Ever wonder what separates thriving CEOs from those who struggle?
The secret isn't just business savvy—it's mindset. This compelling conversation with Megan Schwan, founder of Sidekick Accounting Services, explores how CEO-level thinking can radically improve both your business and your personal finances.
As a single mom and successful entrepreneur with over 11 years of experience, Megan shares her journey from surviving to thriving. She explains how transitioning from reactive, task-based management to intentional, strategic leadership transformed her business and life. This mindset shift is equally powerful when applied to personal finances.
Megan also emphasizes the power of embracing your financial data. Avoiding your numbers may feel safer, but regularly reviewing them is the key to clarity and confidence. Her use of the Profit First methodology ensures you pay yourself first and run a business—or a household—that works for you.
We explore why outsourcing isn’t a sign of failure, but a strategic tool for growth. Whether it's hiring in your business or getting help at home, letting go of the guilt around asking for support can unlock a new level of financial and emotional well-being.
Whether you're a business owner, managing household finances, or juggling both, this episode delivers real, relatable insights to help you become the CEO of your money. Tune in for actionable tips, powerful mindset shifts, and a reminder that financial leadership starts with you.
Key Takeaways:
- Shifting from doing the work to strategic thinking changes everything
- Setting boundaries protects your energy and your priorities
- Financial data is a tool for empowerment, not something to avoid
- Profit First helps ensure you prioritize your own pay
- Delegation and outsourcing free up space for growth
- Grace and small wins help maintain long-term financial momentum
- Vulnerability and support-seeking are strengths in any financial journey
If you found value in this episode, please share it with a friend or leave us a review.
Connect With Megan:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganmschwan/
https://www.instagram.com/mompreneurof4/
https://www.facebook.com/sidekickaccounting
The previous presentation by PEARL PLANNING was intended for general information purposes only. No portion of the presentation serves as the receipt of, or as a substitute for, personalized investment advice from PEARL PLANNING or any other investment professional of your choosing. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and it should not be assumed that future performance of any specific investment or investment strategy, or any non-investment related or planning services, discussion or content, will be profitable, be suitable for your portfolio or individual situation, or prove successful. Neither PEARL PLANNING’s investment adviser registration status, nor any amount of prior experience or success, should be construed that a certain level of results or satisfaction will be achieved if PEARL PLANNING is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. PEARL PLANNING is neither a law firm nor accounting firm, and no portion of its services should be construed as legal or accounting advice. No portion of the video content should be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she will experience a certain level of results if PEARL PLANNING is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. A copy of PEARL PLANNING’s current written disclosure Brochure discussing our advisory services and fees is available upon request or at https:...
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast.
I'm Melissa Joy, a certifiedfinancial planner and the
founder of Pearl Planning.
My goal is to help youstreamline and organize your
finances, navigate big moneydecisions with confidence and be
strategic in order to grow yourwealth.
As a woman, you work hard foryour money and I'm here to help
(00:21):
you make the most of it.
Now let's get into the show.
And I'm here to help you makethe most of it.
Now let's get into the show.
Just a quick note before wedive in.
The information that we share ismeant to educate and inspire,
not serve as personalizedfinancial advice.
Everyone's situation is unique,so be sure to consult with your
own financial professional forguidance that fits your life.
And just so you know, theopinions shared in this podcast
(00:43):
are my own and those of myguests, and they don't
necessarily represent those ofany organizations that I'm
affiliated with.
For more important disclosures,please go to our webpage at
pearlplancom.
Now let's get started.
Welcome back to the Women'sMoney Wisdom Podcast.
I am so pleased to be joinedtoday by Megan Schwan.
(01:05):
She is the CEO and founder ofSidekick Accounting Services,
and we are going to be talkingabout our personal lessons
learned as business owners andparents, but also the mindsets
that are necessary to be asuccessful CEO.
And while Megan works withpeople that are business owners,
(01:26):
I think the lessons learned areso important for all of us to
embrace as the CEO of ourpersonal financial life, and so
I can't wait to have thisdiscussion.
Megan, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Thank you so much, Melissa.
I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Well, tell me a little bit about yourself.
I know that you're a businessowner, but what's you know, kind
of, how does that integrateinto the rest of your life?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Well, for me, business ownership has been so
impactful it really helps.
Well, I've been in business for11 and a half years, I guess.
I should say Congratulations,thank you, and it's been a
journey, but it started out likewhen I was much younger, of
course, and still kind offiguring out life, and having a
(02:12):
business has helped withbuilding my confidence.
It's helped to provide for myfamily, helped get me through
some pretty rough lifecircumstances additional
children moving across thecountry so like it's kind of
intertwined in everything that Ido.
And, like now, the last coupleof years, I've really been
focusing on leadershipdevelopment and personal
(02:33):
development for myself, becausewe're hoping to grow and scale
and the more you know you grow,the more you have to level up as
an individual, not just as abusiness, and so that's been
kind of a really big part of mylife has been my business and my
personal growth.
So it's been it's been a reallygreat journey so far.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Well, as a fellow business owner, I couldn't agree
more.
Running a successful business,it is so much of my identity,
but it can't be everything.
And I do think, like some ofthe you know kind of
foundational CEO mindsets, areto acknowledge that it is so
important but also acknowledgethat you know you've got to take
care of yourself first andthere's other things that are
(03:14):
important.
I'm sure we'll be weaving thatin as well as talking about.
You know some of the great andimportant number things as well,
but why don't we dive right inthere?
You have developed kind of themindsets and secrets that CEOs
have.
Can you tell us a little bitabout some of the things that
you see that have to be masteredin order to be a successful
(03:38):
business owner?
And, like I said, we'reapplying these to kind of
personal lessons learned foryour, for your personal balance
sheet?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
yeah, yeah, absolutely, I would have to say
one.
Uh, well, I've got a few, sothe first one I would say is
learning how to not just do thething but like work on the thing
, right?
oh yeah no, like, don't justwork in your business.
You got to work on yourbusiness and that's really, I
think, moving from more liketechnical work to more strategic
(04:07):
work, you know, to being moreof the decision maker versus
just the task doer.
And I think that's the case inour personal lives too, because
we, as we grow, you know, we, wemanage our families, we manage
our households, and so insteadof us like just being young
college kids trying to figure itout, like we have to start
thinking more forward.
(04:28):
You know, thinking aboutretirement, thinking about
insurances, you know, like allthese different things where
it's like you can't take abackseat to life, and you
definitely can't take a backseatas a CEO.
So I think there's a lot ofsynergy there.
Another thing I've learned islike, like you've mentioned, I
think, to taking care ofyourself.
Right, like not being inburnout.
(04:50):
That's like so important.
You got to learn how to notjust hustle but really create
boundaries that are in alignmentwith where you're trying to go,
so that boundary led leadershipis really important in business
as well as your family, likeyou can't say yes to everything
and you know, as you startadding children and spouses and
(05:11):
things to your life, right.
There's like all these demandsthat come and you can't say yes.
You can't be the yes person toeverything.
So there's a lot ofsimilarities between that.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
I should like if we could just pause there.
I so agree because I I I don'twant to group everybody into one
group, but there are many of usthat are likely listening where
you're a people pleaser, youwant everything to be perfect
for everyone.
You have kids and you don'twant them to experience the
(05:45):
hardships or difficultiesnecessarily that perhaps you
went through and you know, whenyou're constantly looking
externally to make sureeverything else is okay,
sometimes that can be at theimpact of yourself, your
finances.
The same goes in business.
Frequently I'll see reallyexternally successful looking
(06:07):
businesses that on the insideyou know maybe the numbers
aren't working.
It looks like so amazing fromthe outside, like oh my gosh,
you have so many employees andthis and that, and it's like
there's no money left at the endof the month to pay the owner,
perhaps, to pay the ownerperhaps.
(06:29):
And so I see that on both sides, both working with busy
business owners as well as infamily dynamics, especially for
single women, where there'sthere's nothing left to kind of
fuel you.
And that is, and that is thepoint in time where you know
working with somebody like you,megan, to say what are the books
look like when?
Like we can't just run eitherat a deficit or too low in terms
(06:50):
of profits.
I know you're a profit firstexpert, and the same goes in the
family, where you knoweverything.
Everyone needs everything, butthere are limits and boundaries
in many cases that need to beenforced.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Yeah, for sure.
And I think it starts like atthat end goal, like what do you?
When we work with clients, wealways ask, like the first thing
we ask them is what do you wantout of your business?
Like, what do you want it tolook like?
What are you hoping to get outof your business?
Because it should work for you?
But the same is on the familyside too.
Like I'm a single mom, I havethree boys at home and you know
I've had to think about it thatway.
Like what kind of family am Itrying to be?
(07:31):
You know, like raise and thatkind of determines like what we
do.
So, like we, we took a breakfrom some of the sports.
My older son is playing sports,the younger ones aren't,
because as a single parent likeI, just didn't have the capacity
to run everybody around and forme it was more important to
spend time one on one with themversus, like always being at a
(07:52):
sports event.
And that was just our personaldecision.
But for me that was a boundary,you know, and there was some,
you know, people's opinions thatwere like, oh well, you got to
have the boys in sports and it'slike, well, they're doing other
physical activities, so they'restill getting that outlet.
It's just not structured in thesame way.
Right, and that was the rightdecision for me.
And same thing on the businessright side.
(08:13):
You have to think about whereyou're trying to go and if
something's not in alignmentwith it, then it's okay to say
no to that thing.
Like that client or thatprogram or that software or
whatever it is Like.
There's always like shinypennies, right, they talk about
shiny objects that you can sayyes to and that look really
great.
But if it's not in alignmentwith where you're trying to take
(08:35):
your company, then you can sayno to that and that's totally
fine and that's a huge part ofleadership is being able to say
no.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Yeah, and it's okay.
I know in my own experienceswe've done things in the
business that have been amazing,that worked out great and other
things.
You know, everything issomewhat of an experiment,
unless you're really picking upa recipe and a franchise model
or something like that.
So if something isn't working,it's time to edit, pivot, delete
and so, acknowledging thatbeing in my case, I love to be
(09:07):
transparent with my team and sayI am the shiny object person.
Feel free to push back when youknow I come with the next best
thing, but we haven't perfectedwhat we committed ourselves to
already.
Or, you know, we need more ofsomething that is working like.
We need to focus on that moreum the same goes in your
personal life.
You may be modeling your lifeoff of what you see on instagram
(09:31):
or what you are um.
You know what your friends andpickup line, car line or your
neighbors are doing, and feelfree to kind of craft a
strategic vision that is rightfor you and your life and that
may not have anything to do withthe script that everybody else
has picked up or is displayingon their social media.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Yeah, yeah.
And that's a great part of lifeand business right Is you get
to make it whatever you want itto be.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
If you have the courage to like, step above and
figure out what that actually isright, because so many of us
are so busy in whatever you knowkind of stage of life that
you're in so that just never,there's never time to think
about like, what do we need totweak, what do we need to change
?
I think like I don't know whatyou would say, but definitely
(10:19):
setting aside some time andperhaps an accountability
partner whether you're in arelationship or you have a
trusted friend who can kind ofbe a trusted mentor, or course
professionals like ourselves,where you do have the space and
time to think about what'simportant to you, what you need.
You know what you need tochange over time, even if it
requires an investment.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Right, yes, for sure.
So tell me more.
What are some of the other?
You know kind of secrets thatyou see to successful CEOs.
So from going from avoiding yournumbers to embracing data for
decisions, and I think that's areally huge, crucial part for
business owners, especiallybecause so much information is
in the data when we take thetime to look at it, and we can
(11:20):
make so many less mistakes.
We can get so many placesquicker if we pay attention to
the data, versus only going offof, like our feelings or winging
it because the situation cameup and we didn't, you know, take
the time to look at what wasgoing on in the, in the numbers
of our business and organization, and so that's that, I think,
(11:41):
is a huge thing.
I always tell people like bigbusinesses, larger companies,
like they spend days looking attheir numbers, and that's for a
reason.
It's because doing that is howyou build successful and
sustainable businesses.
So you can't, you can't ignoreit, and the more you embrace it,
the more you step into it, themore confident and clear you're
(12:01):
actually going to become.
And that, that, I think, is kindof the piece people miss, like
they miss that as like thebenefit of looking at your
numbers Like everybody.
Sometimes, like you said, notto group everybody, but for most
people like they avoid theirnumbers.
Numbers are scary, it's boring,it's, you know, you don't feel
like you know what you're doing,but the more you can step into
(12:25):
it, like the benefits are huge,like you can understand how your
decisions translate to yournumbers, the more often you look
at them, and then you end upbeing able to make better
decisions as a result, whichtakes you forward faster and
really helps you to prioritizethe things that you want to
prioritize.
And it's really about beingproactive versus reactive, and,
(12:47):
as a business owner and a leaderand CEO, you need to make sure
that you're being proactiveversus reactive when it comes to
your business and your life.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
I couldn't agree more .
I think, like you need to knowif you're a business owner, you
need to know the flow of whenthe numbers are relevant and if
you've never caught up on yourbooks, which is you know the
world that you live in, megan,if you are not caught up on your
books.
I have had some business ownersin the past where it's just
like oh yeah, we're, you know,we're wrapping up last year's
(13:17):
books in April, you know, and ofcourse there may be some
loosens that need to be tied up,the balance sheet may need to
be tweaked.
When you do your taxes, um,based on you know, what you're
reporting, recording, closingout but if you don't know, until
your taxes get done, what thebusiness did last year, that
it's just like.
That's fine if you'reindependently wealthy, but if
(13:38):
you're relying on this businessto pay your bills, which most
business owners are and shouldbe, then I have a lot of anxiety
on their behalf.
And so, getting that rhythm, ofcourse I'm assuming, megan,
unless you're you have a magicwand that books aren't always
(13:58):
wrapped up on the last day ofthe month, right, like it does
take a minute.
But if you don't have a cyclewhere things are regularly being
tied up so you can say whathappened last month or last
quarter in you know somewhatreal time, so it's not on the
last day of the month, buthopefully it's also not, you
know, three months later.
Then you're flying blind andthat if you're sitting in that
(14:23):
situation, I mean changingbookkeepers, looking for options
.
I mean, what would you say forsomebody who comes in and
they're just like the books area mess, or we had somebody on
our team responsible but theyleft, or I don't know that they
understand.
How do you guys kind of get inthere and roll up your sleeves?
Speaker 2 (14:40):
I mean, basically by doing that, we get in and and
see you know where things are at, of course, and then you know
kind of craft that plan of whatto do going forward.
So making sure we have all ofthe accounts, making sure
they're all business accounts,making sure you know people have
their personal and businessstuff separated, and if not,
(15:01):
then you know to start doingthat from this point forward.
You know so crafting the planwith that, and then we just we
get all the data together,because that's the first part
that needs to happen anytime.
Like the information needs tobe done, it needs to be
reconciled, it needs to beaccurate, and then from there we
can start crafting a plan.
(15:23):
And this is really where I loveprofit first in this because,
like you've mentioned, like thereports kind of get done after
the month ends, but they'restill really important.
But profit first, which is acash flow management or money
management system that you canput in your business.
I feel like it really helpsbridge the gap between day to
day, what happens on a day-dayand your monthly reports.
So using those two thingstogether is really really
(15:44):
powerful, and that's what we'veseen with a lot of our clients
and what we help put in placefor them so that they have more
confidence, they have moreintention when it comes to their
money and where it goes, andthe purpose for every dollar
really is essentially what itcomes down to.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
And when.
Correct me me if I'm wrong, butthis, the concept of profit
first, is that you build in yourprofit to your planned cash
flow, so that you don't wake upat the end of the month and find
that everybody else has beenpaid but there's nothing less
left to pay the business owner.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Yeah, yeah, it really focuses on true profit.
Like people think about profitas like your income minus your
expenses and what's left over isyour profit.
Like people think about profitas like your income minus your
expenses and what's left over isyour profit.
But, like you said, a lot oftimes people aren't paying
themselves, they're not savingfor taxes and they don't have
any plan for strategicallyreinvesting.
So profit first kind of flipsit and you take your income, but
(16:37):
then you build those otherthings in on the top your profit
, your owner's pay, your taxsavings and then your expenses.
So it really helps to forceprofitability and stabilize your
cash flow, and in order to besuccessful and sustainable, you
need both of those thingsconsistently in your business,
and that's what is really greatabout that system.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
I love that.
And if I could just pivot to thepersonal side for those of you
who listen, listening, whoaren't business owners, the same
concepts are mirrored when itcomes to budgeting and cashflow.
I know budgeting is kind of afour letter word, but it it is
necessary in many cases.
Not every client that we workwith has to have a budget down
(17:21):
to the penny, but if you're in asituation where you carry
credit card debt through the endof the month, you're constantly
going to personal loans or debtin order to finance things or
you just can't get that cashflow level up where you have an
emergency reserve If surpriseskeep coming up, then that is
where we need to focus on cashflow more.
(17:42):
And then there's a whole subsetof clients who just were raised
to balance their checkbook.
They've converted that intoreligiously using software and
whether it's YNAB or we havesubscriptions for clients with
Monarch Money.
Those are great tools and youknow it could be just a good old
fashioned spreadsheet.
(18:02):
Those are great tools and youknow it could be just a good
old-fashioned spreadsheet.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Budgeting is so personal but you know, getting
that cash flow right then startsto feed and be additive to your
net worth which, on thepersonal side, is like your
(18:26):
balance sheet on the businessside, which I know is a really
important thing to maintain andunderstand when it comes to
business owners, right, yeah,for sure, it is Got to have all
of it together right On bothsides, and we often see like
people's personal money habitstransfer into their business
money habits, you know.
So like the two things are verywell connected as well.
So if you want to Absolutelyimprove the other.
You know, start working on oneside or the other on it.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Well, and not every person is.
You can be an extraordinaryexpert in your field, a
visionary CEO.
That does not mean that you havethe capability or the best use
of your time is to write the.
You know certainly I hopeyou're not.
(19:06):
You know kind of doing your taxwithholding, payroll, without
being like kind of set up in thepayroll software, or you may
need the guidance of people thatcan see from external, because
you're so wrapped up in theday-to-day and what has to
happen for the business, thatit's really hard to see the
forest because you are right inthe thick of the trees.
So in so many cases as youscale whether it's you know kind
(19:29):
of on the personal side,graduating from, you know kind
of having the Maslow's basichierarchy of financial needs
kind of nailed to on thebusiness side, you know the
company is up and running and,just as you described your hopes
for your business, you'rescaling now where you're growing
, you're taking on more risks,but you have, you're tackling,
(19:50):
more opportunities as well.
Then that is a point in timewhere finding whether internal
or often outsourced resourcesthat can help you run can be so
valuable.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Yeah, yeah, and that's definitely a mindset
shift to, like you know, movingfrom doing it all yourself to
starting to delegate and manageis a huge part of business
growth and leadership growth aswell, and it's very important to
do that in that process,especially if you're wanting to
grow, make a bigger impact, havea greater reach, like you can't
(20:24):
do it all yourself.
Bigger impact, have a greaterreach, like you can't do it all
yourself.
And I know for me, like evenjust growing as a CEO, as a mom,
one of the things on my listthis year is I'm hoping to hire
a home manager, because it'shard to do all of the things
around the house and run abusiness and spend time with my
kids and there's no shame inthat, and I think, like the more
(20:45):
we can talk about and normalizethat, the better, because it's,
it's true, like you can't doall the things.
That's too demanding andlearning how to delegate in life
and business are reallyimportant parts to growing as a
leader and as an individual.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
I couldn't agree with you more.
I you know that.
Why is there?
If you're a business owner, youtalk to another business owner,
you talk to your friend networkand you say I just outsource my
books, I hired an accountingfirm to really help me nail
things when it comes to profit.
They would applaud you and saythat is a sign of success.
(21:20):
But we have this on the personalside of things, whether it
comes to, you know, havingsomebody pick up your kids side
of things, whether it comes to,you know, having somebody pick
up your kids.
If one of your younger kidsdecides they just have to have a
passion for a sport, but youcan't swing being at every
practice and game.
That may be something that youend up hiring.
Many people, you know, kind ofagonize over hiring either
(21:44):
household help you know my momdidn't have a maid or, you know,
executive assistants as well.
And so why is there no shame,when it comes to the business
side, for outsourcing what youneed, and yet on the personal
side, and it goes all the way tohiring financial professionals,
including accountants, like Ican do it myself when it comes?
Speaker 2 (22:05):
to.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
TurboTax or financial planners like.
There's some sort of shame thatyou can't DIY that yourself.
You should just, you know, pickup a finance book and invest in
indexes, and certainly you knowyou can quantify the money
saved because you know whatsomeone might charge, or you
know the expenses involved ininvestment advisory, but you
(22:26):
can't quantify the opportunitycosts.
You can't quantify the anxietyor stress that you take on
yourself if you don't have thesame confidence as the person
who wrote the book?
Who's telling you how to do it?
Who?
finds it no problem to managingthe day-to-day and so getting
rid of that mindset of likethere's shame and hiring on your
personal side, whether you're abusiness owner or an
(22:49):
extraordinary executive orsomeone who can afford it then
we really need to talk aboutthat over time.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Yeah, yeah, I agree.
Kudos to you for hiring.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
Yes, eventually, goal , eventually, well, any other
kind of lessons learned or youknow kind of, if you could tell
someone who is um aspiring toreally have everything under
control, um, what you see in themost successful ceos.
I mean, I guess one of mythings is nobody's perfect and
(23:21):
even if things look great on theoutside, there could be a lot
of frustrations and a lot ofacknowledgement of weaknesses on
the inside.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
But what else?
Speaker 1 (23:29):
do you see that you wish everybody knew when they
were aspiring to success?
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Yeah, I guess kind of on that same note, you know,
because I know a lot of peoplealways look at me and they're
like, oh, you know, megan's gotit all together and she's
running a business and raisingher kids.
And I always tell people likemost of the time, or probably
half the time, I feel like a hotmess.
You know, like just trying to,and a lot of that comes from,
like previous traumas that I'mtrying to heal from.
(24:01):
You know as well, and thingslike that growing as a leader is
is really hard work.
Know as well, and things likethat Growing as a leader is
really hard work.
You know, doing work on yourselfis a lot of.
There's a lot of intentionalityand purpose that has to go into
it, which is tough.
You know, I've got a lot ofresponsibility in terms of like
my team and my kids and ourclients, like it just kind of
goes out.
So, kind of on the same notewhich you were mentioning, like
(24:25):
give yourself a lot of grace,like people are not perfect and
we're all struggling and indifferent areas, right, there's
always something that we got toovercome and work through.
So giving yourself a lot ofgrace is really really important
to this leadership journey ormindset shift, you know, from
(24:47):
from one place to the next place, and growth and I know I had a
lot of people tell me, or havehad a lot of people tell me,
that, like you know, givingyourself grace, celebrating the
wins, is probably the otherpiece that's like really, really
important and it doesn't haveto be like yay, I closed a you
know, a hundred thousand dollardeal or anything like that.
(25:07):
Like it can be like I took ashower, I meal prep today.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
That is an amazing accomplishment.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Sometimes it's like that, right so, giving yourself
grace, celebrating those littlewins and always just moving
forward.
Like just continually pushingforward is like the other piece
that's like really, reallyimportant to living life,
growing in life, buildingleadership, creating a
successful life.
Like it's all about consistency, right.
(25:37):
So just like those littleincremental steps forward are
huge and I would just want toencourage anybody listening to
focus on those things.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Well, megan, as you described, and thank you for the
vulnerability to share what Ialso know to be true, which is
things can be extraordinary andstill feel very imperfect when
it comes to a busy businessowner's life, especially as a
woman.
If you are someone who'slistening and that resonates
with you and you don't havesomeone you can say that out
(26:12):
loud to, then you deserve thatperson, whether it's a therapist
, whether it's a business coach,whether it's a personal coach,
a financial planner, yourbookkeeper, accountant, all of
those things Like.
If you're not working withpeople that celebrate your
vulnerability and also tell youwhen you're doing a good job,
remind you to celebrate yoursuccess, but also are there,
(26:33):
without judgment, for themoments where you feel like you
could have done better or itshould be different, then you
need to rethink who you'reworking with or seek that person
who can be a trusted counsel,because without that, it can be
really lonely, vulnerable,anxious, stressed, and if you're
constantly living in that state, that has impacts on your
(26:54):
health and well-being that needto be addressed yes, absolutely
well for people listening.
Can you tell us just a littlebit about your service offering
and describe to our listenerswhere they can find you?
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely so.
Our firm Sidekick Accountingprovides bookkeeping, tax prep,
tax planning, and then we're acertified profit first firm, so
we help with that systemimplementation and then I also
do business coaching related tothat as well.
So really full service, reallyhelping businesses grow and
(27:28):
scale to the next level, paymore attention to their numbers
and really achieve their goalswithin their business, which is
really awesome and kind of likeyou said, like we end up a lot
of times talking people throughmany different life
circumstances.
We've had some clients that arelike I feel like you're our
therapist, or thank you so muchfor you know walking me through
this vulnerable point, becausewe're dealing people's money.
(27:50):
So that's, it's cool to be onthat side of thing, it's an
honor to be on that side ofthings, which is really neat.
So it must be so rewardingPeople.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
I know you're located remind me, in Florida, right.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Yeah, I'm physically in north central Florida, but
our firm is virtual, so we workwith clients across the US.
My team's all virtual, whichhas been really great.
It's been awesome to be able tobuild that for a lot of people
too, to have that flexibilitywork from home as well as with
our clients.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
Yeah, we're very similar.
A lot of areas of money reallyare agnostic.
You need to understand statetax laws in some cases, but we
are very similar.
About half of our clients arelocated in Michigan and half are
all over the country in morethan 30 states.
About kind of living in ahybrid world is that you can
(28:46):
find the perfect fit for clientswherever they may be.
Are there certain sizes ofbusiness, like amounts of
revenue or number of employeesthat are typical, or areas of
industry or profession.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
Yeah, it depends on the service.
I would say, generally speaking, all of our clients are usually
around startup to around three,four million.
Ok, it just kind of depends onthe service and what we're doing
.
And then, in terms of size,most of our bookkeeping clients
have some kind of a team, sothey have contractors or they
have employees looking to get tothe next level for taxes.
(29:22):
We can't.
We do taxes for everybody, soyeah, that makes sense For taxes
.
We do taxes for everybody, sothat is not as demographically
proven.
But we work with a lot of womenand minority-owned businesses,
especially in the serviceindustry, so daycares, group
homes, b2b coaches, consultants.
We also work with nonprofitsand the limited food restaurants
(29:46):
, so like food trucks and malllimited food restaurants.
So like food trucks and malltype restaurants.
We have other clients as well,but those are kind of the niches
we focus on.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Amazing Megan.
Well, I'm so glad to know youand, for everyone here, I hope
you realize that your moneymindset, whether you're the CEO
of your business or your life asI hope all of you are of your
business or your life, as I hopeall of you are, your money
mindset, your mindsets toleadership and success, are
something that need to be workedon and deserve your attention
(30:14):
and care, and certainly youradvice is helpful on that for
everyone listening.
So thank you so much forsharing, megan.
Awesome.
Thank you for having me,melissa.
Thank you for listening to theWomen's Money Wisdom Podcast.
(30:40):
If you found value in thisepisode, the best way you can
support the podcast is toforward an episode to a friend
or leave a review.
Go to pearlplancom and thepodcast link to get all the
resources and links mentioned.
Welcome to the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast.
I'm Melissa Joy, a certifiedfinancial planner and the
founder of Pearl Planning.
My goal is to help youstreamline and organize your
finances, navigate big moneydecisions with confidence and be
strategic in order to grow yourwealth.
As a woman, you work hard foryour money and I'm here to help
(00:21):
you make the most of it.
Now let's get into the show.
And I'm here to help you makethe most of it.
Now let's get into the show.
Just a quick note before wedive in.
The information that we share ismeant to educate and inspire,
not serve as personalizedfinancial advice.
Everyone's situation is unique,so be sure to consult with your
own financial professional forguidance that fits your life.
And just so you know, theopinions shared in this podcast
(00:43):
are my own and those of myguests, and they don't
necessarily represent those ofany organizations that I'm
affiliated with.
For more important disclosures,please go to our webpage at
pearlplancom.
Now let's get started.
Welcome back to the Women'sMoney Wisdom Podcast.
I am so pleased to be joinedtoday by Megan Schwan.
(01:05):
She is the CEO and founder ofSidekick Accounting Services,
and we are going to be talkingabout our personal lessons
learned as business owners andparents, but also the mindsets
that are necessary to be asuccessful CEO.
And while Megan works withpeople that are business owners,
(01:26):
I think the lessons learned areso important for all of us to
embrace as the CEO of ourpersonal financial life, and so
I can't wait to have thisdiscussion.
Megan, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
Thank you so much, Melissa.
I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Well, tell me a little bit about yourself.
I know that you're a businessowner, but what's you know, kind
of, how does that integrateinto the rest of your life?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Well, for me, business ownership has been so
impactful it really helps.
Well, I've been in business for11 and a half years, I guess.
I should say Congratulations,thank you, and it's been a
journey, but it started out likewhen I was much younger, of
course, and still kind offiguring out life, and having a
(02:12):
business has helped withbuilding my confidence.
It's helped to provide for myfamily, helped get me through
some pretty rough lifecircumstances additional
children moving across thecountry so like it's kind of
intertwined in everything that Ido.
And, like now, the last coupleof years, I've really been
focusing on leadershipdevelopment and personal
(02:33):
development for myself, becausewe're hoping to grow and scale
and the more you know you grow,the more you have to level up as
an individual, not just as abusiness, and so that's been
kind of a really big part of mylife has been my business and my
personal growth.
So it's been it's been a reallygreat journey so far.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Well, as a fellow business owner, I couldn't agree
more.
Running a successful business,it is so much of my identity,
but it can't be everything.
And I do think, like some ofthe you know kind of
foundational CEO mindsets, areto acknowledge that it is so
important but also acknowledgethat you know you've got to take
care of yourself first andthere's other things that are
(03:14):
important.
I'm sure we'll be weaving thatin as well as talking about.
You know some of the great andimportant number things as well,
but why don't we dive right inthere?
You have developed kind of themindsets and secrets that CEOs
have.
Can you tell us a little bitabout some of the things that
you see that have to be masteredin order to be a successful
(03:38):
business owner?
And, like I said, we'reapplying these to kind of
personal lessons learned foryour, for your personal balance
sheet?
Speaker 2 (03:45):
yeah, yeah, absolutely, I would have to say
one.
Uh, well, I've got a few, sothe first one I would say is
learning how to not just do thething but like work on the thing
, right?
oh yeah no, like, don't justwork in your business.
You got to work on yourbusiness and that's really, I
think, moving from more liketechnical work to more strategic
(04:07):
work, you know, to being moreof the decision maker versus
just the task doer.
And I think that's the case inour personal lives too, because
we, as we grow, you know, we, wemanage our families, we manage
our households, and so insteadof us like just being young
college kids trying to figure itout, like we have to start
thinking more forward.
(04:28):
You know, thinking aboutretirement, thinking about
insurances, you know, like allthese different things where
it's like you can't take abackseat to life, and you
definitely can't take a backseatas a CEO.
So I think there's a lot ofsynergy there.
Another thing I've learned islike, like you've mentioned, I
think, to taking care ofyourself.
Right, like not being inburnout.
(04:50):
That's like so important.
You got to learn how to notjust hustle but really create
boundaries that are in alignmentwith where you're trying to go,
so that boundary led leadershipis really important in business
as well as your family, likeyou can't say yes to everything
and you know, as you startadding children and spouses and
(05:11):
things to your life, right.
There's like all these demandsthat come and you can't say yes.
You can't be the yes person toeverything.
So there's a lot ofsimilarities between that.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
I should like if we could just pause there.
I so agree because I I I don'twant to group everybody into one
group, but there are many of usthat are likely listening where
you're a people pleaser, youwant everything to be perfect
for everyone.
You have kids and you don'twant them to experience the
(05:45):
hardships or difficultiesnecessarily that perhaps you
went through and you know, whenyou're constantly looking
externally to make sureeverything else is okay,
sometimes that can be at theimpact of yourself, your
finances.
The same goes in business.
Frequently I'll see reallyexternally successful looking
(06:07):
businesses that on the insideyou know maybe the numbers
aren't working.
It looks like so amazing fromthe outside, like oh my gosh,
you have so many employees andthis and that, and it's like
there's no money left at the endof the month to pay the owner,
perhaps, to pay the ownerperhaps.
(06:29):
And so I see that on both sides, both working with busy
business owners as well as infamily dynamics, especially for
single women, where there'sthere's nothing left to kind of
fuel you.
And that is, and that is thepoint in time where you know
working with somebody like you,megan, to say what are the books
look like when?
Like we can't just run eitherat a deficit or too low in terms
(06:50):
of profits.
I know you're a profit firstexpert, and the same goes in the
family, where you knoweverything.
Everyone needs everything, butthere are limits and boundaries
in many cases that need to beenforced.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Yeah, for sure.
And I think it starts like atthat end goal, like what do you?
When we work with clients, wealways ask, like the first thing
we ask them is what do you wantout of your business?
Like, what do you want it tolook like?
What are you hoping to get outof your business?
Because it should work for you?
But the same is on the familyside too.
Like I'm a single mom, I havethree boys at home and you know
I've had to think about it thatway.
Like what kind of family am Itrying to be?
(07:31):
You know, like raise and thatkind of determines like what we
do.
So, like we, we took a breakfrom some of the sports.
My older son is playing sports,the younger ones aren't,
because as a single parent likeI, just didn't have the capacity
to run everybody around and forme it was more important to
spend time one on one with themversus, like always being at a
(07:52):
sports event.
And that was just our personaldecision.
But for me that was a boundary,you know, and there was some,
you know, people's opinions thatwere like, oh well, you got to
have the boys in sports and it'slike, well, they're doing other
physical activities, so they'restill getting that outlet.
It's just not structured in thesame way.
Right, and that was the rightdecision for me.
And same thing on the businessright side.
(08:13):
You have to think about whereyou're trying to go and if
something's not in alignmentwith it, then it's okay to say
no to that thing.
Like that client or thatprogram or that software or
whatever it is Like.
There's always like shinypennies, right, they talk about
shiny objects that you can sayyes to and that look really
great.
But if it's not in alignmentwith where you're trying to take
(08:35):
your company, then you can sayno to that and that's totally
fine and that's a huge part ofleadership is being able to say
no.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Yeah, and it's okay.
I know in my own experienceswe've done things in the
business that have been amazing,that worked out great and other
things.
You know, everything issomewhat of an experiment,
unless you're really picking upa recipe and a franchise model
or something like that.
So if something isn't working,it's time to edit, pivot, delete
and so, acknowledging thatbeing in my case, I love to be
(09:07):
transparent with my team and sayI am the shiny object person.
Feel free to push back when youknow I come with the next best
thing, but we haven't perfectedwhat we committed ourselves to
already.
Or, you know, we need more ofsomething that is working like.
We need to focus on that moreum the same goes in your
personal life.
You may be modeling your lifeoff of what you see on instagram
(09:31):
or what you are um.
You know what your friends andpickup line, car line or your
neighbors are doing, and feelfree to kind of craft a
strategic vision that is rightfor you and your life and that
may not have anything to do withthe script that everybody else
has picked up or is displayingon their social media.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Yeah, yeah.
And that's a great part of lifeand business right Is you get
to make it whatever you want itto be.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
If you have the courage to like, step above and
figure out what that actually isright, because so many of us
are so busy in whatever you knowkind of stage of life that
you're in so that just never,there's never time to think
about like, what do we need totweak, what do we need to change
?
I think like I don't know whatyou would say, but definitely
(10:19):
setting aside some time andperhaps an accountability
partner whether you're in arelationship or you have a
trusted friend who can kind ofbe a trusted mentor, or course
professionals like ourselves,where you do have the space and
time to think about what'simportant to you, what you need.
You know what you need tochange over time, even if it
requires an investment.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Right, yes, for sure.
So tell me more.
What are some of the other?
You know kind of secrets thatyou see to successful CEOs.
So from going from avoiding yournumbers to embracing data for
decisions, and I think that's areally huge, crucial part for
business owners, especiallybecause so much information is
in the data when we take thetime to look at it, and we can
(11:20):
make so many less mistakes.
We can get so many placesquicker if we pay attention to
the data, versus only going offof, like our feelings or winging
it because the situation cameup and we didn't, you know, take
the time to look at what wasgoing on in the, in the numbers
of our business and organization, and so that's that, I think,
(11:41):
is a huge thing.
I always tell people like bigbusinesses, larger companies,
like they spend days looking attheir numbers, and that's for a
reason.
It's because doing that is howyou build successful and
sustainable businesses.
So you can't, you can't ignoreit, and the more you embrace it,
the more you step into it, themore confident and clear you're
(12:01):
actually going to become.
And that, that, I think, is kindof the piece people miss, like
they miss that as like thebenefit of looking at your
numbers Like everybody.
Sometimes, like you said, notto group everybody, but for most
people like they avoid theirnumbers.
Numbers are scary, it's boring,it's, you know, you don't feel
like you know what you're doing,but the more you can step into
(12:25):
it, like the benefits are huge,like you can understand how your
decisions translate to yournumbers, the more often you look
at them, and then you end upbeing able to make better
decisions as a result, whichtakes you forward faster and
really helps you to prioritizethe things that you want to
prioritize.
And it's really about beingproactive versus reactive, and,
(12:47):
as a business owner and a leaderand CEO, you need to make sure
that you're being proactiveversus reactive when it comes to
your business and your life.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
I couldn't agree more .
I think, like you need to knowif you're a business owner, you
need to know the flow of whenthe numbers are relevant and if
you've never caught up on yourbooks, which is you know the
world that you live in, megan,if you are not caught up on your
books.
I have had some business ownersin the past where it's just
like oh yeah, we're, you know,we're wrapping up last year's
(13:17):
books in April, you know, and ofcourse there may be some
loosens that need to be tied up,the balance sheet may need to
be tweaked.
When you do your taxes, um,based on you know, what you're
reporting, recording, closingout but if you don't know, until
your taxes get done, what thebusiness did last year, that
it's just like.
That's fine if you'reindependently wealthy, but if
(13:38):
you're relying on this businessto pay your bills, which most
business owners are and shouldbe, then I have a lot of anxiety
on their behalf.
And so, getting that rhythm, ofcourse I'm assuming, megan,
unless you're you have a magicwand that books aren't always
(13:58):
wrapped up on the last day ofthe month, right, like it does
take a minute.
But if you don't have a cyclewhere things are regularly being
tied up so you can say whathappened last month or last
quarter in you know somewhatreal time, so it's not on the
last day of the month, buthopefully it's also not, you
know, three months later.
Then you're flying blind andthat if you're sitting in that
(14:23):
situation, I mean changingbookkeepers, looking for options
.
I mean, what would you say forsomebody who comes in and
they're just like the books area mess, or we had somebody on
our team responsible but theyleft, or I don't know that they
understand.
How do you guys kind of get inthere and roll up your sleeves?
Speaker 2 (14:40):
I mean, basically by doing that, we get in and and
see you know where things are at, of course, and then you know
kind of craft that plan of whatto do going forward.
So making sure we have all ofthe accounts, making sure
they're all business accounts,making sure you know people have
their personal and businessstuff separated, and if not,
(15:01):
then you know to start doingthat from this point forward.
You know so crafting the planwith that, and then we just we
get all the data together,because that's the first part
that needs to happen anytime.
Like the information needs tobe done, it needs to be
reconciled, it needs to beaccurate, and then from there we
can start crafting a plan.
(15:23):
And this is really where I loveprofit first in this because,
like you've mentioned, like thereports kind of get done after
the month ends, but they'restill really important.
But profit first, which is acash flow management or money
management system that you canput in your business.
I feel like it really helpsbridge the gap between day to
day, what happens on a day-dayand your monthly reports.
So using those two thingstogether is really really
(15:44):
powerful, and that's what we'veseen with a lot of our clients
and what we help put in placefor them so that they have more
confidence, they have moreintention when it comes to their
money and where it goes, andthe purpose for every dollar
really is essentially what itcomes down to.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
And when.
Correct me me if I'm wrong, butthis, the concept of profit
first, is that you build in yourprofit to your planned cash
flow, so that you don't wake upat the end of the month and find
that everybody else has beenpaid but there's nothing less
left to pay the business owner.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
Yeah, yeah, it really focuses on true profit.
Like people think about profitas like your income minus your
expenses and what's left over isyour profit.
Like people think about profitas like your income minus your
expenses and what's left over isyour profit.
But, like you said, a lot oftimes people aren't paying
themselves, they're not savingfor taxes and they don't have
any plan for strategicallyreinvesting.
So profit first kind of flipsit and you take your income, but
(16:37):
then you build those otherthings in on the top your profit
, your owner's pay, your taxsavings and then your expenses.
So it really helps to forceprofitability and stabilize your
cash flow, and in order to besuccessful and sustainable, you
need both of those thingsconsistently in your business,
and that's what is really greatabout that system.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
I love that.
And if I could just pivot to thepersonal side for those of you
who listen, listening, whoaren't business owners, the same
concepts are mirrored when itcomes to budgeting and cashflow.
I know budgeting is kind of afour letter word, but it it is
necessary in many cases.
Not every client that we workwith has to have a budget down
(17:21):
to the penny, but if you're in asituation where you carry
credit card debt through the endof the month, you're constantly
going to personal loans or debtin order to finance things or
you just can't get that cashflow level up where you have an
emergency reserve If surpriseskeep coming up, then that is
where we need to focus on cashflow more.
(17:42):
And then there's a whole subsetof clients who just were raised
to balance their checkbook.
They've converted that intoreligiously using software and
whether it's YNAB or we havesubscriptions for clients with
Monarch Money.
Those are great tools and youknow it could be just a good old
fashioned spreadsheet.
(18:02):
Those are great tools and youknow it could be just a good
old-fashioned spreadsheet.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
Budgeting is so personal but you know, getting
that cash flow right then startsto feed and be additive to your
net worth which, on thepersonal side, is like your
(18:26):
balance sheet on the businessside, which I know is a really
important thing to maintain andunderstand when it comes to
business owners, right, yeah,for sure, it is Got to have all
of it together right On bothsides, and we often see like
people's personal money habitstransfer into their business
money habits, you know.
So like the two things are verywell connected as well.
So if you want to Absolutelyimprove the other.
You know, start working on oneside or the other on it.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
Well, and not every person is.
You can be an extraordinaryexpert in your field, a
visionary CEO.
That does not mean that you havethe capability or the best use
of your time is to write the.
You know certainly I hopeyou're not.
(19:06):
You know kind of doing your taxwithholding, payroll, without
being like kind of set up in thepayroll software, or you may
need the guidance of people thatcan see from external, because
you're so wrapped up in theday-to-day and what has to
happen for the business, thatit's really hard to see the
forest because you are right inthe thick of the trees.
So in so many cases as youscale whether it's you know kind
(19:29):
of on the personal side,graduating from, you know kind
of having the Maslow's basichierarchy of financial needs
kind of nailed to on thebusiness side, you know the
company is up and running and,just as you described your hopes
for your business, you'rescaling now where you're growing
, you're taking on more risks,but you have, you're tackling,
(19:50):
more opportunities as well.
Then that is a point in timewhere finding whether internal
or often outsourced resourcesthat can help you run can be so
valuable.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Yeah, yeah, and that's definitely a mindset
shift to, like you know, movingfrom doing it all yourself to
starting to delegate and manageis a huge part of business
growth and leadership growth aswell, and it's very important to
do that in that process,especially if you're wanting to
grow, make a bigger impact, havea greater reach, like you can't
(20:24):
do it all yourself.
Bigger impact, have a greaterreach, like you can't do it all
yourself.
And I know for me, like evenjust growing as a CEO, as a mom,
one of the things on my listthis year is I'm hoping to hire
a home manager, because it'shard to do all of the things
around the house and run abusiness and spend time with my
kids and there's no shame inthat, and I think, like the more
(20:45):
we can talk about and normalizethat, the better, because it's,
it's true, like you can't doall the things.
That's too demanding andlearning how to delegate in life
and business are reallyimportant parts to growing as a
leader and as an individual.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
I couldn't agree with you more.
I you know that.
Why is there?
If you're a business owner, youtalk to another business owner,
you talk to your friend networkand you say I just outsource my
books, I hired an accountingfirm to really help me nail
things when it comes to profit.
They would applaud you and saythat is a sign of success.
(21:20):
But we have this on the personalside of things, whether it
comes to, you know, havingsomebody pick up your kids side
of things, whether it comes to,you know, having somebody pick
up your kids.
If one of your younger kidsdecides they just have to have a
passion for a sport, but youcan't swing being at every
practice and game.
That may be something that youend up hiring.
Many people, you know, kind ofagonize over hiring either
(21:44):
household help you know my momdidn't have a maid or, you know,
executive assistants as well.
And so why is there no shame,when it comes to the business
side, for outsourcing what youneed, and yet on the personal
side, and it goes all the way tohiring financial professionals,
including accountants, like Ican do it myself when it comes?
Speaker 2 (22:05):
to.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
TurboTax or financial planners like.
There's some sort of shame thatyou can't DIY that yourself.
You should just, you know, pickup a finance book and invest in
indexes, and certainly you knowyou can quantify the money
saved because you know whatsomeone might charge, or you
know the expenses involved ininvestment advisory, but you
(22:26):
can't quantify the opportunitycosts.
You can't quantify the anxietyor stress that you take on
yourself if you don't have thesame confidence as the person
who wrote the book?
Who's telling you how to do it?
Who?
finds it no problem to managingthe day-to-day and so getting
rid of that mindset of likethere's shame and hiring on your
personal side, whether you're abusiness owner or an
(22:49):
extraordinary executive orsomeone who can afford it then
we really need to talk aboutthat over time.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Yeah, yeah, I agree.
Kudos to you for hiring.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
Yes, eventually, goal , eventually, well, any other
kind of lessons learned or youknow kind of, if you could tell
someone who is um aspiring toreally have everything under
control, um, what you see in themost successful ceos.
I mean, I guess one of mythings is nobody's perfect and
(23:21):
even if things look great on theoutside, there could be a lot
of frustrations and a lot ofacknowledgement of weaknesses on
the inside.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
But what else?
Speaker 1 (23:29):
do you see that you wish everybody knew when they
were aspiring to success?
Speaker 2 (23:39):
Yeah, I guess kind of on that same note, you know,
because I know a lot of peoplealways look at me and they're
like, oh, you know, megan's gotit all together and she's
running a business and raisingher kids.
And I always tell people likemost of the time, or probably
half the time, I feel like a hotmess.
You know, like just trying to,and a lot of that comes from,
like previous traumas that I'mtrying to heal from.
(24:01):
You know as well, and thingslike that growing as a leader is
is really hard work.
Know as well, and things likethat Growing as a leader is
really hard work.
You know, doing work on yourselfis a lot of.
There's a lot of intentionalityand purpose that has to go into
it, which is tough.
You know, I've got a lot ofresponsibility in terms of like
my team and my kids and ourclients, like it just kind of
goes out.
So, kind of on the same notewhich you were mentioning, like
(24:25):
give yourself a lot of grace,like people are not perfect and
we're all struggling and indifferent areas, right, there's
always something that we got toovercome and work through.
So giving yourself a lot ofgrace is really really important
to this leadership journey ormindset shift, you know, from
(24:47):
from one place to the next place, and growth and I know I had a
lot of people tell me, or havehad a lot of people tell me,
that, like you know, givingyourself grace, celebrating the
wins, is probably the otherpiece that's like really, really
important and it doesn't haveto be like yay, I closed a you
know, a hundred thousand dollardeal or anything like that.
(25:07):
Like it can be like I took ashower, I meal prep today.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
That is an amazing accomplishment.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Sometimes it's like that, right so, giving yourself
grace, celebrating those littlewins and always just moving
forward.
Like just continually pushingforward is like the other piece
that's like really, reallyimportant to living life,
growing in life, buildingleadership, creating a
successful life.
Like it's all about consistency, right.
(25:37):
So just like those littleincremental steps forward are
huge and I would just want toencourage anybody listening to
focus on those things.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Well, megan, as you described, and thank you for the
vulnerability to share what Ialso know to be true, which is
things can be extraordinary andstill feel very imperfect when
it comes to a busy businessowner's life, especially as a
woman.
If you are someone who'slistening and that resonates
with you and you don't havesomeone you can say that out
(26:12):
loud to, then you deserve thatperson, whether it's a therapist
, whether it's a business coach,whether it's a personal coach,
a financial planner, yourbookkeeper, accountant, all of
those things Like.
If you're not working withpeople that celebrate your
vulnerability and also tell youwhen you're doing a good job,
remind you to celebrate yoursuccess, but also are there,
(26:33):
without judgment, for themoments where you feel like you
could have done better or itshould be different, then you
need to rethink who you'reworking with or seek that person
who can be a trusted counsel,because without that, it can be
really lonely, vulnerable,anxious, stressed, and if you're
constantly living in that state, that has impacts on your
(26:54):
health and well-being that needto be addressed yes, absolutely
well for people listening.
Can you tell us just a littlebit about your service offering
and describe to our listenerswhere they can find you?
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely so.
Our firm Sidekick Accountingprovides bookkeeping, tax prep,
tax planning, and then we're acertified profit first firm, so
we help with that systemimplementation and then I also
do business coaching related tothat as well.
So really full service, reallyhelping businesses grow and
(27:28):
scale to the next level, paymore attention to their numbers
and really achieve their goalswithin their business, which is
really awesome and kind of likeyou said, like we end up a lot
of times talking people throughmany different life
circumstances.
We've had some clients that arelike I feel like you're our
therapist, or thank you so muchfor you know walking me through
this vulnerable point, becausewe're dealing people's money.
(27:50):
So that's, it's cool to be onthat side of thing, it's an
honor to be on that side ofthings, which is really neat.
So it must be so rewardingPeople.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
I know you're located remind me, in Florida, right.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Yeah, I'm physically in north central Florida, but
our firm is virtual, so we workwith clients across the US.
My team's all virtual, whichhas been really great.
It's been awesome to be able tobuild that for a lot of people
too, to have that flexibilitywork from home as well as with
our clients.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
Yeah, we're very similar.
A lot of areas of money reallyare agnostic.
You need to understand statetax laws in some cases, but we
are very similar.
About half of our clients arelocated in Michigan and half are
all over the country in morethan 30 states.
About kind of living in ahybrid world is that you can
(28:46):
find the perfect fit for clientswherever they may be.
Are there certain sizes ofbusiness, like amounts of
revenue or number of employeesthat are typical, or areas of
industry or profession.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
Yeah, it depends on the service.
I would say, generally speaking, all of our clients are usually
around startup to around three,four million.
Ok, it just kind of depends onthe service and what we're doing
.
And then, in terms of size,most of our bookkeeping clients
have some kind of a team, sothey have contractors or they
have employees looking to get tothe next level for taxes.
(29:22):
We can't.
We do taxes for everybody, soyeah, that makes sense For taxes
.
We do taxes for everybody, sothat is not as demographically
proven.
But we work with a lot of womenand minority-owned businesses,
especially in the serviceindustry, so daycares, group
homes, b2b coaches, consultants.
We also work with nonprofitsand the limited food restaurants
(29:46):
, so like food trucks and malllimited food restaurants.
So like food trucks and malltype restaurants.
We have other clients as well,but those are kind of the niches
we focus on.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
Amazing Megan.
Well, I'm so glad to know youand, for everyone here, I hope
you realize that your moneymindset, whether you're the CEO
of your business or your life asI hope all of you are of your
business or your life, as I hopeall of you are, your money
mindset, your mindsets toleadership and success, are
something that need to be workedon and deserve your attention
(30:14):
and care, and certainly youradvice is helpful on that for
everyone listening.
So thank you so much forsharing, megan.
Awesome.
Thank you for having me,melissa.
Thank you for listening to theWomen's Money Wisdom Podcast.
(30:40):
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