March 5, 2025 • 32 mins
Brittany Malidore shares her journey of overcoming workplace toxicity and bullying in the accounting industry. Joined by KC Brothers, she discusses the hidden impact of toxic work environments and why identifying and eliminating harmful behaviors—whether from colleagues or clients—is key to long-term success.
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Episode Transcript
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KC Brothers (00:05):
Welcome to another episode of Canopy Practice
Success.
I am Casey Brothers, the host.
I'm here today with BrittanyMallador.
Welcome, Brittany.
Hello.
Hello.
How
Brittany Malidore (00:16):
are you today?
I'm doing well.
It's a bit cloudy here inWashington, but winter is upon
us.
KC Brothers (00:21):
It is.
We're in the thick of it, aren'twe?
Um, go ahead and give anintroduction of yourself to the
listeners here today.
Brittany Malidore (00:28):
Yeah, no, thanks.
Hi everyone.
My name is Brittany Mallador,the co founder and managing
partner of Ledgerly Consulting.
which is a firm I launched aboutfour years ago that does
accounting tax and auditservices.
Um, and then separately, I havekind of my own company, which
focuses on branding, uh, elearning, all things that are
(00:49):
just not actual technicalaccounting.
So I'm super excited to be herewith you today.
KC Brothers (00:54):
Awesome.
Thanks, Brittany.
Um, today we, you shot over asuggested topic that took me by
surprise.
That I have not heard talkedabout by anyone else.
And I'm so curious to just havethis discussion.
And the topic was bullying inthe workplace.
(01:15):
Um, tell us a little bit aboutwhy this is such a sensitive
topic to you or, or, or timelyor something you feel like needs
to be talked about.
Brittany Malidore (01:25):
Yeah, absolutely.
Uh, you know, when we thinkabout bullying, we always think
about playground bullying,right?
Like I was on the playground asa kid and I got like pushed by
Jimmy Joe, right?
And that was not nice of him.
Um, over my time in accountingand particularly this year after
my major accident, I reallystarted reflecting on, you know,
(01:47):
who I am and why I do things theway I do, or why do I feel the
way that I do?
Um, after my car accident, I hada moment of I feel like if I had
died, that I would not have hada community there.
And that was really bigfeelings, right?
Like to say, do
KC Brothers (02:04):
we need to back up and talk about this accident?
Brittany Malidore (02:09):
No, I was just driving to pick up my
daughter and in a split second Iwas t boned and unfortunately
eight days later I woke up.
I did not know how to speak.
I didn't know how to walk.
Um, it was pretty scary for myfamily.
But honestly, the best thingthat has happened to me and my
(02:29):
family because I think I was onautopilot, I didn't, you know,
going through life feeling theway that I was feeling.
And so after the accident, Ireally reflected about what's
most important to me, whatdrives me.
Um, you know, I asked myself,like, what am I made for?
I know what I can do.
I know what I love to do, whichis serve my clients and do some
(02:51):
really cool accounting.
But like, what am I here andwhat am I made for?
And, you know, I haven't had theeasiest upbringing, but part of
this whole, what am I made foris I learned, like, You know,
the experiences that I've had inmy life and most specifically in
my career have been hard andchallenging as you know, a
(03:13):
military wife, a mom of five, avery ambitious and bold
individual, you know, Ireflected and said, you know,
I'm not really happy.
I don't have the community thatI want.
You know, why do I feel the waythat I feel about myself?
And as I looked back, I learnedlike, yeah, I have gone through
these instances of maybe toxiccultures that have created a bit
(03:37):
of an imposter syndrome inmyself.
Um, it took me 10 years to likelaunch my own firm, took a
really long time.
People used to tell me in publicaccounting, um, you know, you're
not going to make it as a mom,right?
Uh, I worked at a regional firmfor several years, helped launch
their CAS practice.
And, uh, I said, Hey, I don'tbelieve that I need a CPA to do
(03:59):
this type of work.
I think I'm really great at it.
I don't need it.
Um, I've met my businessdevelopment goals.
I've done all this.
And they literally said, sorry,you can't have this position.
You can't grow within the firmif you don't have a CPA license.
And I was treated differently.
by people in accounting becauseI had that view.
You know, fast forward a coupleyears working at big public
(04:21):
accounting, right?
You, very competitiveenvironment if you're not there
20 hours a
KC Brothers (04:26):
day.
Yeah, yeah.
So all of this, these things,couple things you just
mentioned, you weren't maybetotally consciously aware of
until after this accident andyou started reevaluating life.
And then I mean, I, I can seethat that makes sense in the way
of like you, you become maybe abit more self defensive because
(04:51):
you're like, I have space to ownbecause I made it.
I'm alive.
Um, where was I not holding myspace and I could see that, you
know, retroactively why thishappened to you.
So that's so interesting.
So because of your accident, youstarted seeing what had happened
to you previously and how it waswrong and what add up to an end,
(05:13):
how all fell under this categoryof.
Workplace bullying.
Brittany Malidore (05:19):
Yeah.
It's one of the things, there'sa couple things that came out of
my, like self-reflection period.
Okay.
And this was one of them.
And the reason being is after myaccident, there was a question
that I asked myself is, am Iproud of who I am?
Am I proud of the things I'vedone?
Am I proud of the relationshipsthat I have?
Am I.
You know, okay with therelationships that I don't have.
(05:39):
And what I realized is thatbullying had a personal impact
on my life.
I do believe in, you know,looking back that I had bullish
behavior.
I might have thought that it wascompetitiveness.
I might have thought that it wasjust get the project done.
Um, I think similarly, I've beenin instances where I've been
(06:01):
bullied.
I have been hit with a door by aco worker.
I've been screamed at on beentimes of my life whe weren't
always that great were verysignificant time I took on a
contract job, uh, right beforemy accident for about two, three
(06:22):
years, and I loved it.
It was really great.
But I had a manager who was abully, yelled at me on zoom,
unrealistic timeline.
I mean, he would come on a zoomcall and I would shake and turn
red.
And so part of my accident kindof after what I realized is I
have these experiences andthey're deep wounds.
(06:43):
And part of my going forward isto educate people on how do you
create a culture andenvironment?
That makes this a zerotolerance, that you don't embody
a leadership style that condonesthis type of workplace.
And so, you know, whether youwant to call it workplace
bullying or not, it's part ofthe big C.
(07:06):
It's part of the big culture.
So as a business owner, Um, asan employee, you have to make
sure, right, that you know howto identify how to work through
these instances, um, even thebystander, right?
How to, when you see somethingthat's not right, to say
something.
Because, again, someone couldthink it's competitive.
(07:29):
That person could be going homeand crying at night going like I
don't know what I'm doing wrong,right?
It's it's all about perspective.
KC Brothers (07:38):
I Okay, I just had a moment I mean we were even
chatting before we actually hitrecord here and I remember now I
can challenge you a little bit Iwas like, this is interesting
that you're Um, putting this allunder this umbrella term
bullying and I think you evensaid just now, like you did in
our earlier conversation, you'relike, who cares what we call it,
(07:58):
right?
But I, I would push back on youon that and that this word is
actually really important.
And the reason why I'm actually,I had a light bulb moment while
you were talking.
How, how did I not realize this?
I had a manager who was thebiggest bully and I would have
never called him that.
I had trouble.
(08:20):
working for him because he wasso frightening.
Um, and I remember talking to,uh, he was kind of like a dotted
line manager, um, within a weekor two of starting this job and
him saying, no, it's just normalto always think you're going to
get fired.
I'm like, no, no, why, why areyou normalizing this?
(08:44):
So to your point, like the, thebully hit this dotted line
manager being the bystander andnot pushing back in this
instance, me being the, thebullied, um, it's so funny here.
I experienced it and I, and Iknew I didn't want to go back to
that after having had a brandnew baby.
I knew I didn't want to leave abrand new baby for that
(09:05):
environment.
I mean, it's been five years andI would have never called him a
bully until this conversation.
Brittany Malidore (09:12):
That's the hard part about it, right?
Well, um, most recently I was inSouth Carolina talking to an
amazing room of women at the,uh, Women Who Count conference.
And during my presentation, Ijust said, look, let's just be
real, right?
How many of you have been facedwith A, B, C, and D?
I had a whole slide of justsubtle signs.
(09:34):
And more than half of the roomraised their hand.
And then I started to challengethat, like Do you feel great
when that happens?
Do you find value when thathappens?
Is that making you a betterperson?
Does that make you think highly
KC Brothers (09:48):
of that person?
I think for me, at least where Iextrapolated this for me, and
just a quick example, I wentfrom that company, um, to
another company and then I cameto Canopy.
So I had a little stint inbetween, but I did not feel like
you.
I'm ambitious.
I like feeling, I think mostadults.
(10:10):
Like feeling accomplished, likea challenge, like completing
things, like feeling competent.
And I did not feel that wayreporting to this gentleman.
And I, as a result, myproductivity dropped, my
emotional health dropped.
(10:30):
Um, and then, you know, flashforward two years to when I'm
here at Canopy.
I'd only been here, not to Butjust to show that like the
impact management and, or, Imean, he's my manager, you can
be bullied by anybody.
Um, but the impact this kind oftoxic environment can have on
someone.
I'd only been here for ninemonths and I was recognized as
(10:55):
one of three employees of theyear.
Brittany Malidore (10:59):
It's amazing.
KC Brothers (10:59):
And it just goes to show like what a healthy work
environment can do for anyone'sproductivity.
Whether you're again, like Ireally do think.
Most adults want to do goodwork, um, produce things, but,
but we can so easily stifle thewonderfulness in our fellow
(11:21):
humans if we succumb to thesebehaviors.
Brittany Malidore (11:28):
1, 000%.
One thing that I left, um, or Ireally kind of preach now that
came from my accident is thiskind of unsilenced boldness as
women.
How many times when we speak up,are we told that we're
aggressive, or we're tooforward, or we're too bold, or
we're going too fast, right?
Um, we're not seen at times asequal as our peers.
(11:48):
And so, you know, I left thatroom of women, and I was like,
you need to find your innerboldness.
You need to be able to identifythese situations, but also know
that you never want to put thatonto someone else.
Because exactly what you justsaid and how it affected you,
Um, from the person that's beingbullied, that is a constant
(12:09):
state of fear.
If you're going into your joband you're scared that you're
going to lose your job, there issomething driving that.
Now I'm not saying that everyonewho's fearful of losing their
job is not doing a good job oris doing a good job, but most of
the time when we unpack theseissues, we find that there's a
toxic behavior.
(12:30):
There's an environment, right?
The big C is not working the waythat it's expected.
To work.
And I think as women, we facethis more, um, not to say that
men aren't bullied and others,but I do feel that it is
difficult.
I mean, I'm a mom of five.
Um, I used to get introduced asa mom of five, like in a public
accounting firm.
(12:50):
All my accolades and things thatI've done and the certifications
that I have, I'd be like, yes.
Yeah.
And Brittany's a mom of five andshe leads our practice.
It was like, why do we startwith that?
Like there's no, there's noreason to start with that in.
in any means.
Um, so one thing that I'velearned that I have been
coaching and helping people onis bringing in empathy and
(13:13):
accountability into yourculture.
Um, empathy is not a weakness.
It's often seen as a weakness,right?
I can't have feelings.
I can't ask about this.
I can't do that.
Um, but I believe it's actuallyone of the strongest tools.
And it's one of the things thatsince my accident.
I mean, my empathy is like offthe charts.
I care very deeply about theperson and the relationship.
(13:36):
Like the work is just somethingreally cool that we get to do
together in an accounting firm.
Um, when people feel heard, theythrive.
Uh, I have in my own firm nowand revamping that because I
want people to feel heard.
I want them to feel that theybelong.
I want them to love their job.
Um, their career come in and doan amazing job.
(13:56):
They don't need to come in andhave a constant, you know, state
of fear and separately creatingaccountability.
Zero tolerance, like report it.
You see it, you report it, youdo it, you're gonna go on a
coaching plan, right?
We need to make that spacebetter.
We need to not successfullypromote those that have this
(14:17):
behavior just because they mightbe good performers.
They could be killing yourculture.
KC Brothers (14:21):
Yes.
We, we talk on the podcast a lotabout efficiencies.
Um, particularly, right.
We've had conversations around,um, evaluating your tech stack
AI, how you hire, this is like asecret hack to efficiencies as
(14:42):
well.
Like it, it goes in the sametheme of correct your culture.
Um, but particularly with thislens of taking this Having this
view this examination puttingeverybody under a little bit of
a microscope of like hey How canwe be better and I hope a good
microscope?
I actually say that and I waslike, I didn't like that phrase
(15:03):
but um You do that and theefficiencies of your firm
improve.
Um, but I like your point aboutto accountability and that
really does need to be a topdown thing as well.
Brittany Malidore (15:21):
And if you're at the top and you don't
recognize it, you know, I wouldencourage.
Firm owners.
KC Brothers (15:27):
Mm-hmm
Brittany Malidore (15:27):
Employees, everyone to really self-evaluate
your situation.
Um, I started off at thebeginning of this podcast
talking about, right.
I know what I love to do, butwhat am I made to do?
Mm.
I'm not made to wake up everyday in a state of fear.
I'm not way made to worry aboutmy job.
Um.
I believe that everyone is bornfor greatness and you just have
(15:48):
to find the culture and findthat group of people, you know,
unsilence that boldness and comeforward as your authentic self.
And with an empatheticleadership style and
accountability, I do believe thefirms can really nix this.
Like, we shouldn't hear aboutthis.
I shouldn't be speaking to aroom.
That's half full of women thatare being faced, um, create HR
(16:11):
departments that are for thepeople, not just the business.
Create a safe space for peopleso that they can come forward
and you can work through it.
Um, I think I'm a good exampleof, I may have had bullish
tendencies.
Fast forward to now.
I now recognize those.
I know how those affect people.
You can change.
(16:31):
It's not like a one and done
KC Brothers (16:33):
Yeah,
Brittany Malidore (16:34):
but you've got to be able open and
receptive to do it And most ofthe time we find firm owners are
you know, they're growingthey're understaffed They're
like we just need to get the jobdone culture typically falls to
the end of the line
KC Brothers (16:48):
yeah, which is so unfortunate because it's
something that Maybe even, notmaybe, I should take maybe
completely out of thatstatement, is harder to change
than software.
And I know there is a hugeaversion because I work for a
company who tries to marketsoftware to accountants.
(17:09):
And one of the things we try toaddress is change management a
lot, but I think culture is somuch harder to change than
software.
Brittany Malidore (17:18):
1000%.
It's people based.
Yeah.
Right?
There's feelings involved.
You know, there's.
You know, families at stake,there's businesses at stake, and
depending on what value you'retaking, I 1, 000 percent agree
with you.
Like, as someone who lovestechnology, most of the time
when it disrupts me, I'm not toodisrupted by it.
(17:38):
It's like, this evolution is
KC Brothers (17:41):
understanding.
And when things are emotional,it's way, it gets so difficult
to sift through and take thatemotion out of it and be a
logical human being.
Um, So I have two questions.
Um, and choose where you'd liketo start.
Maybe we can circle back to theother.
I'm sure there's a spectrum andyou said you are.
(18:01):
You gave an example to thatcrowd in South Carolina.
I'd love to hear some of theseexamples.
And, um, the other was, oh, uh,do you have a framework or a
recommendation for, uh, amethodology or something that
people can follow a, a rubricwhere they can have a self
(18:27):
examination of their firm?
Yeah.
Whatever one you feel like youwant to answer, go for
Brittany Malidore (18:32):
it.
I like, let me start with thelast one because really funny, I
came up with an acronym that Ithought was like really cool,
um, for this presentation that Idid that I was like, if I was to
have people like have atakeaway.
on like, let's talk about how webreak this cycle.
Right?
And so the acronym is calledCARE.
(18:53):
And so C is communicate withempathy.
Um, A is align expectations and,and make sure they're clear
expectations.
You know, uh, R is resolveconflict when it arises and E is
empower the vulnerability.
And I truly believe that thisframework from a business owner,
(19:16):
a firm owner, from a culturestandpoint, if you.
embed this into your culture, itcan show up in so many different
ways, right?
Open door policies, how youcommunicate with your staff,
showing empathy, uh, tone at thetop.
Uh, I truly believe if you havethese four pieces of framework,
(19:36):
that you can change your cultureand you can change it relatively
quickly.
Whether you gain back the fulltrust, that takes probably a
little bit longer.
If you're communicating, ifyou're aligning your teams, if
you're resolving thoseconflicts, you know, creating
that space of vulnerability,you're already halfway there.
(19:56):
The biggest thing, though, isthat you can't just create the
space.
You can't just say that you'regoing to hear it.
You can't just take thegrievance.
You have to act on it becausethose that receive the bullying
or those that are the bystandersover time will start to doubt
your culture.
So I think question 2 first,that's kind of my take on, you
(20:18):
know, very high level how we canhelp firms change this culture.
Relatively quickly.
KC Brothers (20:25):
Yeah.
And to your point, like you doneed to hold the line.
If you're going to followthrough on this, you have to
follow through.
Um, you can, I mean, trainings,right.
Upleveling the team doing it insuch a way that it's like, Hey,
this is how we're pivoting ourculture or improving our
culture.
However you want to pitch it.
Right.
Yep.
But then you have to have thatfollow up accountability.
(20:47):
And what's hard is that evengiving the staffing crisis that
accountants are facing.
It may still mean you need tolet someone go.
And if you don't, what you justsaid, everything you've tried to
do will be destroyed becauseit'll show that you're not
willing to step up to the plateand follow through with what
(21:08):
you're trying to incorporateinto the firm culture.
1000%.
Brittany Malidore (21:14):
A good friend of mine, um, who I worked with a
few years ago said your do sayratios got to align.
What you say has got to be whatyou're doing.
So if you're saying, I have thisculture, and I have this
vulnerability, and we haveempathy, however it may be,
right?
But if you're not doing thoseactions, it means nothing.
People walk away and go, your dosay ratio doesn't work.
(21:34):
You know, and to your firstYeah, sorry.
Um, and so to your firstquestion, right, like, I don't
even know that this is bullying,so what I, what I like to say
is, do you have these kind ofsubtle signs and when you get
many subtle signs in one.
Then someone usually will saythat they feel bullied.
They'll come to the conclusionof I'm being bullied by this
(21:56):
person, or, you know, they'retreating me differently.
Um, and they're really simpleand you may not even know them
in the moment.
Right?
So withholding information,undermining your work,
micromanaging.
Constant changing expectations,unrealistic deadlines, exclusion
from events, exclusion frommeetings.
(22:17):
Um, you know, it doesn't have tobe someone screaming at you or
yelling at you or hitting youwith a door, right?
It can be a series of eventsthat happen over time that will
make a person feel that they'rebeing mistreated and call that
whatever you want.
Call it bullying, call itintimidation, call it
(22:37):
misrepresentation, like whateveryou want to call it.
They are going to come to theconclusion after enough of those
instances to say, well, thissucks.
Like, I don't like this.
This is not great.
And to your point, I'm trying todo a good job.
Why is it not being perceivedthat way?
And so then it creates thatconstant state of fear.
So as a firm owner, as anyonewho has employees, as an
(23:00):
employee yourself, I think it'simportant to know the subtle
signs and don't do them, youknow?
KC Brothers (23:07):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Um, okay.
So you've identified subtlesigns.
You've trained the firm, you'retowing the line, um, that's the
firm, because there's anotherangle, right?
(23:28):
And that's the clients, our dearclients, who, you know, for the
most part, every account I talkto, I love my clients, I love,
and you've said it, I loveserving my clients, but there is
always Some portion of clientswho are not fun to work with,
who are rude, who, what do youdo?
Brittany Malidore (23:48):
This question gives me chills because what you
just said is so true.
And most firm owners that aresmaller, usually they keep.
You know, the DEF clients, like,you know, uh, they've got some
AB clients that are really greatand they're awesome and they
align with their values and thenyou've got clients that, you
know, don't fit that.
(24:09):
Um, we felt victim to that andprobably our first two years we
were like, take on anyone.
we want to help the world wejust want to go do eve like we
are so excited, w every clientand if you h figure it out,
right?
We and critical thinkers.
Um this feels gross.
(24:36):
Uh, sometimes we're gettingvalue.
Sometimes the clients see thevalue.
Other times our team feelvalued.
They don't feel valued.
It was this big, like meltingpot of emotions.
Um, so what I can say from theclient perspective is as a firm
owner, make sure that you haveyour values in line because your
values will allow you todetermine where and what is most
(24:59):
important And second, createyour detractor and your
attractor lists.
So those have transformed ourfirm.
So we had a client very recentlythat was not speaking well to
our team.
And our team said, Hey, youknow, this is kind of
uncomfortable.
Uh, their emails are short,they're brash at times, maybe
(25:21):
really rude and manipulative.
You know, we emailed that personand, um, you know, we said, Hey,
our values are really rooted inrelationship.
and accuracy.
So we want to do a really goodjob, but we really do care about
you.
I mean, we tell clients in anonboarding call, if you only
want transactional services, weare not the firm for you because
(25:41):
our team, they want to talk.
They want to know why they wantto help you.
This client responded with, thisis who I am.
This is how I talk.
I will not change who I am foryou.
And I hired you to do a service.
Needless to say, one week later,I wrote an email that said, I
don't think that we're the fitfor you.
I don't think that we are goingto meet your expectations and
(26:04):
it's not a good fit and that'sokay.
And so I will help you figurethis out.
We will, we'll have a meeting,we'll talk about it.
You know, let's figure out whatnext steps are.
Brittany three years agowouldn't have done that.
I would have kept the revenuejust so I could say like I've
got the client, I've got therevenue, I'm continuing to grow.
Now we're growing withintentionality that is decisions
(26:27):
are made by values.
And we want to work with ourtractor list, not our detractor
list.
And we've created this cultureof, again, going back to the,
what we talked about earlier,we're creating a culture truly
that's people first.
And so for us, if you can'tcommunicate, then okay, that's
fine.
We're just not a fit for
KC Brothers (26:47):
you.
Yeah.
It made me think that maybe thequickest pulse check you or
anyone in your firm could do tocheck for this is.
Are you feeling fear?
And if so, from who?
Because you shouldn't have,that, fear is not an, a
response, um, intrinsic to us.
(27:09):
It's, it's responsive to someexternal factor.
And identifying the externalfactor will help you identify,
okay, well, what's the problemto be solved?
But the fear here, which Iactually, I hear this fear a lot
in accounting.
Am I going to get enoughclients?
Am I going to have enoughrevenue?
(27:29):
Am I going to be profitable?
I have to keep them even thoughthey're, no, like,
Brittany Malidore (27:35):
yeah.
Yeah.
I know so many accountants thatare bullied by their clients.
I called you and you didn't callme right back.
I emailed you on Saturday and Ididn't hear back from you.
Or I mean the eight 59 emails inthe morning, like, Hey, I
responded last night, but Ihaven't heard from you this
morning.
So many clients.
Um, can be bullies and look, I'mnot saying that as accounting
(28:00):
firms, we need to control howour clients act, but there's
enough clients in the world tomake you successful.
And so how are you going tospend your day?
Um, that's what drove our nichenow.
So we found through our values,through these questions, through
these hard times that we want tohelp nonprofits.
(28:22):
We found that we very closelyaligned from a value perspective
with mission drivenorganizations.
And so one of our largest nichesis nonprofit and our team,
their, their cup is filled.
So like you said, there is nofear.
They're excited to work on theseclients.
Like it's a different gamechanger.
KC Brothers (28:41):
They, you humans can thrive and do more in less
time, believe it or not, when weare healthy and not just
physically healthy, emotionallyhealthy, mentally healthy, not
in a state of fight, flight orfight or freeze.
I guess that's a new one thatI've heard fight, flight or
(29:02):
freeze like, right?
Brittany Malidore (29:03):
Yeah.
And I think a lot of people talkabout, well just make sure you
have work life balance.
You know, I think I said itearlier in the podcast and I'll
say it again.
If you are in an environment atwork that is extremely toxic,
it's going to seep into yourpersonal life.
Oh yeah.
If you have a rough and hardpersonal life.
(29:24):
That is going to seep into yourday activities, whatever that
is.
Right.
Um, and so to your point, it'svery, very important for us to
recognize that we as accountantsare a human based service
infused and powered bytechnology.
(29:46):
I'm a firm, firm believer thatif you're hiring a CPA firm, you
are looking for.
human connection, humanunderstanding, human, you know,
communication.
Sure.
You're going to get thetechnology.
Maybe some firms can do thingsfaster or slower, or they have
this fancy tool.
(30:07):
That's great.
And I think as accountants, weneed to continue embracing.
But we need to not lose sight ofthe fact that we are so
successful, we will be here timeand time again, because there's
people that are needed tocommunicate this to others.
And so when we mistreat ourpeople, whether that's a client
or internally, You're justhurting your firm.
KC Brothers (30:29):
Yeah, whether we are the bystander your point
like depending on the roleWatching it happen.
Like you being the bystander asa firm owner and letting clients
bully your employees.
Oh, I honestly Even at thebeginning of this conversation,
after you told me what youwanted to talk about, I've had
(30:51):
so many light bulbs.
I'm like, I didn't realize.
And, and for myself, but alsolike the great application this
really truly does have to theaccounting industry.
And I hope Listeners have hadsimilar light bulbs or maybe
they were like, Casey, get withthe program.
We already know what Brittany'stalking about, but thank you
(31:11):
again, Brittany.
This was so enlightening.
And I hope, I hope this savessome people because we're not to
your point made to live in fear,wherever that fear is coming
from.
Brittany Malidore (31:22):
I agree.
I hope the stories that you andI shared today that someone
goes, I'm not alone and I'm hereto tell you you're not alone.
Google me.
We'll have a talk about itbecause you shouldn't feel that
way.
You should not have to gothrough this,
KC Brothers (31:37):
that there are options that you're take so much
control over you that you don'tsee tomorrow has endless
opportunities, that this is notthe only thing that will get you
through life.
That there are, you are avaluable human with great things
to offer and the environmentyou're in is not letting you
(32:00):
operate optimally.
Couldn't have said it better.
Uh, thank you, Brittany.
Brittany Malidore (32:06):
Thank you.
It's good seeing ya.
Welcome to another episode of Canopy Practice
Success.
I am Casey Brothers, the host.
I'm here today with BrittanyMallador.
Welcome, Brittany.
Hello.
Hello.
How
Brittany Malidore (00:16):
are you today?
I'm doing well.
It's a bit cloudy here inWashington, but winter is upon
us.
KC Brothers (00:21):
It is.
We're in the thick of it, aren'twe?
Um, go ahead and give anintroduction of yourself to the
listeners here today.
Brittany Malidore (00:28):
Yeah, no, thanks.
Hi everyone.
My name is Brittany Mallador,the co founder and managing
partner of Ledgerly Consulting.
which is a firm I launched aboutfour years ago that does
accounting tax and auditservices.
Um, and then separately, I havekind of my own company, which
focuses on branding, uh, elearning, all things that are
(00:49):
just not actual technicalaccounting.
So I'm super excited to be herewith you today.
KC Brothers (00:54):
Awesome.
Thanks, Brittany.
Um, today we, you shot over asuggested topic that took me by
surprise.
That I have not heard talkedabout by anyone else.
And I'm so curious to just havethis discussion.
And the topic was bullying inthe workplace.
(01:15):
Um, tell us a little bit aboutwhy this is such a sensitive
topic to you or, or, or timelyor something you feel like needs
to be talked about.
Brittany Malidore (01:25):
Yeah, absolutely.
Uh, you know, when we thinkabout bullying, we always think
about playground bullying,right?
Like I was on the playground asa kid and I got like pushed by
Jimmy Joe, right?
And that was not nice of him.
Um, over my time in accountingand particularly this year after
my major accident, I reallystarted reflecting on, you know,
(01:47):
who I am and why I do things theway I do, or why do I feel the
way that I do?
Um, after my car accident, I hada moment of I feel like if I had
died, that I would not have hada community there.
And that was really bigfeelings, right?
Like to say, do
KC Brothers (02:04):
we need to back up and talk about this accident?
Brittany Malidore (02:09):
No, I was just driving to pick up my
daughter and in a split second Iwas t boned and unfortunately
eight days later I woke up.
I did not know how to speak.
I didn't know how to walk.
Um, it was pretty scary for myfamily.
But honestly, the best thingthat has happened to me and my
(02:29):
family because I think I was onautopilot, I didn't, you know,
going through life feeling theway that I was feeling.
And so after the accident, Ireally reflected about what's
most important to me, whatdrives me.
Um, you know, I asked myself,like, what am I made for?
I know what I can do.
I know what I love to do, whichis serve my clients and do some
(02:51):
really cool accounting.
But like, what am I here andwhat am I made for?
And, you know, I haven't had theeasiest upbringing, but part of
this whole, what am I made foris I learned, like, You know,
the experiences that I've had inmy life and most specifically in
my career have been hard andchallenging as you know, a
(03:13):
military wife, a mom of five, avery ambitious and bold
individual, you know, Ireflected and said, you know,
I'm not really happy.
I don't have the community thatI want.
You know, why do I feel the waythat I feel about myself?
And as I looked back, I learnedlike, yeah, I have gone through
these instances of maybe toxiccultures that have created a bit
(03:37):
of an imposter syndrome inmyself.
Um, it took me 10 years to likelaunch my own firm, took a
really long time.
People used to tell me in publicaccounting, um, you know, you're
not going to make it as a mom,right?
Uh, I worked at a regional firmfor several years, helped launch
their CAS practice.
And, uh, I said, Hey, I don'tbelieve that I need a CPA to do
(03:59):
this type of work.
I think I'm really great at it.
I don't need it.
Um, I've met my businessdevelopment goals.
I've done all this.
And they literally said, sorry,you can't have this position.
You can't grow within the firmif you don't have a CPA license.
And I was treated differently.
by people in accounting becauseI had that view.
You know, fast forward a coupleyears working at big public
(04:21):
accounting, right?
You, very competitiveenvironment if you're not there
20 hours a
KC Brothers (04:26):
day.
Yeah, yeah.
So all of this, these things,couple things you just
mentioned, you weren't maybetotally consciously aware of
until after this accident andyou started reevaluating life.
And then I mean, I, I can seethat that makes sense in the way
of like you, you become maybe abit more self defensive because
(04:51):
you're like, I have space to ownbecause I made it.
I'm alive.
Um, where was I not holding myspace and I could see that, you
know, retroactively why thishappened to you.
So that's so interesting.
So because of your accident, youstarted seeing what had happened
to you previously and how it waswrong and what add up to an end,
(05:13):
how all fell under this categoryof.
Workplace bullying.
Brittany Malidore (05:19):
Yeah.
It's one of the things, there'sa couple things that came out of
my, like self-reflection period.
Okay.
And this was one of them.
And the reason being is after myaccident, there was a question
that I asked myself is, am Iproud of who I am?
Am I proud of the things I'vedone?
Am I proud of the relationshipsthat I have?
Am I.
You know, okay with therelationships that I don't have.
(05:39):
And what I realized is thatbullying had a personal impact
on my life.
I do believe in, you know,looking back that I had bullish
behavior.
I might have thought that it wascompetitiveness.
I might have thought that it wasjust get the project done.
Um, I think similarly, I've beenin instances where I've been
(06:01):
bullied.
I have been hit with a door by aco worker.
I've been screamed at on beentimes of my life whe weren't
always that great were verysignificant time I took on a
contract job, uh, right beforemy accident for about two, three
(06:22):
years, and I loved it.
It was really great.
But I had a manager who was abully, yelled at me on zoom,
unrealistic timeline.
I mean, he would come on a zoomcall and I would shake and turn
red.
And so part of my accident kindof after what I realized is I
have these experiences andthey're deep wounds.
(06:43):
And part of my going forward isto educate people on how do you
create a culture andenvironment?
That makes this a zerotolerance, that you don't embody
a leadership style that condonesthis type of workplace.
And so, you know, whether youwant to call it workplace
bullying or not, it's part ofthe big C.
(07:06):
It's part of the big culture.
So as a business owner, Um, asan employee, you have to make
sure, right, that you know howto identify how to work through
these instances, um, even thebystander, right?
How to, when you see somethingthat's not right, to say
something.
Because, again, someone couldthink it's competitive.
(07:29):
That person could be going homeand crying at night going like I
don't know what I'm doing wrong,right?
It's it's all about perspective.
KC Brothers (07:38):
I Okay, I just had a moment I mean we were even
chatting before we actually hitrecord here and I remember now I
can challenge you a little bit Iwas like, this is interesting
that you're Um, putting this allunder this umbrella term
bullying and I think you evensaid just now, like you did in
our earlier conversation, you'relike, who cares what we call it,
(07:58):
right?
But I, I would push back on youon that and that this word is
actually really important.
And the reason why I'm actually,I had a light bulb moment while
you were talking.
How, how did I not realize this?
I had a manager who was thebiggest bully and I would have
never called him that.
I had trouble.
(08:20):
working for him because he wasso frightening.
Um, and I remember talking to,uh, he was kind of like a dotted
line manager, um, within a weekor two of starting this job and
him saying, no, it's just normalto always think you're going to
get fired.
I'm like, no, no, why, why areyou normalizing this?
(08:44):
So to your point, like the, thebully hit this dotted line
manager being the bystander andnot pushing back in this
instance, me being the, thebullied, um, it's so funny here.
I experienced it and I, and Iknew I didn't want to go back to
that after having had a brandnew baby.
I knew I didn't want to leave abrand new baby for that
(09:05):
environment.
I mean, it's been five years andI would have never called him a
bully until this conversation.
Brittany Malidore (09:12):
That's the hard part about it, right?
Well, um, most recently I was inSouth Carolina talking to an
amazing room of women at the,uh, Women Who Count conference.
And during my presentation, Ijust said, look, let's just be
real, right?
How many of you have been facedwith A, B, C, and D?
I had a whole slide of justsubtle signs.
(09:34):
And more than half of the roomraised their hand.
And then I started to challengethat, like Do you feel great
when that happens?
Do you find value when thathappens?
Is that making you a betterperson?
Does that make you think highly
KC Brothers (09:48):
of that person?
I think for me, at least where Iextrapolated this for me, and
just a quick example, I wentfrom that company, um, to
another company and then I cameto Canopy.
So I had a little stint inbetween, but I did not feel like
you.
I'm ambitious.
I like feeling, I think mostadults.
(10:10):
Like feeling accomplished, likea challenge, like completing
things, like feeling competent.
And I did not feel that wayreporting to this gentleman.
And I, as a result, myproductivity dropped, my
emotional health dropped.
(10:30):
Um, and then, you know, flashforward two years to when I'm
here at Canopy.
I'd only been here, not to Butjust to show that like the
impact management and, or, Imean, he's my manager, you can
be bullied by anybody.
Um, but the impact this kind oftoxic environment can have on
someone.
I'd only been here for ninemonths and I was recognized as
(10:55):
one of three employees of theyear.
Brittany Malidore (10:59):
It's amazing.
KC Brothers (10:59):
And it just goes to show like what a healthy work
environment can do for anyone'sproductivity.
Whether you're again, like Ireally do think.
Most adults want to do goodwork, um, produce things, but,
but we can so easily stifle thewonderfulness in our fellow
(11:21):
humans if we succumb to thesebehaviors.
Brittany Malidore (11:28):
1, 000%.
One thing that I left, um, or Ireally kind of preach now that
came from my accident is thiskind of unsilenced boldness as
women.
How many times when we speak up,are we told that we're
aggressive, or we're tooforward, or we're too bold, or
we're going too fast, right?
Um, we're not seen at times asequal as our peers.
(11:48):
And so, you know, I left thatroom of women, and I was like,
you need to find your innerboldness.
You need to be able to identifythese situations, but also know
that you never want to put thatonto someone else.
Because exactly what you justsaid and how it affected you,
Um, from the person that's beingbullied, that is a constant
(12:09):
state of fear.
If you're going into your joband you're scared that you're
going to lose your job, there issomething driving that.
Now I'm not saying that everyonewho's fearful of losing their
job is not doing a good job oris doing a good job, but most of
the time when we unpack theseissues, we find that there's a
toxic behavior.
(12:30):
There's an environment, right?
The big C is not working the waythat it's expected.
To work.
And I think as women, we facethis more, um, not to say that
men aren't bullied and others,but I do feel that it is
difficult.
I mean, I'm a mom of five.
Um, I used to get introduced asa mom of five, like in a public
accounting firm.
(12:50):
All my accolades and things thatI've done and the certifications
that I have, I'd be like, yes.
Yeah.
And Brittany's a mom of five andshe leads our practice.
It was like, why do we startwith that?
Like there's no, there's noreason to start with that in.
in any means.
Um, so one thing that I'velearned that I have been
coaching and helping people onis bringing in empathy and
(13:13):
accountability into yourculture.
Um, empathy is not a weakness.
It's often seen as a weakness,right?
I can't have feelings.
I can't ask about this.
I can't do that.
Um, but I believe it's actuallyone of the strongest tools.
And it's one of the things thatsince my accident.
I mean, my empathy is like offthe charts.
I care very deeply about theperson and the relationship.
(13:36):
Like the work is just somethingreally cool that we get to do
together in an accounting firm.
Um, when people feel heard, theythrive.
Uh, I have in my own firm nowand revamping that because I
want people to feel heard.
I want them to feel that theybelong.
I want them to love their job.
Um, their career come in and doan amazing job.
(13:56):
They don't need to come in andhave a constant, you know, state
of fear and separately creatingaccountability.
Zero tolerance, like report it.
You see it, you report it, youdo it, you're gonna go on a
coaching plan, right?
We need to make that spacebetter.
We need to not successfullypromote those that have this
(14:17):
behavior just because they mightbe good performers.
They could be killing yourculture.
KC Brothers (14:21):
Yes.
We, we talk on the podcast a lotabout efficiencies.
Um, particularly, right.
We've had conversations around,um, evaluating your tech stack
AI, how you hire, this is like asecret hack to efficiencies as
(14:42):
well.
Like it, it goes in the sametheme of correct your culture.
Um, but particularly with thislens of taking this Having this
view this examination puttingeverybody under a little bit of
a microscope of like hey How canwe be better and I hope a good
microscope?
I actually say that and I waslike, I didn't like that phrase
(15:03):
but um You do that and theefficiencies of your firm
improve.
Um, but I like your point aboutto accountability and that
really does need to be a topdown thing as well.
Brittany Malidore (15:21):
And if you're at the top and you don't
recognize it, you know, I wouldencourage.
Firm owners.
KC Brothers (15:27):
Mm-hmm
Brittany Malidore (15:27):
Employees, everyone to really self-evaluate
your situation.
Um, I started off at thebeginning of this podcast
talking about, right.
I know what I love to do, butwhat am I made to do?
Mm.
I'm not made to wake up everyday in a state of fear.
I'm not way made to worry aboutmy job.
Um.
I believe that everyone is bornfor greatness and you just have
(15:48):
to find the culture and findthat group of people, you know,
unsilence that boldness and comeforward as your authentic self.
And with an empatheticleadership style and
accountability, I do believe thefirms can really nix this.
Like, we shouldn't hear aboutthis.
I shouldn't be speaking to aroom.
That's half full of women thatare being faced, um, create HR
(16:11):
departments that are for thepeople, not just the business.
Create a safe space for peopleso that they can come forward
and you can work through it.
Um, I think I'm a good exampleof, I may have had bullish
tendencies.
Fast forward to now.
I now recognize those.
I know how those affect people.
You can change.
(16:31):
It's not like a one and done
KC Brothers (16:33):
Yeah,
Brittany Malidore (16:34):
but you've got to be able open and
receptive to do it And most ofthe time we find firm owners are
you know, they're growingthey're understaffed They're
like we just need to get the jobdone culture typically falls to
the end of the line
KC Brothers (16:48):
yeah, which is so unfortunate because it's
something that Maybe even, notmaybe, I should take maybe
completely out of thatstatement, is harder to change
than software.
And I know there is a hugeaversion because I work for a
company who tries to marketsoftware to accountants.
(17:09):
And one of the things we try toaddress is change management a
lot, but I think culture is somuch harder to change than
software.
Brittany Malidore (17:18):
1000%.
It's people based.
Yeah.
Right?
There's feelings involved.
You know, there's.
You know, families at stake,there's businesses at stake, and
depending on what value you'retaking, I 1, 000 percent agree
with you.
Like, as someone who lovestechnology, most of the time
when it disrupts me, I'm not toodisrupted by it.
(17:38):
It's like, this evolution is
KC Brothers (17:41):
understanding.
And when things are emotional,it's way, it gets so difficult
to sift through and take thatemotion out of it and be a
logical human being.
Um, So I have two questions.
Um, and choose where you'd liketo start.
Maybe we can circle back to theother.
I'm sure there's a spectrum andyou said you are.
(18:01):
You gave an example to thatcrowd in South Carolina.
I'd love to hear some of theseexamples.
And, um, the other was, oh, uh,do you have a framework or a
recommendation for, uh, amethodology or something that
people can follow a, a rubricwhere they can have a self
(18:27):
examination of their firm?
Yeah.
Whatever one you feel like youwant to answer, go for
Brittany Malidore (18:32):
it.
I like, let me start with thelast one because really funny, I
came up with an acronym that Ithought was like really cool,
um, for this presentation that Idid that I was like, if I was to
have people like have atakeaway.
on like, let's talk about how webreak this cycle.
Right?
And so the acronym is calledCARE.
(18:53):
And so C is communicate withempathy.
Um, A is align expectations and,and make sure they're clear
expectations.
You know, uh, R is resolveconflict when it arises and E is
empower the vulnerability.
And I truly believe that thisframework from a business owner,
(19:16):
a firm owner, from a culturestandpoint, if you.
embed this into your culture, itcan show up in so many different
ways, right?
Open door policies, how youcommunicate with your staff,
showing empathy, uh, tone at thetop.
Uh, I truly believe if you havethese four pieces of framework,
(19:36):
that you can change your cultureand you can change it relatively
quickly.
Whether you gain back the fulltrust, that takes probably a
little bit longer.
If you're communicating, ifyou're aligning your teams, if
you're resolving thoseconflicts, you know, creating
that space of vulnerability,you're already halfway there.
(19:56):
The biggest thing, though, isthat you can't just create the
space.
You can't just say that you'regoing to hear it.
You can't just take thegrievance.
You have to act on it becausethose that receive the bullying
or those that are the bystandersover time will start to doubt
your culture.
So I think question 2 first,that's kind of my take on, you
(20:18):
know, very high level how we canhelp firms change this culture.
Relatively quickly.
KC Brothers (20:25):
Yeah.
And to your point, like you doneed to hold the line.
If you're going to followthrough on this, you have to
follow through.
Um, you can, I mean, trainings,right.
Upleveling the team doing it insuch a way that it's like, Hey,
this is how we're pivoting ourculture or improving our
culture.
However you want to pitch it.
Right.
Yep.
But then you have to have thatfollow up accountability.
(20:47):
And what's hard is that evengiving the staffing crisis that
accountants are facing.
It may still mean you need tolet someone go.
And if you don't, what you justsaid, everything you've tried to
do will be destroyed becauseit'll show that you're not
willing to step up to the plateand follow through with what
(21:08):
you're trying to incorporateinto the firm culture.
1000%.
Brittany Malidore (21:14):
A good friend of mine, um, who I worked with a
few years ago said your do sayratios got to align.
What you say has got to be whatyou're doing.
So if you're saying, I have thisculture, and I have this
vulnerability, and we haveempathy, however it may be,
right?
But if you're not doing thoseactions, it means nothing.
People walk away and go, your dosay ratio doesn't work.
(21:34):
You know, and to your firstYeah, sorry.
Um, and so to your firstquestion, right, like, I don't
even know that this is bullying,so what I, what I like to say
is, do you have these kind ofsubtle signs and when you get
many subtle signs in one.
Then someone usually will saythat they feel bullied.
They'll come to the conclusionof I'm being bullied by this
(21:56):
person, or, you know, they'retreating me differently.
Um, and they're really simpleand you may not even know them
in the moment.
Right?
So withholding information,undermining your work,
micromanaging.
Constant changing expectations,unrealistic deadlines, exclusion
from events, exclusion frommeetings.
(22:17):
Um, you know, it doesn't have tobe someone screaming at you or
yelling at you or hitting youwith a door, right?
It can be a series of eventsthat happen over time that will
make a person feel that they'rebeing mistreated and call that
whatever you want.
Call it bullying, call itintimidation, call it
(22:37):
misrepresentation, like whateveryou want to call it.
They are going to come to theconclusion after enough of those
instances to say, well, thissucks.
Like, I don't like this.
This is not great.
And to your point, I'm trying todo a good job.
Why is it not being perceivedthat way?
And so then it creates thatconstant state of fear.
So as a firm owner, as anyonewho has employees, as an
(23:00):
employee yourself, I think it'simportant to know the subtle
signs and don't do them, youknow?
KC Brothers (23:07):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Um, okay.
So you've identified subtlesigns.
You've trained the firm, you'retowing the line, um, that's the
firm, because there's anotherangle, right?
(23:28):
And that's the clients, our dearclients, who, you know, for the
most part, every account I talkto, I love my clients, I love,
and you've said it, I loveserving my clients, but there is
always Some portion of clientswho are not fun to work with,
who are rude, who, what do youdo?
Brittany Malidore (23:48):
This question gives me chills because what you
just said is so true.
And most firm owners that aresmaller, usually they keep.
You know, the DEF clients, like,you know, uh, they've got some
AB clients that are really greatand they're awesome and they
align with their values and thenyou've got clients that, you
know, don't fit that.
(24:09):
Um, we felt victim to that andprobably our first two years we
were like, take on anyone.
we want to help the world wejust want to go do eve like we
are so excited, w every clientand if you h figure it out,
right?
We and critical thinkers.
Um this feels gross.
(24:36):
Uh, sometimes we're gettingvalue.
Sometimes the clients see thevalue.
Other times our team feelvalued.
They don't feel valued.
It was this big, like meltingpot of emotions.
Um, so what I can say from theclient perspective is as a firm
owner, make sure that you haveyour values in line because your
values will allow you todetermine where and what is most
(24:59):
important And second, createyour detractor and your
attractor lists.
So those have transformed ourfirm.
So we had a client very recentlythat was not speaking well to
our team.
And our team said, Hey, youknow, this is kind of
uncomfortable.
Uh, their emails are short,they're brash at times, maybe
(25:21):
really rude and manipulative.
You know, we emailed that personand, um, you know, we said, Hey,
our values are really rooted inrelationship.
and accuracy.
So we want to do a really goodjob, but we really do care about
you.
I mean, we tell clients in anonboarding call, if you only
want transactional services, weare not the firm for you because
(25:41):
our team, they want to talk.
They want to know why they wantto help you.
This client responded with, thisis who I am.
This is how I talk.
I will not change who I am foryou.
And I hired you to do a service.
Needless to say, one week later,I wrote an email that said, I
don't think that we're the fitfor you.
I don't think that we are goingto meet your expectations and
(26:04):
it's not a good fit and that'sokay.
And so I will help you figurethis out.
We will, we'll have a meeting,we'll talk about it.
You know, let's figure out whatnext steps are.
Brittany three years agowouldn't have done that.
I would have kept the revenuejust so I could say like I've
got the client, I've got therevenue, I'm continuing to grow.
Now we're growing withintentionality that is decisions
(26:27):
are made by values.
And we want to work with ourtractor list, not our detractor
list.
And we've created this cultureof, again, going back to the,
what we talked about earlier,we're creating a culture truly
that's people first.
And so for us, if you can'tcommunicate, then okay, that's
fine.
We're just not a fit for
KC Brothers (26:47):
you.
Yeah.
It made me think that maybe thequickest pulse check you or
anyone in your firm could do tocheck for this is.
Are you feeling fear?
And if so, from who?
Because you shouldn't have,that, fear is not an, a
response, um, intrinsic to us.
(27:09):
It's, it's responsive to someexternal factor.
And identifying the externalfactor will help you identify,
okay, well, what's the problemto be solved?
But the fear here, which Iactually, I hear this fear a lot
in accounting.
Am I going to get enoughclients?
Am I going to have enoughrevenue?
(27:29):
Am I going to be profitable?
I have to keep them even thoughthey're, no, like,
Brittany Malidore (27:35):
yeah.
Yeah.
I know so many accountants thatare bullied by their clients.
I called you and you didn't callme right back.
I emailed you on Saturday and Ididn't hear back from you.
Or I mean the eight 59 emails inthe morning, like, Hey, I
responded last night, but Ihaven't heard from you this
morning.
So many clients.
Um, can be bullies and look, I'mnot saying that as accounting
(28:00):
firms, we need to control howour clients act, but there's
enough clients in the world tomake you successful.
And so how are you going tospend your day?
Um, that's what drove our nichenow.
So we found through our values,through these questions, through
these hard times that we want tohelp nonprofits.
(28:22):
We found that we very closelyaligned from a value perspective
with mission drivenorganizations.
And so one of our largest nichesis nonprofit and our team,
their, their cup is filled.
So like you said, there is nofear.
They're excited to work on theseclients.
Like it's a different gamechanger.
KC Brothers (28:41):
They, you humans can thrive and do more in less
time, believe it or not, when weare healthy and not just
physically healthy, emotionallyhealthy, mentally healthy, not
in a state of fight, flight orfight or freeze.
I guess that's a new one thatI've heard fight, flight or
(29:02):
freeze like, right?
Brittany Malidore (29:03):
Yeah.
And I think a lot of people talkabout, well just make sure you
have work life balance.
You know, I think I said itearlier in the podcast and I'll
say it again.
If you are in an environment atwork that is extremely toxic,
it's going to seep into yourpersonal life.
Oh yeah.
If you have a rough and hardpersonal life.
(29:24):
That is going to seep into yourday activities, whatever that
is.
Right.
Um, and so to your point, it'svery, very important for us to
recognize that we as accountantsare a human based service
infused and powered bytechnology.
(29:46):
I'm a firm, firm believer thatif you're hiring a CPA firm, you
are looking for.
human connection, humanunderstanding, human, you know,
communication.
Sure.
You're going to get thetechnology.
Maybe some firms can do thingsfaster or slower, or they have
this fancy tool.
(30:07):
That's great.
And I think as accountants, weneed to continue embracing.
But we need to not lose sight ofthe fact that we are so
successful, we will be here timeand time again, because there's
people that are needed tocommunicate this to others.
And so when we mistreat ourpeople, whether that's a client
or internally, You're justhurting your firm.
KC Brothers (30:29):
Yeah, whether we are the bystander your point
like depending on the roleWatching it happen.
Like you being the bystander asa firm owner and letting clients
bully your employees.
Oh, I honestly Even at thebeginning of this conversation,
after you told me what youwanted to talk about, I've had
(30:51):
so many light bulbs.
I'm like, I didn't realize.
And, and for myself, but alsolike the great application this
really truly does have to theaccounting industry.
And I hope Listeners have hadsimilar light bulbs or maybe
they were like, Casey, get withthe program.
We already know what Brittany'stalking about, but thank you
(31:11):
again, Brittany.
This was so enlightening.
And I hope, I hope this savessome people because we're not to
your point made to live in fear,wherever that fear is coming
from.
Brittany Malidore (31:22):
I agree.
I hope the stories that you andI shared today that someone
goes, I'm not alone and I'm hereto tell you you're not alone.
Google me.
We'll have a talk about itbecause you shouldn't feel that
way.
You should not have to gothrough this,
KC Brothers (31:37):
that there are options that you're take so much
control over you that you don'tsee tomorrow has endless
opportunities, that this is notthe only thing that will get you
through life.
That there are, you are avaluable human with great things
to offer and the environmentyou're in is not letting you
(32:00):
operate optimally.
Couldn't have said it better.
Uh, thank you, Brittany.
Brittany Malidore (32:06):
Thank you.
It's good seeing ya.
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