.
My boss transferred a wholebunch of money out of the
payroll tax account to buy someequipment.
Like, it was...
(05:03):
There were so many bad thingsthat happened.
And I'm in this,"Okay, let's fixit" mode.
And my boss is like,"You'rewrong.
You need to come back.
You failed." And I just, thatspark, that patience being a
virtue or not of mine, it reallycame out.
And so we're, literally myhusband and I are at a bar,
Puerto Vallarta, and I just, Iquit my job on the spot.
(05:25):
And so I quit my job, and then Ilook at my husband, and he's
like,"That's cool, baby.
We can, we can figure it out."You know, I mean, married to the
best guy in the whole world.
Laura (05:35):
Love
Melissa B. (05:35):
Got home.
Of course, got all of my stuffshipped to me from my job that I
had been at for five years.
Like, it was such a"don't letthe door hit you on the butt"
kind of a thing.
I mean, anyway, so leave thejob, enjoy four months of summer
with my kids, which was thefirst time that I had really
ever had that freedom theirwhole lives.
(05:57):
After five months of one incomebeing gone, we were kinda
hitting the point of, myhusband's going,"Hey, you need
to find a job." So I thought,well- What's gonna be different
between this job and any of theother jobs I've had?
Like, I know that I can commandthe salary.
I know that I can that I havethe qualifications and the
(06:17):
credentials, but what's gonna bedifferent?
How is this position gonna bemore fulfilling?
And so I proposed to my husbandthat what would happen if I
branched out on my own?
And he said, and you know, itwas such a sweet conversation.
He said,"Look, I want you to dowhatever you wanna do that makes
you happy and that fills yourheart.
You need to bring in$2,000 amonth." Like,"$2,000 a month is
(06:41):
the difference between us,really having things be tight or
us being comfortable.
More would be great, but that'sall we need to do." So I set
out, kinda thinking about whatthat would look like, and one of
the things that has alwaysworked very well for me when I
need to think about something isto go for a run.
(07:02):
So I leave my house, I go for atwo-mile run.
I'm the farthest point from myhouse that I could be, and at
full sprint, my foot hit a pieceof pavement that was uneven.
I was ironically running on thesidewalk so that I didn't get
run over by a car.
Hit a piece of the sidewalk thatwas under some leaves, and I
(07:24):
face-planted at, like, fullsprint.
And so I broke my jaw.
I shattered just about all of myteeth except for my, like, top
and bottom four.
I'm standing there, and I'mspitting teeth into my hand.
It was awful.
So luckily, my neighbor happensto be driving by, and she's
like, it looked like a scene outof a horror movie because as I'm
(07:45):
spitting I'm like, of course,wiping my hands on my face so I
was covered in blood.
Laura (07:49):
Ugh.
Melissa B. (07:50):
So what that led me to was about six weeks of not
being able to do anything, andit just gave me this place to be
still and to really think aboutwhat this perfect business would
be for me, what my negotiableswere, what my non-negotiables
were.
You know, I didn't wanna have along commute.
I wanted to have totalflexibility.
(08:12):
And so in, September of 2016, Iofficially launched Busy B
Advisors.
We started it, or I started it,at our dining room table with a
laptop that I had won in somelike, giveaway or contest or
something like that.
And it was really on ashoestring budget.
By our second month in business,we had hit$25,000 in revenue,
(08:36):
and we were consistently pickingup momentum from there.
So we had crazy growthincredibly fast.
It was like, okay, we've got 25new clients that have come in.
Now we need to figure out whatthe infrastructure looks like to
support now 100 clients or Youknow, at the height of things,
we had over 300 bookkeepingclients that we were working
(08:57):
with, and I had 27, I think,bookkeepers that were on staff.
So it was a crazy few years ofgrowth.
My husband actually ended uptaking early retirement from
nursing, went back to school.
He runs the tax side of ourbusiness, so we truly get to be
business partners and get towork together every day, which
is awesome.
So that was kind of the story upuntil, up until 2024.
(09:23):
And I laugh at it now because Ithink I must have had an
afternoon where I had a fewhours that were free, and maybe
I felt a little bit bored.
But I thought,"I think I shouldwrite a course on bookkeeping.
I think it would be really fun.
I'm gonna write a course onbookkeeping, I want to help all
of the stay-at-home moms thatare out there, or women that are
(09:45):
out there that are working injobs that they're miserable in
or feel like they don't have anychoices, and ha- we'll throw
stay-at-home dads in there,too." And then, I have this
kiddo who's military, and he'sgot every single military spouse
I know calling, asking if theycan become a bookkeeper.
Let's create a training coursefor them.
So, August of 2024, we launchedthe One Hour Bookkeeper, and by
(10:11):
August of 2025, we had 3,500students go through the course.
Laura (10:16):
3,500 students.
Melissa B. (10:17):
The impact is truly humbling.
The fact that I can have aconversation with somebody and
tell him or her that, yes, youactually can contribute
financially to your householdand not have to, have your two
kids in daycare full time towhere you don't actually make
any money from your job.
Like, you have a choice.
(10:38):
it's humbling, and it's been,it's been amazing.
And it really is the...
It's just the thing that fuelsme.
It's the thing that gets me soexcited.
Now, there's days where Iquestion, how crazy I was by
thinking, let's, essentially runtwo companies at the same time.
But we like to say that pressureis a privilege.
That's kind of our motto in ourhouse.
(11:00):
That's the Boye house motto of,when it feels like it's too
much, know that it's aprivilege.
So that is something that is onmy desk or anywhere that I can
see it on a daily basis.
Laura (11:11):
Well, it sounds to me like you have taken a job and
turned it into a calling.
Melissa B. (11:19):
I love the whole concept of your podcast, the
whole thought of building alegacy because what I felt in
previous jobs was that...
and I think it's the trap thatso many people fall into, was
that I felt like the jobs were,it was more secure to work for
somebody else.
It was, I was better to getbenefits for my family, and I
(11:41):
needed to get a job so that Icould have benefits for my
family, or my husband needed tohave a job to have benefits for
our family or whatever it, itwas.
And, we've seen, in ourlifetimes we've seen layoffs.
Both of us have experiencedlayoffs.
My husband worked construction,and he got laid off two weeks
before our youngest son wasborn.
(12:02):
We've just had the rug pulledout from underneath us, and of
course we've rolled with it andwe've made the best of it, and
we've definitely survived it.
But we no longer live in thetimes where you go to college
and you start a job with acompany, and you work for that
company for 40 years.
That's not the world we live inanymore.
Laura (12:21):
Right.
Melissa B. (12:22):
And I feel that, without a question that, you
know, the bookkeeping industryis such an amazing opportunity
for someone who doesn't have adegree, doesn't have a
background, doesn't have theeducation in it, where they can
learn the skills pretty quicklyand, you know, essentially if
(12:44):
you can balance a checkbook,which most people who are over
the age of 30 know how to do.
Laura (12:50):
I'm working on it, Melissa.
Right.
I'm trying so hard to teachthem.
Melissa B. (12:54):
If I can teach you, okay, there's four steps, you
can grasp it.
It's like chess, right?
You know, it's quick to learn,but it can take a lifetime to
perfect.
So I can teach you those skills.
I can teach you how to go outthere and how to find clients
and how to run a bookkeepingbusiness.
Why not take advantage of that?
(13:14):
It's just this incredibleopportunity that is, out there.
Laura (13:18):
What kinds of people do you think have the raw
ingredients to go ahead and dothis well, even if they don't
realize it yet?
Melissa B. (13:25):
I will take a stay-at-home mom, a
homeschooling mom, ahomeschooling dad, you know, a
stay-at-home dad, the dad that'sbeen or the mom that's been kind
of running it all and figuringout everything, and has that
warm heart and that cleanspirit, and really has a desire
(13:45):
to help people.
I would rather work with thosepeople than somebody who is
maybe what I would say in airquotes as a seasoned or a
trained professional.
Now, of course, I, I lovegetting to work with trained
professionals as well.
Mm-hmm.
It's, it's interesting topresent a different way to look
at things.
But I will say that what I'vefound is the people who have a
(14:06):
lot of previous experience alsocome with a lot of baggage and a
lot of maybe bad habits thatthey've learned, or a lot of
they're used to having this bigjob with this big company, so
they're used to doing everythingfor one client, and now we're
telling them,"Okay, I love that.
I love that you have all of thatknowledge, but I need you to,
(14:28):
like, forget, like, 85% of it,and I just need you to focus on
this little, small 15% piece ofthe puzzle." And that's probably
some of the biggest pushbackthat I get from some of my
clients and some of my students.
I have a few stay-at-homegrandmas that I'm working with
where life just didn't go theway that they thought it would
(14:48):
for their kids.
They now have custody of theirgrandchildren, and their
retirement was not set up forthinking they were gonna be
supporting a household of four.
And so there's, there's a gap,and I just I get really excited
about it.
Laura (15:05):
Well, I'm actually really glad you said that, because
what's going through the back ofmy mind is my mother, who was a
bookkeeper by trade for 45years-
Melissa B. (15:14):
Okay
Laura (15:14):
To the point where she ran Child Protective Services
accounting for the state ofTexas.
Meaning hundreds of millions ofdollars that she was responsible
for, and she's really, reallygood.
I mean, if you're gonna beresponsible for that, you better
be really, really good atnumbers, right?
Melissa B. (15:29):
Yep.
Laura (15:30):
We've talked about her dabbling in having a business
doing bookkeeping for people,because her retirement is not
what we thought it was going tobe, but she just has it in her
mind that she can't run abusiness.
What is it that you see inpeople that people can't see in
(15:51):
themselves as capable businesspeople?
Melissa B. (15:55):
I think we all just need to be shown the path Right?
We all just need to be shownthe, okay, this is what you need
to do now.
This is what you need to donext.
This is what you need to donext.
And I have some students that,you know, I have one student,
he's kind of one of my, I'll sayone of my secret favorites, but-
he's a retired trial attorney.
(16:16):
He's a retired, he used to putbad guys away, and he's like,"I
did it for 30 years, and I'mjust tired of looking at the
underbelly of society.
I need to see the good inpeople." we laugh about it
because I kinda go,"Did youjust, like, throw a dart at a
whole bunch of words andbookkeeper was what come up?"
it's kind of a random choice,but it works for him.
(16:38):
He's super happy doing it.
It creates this laid back, easypace lifestyle that he is
loving.
And so I think that some peopleneed it spoon fed, and other
people are like,"Tell me what todo.
Give me all of the details.
I'll do it at my own pace.
I wanna know that I can reachout to you if I have questions."
(17:01):
And that's where the supportcomes into play.
So what I found was that, yes,there are other bookkeeping
programs out there.
You know, Intuit is the top onethat comes to a lot of people's
minds, and the Intuit,ProAdvisor program is fantastic.
However, it doesn't teach youhow to run a bookkeeping
business, and really all itteaches you is how to use every
(17:23):
single aspect of QuickBooks.
So you end up going through thecertification.
You now know how to use all ofthe different aspects of
QuickBooks.
You really only need about that15%, but you then are wondering,
like, am I doing this right?
Am I gonna, you know, messthings up for their tax person
(17:43):
when it comes to tax time?
How do I deal with when I do allthis prospecting, what do I do
when somebody actually calls me?
And so we found that we wereable to fill in the gaps.
And, you know, I've just alwayslooked at it as what is the
information that I wish somebodywould have told me when I was
(18:03):
trying to figure it all outgoing 100 miles an hour?
Laura (18:07):
You're doing not only the practical side, but also the
softer skills
Melissa B. (18:13):
yep.
We have sections on, like, howto fire a client.
I mean, that's definitelysomething that I've looked at a
lot of the other bookkeepingprograms that are out there,
Laura (18:23):
gonna
Melissa B. (18:23):
find
Laura (18:23):
that
Melissa B. (18:24):
They don't wanna talk about it.
Or they won't talk about, youknow, what the income potential
is.
I'll talk to you about yourincome potential.
I'll show you your path tomaking six figures, and you can
get there, like, a lot fasterthan you think you would.
It's just, we look at theaverage client is a value of
(18:44):
about$350 a month.
A bookkeeper work- working fulltime can handle 25 clients.
So 25 times 350 times 12 is, youknow, over$100,000 a year.
I mean, the math becomes supereasy, and you're not working
with 100 clients or 200 clients.
You're working with 25.
Right.
(19:05):
And you're really having animpact on those 25 businesses
and acting as their partner in alot of ways.
Being a small business owner canbe very lonely, and they're
going along and they're tryingto do the best they can at doing
whatever it is they do, and theydon't have anybody that they can
talk to.
They can't talk to theiremployees.
(19:26):
Unless their spouse is involvedin the business, they can't talk
to their spouse about stuff, sothey're holding it all together.
Maybe they have some friends,but if they have friends,
they're probably not beinghonest with their friends about,
"Hey, we're having a toughtime," or,"I'm not sure if I'm
making the right decision." Andthe bookkeeper becomes their,
you know, their kind of partnerin their business.
(19:48):
And so we help with the, as yousaid, soft skills of how do you
build that relationship?
And as women, we are...
especially women who havechildren, we are nurturers, and
we're, you know, able to bepatient, and we're able to show
'em a little love.
(20:08):
And then we're also able to say,"Knock it off" to our clients,
or,"Did you really think thatwas a good idea?" And kind of
call them out.
And not that we would ever bedisrespectful to our clients,
but sometimes you need to take alittle bit of a, a tough
approach.
And it's, it seems to be what'sworking, and it certainly seems
to be resonating with my, withmy students,
Laura (20:30):
there's a little piece of the coaching inside of it, where
you have to...
One, anytime somebody exposestheir numbers to you, they're
being vulnerable.
Yes.
You have to be willing to lookat that as I'm being allowed
into a vulnerable place insomebody else's life.
So you have to take that intoconsideration, but then also you
need to be able to coach themthrough,"Hey, we're spending
(20:52):
more than we're bringing in,"or, we're making some decisions
that seem a little questionable,put your business at risk.
Maybe we need to talk about it.
It's hard thing to talk tobusiness owners about.
Melissa B. (21:01):
But somebody needs to have that
Laura (21:03):
conversation with
Melissa B. (21:04):
Somebody needs to have the conversation and say,
"Hey, let's look at where, wherewe can cut back on costs," or,
"Let's look at how we can bringin more money.
Let's look at what you're doingin your business that's working
and, let's push aside the thingsthat aren't working." One of the
things that we saw through the,you know, the crazy pandemic
(21:26):
that we all lived through nottoo long ago, was we saw the
smaller companies they knewtheir numbers, they knew what
was working, they knew whatwasn't working, and they could
adjust things quickly to thisworld that was nothing any of us
had ever seen.
Those were the businesses thatsurvived.
And so we saw it with our ownclients.
(21:47):
The clients that survivedthrough the pandemic or through
tough times were the ones whoknew their numbers.
And we get to be our clients'partners in that, and it's a
pretty exciting thing I love it.
Laura (21:58):
There's so many of the businesses that I'm currently
coaching that I would not haveto coach if they had somebody
like that in their corneralready.
And I'm not, I'm not I'm nottrying to lose work here, but- I
do, I do love that there arepeople, that you're teaching
people not just how to run thenumbers, because I'm thinking of
(22:18):
one client I have in particular,and he has a bookkeeper that
comes in once every other weekand fixes his numbers and then
walks away.
Yep.
And he's$100,000 in businessdebt, and he didn't realize that
he was so far behind'cause he'sjust, you know, playing
catch-up.
(22:39):
And when she told him one day,"Hey, this is where we're at.
I couldn't make this bill gothrough", he was completely
shocked.
Melissa B. (22:48):
Terrible
Laura (22:49):
that was just somebody that just came, did the books,
and walked out.
And granted, he's paying hernext to nothing, so the fact
that she was doing anything atall, was nice of her.
But now he's having to paysomebody to come in and have the
hard conversations and workthrough it, and we're working
through the income and the, thenumbers side.
But I love that you were, the, Ilove that you were teaching more
(23:13):
than just,"Here's how you doQuickBooks.
Move on."
Melissa B. (23:17):
I think I know some of my clients probably better
than their spouses know them.
I've been able to see thebusinesses that are, almost too
far beyond saving, but there isstill time to reel them back in.
And also to be a part of talkingto somebody in the,"Have you
just kind of fallen out of lovewith your business?
(23:39):
Like, what's going on?" and I'llsay that's about 50% of my
clients.
There's the other 50% that arelike the client that you were
talking about, that don't wantto have the interaction and they
don't want to have theconversation.
So that becomes a delicate danceas well, because you as the
bookkeeper have to understand.
I had a conversation with one ofmy students earlier today where
(24:00):
she's like,"They have tounderstand." I'm like,"No,
approach your client like he's athree-year-old." so you can
bring him around to your way ofthinking, but you have to do it
by, gently making it so that heis incentivized to want to have
the conversation.
He can't feel like everyconversation with you is a
(24:22):
negative.
There has to be a light at theend of the tunnel.
And so what is your plan forconveying that information?
And in, you know, sometimes it'sjust rephrasing the information,
because the last thing that wewant is for our clients to avoid
us.
And money's a hot topic, andthere are a lot of people who
take the ostrich approach withmoney, and they just bury their
(24:42):
heads in the sand and they hopefor the best.
We had one client that we hadbeen working with them for-
probably two or three years,younger couple.
His wife was involved in thebusiness as well.
He got into a car accident andwas essentially completely out
of the bi- I mean, like horriblecar accident.
Was out of the business forclose to a year, and our role
(25:07):
became bringing her up to speedso that she didn't just get
eaten alive by all of thedifferent...
There's just some unscrupulousbusiness people out there.
And it wasn't because we wantedsome award for being, you know,
world's best bookkeeper.
It was more that it was just theright thing to do, and that
maybe I have a skill to be ableto see the story that her
(25:31):
numbers are telling her that shedoesn't necessarily see.
And so once we were able to helpher learn that language, this
whole path, you know, becameopened up for her.
Laura (25:44):
You talk about this business, obviously you love it
and you have such a passion.
I can, I can-
Melissa B. (25:51):
Some days I do
Laura (25:52):
hear it.
I can hear it in your voice
Melissa B. (25:53):
I don't, but most days I do.
Laura (25:54):
I do.
But you talk about this as abusiness that buys back your
time.
You said in the beginning, youdidn't have enough time with
your kids, and you wanted thisbusiness to be something that
would buy back your time.
What does that actually looklike in real life to people that
want to start this and take thison?
Melissa B. (26:08):
Now, of course, it depends on where you live.
If you live in New York City,$100,000 probably doesn't go
very far.
But to tell somebody who is amilitary spouse that she can
bring in six figures workingfrom home, working 25 hours a
week, that's pretty great.
(26:31):
And that now not only is she notworking 40 hours a week, so
she's cut back 15 hours, but shedoesn't have to commute, she
doesn't have to worry about,spending a whole bunch of money
on, professional work wear andshe also gets to save money on
daycare because she gets toactually be the one that's
(26:51):
raising her kids because she hasa business that can work around
her schedule.
Now, there's no judgment thereif you wanna have your kids in
daycare or in play school ornursery school or whatever they
call it part-time, or maybe youdo wanna have your kids in
daycare full time, and thatbecomes your choice.
(27:12):
And that's pretty great whenit's your choice.
So it's the different ways ofjust really looking at
everything and understandingthat it's a choice, and you get
to be an active participant inyour life instead of feeling
like you're just dealing withwhat life has dealt you.
Um, and we see that a lot withmilitary spouses.
Laura (27:35):
Yeah.
I see that a lot in the peoplethat I work with, the people
that come to me that arestressed out about money.
They're overwhelmed.
And a lot of times it's,"Well,I'm in this situation.
This happened to me, thathappened to me." And I'm like,
"Well, what are you going to doto take control of it?" And when
you start to take control,there's this study that was done
(27:55):
recently that says 97% ofmillionaires in America believe
that they control their future.
Melissa B. (28:02):
Interesting.
Laura (28:04):
And so if you want to be a millionaire, or if you just
want to have enough margin tochoose whether or not you can
stay home with your children,you have to first decide that
it's completely up to you.
And so I love, I love that yousaid that.
I knew we were gonna be fastfriends, Melissa.
This is great.
I know.
Melissa B. (28:20):
We're even moving to the same place.
Laura (28:22):
I'm so excited.
Melissa B. (28:23):
Crazy.
Laura (28:23):
How long does it typically take for someone if
they wanna start generating anincome?
Melissa B. (28:27):
So I've seen students that don't get in their
own ways, and they, within aweek of starting the program,
land their first client.
I've had other students thatreally are the people who want
to learn everything, and there'sa little bit more work in the
(28:48):
what's the motivation between,behind feeling like you need to
learn everything?
Because in truth, I'm stilllearning things every day.
I learn things from my studentsall the time, and so you're
never gonna learn everything.
And so what work needs to bedone internally for you to
accept that you're not gonnaknow everything, but you will
know where to go to get helpwhen those questions that come
(29:11):
up happen?
I read every book and workedwith a whole bunch of coaches
when I was putting the programtogether, just to kind of get
their input on things, and oneof the things that struck me as
so interesting, and when I firstheard it, I thought,"That's not
true," but when I thought aboutit, I realized how true it was,
was that for most of us asadults, when we set out to do
(29:34):
something, the first thing thatwe hit that becomes an obstacle,
over 80% of people will justthrow the towel in and give up.
And it doesn't have to be a hugeobstacle.
It can be the s- like smallest,tiniest thing, but to you in
that moment, it feels like thisinsurmountable mountain to
(29:56):
climb, and so you just, you quitand you throw the, you know, you
throw the towel in.
I'll talk to, students who are,well, they don't know they're
gonna be students yet, butprospects I'll say, that have
tried different bookkeepingprograms in the past.
And so they'll approach me fromthe, kind of a cynical point of
(30:16):
view, which is fine.
I am definitely not a hard salesperson.
I know what bookkeeping in- cando for you.
I know what it's done for ourlife.
I know the amazing things it'sallowed us to be able to do.
We haven't missed a water pologame.
We haven't missed a rugby game.
We've...
You know, my husband traveled toJapan with our youngest for two
(30:37):
weeks, and just essentiallysaid, he marked himself out on
his calendar and they went,because we found out three days
before this team was supposed toleave for Japan that we had a
spot.
And so we were able to pay fortwo tickets and rooms and board
for Japan for two weeks.
(30:59):
That was awesome.
It's just allowed us someamazing opportunities.
Mm-hmm.
So for me, I don't feel like Ihave to sell something.
I feel like it's just somethingthat I can prevent, pre- not
prevent, present, and those whowant to, you know, take me up on
it, take me up on it.
It is interesting when I hearabout people talking about other
(31:19):
programs and they have kind ofthat cynical approach, and I
will- often just kind of turnthe question of,"Well, why do
you think that didn't work foryou?" Or,"Gosh, that sounds like
a pretty good plan to me.
Why didn't it work?" And thenthey explain why it didn't work.
And sometimes it's a reallypowerful conversation because a
person who is angry andfrustrated and disappointed now
(31:44):
is able to take some ownership,and when we take ownership, we
have control.
And so I think thosebillionaires are totally right
because, of course, there'salways things that can happen,
but there's so many things thatwe know will happen and we can
plan for them and we can preparefor them that, why not prepare?
Why not insulate ourselves thebest we can?
Laura (32:07):
There's a sense of, when I work for somebody else, I'm
safe.
But the truth of the matter is,when you work for somebody else,
you have no control.
If they decide to fire you, theydecide to fire you.
And when you work for yourself,you get to be the one that sets
your limit, and you get to bethe one that exceeds your limit,
Melissa B. (32:24):
I watched my dad work.
My dad lives in Chicago still.
We've tried to get him to moveout to California.
For the last 30 years.
He worked for the post officefor 40 years as a mail carrier
in Chicago.
He stuck with it because thatwas the world he grew up in and
he toed the company line and, helives very frugally.
(32:47):
I think looking back at hislife, he probably wishes that on
some level there were thingsthat, maybe he would have done
differently, that he would haverealized that he had a choice,
and he didn't.
And there's so many people outthere that don't realize that
they have a choice.
And so one of the things that Ifind that's so amazing when I
(33:07):
get to connect with people likeyou is I may not be the
solution.
Bookkeeping may not be thesolution.
Like, it is truly not a fit foreverybody.
There are some people where it'sjust not gonna work.
And so to be able to make thoseintroductions to other people so
that somebody can, gosh, just bea happier human, in their lives
(33:29):
and, you know, think about theeffect that that has on our
world as a whole.
That way everybody can stopbeing so grumpy.
Laura (33:37):
Yes.
We need a little bit more joy inthe world, and when we can
realize that we're in control,we have not only confidence, we
have peace, we have margin, wehave breathing room.
I think those are really amazingthings, and it sounds like what
you're doing and what you'rebuilding gives not only money,
but confidence and time andpeace, and I think that's
amazing.
(33:57):
I just have a couple questionsthat I wanted to ask you before
we, we wrap things up.
Melissa B. (34:03):
Sure.
Laura (34:03):
What would you say...
Because we've talked a littlebit about the numbers and, it
seems to me like if you enjoyworking with numbers and you
enjoy working with people, thiswould be a really great
opportunity, but what would yousay to that mom that's home with
her kid that just believes thattaking time to build something
(34:24):
of their own would make themfeel like they're not giving to
their kids, or they feel guiltyfor taking time for themselves
to build this business?
Melissa B. (34:34):
Grew up Catholic.
Totally understand the guilt.
Drives my husband crazy.
Like, I get the mom guilt I getthe guilt.
And I remember feeling guiltyevery time I had to leave them
to go to work.
I remember feeling guilty everysummer when it was like, okay,
we have to figure out what theplan is for the kids for the
(34:55):
summer.
I get that guilt.
And so what if you have aworkload that you have the
opportunity to break up into,you know, tiny boxes of...
You block your time.
You know, a 25-hour week, that'sfive hours a day.
You can work that around yourkids.
Laura (35:17):
Mm-hmm.
Melissa B. (35:17):
I mean, I have one student who she has nine
children, and she homeschoolsall of them.
But it's, for her, she has herschool curriculum that she, sets
out for her kids, and she blocksout her time for,"This is my
time to work on my business."And for her, she looks at it as
(35:39):
more of a, that, like her worktime is kind of her me time for
her brain.
And so it's not, taking awayanything for her kids.
And what an awesome exampleyou're showing for your
children.
To show your kids that they havea choice, that they don't have
to work in a job where theirboss treats them like crap or
(36:00):
they're miserable or they hatetheir coworkers.
At most days my coworker is a200-pound Newfoundland that
sleeps on my feet and snores.
I am pretty fond of my co- andmy husband.
I'm pretty fond of my coworkers.
You know?
My, the rest of my team iseverybody's remote so, those are
the individuals that are in myspace all day.
I remember having athree-year-old and running this,
(36:22):
and he had a desk that was nextto my desk, and he had an old
computer.
And he would sit and he wouldpound on that keyboard, we have
a recording of it and it'shilarious.
And he would pick up his playphone and and he would do that,
and it would keep himentertained for 15 minutes, but
it was 15 minutes that I got towork.
(36:43):
And then we would go to thepark, and then we would come
home, and he would take a nap,and I would get an hour to work.
And so it's, you have to be alittle bit more flexible, but
it's totally workable and it'stotally doable.
I think the unknown is wherepeople give up before they even
get started.
So they say, I don't have whatit takes to start a business."
(37:08):
Well, what is it that you thinkit takes to start a business?
Because I wanna hear what yourlist is, and sometimes it's like
the monster under the bed.
It's the things that aren'treal, but we build it up so much
in our minds, and then as soonas we have a safe space to talk
about what we believe is real,turns into a kitty cat that's
(37:31):
under the bed, right?
And we walk through, we have allof the different things that,
the list of, of what's neededwhen you're starting a business.
M- we have a roadmap of a plan.
I started with there was noextra money.
There was...
By the time I launched, I hadn'tworked in over seven months.
(37:51):
There were no credit cards totap into.
There was no- Hmm savings to tapinto.
There was no business loan.
It was I needed to make money asquickly as possible.
And we, you know, we've operatedour company without business
loans, without debt, withoutanything from day one, and it's
a pretty beautiful thing.
Laura (38:11):
A debt-free business is my favorite kind of business.
Melissa B. (38:14):
It though?
Agreed.
Laura (38:14):
So I'm glad you said that.
Melissa B. (38:16):
Agreed.
Laura (38:17):
I love this.
And just to clarify, you havetwo different businesses.
So you have one where you dobookkeeping, and do you still
have women underneath you thatdo the bookkeeping?
Melissa B. (38:27):
So we have, we have seven bookkeepers right now that
all work remotely for us.
We have the bookkeeping side ofthe company, and then we have
the tax side of the company.
We have an awesome officemanager that holds everything
together.
So I still do all of theonboarding calls for all of our
new bookkeeping clients, andhelp bookkeepers, like if
(38:51):
they're stuck or if we need todo training for bookkeepers.
I don't so much do theday-to-day operations for
bookkeeping, but I definitelykeep the bookkeeping side of the
business moving forward, andthen I am the one who's
responsible for all of ourmarketing decisions and stuff
like that.
My husband runs the tax side ofthe business, and that would be
(39:11):
what operates half of my time.
And then the other half of thetime is the One Hour Bookkeeper
and everything that is underthat umbrella.
And we've got a whole bunch ofdifferent courses that are out
there.
We have courses that are pricedfrom$9 all the way up to our top
signature course, which is ourBookkeeper in a Box program,
Laura (39:32):
and the- I mean, if it's in a box, that means everything
is there.
It's everything.
You don't need anything else.
I love that.
Melissa B. (39:38):
It includes your first 10 clients.
We essentially make thetransition as seamless for you
as possible.
What we are doing though iswe're working together so that
you're working at the same timein doing those things that you
need to do to build a clienteleand to build a business, but you
have it where it truly isspoon-fed, to you, so there's no
(40:01):
overwhelm.
Because that was really mynumber one, objective I think,
was not just teaching theskills, but keeping the
overwhelm at bay.
Because I think for myself,there have been so many
different things that I'vewanted to try or that I've
watched my girlfriends want totry or my mom want to try and,
you start to look at what ittakes or you start to
(40:21):
investigate a little bit in it,and there's all these details,
and you just kind of stop beforeyou even get started.
And if we can take thatoverwhelm away, it really is
amazing what people are able toaccomplish.
Laura (40:35):
Fabulous.
I love this.
My final question for you today,and then I have some questions
after we hang up the recording.
Melissa B. (40:42):
This is what everybody's gonna wanna know
about, is what we're talkingabout behind the scenes.
Laura (40:46):
Well, they'll just have to call one of us and ask.
Melissa B. (40:48):
They will.
Laura (40:49):
My final question for you today is what do you want your
legacy to be?
Melissa B. (40:56):
I want my legacy to be my two sons living the lives
of their dreams, whatever thatlooks like.
I want them to know that theyhave choices.
I want them to know thatnothing, and this is a, a
positive and a negative, butthat nothing lasts forever, and
that life is short,
Laura (41:15):
that's a
Melissa B. (41:16):
wonderful- And I'm crying on a podcast.
Laura (41:17):
I didn't mean to make you cry, but, happy- No.
And
Melissa B. (41:19):
I just want them to know that their life can be
anything they want it to be.
Laura (41:25):
Yeah.
Melissa B. (41:27):
Yep.
Laura (41:29):
Melissa, thank you so much for being here with our
Legacy Builders today.
Melissa B. (41:32):
You're
Laura (41:33):
welcome.
We hopefully, Legacy Builders,hopefully if this resonated with
you or if you know somebody whocould use a business in a box
here, and they need to reach outto Melissa, have them go...
All of your information is downin the show notes.
They can reach out to you there.
But my Legacy Builders, thisweek go out and make a
(41:53):
difference.
Well, hello, legacy builders.
Thank you for coming back to thepodcast today.
I have a special guest for you.
Melissa Broughton is anaccountant by trade and a
bookkeeping coach by passion,dedicated to helping
stay-at-home moms, dads, andmilitary spouses build flexible,
profitable businesses from home.
As the owner of Busy BeeAdvisors, a Northern California
(00:22):
accounting firm, she bringsreal-world experience and a
passion for empowering others toachieve financial independence.
Through her coaching platform,OneHourBookkeeper.com, Melissa
simplifies the path to startingand growing a bookkeeping
business, making it accessibleeven for those with no prior
experience.
Her mission is to help everydaypeople create income, freedom,
(00:44):
and a lasting legacy for theirfamily.
So Melissa- Before we getstarted, I'm gonna ask you the
same question I ask all of myguests.
Melissa B. (00:53):
Okay.
Laura (00:53):
Whose legacy would you like to emulate?
Melissa B. (00:57):
I'm gonna say my grandmother's.
And I'll say the reason why isshe was the original, I'll say
stay-at-home mom- Mm-hmm or notstay-at-home mom, the original
single mom.
And, growing up raising a familyof four, my grandfather from all
tales was incredibly handsomeand, you know, very charming,
(01:19):
but he really didn't like tostay in one place for too long,
so she was pretty much taskedwith raising four kids on her
own in Chicago in the'60s, andshe really did it all and made
it all look easy.
One of the ways she did it, herfull-time job was she was a
radiologist at a hospital.
She did not drive, so she walkedto work in Chicago every day.
(01:42):
And then on the weekends to kindof bridge the gap to pay for
groceries to whatever, she hadclients that she did bookkeeping
for.
And I remember as a little,little kid sitting there, next
to her at her kitchen table, andshe'd have the tape with, the
calculator with the tape, andshe'd be totaling things up and
(02:03):
writing them down in ledgers.
And I think now how much easierour lives are with, with
everything that's as automatedas it is with, programs like
Quick- QuickBooks Online andstuff like that.
But I would say she would be whoI, who I would choose to
emulate.
If I could only have herpatience, I would definitely be
ahead of the game.
I, I don't think I ever heardher raise her voice or really
(02:26):
even get her feathers ruffledover anything.
Laura (02:30):
My mother used to tell me all the time,"Patience is a
virtue," and unfortunately itwas not one that I was given in
abundance.
Melissa B. (02:35):
I would say that is true for me as well.
Laura (02:38):
Oh, well, Melissa and I are going to be very fast
friends, I can tell.
For the listeners that h- aremeeting you for the very first
time, can you tell us a littlebit about who you are- Who you
serve and how you got into thisline of work
Melissa B. (02:51):
Oh, it's a crazy story.
So I did all the things you weresupposed to do.
I took my first accounting classin high school.
I kind of fell into it.
I needed one more elective.
The rumor was the teacher was,like, 1,000 years old, and it
was an easy A, and so it waslike,"Okay, I can figure out
math." Took the class, totallyfell in love with it, went to
(03:14):
college, studied accounting andbusiness, and graduated and got
my first job for a big firm.
Decided that the big firm reallywasn't where I wanted to be,
worked for a few mid-sizedcompanies, worked my way up the
ladder, and in the middle ofthat, got married, had two sons,
and found that I was missing-everything.
(03:36):
As I worked up my way up thecorporate ladder, I felt like I
had less and less time withthese babies that I adored, and
a husband that I still adore tothis day.
And the time just, like, fliesby.
And so my last position was backin 2015.
I was working probably a 60-plushour week, plus on top of that I
(03:58):
had an hour-and-a-half commuteeach way to work because of
traffic.
And so, I had asked for time offfor, like, a, I think it was a
water polo game or somethinglike that, a water polo meet for
my oldest.
And my boss acted like I wasasking for, you know, the moon.
And so kind of added a littlebit of...
I felt a little bit disgruntled.
My husband surprised me thatyear for my 40th birthday.
(04:22):
Don't do any math, anybody.
For my 40th birthday to, to takeme on a 10-day cruise.
I had not taken a vacation.
I had been with that company forabout five years, so I had
plenty of vacation time.
Of course, I gave notice that Iwas going on vacation.
Found a replacement to fill infor me.
So we leave on the cruise.
(04:43):
We're gone for, three days outto sea.
We get to, you know, land.
We land in Puerto Vallarta.
I make the mistake of callingthe office, and, like, all- Oh,
no proverbial crap had hit thefan.
The person that was supposed tofill in for me never showed up.
My boss transferred a wholebunch of money out of the
payroll tax account to buy someequipment.
Like, it was...
(05:03):
There were so many bad thingsthat happened.
And I'm in this,"Okay, let's fixit" mode.
And my boss is like,"You'rewrong.
You need to come back.
You failed." And I just, thatspark, that patience being a
virtue or not of mine, it reallycame out.
And so we're, literally myhusband and I are at a bar,
Puerto Vallarta, and I just, Iquit my job on the spot.
(05:25):
And so I quit my job, and then Ilook at my husband, and he's
like,"That's cool, baby.
We can, we can figure it out."You know, I mean, married to the
best guy in the whole world.
Laura (05:35):
Love
Melissa B. (05:35):
Got home.
Of course, got all of my stuffshipped to me from my job that I
had been at for five years.
Like, it was such a"don't letthe door hit you on the butt"
kind of a thing.
I mean, anyway, so leave thejob, enjoy four months of summer
with my kids, which was thefirst time that I had really
ever had that freedom theirwhole lives.
(05:57):
After five months of one incomebeing gone, we were kinda
hitting the point of, myhusband's going,"Hey, you need
to find a job." So I thought,well- What's gonna be different
between this job and any of theother jobs I've had?
Like, I know that I can commandthe salary.
I know that I can that I havethe qualifications and the
(06:17):
credentials, but what's gonna bedifferent?
How is this position gonna bemore fulfilling?
And so I proposed to my husbandthat what would happen if I
branched out on my own?
And he said, and you know, itwas such a sweet conversation.
He said,"Look, I want you to dowhatever you wanna do that makes
you happy and that fills yourheart.
You need to bring in$2,000 amonth." Like,"$2,000 a month is
(06:41):
the difference between us,really having things be tight or
us being comfortable.
More would be great, but that'sall we need to do." So I set
out, kinda thinking about whatthat would look like, and one of
the things that has alwaysworked very well for me when I
need to think about something isto go for a run.
(07:02):
So I leave my house, I go for atwo-mile run.
I'm the farthest point from myhouse that I could be, and at
full sprint, my foot hit a pieceof pavement that was uneven.
I was ironically running on thesidewalk so that I didn't get
run over by a car.
Hit a piece of the sidewalk thatwas under some leaves, and I
(07:24):
face-planted at, like, fullsprint.
And so I broke my jaw.
I shattered just about all of myteeth except for my, like, top
and bottom four.
I'm standing there, and I'mspitting teeth into my hand.
It was awful.
So luckily, my neighbor happensto be driving by, and she's
like, it looked like a scene outof a horror movie because as I'm
(07:45):
spitting I'm like, of course,wiping my hands on my face so I
was covered in blood.
Laura (07:49):
Ugh.
Melissa B. (07:50):
So what that led me to was about six weeks of not
being able to do anything, andit just gave me this place to be
still and to really think aboutwhat this perfect business would
be for me, what my negotiableswere, what my non-negotiables
were.
You know, I didn't wanna have along commute.
I wanted to have totalflexibility.
(08:12):
And so in, September of 2016, Iofficially launched Busy B
Advisors.
We started it, or I started it,at our dining room table with a
laptop that I had won in somelike, giveaway or contest or
something like that.
And it was really on ashoestring budget.
By our second month in business,we had hit$25,000 in revenue,
(08:36):
and we were consistently pickingup momentum from there.
So we had crazy growthincredibly fast.
It was like, okay, we've got 25new clients that have come in.
Now we need to figure out whatthe infrastructure looks like to
support now 100 clients or Youknow, at the height of things,
we had over 300 bookkeepingclients that we were working
(08:57):
with, and I had 27, I think,bookkeepers that were on staff.
So it was a crazy few years ofgrowth.
My husband actually ended uptaking early retirement from
nursing, went back to school.
He runs the tax side of ourbusiness, so we truly get to be
business partners and get towork together every day, which
is awesome.
So that was kind of the story upuntil, up until 2024.
(09:23):
And I laugh at it now because Ithink I must have had an
afternoon where I had a fewhours that were free, and maybe
I felt a little bit bored.
But I thought,"I think I shouldwrite a course on bookkeeping.
I think it would be really fun.
I'm gonna write a course onbookkeeping, I want to help all
of the stay-at-home moms thatare out there, or women that are
(09:45):
out there that are working injobs that they're miserable in
or feel like they don't have anychoices, and ha- we'll throw
stay-at-home dads in there,too." And then, I have this
kiddo who's military, and he'sgot every single military spouse
I know calling, asking if theycan become a bookkeeper.
Let's create a training coursefor them.
So, August of 2024, we launchedthe One Hour Bookkeeper, and by
(10:11):
August of 2025, we had 3,500students go through the course.
Laura (10:16):
3,500 students.
Melissa B. (10:17):
The impact is truly humbling.
The fact that I can have aconversation with somebody and
tell him or her that, yes, youactually can contribute
financially to your householdand not have to, have your two
kids in daycare full time towhere you don't actually make
any money from your job.
Like, you have a choice.
(10:38):
it's humbling, and it's been,it's been amazing.
And it really is the...
It's just the thing that fuelsme.
It's the thing that gets me soexcited.
Now, there's days where Iquestion, how crazy I was by
thinking, let's, essentially runtwo companies at the same time.
But we like to say that pressureis a privilege.
That's kind of our motto in ourhouse.
(11:00):
That's the Boye house motto of,when it feels like it's too
much, know that it's aprivilege.
So that is something that is onmy desk or anywhere that I can
see it on a daily basis.
Laura (11:11):
Well, it sounds to me like you have taken a job and
turned it into a calling.
Melissa B. (11:19):
I love the whole concept of your podcast, the
whole thought of building alegacy because what I felt in
previous jobs was that...
and I think it's the trap thatso many people fall into, was
that I felt like the jobs were,it was more secure to work for
somebody else.
It was, I was better to getbenefits for my family, and I
(11:41):
needed to get a job so that Icould have benefits for my
family, or my husband needed tohave a job to have benefits for
our family or whatever it, itwas.
And, we've seen, in ourlifetimes we've seen layoffs.
Both of us have experiencedlayoffs.
My husband worked construction,and he got laid off two weeks
before our youngest son wasborn.
(12:02):
We've just had the rug pulledout from underneath us, and of
course we've rolled with it andwe've made the best of it, and
we've definitely survived it.
But we no longer live in thetimes where you go to college
and you start a job with acompany, and you work for that
company for 40 years.
That's not the world we live inanymore.
Laura (12:21):
Right.
Melissa B. (12:22):
And I feel that, without a question that, you
know, the bookkeeping industryis such an amazing opportunity
for someone who doesn't have adegree, doesn't have a
background, doesn't have theeducation in it, where they can
learn the skills pretty quicklyand, you know, essentially if
(12:44):
you can balance a checkbook,which most people who are over
the age of 30 know how to do.
Laura (12:50):
I'm working on it, Melissa.
Right.
I'm trying so hard to teachthem.
Melissa B. (12:54):
If I can teach you, okay, there's four steps, you
can grasp it.
It's like chess, right?
You know, it's quick to learn,but it can take a lifetime to
perfect.
So I can teach you those skills.
I can teach you how to go outthere and how to find clients
and how to run a bookkeepingbusiness.
Why not take advantage of that?
(13:14):
It's just this incredibleopportunity that is, out there.
Laura (13:18):
What kinds of people do you think have the raw
ingredients to go ahead and dothis well, even if they don't
realize it yet?
Melissa B. (13:25):
I will take a stay-at-home mom, a
homeschooling mom, ahomeschooling dad, you know, a
stay-at-home dad, the dad that'sbeen or the mom that's been kind
of running it all and figuringout everything, and has that
warm heart and that cleanspirit, and really has a desire
(13:45):
to help people.
I would rather work with thosepeople than somebody who is
maybe what I would say in airquotes as a seasoned or a
trained professional.
Now, of course, I, I lovegetting to work with trained
professionals as well.
Mm-hmm.
It's, it's interesting topresent a different way to look
at things.
But I will say that what I'vefound is the people who have a
(14:06):
lot of previous experience alsocome with a lot of baggage and a
lot of maybe bad habits thatthey've learned, or a lot of
they're used to having this bigjob with this big company, so
they're used to doing everythingfor one client, and now we're
telling them,"Okay, I love that.
I love that you have all of thatknowledge, but I need you to,
(14:28):
like, forget, like, 85% of it,and I just need you to focus on
this little, small 15% piece ofthe puzzle." And that's probably
some of the biggest pushbackthat I get from some of my
clients and some of my students.
I have a few stay-at-homegrandmas that I'm working with
where life just didn't go theway that they thought it would
(14:48):
for their kids.
They now have custody of theirgrandchildren, and their
retirement was not set up forthinking they were gonna be
supporting a household of four.
And so there's, there's a gap,and I just I get really excited
about it.
Laura (15:05):
Well, I'm actually really glad you said that, because
what's going through the back ofmy mind is my mother, who was a
bookkeeper by trade for 45years-
Melissa B. (15:14):
Okay
Laura (15:14):
To the point where she ran Child Protective Services
accounting for the state ofTexas.
Meaning hundreds of millions ofdollars that she was responsible
for, and she's really, reallygood.
I mean, if you're gonna beresponsible for that, you better
be really, really good atnumbers, right?
Melissa B. (15:29):
Yep.
Laura (15:30):
We've talked about her dabbling in having a business
doing bookkeeping for people,because her retirement is not
what we thought it was going tobe, but she just has it in her
mind that she can't run abusiness.
What is it that you see inpeople that people can't see in
(15:51):
themselves as capable businesspeople?
Melissa B. (15:55):
I think we all just need to be shown the path Right?
We all just need to be shownthe, okay, this is what you need
to do now.
This is what you need to donext.
This is what you need to donext.
And I have some students that,you know, I have one student,
he's kind of one of my, I'll sayone of my secret favorites, but-
he's a retired trial attorney.
(16:16):
He's a retired, he used to putbad guys away, and he's like,"I
did it for 30 years, and I'mjust tired of looking at the
underbelly of society.
I need to see the good inpeople." we laugh about it
because I kinda go,"Did youjust, like, throw a dart at a
whole bunch of words andbookkeeper was what come up?"
it's kind of a random choice,but it works for him.
(16:38):
He's super happy doing it.
It creates this laid back, easypace lifestyle that he is
loving.
And so I think that some peopleneed it spoon fed, and other
people are like,"Tell me what todo.
Give me all of the details.
I'll do it at my own pace.
I wanna know that I can reachout to you if I have questions."
(17:01):
And that's where the supportcomes into play.
So what I found was that, yes,there are other bookkeeping
programs out there.
You know, Intuit is the top onethat comes to a lot of people's
minds, and the Intuit,ProAdvisor program is fantastic.
However, it doesn't teach youhow to run a bookkeeping
business, and really all itteaches you is how to use every
(17:23):
single aspect of QuickBooks.
So you end up going through thecertification.
You now know how to use all ofthe different aspects of
QuickBooks.
You really only need about that15%, but you then are wondering,
like, am I doing this right?
Am I gonna, you know, messthings up for their tax person
(17:43):
when it comes to tax time?
How do I deal with when I do allthis prospecting, what do I do
when somebody actually calls me?
And so we found that we wereable to fill in the gaps.
And, you know, I've just alwayslooked at it as what is the
information that I wish somebodywould have told me when I was
(18:03):
trying to figure it all outgoing 100 miles an hour?
Laura (18:07):
You're doing not only the practical side, but also the
softer skills
Melissa B. (18:13):
yep.
We have sections on, like, howto fire a client.
I mean, that's definitelysomething that I've looked at a
lot of the other bookkeepingprograms that are out there,
Laura (18:23):
gonna
Melissa B. (18:23):
find
Laura (18:23):
that
Melissa B. (18:24):
They don't wanna talk about it.
Or they won't talk about, youknow, what the income potential
is.
I'll talk to you about yourincome potential.
I'll show you your path tomaking six figures, and you can
get there, like, a lot fasterthan you think you would.
It's just, we look at theaverage client is a value of
(18:44):
about$350 a month.
A bookkeeper work- working fulltime can handle 25 clients.
So 25 times 350 times 12 is, youknow, over$100,000 a year.
I mean, the math becomes supereasy, and you're not working
with 100 clients or 200 clients.
You're working with 25.
Right.
(19:05):
And you're really having animpact on those 25 businesses
and acting as their partner in alot of ways.
Being a small business owner canbe very lonely, and they're
going along and they're tryingto do the best they can at doing
whatever it is they do, and theydon't have anybody that they can
talk to.
They can't talk to theiremployees.
(19:26):
Unless their spouse is involvedin the business, they can't talk
to their spouse about stuff, sothey're holding it all together.
Maybe they have some friends,but if they have friends,
they're probably not beinghonest with their friends about,
"Hey, we're having a toughtime," or,"I'm not sure if I'm
making the right decision." Andthe bookkeeper becomes their,
you know, their kind of partnerin their business.
(19:48):
And so we help with the, as yousaid, soft skills of how do you
build that relationship?
And as women, we are...
especially women who havechildren, we are nurturers, and
we're, you know, able to bepatient, and we're able to show
'em a little love.
(20:08):
And then we're also able to say,"Knock it off" to our clients,
or,"Did you really think thatwas a good idea?" And kind of
call them out.
And not that we would ever bedisrespectful to our clients,
but sometimes you need to take alittle bit of a, a tough
approach.
And it's, it seems to be what'sworking, and it certainly seems
to be resonating with my, withmy students,
Laura (20:30):
there's a little piece of the coaching inside of it, where
you have to...
One, anytime somebody exposestheir numbers to you, they're
being vulnerable.
Yes.
You have to be willing to lookat that as I'm being allowed
into a vulnerable place insomebody else's life.
So you have to take that intoconsideration, but then also you
need to be able to coach themthrough,"Hey, we're spending
(20:52):
more than we're bringing in,"or, we're making some decisions
that seem a little questionable,put your business at risk.
Maybe we need to talk about it.
It's hard thing to talk tobusiness owners about.
Melissa B. (21:01):
But somebody needs to have that
Laura (21:03):
conversation with
Melissa B. (21:04):
Somebody needs to have the conversation and say,
"Hey, let's look at where, wherewe can cut back on costs," or,
"Let's look at how we can bringin more money.
Let's look at what you're doingin your business that's working
and, let's push aside the thingsthat aren't working." One of the
things that we saw through the,you know, the crazy pandemic
(21:26):
that we all lived through nottoo long ago, was we saw the
smaller companies they knewtheir numbers, they knew what
was working, they knew whatwasn't working, and they could
adjust things quickly to thisworld that was nothing any of us
had ever seen.
Those were the businesses thatsurvived.
And so we saw it with our ownclients.
(21:47):
The clients that survivedthrough the pandemic or through
tough times were the ones whoknew their numbers.
And we get to be our clients'partners in that, and it's a
pretty exciting thing I love it.
Laura (21:58):
There's so many of the businesses that I'm currently
coaching that I would not haveto coach if they had somebody
like that in their corneralready.
And I'm not, I'm not I'm nottrying to lose work here, but- I
do, I do love that there arepeople, that you're teaching
people not just how to run thenumbers, because I'm thinking of
(22:18):
one client I have in particular,and he has a bookkeeper that
comes in once every other weekand fixes his numbers and then
walks away.
Yep.
And he's$100,000 in businessdebt, and he didn't realize that
he was so far behind'cause he'sjust, you know, playing
catch-up.
(22:39):
And when she told him one day,"Hey, this is where we're at.
I couldn't make this bill gothrough", he was completely
shocked.
Melissa B. (22:48):
Terrible
Laura (22:49):
that was just somebody that just came, did the books,
and walked out.
And granted, he's paying hernext to nothing, so the fact
that she was doing anything atall, was nice of her.
But now he's having to paysomebody to come in and have the
hard conversations and workthrough it, and we're working
through the income and the, thenumbers side.
But I love that you were, the, Ilove that you were teaching more
(23:13):
than just,"Here's how you doQuickBooks.
Move on."
Melissa B. (23:17):
I think I know some of my clients probably better
than their spouses know them.
I've been able to see thebusinesses that are, almost too
far beyond saving, but there isstill time to reel them back in.
And also to be a part of talkingto somebody in the,"Have you
just kind of fallen out of lovewith your business?
(23:39):
Like, what's going on?" and I'llsay that's about 50% of my
clients.
There's the other 50% that arelike the client that you were
talking about, that don't wantto have the interaction and they
don't want to have theconversation.
So that becomes a delicate danceas well, because you as the
bookkeeper have to understand.
I had a conversation with one ofmy students earlier today where
(24:00):
she's like,"They have tounderstand." I'm like,"No,
approach your client like he's athree-year-old." so you can
bring him around to your way ofthinking, but you have to do it
by, gently making it so that heis incentivized to want to have
the conversation.
He can't feel like everyconversation with you is a
(24:22):
negative.
There has to be a light at theend of the tunnel.
And so what is your plan forconveying that information?
And in, you know, sometimes it'sjust rephrasing the information,
because the last thing that wewant is for our clients to avoid
us.
And money's a hot topic, andthere are a lot of people who
take the ostrich approach withmoney, and they just bury their
(24:42):
heads in the sand and they hopefor the best.
We had one client that we hadbeen working with them for-
probably two or three years,younger couple.
His wife was involved in thebusiness as well.
He got into a car accident andwas essentially completely out
of the bi- I mean, like horriblecar accident.
Was out of the business forclose to a year, and our role
(25:07):
became bringing her up to speedso that she didn't just get
eaten alive by all of thedifferent...
There's just some unscrupulousbusiness people out there.
And it wasn't because we wantedsome award for being, you know,
world's best bookkeeper.
It was more that it was just theright thing to do, and that
maybe I have a skill to be ableto see the story that her
(25:31):
numbers are telling her that shedoesn't necessarily see.
And so once we were able to helpher learn that language, this
whole path, you know, becameopened up for her.
Laura (25:44):
You talk about this business, obviously you love it
and you have such a passion.
I can, I can-
Melissa B. (25:51):
Some days I do
Laura (25:52):
hear it.
I can hear it in your voice
Melissa B. (25:53):
I don't, but most days I do.
Laura (25:54):
I do.
But you talk about this as abusiness that buys back your
time.
You said in the beginning, youdidn't have enough time with
your kids, and you wanted thisbusiness to be something that
would buy back your time.
What does that actually looklike in real life to people that
want to start this and take thison?
Melissa B. (26:08):
Now, of course, it depends on where you live.
If you live in New York City,$100,000 probably doesn't go
very far.
But to tell somebody who is amilitary spouse that she can
bring in six figures workingfrom home, working 25 hours a
week, that's pretty great.
(26:31):
And that now not only is she notworking 40 hours a week, so
she's cut back 15 hours, but shedoesn't have to commute, she
doesn't have to worry about,spending a whole bunch of money
on, professional work wear andshe also gets to save money on
daycare because she gets toactually be the one that's
(26:51):
raising her kids because she hasa business that can work around
her schedule.
Now, there's no judgment thereif you wanna have your kids in
daycare or in play school ornursery school or whatever they
call it part-time, or maybe youdo wanna have your kids in
daycare full time, and thatbecomes your choice.
(27:12):
And that's pretty great whenit's your choice.
So it's the different ways ofjust really looking at
everything and understandingthat it's a choice, and you get
to be an active participant inyour life instead of feeling
like you're just dealing withwhat life has dealt you.
Um, and we see that a lot withmilitary spouses.
Laura (27:35):
Yeah.
I see that a lot in the peoplethat I work with, the people
that come to me that arestressed out about money.
They're overwhelmed.
And a lot of times it's,"Well,I'm in this situation.
This happened to me, thathappened to me." And I'm like,
"Well, what are you going to doto take control of it?" And when
you start to take control,there's this study that was done
(27:55):
recently that says 97% ofmillionaires in America believe
that they control their future.
Melissa B. (28:02):
Interesting.
Laura (28:04):
And so if you want to be a millionaire, or if you just
want to have enough margin tochoose whether or not you can
stay home with your children,you have to first decide that
it's completely up to you.
And so I love, I love that yousaid that.
I knew we were gonna be fastfriends, Melissa.
This is great.
I know.
Melissa B. (28:20):
We're even moving to the same place.
Laura (28:22):
I'm so excited.
Melissa B. (28:23):
Crazy.
Laura (28:23):
How long does it typically take for someone if
they wanna start generating anincome?
Melissa B. (28:27):
So I've seen students that don't get in their
own ways, and they, within aweek of starting the program,
land their first client.
I've had other students thatreally are the people who want
to learn everything, and there'sa little bit more work in the
(28:48):
what's the motivation between,behind feeling like you need to
learn everything?
Because in truth, I'm stilllearning things every day.
I learn things from my studentsall the time, and so you're
never gonna learn everything.
And so what work needs to bedone internally for you to
accept that you're not gonnaknow everything, but you will
know where to go to get helpwhen those questions that come
(29:11):
up happen?
I read every book and workedwith a whole bunch of coaches
when I was putting the programtogether, just to kind of get
their input on things, and oneof the things that struck me as
so interesting, and when I firstheard it, I thought,"That's not
true," but when I thought aboutit, I realized how true it was,
was that for most of us asadults, when we set out to do
(29:34):
something, the first thing thatwe hit that becomes an obstacle,
over 80% of people will justthrow the towel in and give up.
And it doesn't have to be a hugeobstacle.
It can be the s- like smallest,tiniest thing, but to you in
that moment, it feels like thisinsurmountable mountain to
(29:56):
climb, and so you just, you quitand you throw the, you know, you
throw the towel in.
I'll talk to, students who are,well, they don't know they're
gonna be students yet, butprospects I'll say, that have
tried different bookkeepingprograms in the past.
And so they'll approach me fromthe, kind of a cynical point of
(30:16):
view, which is fine.
I am definitely not a hard salesperson.
I know what bookkeeping in- cando for you.
I know what it's done for ourlife.
I know the amazing things it'sallowed us to be able to do.
We haven't missed a water pologame.
We haven't missed a rugby game.
We've...
You know, my husband traveled toJapan with our youngest for two
(30:37):
weeks, and just essentiallysaid, he marked himself out on
his calendar and they went,because we found out three days
before this team was supposed toleave for Japan that we had a
spot.
And so we were able to pay fortwo tickets and rooms and board
for Japan for two weeks.
(30:59):
That was awesome.
It's just allowed us someamazing opportunities.
Mm-hmm.
So for me, I don't feel like Ihave to sell something.
I feel like it's just somethingthat I can prevent, pre- not
prevent, present, and those whowant to, you know, take me up on
it, take me up on it.
It is interesting when I hearabout people talking about other
(31:19):
programs and they have kind ofthat cynical approach, and I
will- often just kind of turnthe question of,"Well, why do
you think that didn't work foryou?" Or,"Gosh, that sounds like
a pretty good plan to me.
Why didn't it work?" And thenthey explain why it didn't work.
And sometimes it's a reallypowerful conversation because a
person who is angry andfrustrated and disappointed now
(31:44):
is able to take some ownership,and when we take ownership, we
have control.
And so I think thosebillionaires are totally right
because, of course, there'salways things that can happen,
but there's so many things thatwe know will happen and we can
plan for them and we can preparefor them that, why not prepare?
Why not insulate ourselves thebest we can?
Laura (32:07):
There's a sense of, when I work for somebody else, I'm
safe.
But the truth of the matter is,when you work for somebody else,
you have no control.
If they decide to fire you, theydecide to fire you.
And when you work for yourself,you get to be the one that sets
your limit, and you get to bethe one that exceeds your limit,
Melissa B. (32:24):
I watched my dad work.
My dad lives in Chicago still.
We've tried to get him to moveout to California.
For the last 30 years.
He worked for the post officefor 40 years as a mail carrier
in Chicago.
He stuck with it because thatwas the world he grew up in and
he toed the company line and, helives very frugally.
(32:47):
I think looking back at hislife, he probably wishes that on
some level there were thingsthat, maybe he would have done
differently, that he would haverealized that he had a choice,
and he didn't.
And there's so many people outthere that don't realize that
they have a choice.
And so one of the things that Ifind that's so amazing when I
(33:07):
get to connect with people likeyou is I may not be the
solution.
Bookkeeping may not be thesolution.
Like, it is truly not a fit foreverybody.
There are some people where it'sjust not gonna work.
And so to be able to make thoseintroductions to other people so
that somebody can, gosh, just bea happier human, in their lives
(33:29):
and, you know, think about theeffect that that has on our
world as a whole.
That way everybody can stopbeing so grumpy.
Laura (33:37):
Yes.
We need a little bit more joy inthe world, and when we can
realize that we're in control,we have not only confidence, we
have peace, we have margin, wehave breathing room.
I think those are really amazingthings, and it sounds like what
you're doing and what you'rebuilding gives not only money,
but confidence and time andpeace, and I think that's
amazing.
(33:57):
I just have a couple questionsthat I wanted to ask you before
we, we wrap things up.
Melissa B. (34:03):
Sure.
Laura (34:03):
What would you say...
Because we've talked a littlebit about the numbers and, it
seems to me like if you enjoyworking with numbers and you
enjoy working with people, thiswould be a really great
opportunity, but what would yousay to that mom that's home with
her kid that just believes thattaking time to build something
(34:24):
of their own would make themfeel like they're not giving to
their kids, or they feel guiltyfor taking time for themselves
to build this business?
Melissa B. (34:34):
Grew up Catholic.
Totally understand the guilt.
Drives my husband crazy.
Like, I get the mom guilt I getthe guilt.
And I remember feeling guiltyevery time I had to leave them
to go to work.
I remember feeling guilty everysummer when it was like, okay,
we have to figure out what theplan is for the kids for the
(34:55):
summer.
I get that guilt.
And so what if you have aworkload that you have the
opportunity to break up into,you know, tiny boxes of...
You block your time.
You know, a 25-hour week, that'sfive hours a day.
You can work that around yourkids.
Laura (35:17):
Mm-hmm.
Melissa B. (35:17):
I mean, I have one student who she has nine
children, and she homeschoolsall of them.
But it's, for her, she has herschool curriculum that she, sets
out for her kids, and she blocksout her time for,"This is my
time to work on my business."And for her, she looks at it as
(35:39):
more of a, that, like her worktime is kind of her me time for
her brain.
And so it's not, taking awayanything for her kids.
And what an awesome exampleyou're showing for your
children.
To show your kids that they havea choice, that they don't have
to work in a job where theirboss treats them like crap or
(36:00):
they're miserable or they hatetheir coworkers.
At most days my coworker is a200-pound Newfoundland that
sleeps on my feet and snores.
I am pretty fond of my co- andmy husband.
I'm pretty fond of my coworkers.
You know?
My, the rest of my team iseverybody's remote so, those are
the individuals that are in myspace all day.
I remember having athree-year-old and running this,
(36:22):
and he had a desk that was nextto my desk, and he had an old
computer.
And he would sit and he wouldpound on that keyboard, we have
a recording of it and it'shilarious.
And he would pick up his playphone and and he would do that,
and it would keep himentertained for 15 minutes, but
it was 15 minutes that I got towork.
(36:43):
And then we would go to thepark, and then we would come
home, and he would take a nap,and I would get an hour to work.
And so it's, you have to be alittle bit more flexible, but
it's totally workable and it'stotally doable.
I think the unknown is wherepeople give up before they even
get started.
So they say, I don't have whatit takes to start a business."
(37:08):
Well, what is it that you thinkit takes to start a business?
Because I wanna hear what yourlist is, and sometimes it's like
the monster under the bed.
It's the things that aren'treal, but we build it up so much
in our minds, and then as soonas we have a safe space to talk
about what we believe is real,turns into a kitty cat that's
(37:31):
under the bed, right?
And we walk through, we have allof the different things that,
the list of, of what's neededwhen you're starting a business.
M- we have a roadmap of a plan.
I started with there was noextra money.
There was...
By the time I launched, I hadn'tworked in over seven months.
(37:51):
There were no credit cards totap into.
There was no- Hmm savings to tapinto.
There was no business loan.
It was I needed to make money asquickly as possible.
And we, you know, we've operatedour company without business
loans, without debt, withoutanything from day one, and it's
a pretty beautiful thing.
Laura (38:11):
A debt-free business is my favorite kind of business.
Melissa B. (38:14):
It though?
Agreed.
Laura (38:14):
So I'm glad you said that.
Melissa B. (38:16):
Agreed.
Laura (38:17):
I love this.
And just to clarify, you havetwo different businesses.
So you have one where you dobookkeeping, and do you still
have women underneath you thatdo the bookkeeping?
Melissa B. (38:27):
So we have, we have seven bookkeepers right now that
all work remotely for us.
We have the bookkeeping side ofthe company, and then we have
the tax side of the company.
We have an awesome officemanager that holds everything
together.
So I still do all of theonboarding calls for all of our
new bookkeeping clients, andhelp bookkeepers, like if
(38:51):
they're stuck or if we need todo training for bookkeepers.
I don't so much do theday-to-day operations for
bookkeeping, but I definitelykeep the bookkeeping side of the
business moving forward, andthen I am the one who's
responsible for all of ourmarketing decisions and stuff
like that.
My husband runs the tax side ofthe business, and that would be
(39:11):
what operates half of my time.
And then the other half of thetime is the One Hour Bookkeeper
and everything that is underthat umbrella.
And we've got a whole bunch ofdifferent courses that are out
there.
We have courses that are pricedfrom$9 all the way up to our top
signature course, which is ourBookkeeper in a Box program,
Laura (39:32):
and the- I mean, if it's in a box, that means everything
is there.
It's everything.
You don't need anything else.
I love that.
Melissa B. (39:38):
It includes your first 10 clients.
We essentially make thetransition as seamless for you
as possible.
What we are doing though iswe're working together so that
you're working at the same timein doing those things that you
need to do to build a clienteleand to build a business, but you
have it where it truly isspoon-fed, to you, so there's no
(40:01):
overwhelm.
Because that was really mynumber one, objective I think,
was not just teaching theskills, but keeping the
overwhelm at bay.
Because I think for myself,there have been so many
different things that I'vewanted to try or that I've
watched my girlfriends want totry or my mom want to try and,
you start to look at what ittakes or you start to
(40:21):
investigate a little bit in it,and there's all these details,
and you just kind of stop beforeyou even get started.
And if we can take thatoverwhelm away, it really is
amazing what people are able toaccomplish.
Laura (40:35):
Fabulous.
I love this.
My final question for you today,and then I have some questions
after we hang up the recording.
Melissa B. (40:42):
This is what everybody's gonna wanna know
about, is what we're talkingabout behind the scenes.
Laura (40:46):
Well, they'll just have to call one of us and ask.
Melissa B. (40:48):
They will.
Laura (40:49):
My final question for you today is what do you want your
legacy to be?
Melissa B. (40:56):
I want my legacy to be my two sons living the lives
of their dreams, whatever thatlooks like.
I want them to know that theyhave choices.
I want them to know thatnothing, and this is a, a
positive and a negative, butthat nothing lasts forever, and
that life is short,
Laura (41:15):
that's a
Melissa B. (41:16):
wonderful- And I'm crying on a podcast.
Laura (41:17):
I didn't mean to make you cry, but, happy- No.
And
Melissa B. (41:19):
I just want them to know that their life can be
anything they want it to be.
Laura (41:25):
Yeah.
Melissa B. (41:27):
Yep.
Laura (41:29):
Melissa, thank you so much for being here with our
Legacy Builders today.
Melissa B. (41:32):
You're
Laura (41:33):
welcome.
We hopefully, Legacy Builders,hopefully if this resonated with
you or if you know somebody whocould use a business in a box
here, and they need to reach outto Melissa, have them go...
All of your information is downin the show notes.
They can reach out to you there.
But my Legacy Builders, thisweek go out and make a
(41:53):
difference.
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