October 31, 2023 • 31 mins
Feel like you're stuck in the corporate grind? Joanne Leasure felt the same way until she took the leap into entrepreneurship. Now, she's the proud owner of DayOne Accounting, a flourishing business built on risk, reward, and relentless drive. Tune in to hear how Joanne went from feeling trapped to taking control of her destiny, the 10X way. Don't miss this episode if you're itching to break free and level up your life and business. 🎧🔥
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(00:03):
in the beginning my why was to just get
out of corporate America okay I had to
take my employee hat off and put on uh
the person who's actually building a
business see the person who's building a
business knows that we have to put some
systems in place so the challenge was
getting over that mindset and into the
mindset of I'm the business
(00:28):
owner up
everybody Welcome to the fired up
Podcast I'm your host Brad rea the fired
up Podcast is where we talk to
entrepreneurs learn their story and from
their Journey we're going to learn how
to 10x our business fired up is
sponsored by reignite reignite is a 10x
certified business coaching program
specifically designed for entrepreneurs
(00:50):
to manage the relationships in their
business turn those relationships into
referrals and referrals into sales
reignite is the way to 10x your business
and I'm here talking with our guest
today that has been 10 Xing the
accounting and business world please
welcome Joan Leisure welcome to the show
thank you Brad thank you thanks Joan
(01:12):
great to have you
on um yeah so most people may not know
that we we've actually uh know each
other through tenic business coaching as
well so I'd love to hear as we're going
through this some of the story of how
you got involved in business coaching in
addition to your accounting business but
you know maybe you can take us back to
the part where you started everything
(01:32):
and what was your why for taking the
entrepreneurial route and starting your
business yeah so listen and thank you by
the way for inviting me to your podcast
great to have you honored to be here but
um yeah I tell you when I I wanted to be
you know have my own business for the
longest time and in the beginning my why
was to just get out of corporate America
(01:54):
you know if you remember Corporate
America it was a lot like uh a lot like
uh
what we see in reality television you
know I felt like I was on Survivor and I
remember the last job the last job that
I had um I I probably wanted to be more
of the entrepreneur prior to that but I
got another job thinking maybe this
(02:16):
would just solve that problem and I
remember stepping off of the elevator uh
for this new job and and and the hallway
was like that that that vision and The
Shining where it just kind of got longer
and longer
I in for the first day and uh you know
so at first my why was really just about
(02:37):
me it was about me not liking what I was
doing not liking the various people that
I was surrounded with and uh you know it
was just a very small why my son is
grown um you know I have a husband or
what have you but I you know but the
fact is that it was just really about me
and then it shifted eventually it all
shifts so at first you want to kind of
(02:59):
Escape AP that was my why and then it
shifted into wanting something even more
than what a job could ever give me I
wanted really control of my own economy
and so that is the reason why I do what
I do right now is because I want to have
full control over how much I make where
(03:19):
I'm going to work if I'm going to work
here uh in northeast Pennsylvania doing
accounting or if I'm G to work somewhere
else that you know enjoy the sunshine I
want Total Control sure yeah that makes
sense and being able to have that
freedom to control what you're working
on who you're working with when and
where really is is important to just own
(03:42):
who you are and and and how you want to
serve and taking that route's never easy
right so there's one school of thought
that that the corporate job might have
been a safer route although I don't know
these days with everything that's going
on in the economy so there's a different
set of challenges though as an
entrepreneur and maybe you can talk
about some of the things that were
(04:03):
challenging as you started the business
and things began to grow what what types
of roadblocks did you run into
absolutely so you know I'd been a i' had
been a um an employee my entire life you
know from the late 90s when I started to
you know to work in accounting and
there's a mind shift that you have to
make from being the employee to being
(04:25):
the entrepreneur so that in itself was a
challenge right so in the beginning of
my business if you want to even call it
that uh in the beginning I would take
anything like most people but then I
would also take on the rules of the
clients that were giving me their their
their work to do right they had all
(04:47):
these you know this is how they did it
this was the work that they did this you
know it took it took ve it took a long
time to do people's work uh in
bookkeeping and accounting because most
of the time when you have these you know
entrepreneurs most of the time they're
not doing it properly so a lot of times
you know they don't have any structure
(05:08):
and then they just hand you this big
mess and expect you to just manage the
mess just fix it right exactly but
managing it their way right so my
biggest challenge was to take my
employee hat off okay I had to take my
employee hat off and put on uh the
person who's actually building a
business see the person who's building a
(05:30):
business knows that we have to put some
systems in place right and the person
who's building the business understands
that they're structure and it's got to
be my structure so that I can scale
right so a lot of times I was just
bogged down with work I was bogged down
with handcuffs handcuffs to all these
little businesses that wanted to do it
(05:50):
their own way so the challenge was
getting over that mindset and into the
mindset of I'm the business owner you
came to me I'm the expert this is the
way I do it this is how I expect you
guys to give me the work so that I can
actually do it properly for you this is
the system I have in place and by doing
(06:11):
that I can teach other people to do my
system so that I have employees right so
I'm no longer you know buried under a
bunch of work now I'm actually in
business so that was that biggest
challenge that mindset okay yeah and
that mindset shift is significant
because you have to think differently as
an entrepreneur uh than you would as an
(06:32):
employee you've got that owner mentality
and I got to imagine that asking you to
do things their way even if you know
that it's not the best method there's a
subtlety there's there's sort of a a way
that you talk to a
client that you're trying to help but
you have to I don't know I think that's
(06:53):
always a balance of trying to explain
your expertise and impart that on them
while still maintaining that
relationship that you're trying to build
right you're educating you're trying to
coach you're trying to help them talk to
me about some of the challenges just in
the mind shift and and even trying to
shift the mindset of your customer your
client to work with you the right way
(07:14):
yeah you so another mistake that I made
in business is that I was not managing
my client's
expectations sure so what I found is the
best way to manage their expectations is
to be upfront with what I do vers versus
what they do so when I'm selling someone
something I am uh asking these questions
(07:37):
that show them that I am the expert
ultimately when they realize that they
weren't doing something or they should
have been doing this so they should have
been doing that the kind of value that
I'm bringing to them is for them to
understand that an expert is now working
on your accounting and bookkeeping so
what that means is you can let go right
(07:58):
you can let go of the the the wheel and
allow me to do it my way because you
don't walk into a McDonald's and tell
them how to make their Big Mac right I
mean pretty much this is how it works
right so most of the time you walk in
someplace and the expert takes care of
what it is that they need to take care
of and you need to trust that expert and
(08:19):
that's what I started to set up upfront
so that you're understanding that this
is what I'm going to need I'll give you
so now when I'm doing like the
onboarding for my bookkeeping and
account clients I am giving them a
checklist of the things that I need good
now what's different is not only am I
giving you a checklist we're doing a
kickoff meeting we're getting doing a
(08:40):
kickoff meeting where I'm telling you
what to expect when to expect it what I
ultimately need the common questions
that I might have how you can find the
answers for those questions that type of
thing and it just setting up their
expectations from the very beginning
allows their minds to shift knowing that
now they have a professional that
they're working with sure and and it
(09:01):
sounds like not just a professional but
a professional system that you've
employed and I think that's another
mindset shift as an entrepreneur at some
point in your business you have to make
sure it's not about you it's about the
system you've put in place otherwise
you'll never duplicate yourself you
can't scale and it sounds like that's
something that you figured out but did
you know that in the beginning or was
(09:21):
this something that you had to figure
out the hard way no it's definitely
something I had to figure out the hard
way it's definitely something that um
you know in the beginning like I said
you have this employee mentality so
you're just looking at the money you
know what I mean you're looking at uh
just you know telling everybody
everything that you know how to do right
so I'm selling everything I know how to
do I've been I've been working for over
(09:43):
20 25 years so I'm I I can do this I can
do that I can be on this system I can be
on that system so yeah that that is
something that's a big challenge for
somebody coming out of that world and
into into the world of oh
systemizing oh oh yeah that makes a lot
of sense because I did run um you know I
did in my my Heyday I did run
(10:05):
departments right and they had a the
system so I needed to take the the
employee hat off yes but implore some of
the things that I learned how to do in
just running departments and in running
departments I know that look you know
you it's almost like a conveyor belt so
we start off with the mail comes in and
then you know you take the mail and you
(10:26):
stamp it and then you do this and you do
that and you do this until you fin have
the the product of accounting yeah and
so I had to employ you you don't throw
what you learned away but you definitely
Now understand that these systems work
for you in a different way than they
work for you as an employee sure yeah
and and it sounds like you have to teach
(10:46):
that as much as you do anything else of
how to use the system and then as the
business scales you are you able to use
those to duplicate yourself and scale
the business and and go through that
type type of uh
transformation yeah absolutely so I've
hired employees uh before I also have
interns um you know what we do is we
(11:08):
have a list I I'm looking for it right
in front of me but no I I have a list of
every single task that happens in this
business and again that was something
that I took from running departments
every task has who does it right has a
backup person and a backup backup person
(11:30):
and then on and on top of that every
task has a um how do I say it has a a
way of doing it so a procedure that's
that's what I'm looking for so there's a
narrative of the procedure and how to
how it goes with you know a couple
pictures here and there sometimes I even
have a video that you know someone can
can look at so that eventually I can
(11:52):
step away so I haven't gotten there yet
where you know I want to have it in
place where I have someone who's
actually running this business so that I
can move on to the next business but
that's pretty much how I've been doing
it so that I can scale so that I can
give it over to somebody else yeah yeah
and that that's that's so important and
(12:12):
something that I think takes a little
while to break yourself away from the
the business depends on me right and and
and how could it ever function if I'm
not a part of it but if you do that at
scale you can only trade so much time
for money right so you're going to hit a
ceiling uh and then you know essentially
(12:32):
you don't have a business you've just
bought yourself an expensive job right
right and and so these are the concepts
that that you and I know now but you're
coaching other entrepreneurs and
Business Leaders who probably haven't
figured this out yet so what advice
would you give to someone that says hey
I this sounds like a great story I want
to jump out of my corporate job and
(12:53):
start a business to you know today
tomorrow there's got to be something
that you would do differently knowing
what you know now and and sort of can
give that advice to anybody who's
aspiring to start their own business
yeah and the first thing I would do is
hire a business coach and and I'm I'm
going to tell you something I actually
did hire a business coach she's a very
(13:13):
good business coach what happens though
eventually is that you grow out of some
some types of business coaches right so
uh but the first thing I would say to
someone is that you need someone who's
going to hold you accountable for
everything you say you're going to do
and then I would say to myself also you
(13:34):
know that 10x mentality you know most
people when I first heard of 10x I
thought that it really just meant do
doing things 10 times in fact sometimes
I hand the book to somebody and they say
oh the 10 times are all
right but my favorite part of the book
is when Grant Cardone explains that it's
(13:55):
going to take you 10 times the effort
right to get get to your goals and
Target so you know with knowing that
then you don't give up knowing that it's
going to be harder than you ever thought
that it was going to be it's going to be
very rewarding but I would definitely
have started off with a business coach
and an understanding of what 10x really
(14:17):
meant yeah I think that's important and
as coaches we have coaches we have Elite
coaches that are helping us through the
program so you recognize as you're in
that community
the value of coaching of having a mentor
of having somebody to guide you and
that's not something I think
initially the thought is well I got to
(14:38):
do it on my own I've got to figure this
out and there's so many opportunities to
find a mentor even if it's just somebody
that you can talk to on a regular basis
and I think the things that you pointed
out are great get accountability right
and and then also understand the mindset
and get that reinforced because so many
(15:00):
times the limiting thinking the limiting
beliefs are what stop us from advancing
our business and there's probably
limiting beliefs you had to let go of um
and so if you think about those I mean
are there any things right now that are
challenging either you or your clients
to just a limiting belief that you got
to let go yeah no absolutely that
limiting belief of you know everything
(15:22):
uh you know I can do everything that's a
limiting belief in itself you know I can
do everything I can take on anything
that you give me um you know you need to
make some offers you need to create
offers you know the first few off I
created three offers in the very
beginning and so and and and I stay with
(15:43):
those offers right so I have a few more
offers that are a you know a little more
embellished but the fact of the matter
is my core business is three offers so
don't offer everything that you've got
you know the fact is that you don't have
to do everything right right so the the
other thing that I would um you know
that I would say also is an limiting
(16:05):
belief I've heard people talk about you
know the the riches are in the niches
right I've heard that you know we're
finding Niche and you know but guess
what you don't necessarily have to find
a niche in the sense of an industry
right your Niche can be something that
you know you do things certain things
for small businesses or you do certain
(16:26):
things for mid-level businesses that
could be the niche as opposed to trying
I'm going to just work with travel
agents I'm just going to work with
dentists you know the fact of the matter
is that you don't have to limit yourself
in that way and the the other limiting
belief that I think I have and that I
think I I I hear other people have is
(16:47):
they're listening to the wrong people
right you they your limited belief see
when I coach my clients and what I coach
Grant cardone's clients I'm not coaching
like I'm Joanne laser I'm coaching the
way Grant Cardone coaches me so we're
not going to be you know I'm not giving
anybody something that I made up myself
(17:08):
or that you know it I'm just trying it
on you to see if it works right right so
be be careful of who you listen to right
what what are they listening to and you
know I'd also Al say you know the
negativity Beware of the negativity that
surrounds you you know there's
negativity in the television you know
(17:29):
there's negativity with the news there's
negativity it's just it's everywhere be
very wary about people who bring you
negativity things that bring you
negativity and try to focus on positive
things but learning something mastering
what you already know how to do
mastering it to the point where you know
you're so good at it it takes you only a
(17:51):
few minutes to really produce it you
know stuff like that so those are the
things and I I I do encourage that for
my for for you know for my mentees for
the people that I coach you know and I I
also I guess I just say you know with
the limiting belief I guess I really
just want to hit on you know the
limiting belief is to think that you
(18:11):
know everything right you don't and you
don't you think you know everything you
think you know why people put Billboards
up you don't really know you know you
criticize everything why do they have
that billboard over there nobody passes
there you know just just stop sit back
and learn from a Master learn from a
master and um and then also people do
(18:32):
business with people I know I'm giving
you guys a lot people do business with
people people do business with people so
learn how to get along with people right
to get people to the table to get people
on the phone to talk to people remember
that they don't really do business out
of the Yellow Pages they want to see the
person and do business with the person
(18:53):
right right yeah your Google search your
website even your product is not what's
going to to to sell people or get them
to do business and I think I can
identify with that this is something
that took me a while to learn uh
especially being in the software
business and being someone of a tech
background that I was sure if we built
the best product well of course
somebody's going to buy it why wouldn't
(19:14):
they and we even have people tell us you
guys built the best product in the
market but that alone was not going to
get uh supporters wasn't going to get
customers wasn't going to get partners
to the table to do business with us we
had to build the relationships and until
we built those relationships there were
no referrals there were no sales there
was really no business cycle and you're
(19:37):
talking about this too that you know
it's not just about having the
accounting system in place or having the
business system you need to know how to
build those relationships and you've
you've mastered that uh to to a large
degree and that's something that I feel
like you know is is as a business coach
what we hopefully strive for is to see
our clients do better than we could ever
(19:59):
imagine um and that that's that's
something rewarding I don't know if you
look it back that how you've grown the
accounting business the coaching
business anything that sticks out that
you're really proud of that you've
accomplished yeah I mean in the
beginning like I said for my story it
was really my why was all about me
eventually I turned into the type of
person who gives gives gives right so
(20:21):
just like you just said we want to see
our clients do really really well I'm
not just slinging something at you I am
invested in you doing better whether
it's me coaching you or just helping you
along with some random advice or
something along those lines I've built
networks with my you know my Chambers I
(20:41):
have like three local Chambers kind of
surrounding me within a you know I would
say a 100 mile radius that I'm really um
you know I'm really involved with and
constantly giving mentoring uh you know
giving to people all of the time
volunteering ING saying yes to
everything and you know and and and just
giving value and I think that that is
(21:04):
something that I'm very proud of makes
me feel really good it wasn't anything I
ever thought of I was that employee like
once five o'clock hits I'm out of here
and now it's like I'm overextending
myself my schedule doesn't stop at 5 I
think I'm GNA be seeing you later on
today
yeah you know what I mean all of that
(21:25):
stuff is is is me volunteering but
giving my the best that I have yeah uh
to other people and and I get so much
back in return so that's that's
something I'm I'm proud of and something
I learned you know this let's go into
that a little bit because you had to
learn different ways of operating in
order for that to work I mean you you
can't overextend yourself or say yes to
(21:46):
everything or even a lot of things
unless you structure your time and your
day differently I mean the the
misconception of time management I can
manage time but but really you had to
manage yourself right I mean how did how
did you change your operating habits in
order to make this work and be able to
take Massive Action to do all the things
you're doing yeah well listen Grant
(22:09):
always says that you know the
opportunities come out of the doing
right the creativity comes out of it
these opportunities come out of it so
I'm not afraid to say yes to to just
about everything do I have time for
every little thing no but the fact of
the matter is that when I'm saying yes
to things I mean nobody's asking me to
work 40 hours you know volunteer so I'll
(22:30):
give you an example you know I am in uh
BNI and for anybody who doesn't know
what BNI is it's a referral networking
group so I have a chapter and there's
chapters all over the the world uh one
of the things that had happened a couple
of years back or year and a half back
unfortunately was one of the directors
had passed away what directors do in BNI
(22:53):
is that we help the different chapters
kind of stay within you know doing BNI
and succeeding in being I and when he
passed away I called uh the regional
person and I said you know uh you know
if you need me I know I can't replace
this person but I would love to uh you
know help out and and and direct yeah
and the fact of the matter is that this
(23:15):
isn't something that I take on and I do
it every single day of the week so I
think I do it maybe two or three times a
month I go to another chapter and I am
volunteering now I'm bringing myself in
front of people at the same time so it's
not completely selfless the fact of the
matter is I like I said people do
business with people so people know me
they begin to trust me because I'm
(23:36):
someone who's being authoritative with
you know how these things work somebody
you know they can ask me questions they
can contact me I can contact them but at
the same time the importance of that
role is to help them succeed in BNI
helping you succeed in your journey in b
i so that you're making money getting
referrals building your business and so
(23:58):
when I say you know saying yes to
everything just make sure that it's not
something you're saying yes to free
labor for everything you know there
should be something where it it helps
you and it shouldn't be over you know
you're not overextending yourself you
can do things and uh you know still have
time to do other things and like's face
it if people do business with people
(24:19):
that's how I get business that's how I
ultimately will get someone to buy from
me yeah yeah that's good that makes
sense and and I think that's really as
you grow your business and you start to
see opportunities you talked in the
beginning about well you said yes to
everything and every everyone uh this is
a different way I think you're talking
about because you're being more
(24:40):
conscious more mindful of the things
that you are getting involved in but
you're not afraid of the Massive Action
that you have to take you recognize
what's required and and you like you
said you see the value you see the value
in it for the other person and for
yourself you see that return and I think
that's an important step to be able to
evaluate the things that that give us
(25:03):
value and give others value versus
things that that maybe just don't have
that return and um so it's it's great to
see all you're doing uh the amazing
development that your your business has
had and and the impact that you've had
on me I have to thank you as well as a
mentor and a coach in in our group
because you you've definitely helped me
think differently and and scale my
(25:26):
business so you with everything that
you've got going on I got to ask what's
next what's what's the new goal what's
what's next on your horizon yeah no the
next is to continue to scale my uh day
one accounting business um you know I
have a webinar coming up on budgets uh
(25:46):
you know how to put a budget together
for you small businesses um I always you
know I always focus on what Grant
focuses on is the top line um but I'm
going to show you how to put a a budget
together I'm going to show you how to uh
you know utilize that budget compare it
to your actuals keep those targets and
work harder to get to where you need to
(26:08):
be so that's next is utilizing webinars
to teach people more about uh you know
accounting and bookkeeping so that they
can utilize it and grow their business
great and so we can get a link for our
audience to come and make sure they they
check that out Absolutely I'll give you
a link Absolutely I'll give you a link
and if for any reason uh you haven't you
know gotten that link for any reason you
(26:28):
can always find me at day one
accounting.com that's d y NE
accounting.com on the right hand side
just you know a hit uh a consultation
with me I'd be happy to talk to you
about anything and everything so that's
great that's great and you're all over
social media I see you that you you've
got uh good Outreach and definitely an
(26:49):
example of how to to get known um in the
space and keep that business cycle going
so that's great uh I really appreciate
like I said said your uh mentorship and
guidance as a business coach you've
definitely been helpful to me and I I
know that's that's helpful information
for others as well awesome thank you
thank and thanks again for having me for
this opportunity and you know one last
(27:12):
thing I would definitely you you you hit
on something in that last blurb that
you're talking about and that was don't
be afraid to do things uh for other
people don't always be looking out for
yourself you you know it it's going to
come it's going to come so don't be
afraid to say yes yeah I agree that's
that's it and sometimes we have to serve
(27:32):
others first and just know that that
energy is out there and it will come
back but it's it's not something that
you have to consciously always look for
the other end of it it's it's something
that I think when you give a little more
freely like that it it that that energy
definitely manifests itself back to you
um and there's a lot of different words
(27:52):
or you know people talk about it but I
think
universally that might be something
something that you know before we we we
jump out of this um we can talk a little
bit about is is there anything that you
know you've visualized in these talk
about that mindset change but you know
you had a vision of it you you told
yourself that positive story you cut the
(28:12):
negativity out and and you realized it
you know you think back to the times
where you had to you you were the you
had to have the belief first you have to
have the belief you have to have the
action and then you have to do it and
then it happens and and you've probably
got a good instance where we can talk
about how you took action on that
visualization and made it a reality yeah
(28:34):
I mean Grant Cardone talks heavily on
writing your goals down and I can tell
you that in writing the goals down you
you can begin to um how do reverse
engineer yes uh reverse engineer how
you're making those you know those
things happen um so let's see if I could
(28:54):
give you a good story I mean just the
story about how businesses running right
now so you know one of the things that
you know me being in accounting and
bookkeeping I will tell you that it was
not really my passion and uh you know
Grant will say that you don't
necessarily have to do your passion but
it'd be nice right it'd be nice if you
could be working be working at something
(29:16):
that you love to do so one of the things
that I had on my uh my goals and my
targets was that I was a sought after a
speaker mentor and coach and and that
was something that was just very
important to me um because you know I I
don't necessarily like anymore you know
putting my head down and working on
accounting I want to now be in a
(29:37):
position where I'm talking to people
about building their businesses and and
having those businesses really work for
them yeah so uh you know in that as I
write them I am a sought after speaker
coach and Mentor people are asking me
all the time to speak at their events
and uh you know uh help them with this
and help them with that so that's just
(29:59):
one thing that I wrote down and all of a
sudden I get all of these opportunities
where people are asking me to speak even
like I mentioned to you about being the
director of BNI I the fact is those are
speaking engagements every time I get
you know to to go to another chapter and
meet new people I'm speaking to them so
I am living the part of myself that is
(30:22):
um you know that is the passion I am
doing it every day while I'm building my
business
so that just in itself is what I've
manifested that's amazing that's great I
think for anybody that that really wants
to do something that is Meaningful to
them that's great inspiration so I
really appreciate you sharing that thank
(30:42):
you yeah well great well we'll leave it
right there and I really appreciate it
Joanne thank you so much for being on
the show today you an awesome guest
really glad that I got to share that uh
with others because like I said usually
uh it's it's it's us uh doing our our
meetings and and you impart so much
knowledge with me I knew that you would
be a great resource and and just a
(31:02):
really great source of knowledge for
everyone else so thank you so much for
everything you do really appreciate it
all right and we'll leave it there this
is Brad Rea for the fired up Podcast
reminding you to stay fired up and do
something
great the going light up everybody get
(31:26):
up
oh
in the beginning my why was to just get
out of corporate America okay I had to
take my employee hat off and put on uh
the person who's actually building a
business see the person who's building a
business knows that we have to put some
systems in place so the challenge was
getting over that mindset and into the
mindset of I'm the business
(00:28):
owner up
everybody Welcome to the fired up
Podcast I'm your host Brad rea the fired
up Podcast is where we talk to
entrepreneurs learn their story and from
their Journey we're going to learn how
to 10x our business fired up is
sponsored by reignite reignite is a 10x
certified business coaching program
specifically designed for entrepreneurs
(00:50):
to manage the relationships in their
business turn those relationships into
referrals and referrals into sales
reignite is the way to 10x your business
and I'm here talking with our guest
today that has been 10 Xing the
accounting and business world please
welcome Joan Leisure welcome to the show
thank you Brad thank you thanks Joan
(01:12):
great to have you
on um yeah so most people may not know
that we we've actually uh know each
other through tenic business coaching as
well so I'd love to hear as we're going
through this some of the story of how
you got involved in business coaching in
addition to your accounting business but
you know maybe you can take us back to
the part where you started everything
(01:32):
and what was your why for taking the
entrepreneurial route and starting your
business yeah so listen and thank you by
the way for inviting me to your podcast
great to have you honored to be here but
um yeah I tell you when I I wanted to be
you know have my own business for the
longest time and in the beginning my why
was to just get out of corporate America
(01:54):
you know if you remember Corporate
America it was a lot like uh a lot like
uh
what we see in reality television you
know I felt like I was on Survivor and I
remember the last job the last job that
I had um I I probably wanted to be more
of the entrepreneur prior to that but I
got another job thinking maybe this
(02:16):
would just solve that problem and I
remember stepping off of the elevator uh
for this new job and and and the hallway
was like that that that vision and The
Shining where it just kind of got longer
and longer
I in for the first day and uh you know
so at first my why was really just about
(02:37):
me it was about me not liking what I was
doing not liking the various people that
I was surrounded with and uh you know it
was just a very small why my son is
grown um you know I have a husband or
what have you but I you know but the
fact is that it was just really about me
and then it shifted eventually it all
shifts so at first you want to kind of
(02:59):
Escape AP that was my why and then it
shifted into wanting something even more
than what a job could ever give me I
wanted really control of my own economy
and so that is the reason why I do what
I do right now is because I want to have
full control over how much I make where
(03:19):
I'm going to work if I'm going to work
here uh in northeast Pennsylvania doing
accounting or if I'm G to work somewhere
else that you know enjoy the sunshine I
want Total Control sure yeah that makes
sense and being able to have that
freedom to control what you're working
on who you're working with when and
where really is is important to just own
(03:42):
who you are and and and how you want to
serve and taking that route's never easy
right so there's one school of thought
that that the corporate job might have
been a safer route although I don't know
these days with everything that's going
on in the economy so there's a different
set of challenges though as an
entrepreneur and maybe you can talk
about some of the things that were
(04:03):
challenging as you started the business
and things began to grow what what types
of roadblocks did you run into
absolutely so you know I'd been a i' had
been a um an employee my entire life you
know from the late 90s when I started to
you know to work in accounting and
there's a mind shift that you have to
make from being the employee to being
(04:25):
the entrepreneur so that in itself was a
challenge right so in the beginning of
my business if you want to even call it
that uh in the beginning I would take
anything like most people but then I
would also take on the rules of the
clients that were giving me their their
their work to do right they had all
(04:47):
these you know this is how they did it
this was the work that they did this you
know it took it took ve it took a long
time to do people's work uh in
bookkeeping and accounting because most
of the time when you have these you know
entrepreneurs most of the time they're
not doing it properly so a lot of times
you know they don't have any structure
(05:08):
and then they just hand you this big
mess and expect you to just manage the
mess just fix it right exactly but
managing it their way right so my
biggest challenge was to take my
employee hat off okay I had to take my
employee hat off and put on uh the
person who's actually building a
business see the person who's building a
(05:30):
business knows that we have to put some
systems in place right and the person
who's building the business understands
that they're structure and it's got to
be my structure so that I can scale
right so a lot of times I was just
bogged down with work I was bogged down
with handcuffs handcuffs to all these
little businesses that wanted to do it
(05:50):
their own way so the challenge was
getting over that mindset and into the
mindset of I'm the business owner you
came to me I'm the expert this is the
way I do it this is how I expect you
guys to give me the work so that I can
actually do it properly for you this is
the system I have in place and by doing
(06:11):
that I can teach other people to do my
system so that I have employees right so
I'm no longer you know buried under a
bunch of work now I'm actually in
business so that was that biggest
challenge that mindset okay yeah and
that mindset shift is significant
because you have to think differently as
an entrepreneur uh than you would as an
(06:32):
employee you've got that owner mentality
and I got to imagine that asking you to
do things their way even if you know
that it's not the best method there's a
subtlety there's there's sort of a a way
that you talk to a
client that you're trying to help but
you have to I don't know I think that's
(06:53):
always a balance of trying to explain
your expertise and impart that on them
while still maintaining that
relationship that you're trying to build
right you're educating you're trying to
coach you're trying to help them talk to
me about some of the challenges just in
the mind shift and and even trying to
shift the mindset of your customer your
client to work with you the right way
(07:14):
yeah you so another mistake that I made
in business is that I was not managing
my client's
expectations sure so what I found is the
best way to manage their expectations is
to be upfront with what I do vers versus
what they do so when I'm selling someone
something I am uh asking these questions
(07:37):
that show them that I am the expert
ultimately when they realize that they
weren't doing something or they should
have been doing this so they should have
been doing that the kind of value that
I'm bringing to them is for them to
understand that an expert is now working
on your accounting and bookkeeping so
what that means is you can let go right
(07:58):
you can let go of the the the wheel and
allow me to do it my way because you
don't walk into a McDonald's and tell
them how to make their Big Mac right I
mean pretty much this is how it works
right so most of the time you walk in
someplace and the expert takes care of
what it is that they need to take care
of and you need to trust that expert and
(08:19):
that's what I started to set up upfront
so that you're understanding that this
is what I'm going to need I'll give you
so now when I'm doing like the
onboarding for my bookkeeping and
account clients I am giving them a
checklist of the things that I need good
now what's different is not only am I
giving you a checklist we're doing a
kickoff meeting we're getting doing a
(08:40):
kickoff meeting where I'm telling you
what to expect when to expect it what I
ultimately need the common questions
that I might have how you can find the
answers for those questions that type of
thing and it just setting up their
expectations from the very beginning
allows their minds to shift knowing that
now they have a professional that
they're working with sure and and it
(09:01):
sounds like not just a professional but
a professional system that you've
employed and I think that's another
mindset shift as an entrepreneur at some
point in your business you have to make
sure it's not about you it's about the
system you've put in place otherwise
you'll never duplicate yourself you
can't scale and it sounds like that's
something that you figured out but did
you know that in the beginning or was
(09:21):
this something that you had to figure
out the hard way no it's definitely
something I had to figure out the hard
way it's definitely something that um
you know in the beginning like I said
you have this employee mentality so
you're just looking at the money you
know what I mean you're looking at uh
just you know telling everybody
everything that you know how to do right
so I'm selling everything I know how to
do I've been I've been working for over
(09:43):
20 25 years so I'm I I can do this I can
do that I can be on this system I can be
on that system so yeah that that is
something that's a big challenge for
somebody coming out of that world and
into into the world of oh
systemizing oh oh yeah that makes a lot
of sense because I did run um you know I
did in my my Heyday I did run
(10:05):
departments right and they had a the
system so I needed to take the the
employee hat off yes but implore some of
the things that I learned how to do in
just running departments and in running
departments I know that look you know
you it's almost like a conveyor belt so
we start off with the mail comes in and
then you know you take the mail and you
(10:26):
stamp it and then you do this and you do
that and you do this until you fin have
the the product of accounting yeah and
so I had to employ you you don't throw
what you learned away but you definitely
Now understand that these systems work
for you in a different way than they
work for you as an employee sure yeah
and and it sounds like you have to teach
(10:46):
that as much as you do anything else of
how to use the system and then as the
business scales you are you able to use
those to duplicate yourself and scale
the business and and go through that
type type of uh
transformation yeah absolutely so I've
hired employees uh before I also have
interns um you know what we do is we
(11:08):
have a list I I'm looking for it right
in front of me but no I I have a list of
every single task that happens in this
business and again that was something
that I took from running departments
every task has who does it right has a
backup person and a backup backup person
(11:30):
and then on and on top of that every
task has a um how do I say it has a a
way of doing it so a procedure that's
that's what I'm looking for so there's a
narrative of the procedure and how to
how it goes with you know a couple
pictures here and there sometimes I even
have a video that you know someone can
can look at so that eventually I can
(11:52):
step away so I haven't gotten there yet
where you know I want to have it in
place where I have someone who's
actually running this business so that I
can move on to the next business but
that's pretty much how I've been doing
it so that I can scale so that I can
give it over to somebody else yeah yeah
and that that's that's so important and
(12:12):
something that I think takes a little
while to break yourself away from the
the business depends on me right and and
and how could it ever function if I'm
not a part of it but if you do that at
scale you can only trade so much time
for money right so you're going to hit a
ceiling uh and then you know essentially
(12:32):
you don't have a business you've just
bought yourself an expensive job right
right and and so these are the concepts
that that you and I know now but you're
coaching other entrepreneurs and
Business Leaders who probably haven't
figured this out yet so what advice
would you give to someone that says hey
I this sounds like a great story I want
to jump out of my corporate job and
(12:53):
start a business to you know today
tomorrow there's got to be something
that you would do differently knowing
what you know now and and sort of can
give that advice to anybody who's
aspiring to start their own business
yeah and the first thing I would do is
hire a business coach and and I'm I'm
going to tell you something I actually
did hire a business coach she's a very
(13:13):
good business coach what happens though
eventually is that you grow out of some
some types of business coaches right so
uh but the first thing I would say to
someone is that you need someone who's
going to hold you accountable for
everything you say you're going to do
and then I would say to myself also you
(13:34):
know that 10x mentality you know most
people when I first heard of 10x I
thought that it really just meant do
doing things 10 times in fact sometimes
I hand the book to somebody and they say
oh the 10 times are all
right but my favorite part of the book
is when Grant Cardone explains that it's
(13:55):
going to take you 10 times the effort
right to get get to your goals and
Target so you know with knowing that
then you don't give up knowing that it's
going to be harder than you ever thought
that it was going to be it's going to be
very rewarding but I would definitely
have started off with a business coach
and an understanding of what 10x really
(14:17):
meant yeah I think that's important and
as coaches we have coaches we have Elite
coaches that are helping us through the
program so you recognize as you're in
that community
the value of coaching of having a mentor
of having somebody to guide you and
that's not something I think
initially the thought is well I got to
(14:38):
do it on my own I've got to figure this
out and there's so many opportunities to
find a mentor even if it's just somebody
that you can talk to on a regular basis
and I think the things that you pointed
out are great get accountability right
and and then also understand the mindset
and get that reinforced because so many
(15:00):
times the limiting thinking the limiting
beliefs are what stop us from advancing
our business and there's probably
limiting beliefs you had to let go of um
and so if you think about those I mean
are there any things right now that are
challenging either you or your clients
to just a limiting belief that you got
to let go yeah no absolutely that
limiting belief of you know everything
(15:22):
uh you know I can do everything that's a
limiting belief in itself you know I can
do everything I can take on anything
that you give me um you know you need to
make some offers you need to create
offers you know the first few off I
created three offers in the very
beginning and so and and and I stay with
(15:43):
those offers right so I have a few more
offers that are a you know a little more
embellished but the fact of the matter
is my core business is three offers so
don't offer everything that you've got
you know the fact is that you don't have
to do everything right right so the the
other thing that I would um you know
that I would say also is an limiting
(16:05):
belief I've heard people talk about you
know the the riches are in the niches
right I've heard that you know we're
finding Niche and you know but guess
what you don't necessarily have to find
a niche in the sense of an industry
right your Niche can be something that
you know you do things certain things
for small businesses or you do certain
(16:26):
things for mid-level businesses that
could be the niche as opposed to trying
I'm going to just work with travel
agents I'm just going to work with
dentists you know the fact of the matter
is that you don't have to limit yourself
in that way and the the other limiting
belief that I think I have and that I
think I I I hear other people have is
(16:47):
they're listening to the wrong people
right you they your limited belief see
when I coach my clients and what I coach
Grant cardone's clients I'm not coaching
like I'm Joanne laser I'm coaching the
way Grant Cardone coaches me so we're
not going to be you know I'm not giving
anybody something that I made up myself
(17:08):
or that you know it I'm just trying it
on you to see if it works right right so
be be careful of who you listen to right
what what are they listening to and you
know I'd also Al say you know the
negativity Beware of the negativity that
surrounds you you know there's
negativity in the television you know
(17:29):
there's negativity with the news there's
negativity it's just it's everywhere be
very wary about people who bring you
negativity things that bring you
negativity and try to focus on positive
things but learning something mastering
what you already know how to do
mastering it to the point where you know
you're so good at it it takes you only a
(17:51):
few minutes to really produce it you
know stuff like that so those are the
things and I I I do encourage that for
my for for you know for my mentees for
the people that I coach you know and I I
also I guess I just say you know with
the limiting belief I guess I really
just want to hit on you know the
limiting belief is to think that you
(18:11):
know everything right you don't and you
don't you think you know everything you
think you know why people put Billboards
up you don't really know you know you
criticize everything why do they have
that billboard over there nobody passes
there you know just just stop sit back
and learn from a Master learn from a
master and um and then also people do
(18:32):
business with people I know I'm giving
you guys a lot people do business with
people people do business with people so
learn how to get along with people right
to get people to the table to get people
on the phone to talk to people remember
that they don't really do business out
of the Yellow Pages they want to see the
person and do business with the person
(18:53):
right right yeah your Google search your
website even your product is not what's
going to to to sell people or get them
to do business and I think I can
identify with that this is something
that took me a while to learn uh
especially being in the software
business and being someone of a tech
background that I was sure if we built
the best product well of course
somebody's going to buy it why wouldn't
(19:14):
they and we even have people tell us you
guys built the best product in the
market but that alone was not going to
get uh supporters wasn't going to get
customers wasn't going to get partners
to the table to do business with us we
had to build the relationships and until
we built those relationships there were
no referrals there were no sales there
was really no business cycle and you're
(19:37):
talking about this too that you know
it's not just about having the
accounting system in place or having the
business system you need to know how to
build those relationships and you've
you've mastered that uh to to a large
degree and that's something that I feel
like you know is is as a business coach
what we hopefully strive for is to see
our clients do better than we could ever
(19:59):
imagine um and that that's that's
something rewarding I don't know if you
look it back that how you've grown the
accounting business the coaching
business anything that sticks out that
you're really proud of that you've
accomplished yeah I mean in the
beginning like I said for my story it
was really my why was all about me
eventually I turned into the type of
person who gives gives gives right so
(20:21):
just like you just said we want to see
our clients do really really well I'm
not just slinging something at you I am
invested in you doing better whether
it's me coaching you or just helping you
along with some random advice or
something along those lines I've built
networks with my you know my Chambers I
(20:41):
have like three local Chambers kind of
surrounding me within a you know I would
say a 100 mile radius that I'm really um
you know I'm really involved with and
constantly giving mentoring uh you know
giving to people all of the time
volunteering ING saying yes to
everything and you know and and and just
giving value and I think that that is
(21:04):
something that I'm very proud of makes
me feel really good it wasn't anything I
ever thought of I was that employee like
once five o'clock hits I'm out of here
and now it's like I'm overextending
myself my schedule doesn't stop at 5 I
think I'm GNA be seeing you later on
today
yeah you know what I mean all of that
(21:25):
stuff is is is me volunteering but
giving my the best that I have yeah uh
to other people and and I get so much
back in return so that's that's
something I'm I'm proud of and something
I learned you know this let's go into
that a little bit because you had to
learn different ways of operating in
order for that to work I mean you you
can't overextend yourself or say yes to
(21:46):
everything or even a lot of things
unless you structure your time and your
day differently I mean the the
misconception of time management I can
manage time but but really you had to
manage yourself right I mean how did how
did you change your operating habits in
order to make this work and be able to
take Massive Action to do all the things
you're doing yeah well listen Grant
(22:09):
always says that you know the
opportunities come out of the doing
right the creativity comes out of it
these opportunities come out of it so
I'm not afraid to say yes to to just
about everything do I have time for
every little thing no but the fact of
the matter is that when I'm saying yes
to things I mean nobody's asking me to
work 40 hours you know volunteer so I'll
(22:30):
give you an example you know I am in uh
BNI and for anybody who doesn't know
what BNI is it's a referral networking
group so I have a chapter and there's
chapters all over the the world uh one
of the things that had happened a couple
of years back or year and a half back
unfortunately was one of the directors
had passed away what directors do in BNI
(22:53):
is that we help the different chapters
kind of stay within you know doing BNI
and succeeding in being I and when he
passed away I called uh the regional
person and I said you know uh you know
if you need me I know I can't replace
this person but I would love to uh you
know help out and and and direct yeah
and the fact of the matter is that this
(23:15):
isn't something that I take on and I do
it every single day of the week so I
think I do it maybe two or three times a
month I go to another chapter and I am
volunteering now I'm bringing myself in
front of people at the same time so it's
not completely selfless the fact of the
matter is I like I said people do
business with people so people know me
they begin to trust me because I'm
(23:36):
someone who's being authoritative with
you know how these things work somebody
you know they can ask me questions they
can contact me I can contact them but at
the same time the importance of that
role is to help them succeed in BNI
helping you succeed in your journey in b
i so that you're making money getting
referrals building your business and so
(23:58):
when I say you know saying yes to
everything just make sure that it's not
something you're saying yes to free
labor for everything you know there
should be something where it it helps
you and it shouldn't be over you know
you're not overextending yourself you
can do things and uh you know still have
time to do other things and like's face
it if people do business with people
(24:19):
that's how I get business that's how I
ultimately will get someone to buy from
me yeah yeah that's good that makes
sense and and I think that's really as
you grow your business and you start to
see opportunities you talked in the
beginning about well you said yes to
everything and every everyone uh this is
a different way I think you're talking
about because you're being more
(24:40):
conscious more mindful of the things
that you are getting involved in but
you're not afraid of the Massive Action
that you have to take you recognize
what's required and and you like you
said you see the value you see the value
in it for the other person and for
yourself you see that return and I think
that's an important step to be able to
evaluate the things that that give us
(25:03):
value and give others value versus
things that that maybe just don't have
that return and um so it's it's great to
see all you're doing uh the amazing
development that your your business has
had and and the impact that you've had
on me I have to thank you as well as a
mentor and a coach in in our group
because you you've definitely helped me
think differently and and scale my
(25:26):
business so you with everything that
you've got going on I got to ask what's
next what's what's the new goal what's
what's next on your horizon yeah no the
next is to continue to scale my uh day
one accounting business um you know I
have a webinar coming up on budgets uh
(25:46):
you know how to put a budget together
for you small businesses um I always you
know I always focus on what Grant
focuses on is the top line um but I'm
going to show you how to put a a budget
together I'm going to show you how to uh
you know utilize that budget compare it
to your actuals keep those targets and
work harder to get to where you need to
(26:08):
be so that's next is utilizing webinars
to teach people more about uh you know
accounting and bookkeeping so that they
can utilize it and grow their business
great and so we can get a link for our
audience to come and make sure they they
check that out Absolutely I'll give you
a link Absolutely I'll give you a link
and if for any reason uh you haven't you
know gotten that link for any reason you
(26:28):
can always find me at day one
accounting.com that's d y NE
accounting.com on the right hand side
just you know a hit uh a consultation
with me I'd be happy to talk to you
about anything and everything so that's
great that's great and you're all over
social media I see you that you you've
got uh good Outreach and definitely an
(26:49):
example of how to to get known um in the
space and keep that business cycle going
so that's great uh I really appreciate
like I said said your uh mentorship and
guidance as a business coach you've
definitely been helpful to me and I I
know that's that's helpful information
for others as well awesome thank you
thank and thanks again for having me for
this opportunity and you know one last
(27:12):
thing I would definitely you you you hit
on something in that last blurb that
you're talking about and that was don't
be afraid to do things uh for other
people don't always be looking out for
yourself you you know it it's going to
come it's going to come so don't be
afraid to say yes yeah I agree that's
that's it and sometimes we have to serve
(27:32):
others first and just know that that
energy is out there and it will come
back but it's it's not something that
you have to consciously always look for
the other end of it it's it's something
that I think when you give a little more
freely like that it it that that energy
definitely manifests itself back to you
um and there's a lot of different words
(27:52):
or you know people talk about it but I
think
universally that might be something
something that you know before we we we
jump out of this um we can talk a little
bit about is is there anything that you
know you've visualized in these talk
about that mindset change but you know
you had a vision of it you you told
yourself that positive story you cut the
(28:12):
negativity out and and you realized it
you know you think back to the times
where you had to you you were the you
had to have the belief first you have to
have the belief you have to have the
action and then you have to do it and
then it happens and and you've probably
got a good instance where we can talk
about how you took action on that
visualization and made it a reality yeah
(28:34):
I mean Grant Cardone talks heavily on
writing your goals down and I can tell
you that in writing the goals down you
you can begin to um how do reverse
engineer yes uh reverse engineer how
you're making those you know those
things happen um so let's see if I could
(28:54):
give you a good story I mean just the
story about how businesses running right
now so you know one of the things that
you know me being in accounting and
bookkeeping I will tell you that it was
not really my passion and uh you know
Grant will say that you don't
necessarily have to do your passion but
it'd be nice right it'd be nice if you
could be working be working at something
(29:16):
that you love to do so one of the things
that I had on my uh my goals and my
targets was that I was a sought after a
speaker mentor and coach and and that
was something that was just very
important to me um because you know I I
don't necessarily like anymore you know
putting my head down and working on
accounting I want to now be in a
(29:37):
position where I'm talking to people
about building their businesses and and
having those businesses really work for
them yeah so uh you know in that as I
write them I am a sought after speaker
coach and Mentor people are asking me
all the time to speak at their events
and uh you know uh help them with this
and help them with that so that's just
(29:59):
one thing that I wrote down and all of a
sudden I get all of these opportunities
where people are asking me to speak even
like I mentioned to you about being the
director of BNI I the fact is those are
speaking engagements every time I get
you know to to go to another chapter and
meet new people I'm speaking to them so
I am living the part of myself that is
(30:22):
um you know that is the passion I am
doing it every day while I'm building my
business
so that just in itself is what I've
manifested that's amazing that's great I
think for anybody that that really wants
to do something that is Meaningful to
them that's great inspiration so I
really appreciate you sharing that thank
(30:42):
you yeah well great well we'll leave it
right there and I really appreciate it
Joanne thank you so much for being on
the show today you an awesome guest
really glad that I got to share that uh
with others because like I said usually
uh it's it's it's us uh doing our our
meetings and and you impart so much
knowledge with me I knew that you would
be a great resource and and just a
(31:02):
really great source of knowledge for
everyone else so thank you so much for
everything you do really appreciate it
all right and we'll leave it there this
is Brad Rea for the fired up Podcast
reminding you to stay fired up and do
something
great the going light up everybody get
(31:26):
up
oh
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