005 I Left My Firm!

Gang. So here's the deal. It's. I. I don't run an accounting firm anymore as of January 1st this year. I don't. I haven't been sneaky about it. It came up on Twitter and a bunch of people like, what? So does that make me not want to view anymore? I don't know. But I. Let's talk about it. I'll run you through why I came to a hard decision, why it kind of like reshaped how I think about making hard decisions that are going to disappoint other people when they're in my own best interests and how to rationalize that with being selfish and virtue signaling and just all these other sticky things. I'll run you through what my process was. Maybe it helps somebody. Let's do it. So it came up on Twitter. I haven't been like, I haven't been trying to be secretive about it by any means. Up until 1231, I was running a firm with my partner in Oregon here, a team of about 40. And now I'm not. I was up to 1231. Everything's good, everything's. Everything's cordial, no concerns. But ultimately I decided what it came down to was with what I had learned and where I was at and what I was, what I was capable of and what I had grown into. Working in a firm was the best thing for everybody around me, but it wasn't the best thing for me. And those are two different things. And I think oftentimes we're faced with decisions where you make the decision that's right for everybody around you at your own expense. There's times when that's the right thing to do. There's times when that's the wrong thing to do. I think you can be especially susceptible to making the right decision for the people around you when you identify as the kind of person that does that. And I think a lot of accountants are that way, where we are helpers, we're heroes, we're problem solvers, we take a lot of pride in helping other people. And honestly, what higher calling is there than that than to be in service of other people? But that's the same thing that really makes managing our own. Well, being really hard for accountants. So to take a whole bunch of steps back, like throughout my life, and it's easier to see in retrospect. There's been so many examples of this going clear back to when I was 18. I was working at a Safeway at a grocery store, and I worked there for like three or Four months before I went to college. And when I went in to tell them, you know, give my two weeks to say, I'm going to school, the general manager of the store is like, what do you mean? He's like, you realize you could have, you could have my job someday. You could, like, I think you can do this. And he said that. And I was like, and you're 18 years old, right? Like that's. You're just starving for any kind of attention. And I was like, but ultimately I was like, I see how that's good for you, but it's not good for me. That's not really the ceiling that I want to have. And then I went to school, and then I went to work at a real small firm. I started interning with them. And my junior year of college was a great internship. Paid better than any of my buddies. It's the only reason I ended up in accounting. And I tell people I still haven't found a way to leave. I. I kind of have, but here I am. So I went to a real, a small firm. It was like 5.5ish. Four or five people. I did that for three years when I realized the same thing. I was great for the people around me, but that situation wasn't the best for me. And when I left or I told him I was leaving, it was the same thing. Like, you realize how much opportunity there and you could, you could have my job, you could run this. And ultimately it was like, I don't want to do that. Like, that's, that doesn't seem fun to me. But leaving this firm was different. This was a cast team, an accounting team I had built from scratch. This was a firm I'd been with 12 years old when I went there. We basically acquired the previous firm that I was at. And so we pulled a bunch of the people that I worked with there into the new firm. So these are people that a lot of them I had worked with for 15 years, starting as a junior. Oh my gosh. And them seeing just my. Oof. Seeing just the things you do when you're a junior that you are just so ashamed of when you get that review note and you think I should have been an engineer or anything besides this. And you're like, how am I ever going to look that person in the face again? Those people, I was still working with those people. I guess I was managing those people, which was kind of weird, but pretty good sized firm for basically two managing partners. I had hired people off of Twitter. Like there were people there who were there for my vision for how to run an accounting firm. So how could you? Right? How could you? I was talking with another friend just a few days ago who is in a similar situation and she realized, I don't know that this is actually what I want. And all of the reasons why I'm afraid to do it have nothing to do with me. It's the staff. It's what are the staff going to do? It's what are the clients going to do? But another really big part of it is what is my identity going to be when I'm not a successful firm runner? I think that's a really big part of it for us. But what is the right decision? I think ultimately for me, I think of it in terms of leverage. So I started out preparing tax returns, eventually learned I really didn't enjoy that, and pivoted into running the bookkeeping practice. And I started out doing the work like anybody else. And as is the way in an accounting firm, when you're really good at when you can do the work, eventually they have the best ones at doing the work, stop doing the work to manage the other people that do the work. And that was a way for me to kind of pour into those people what I knew about doing the work. But I pretty quickly realized that my skills were better served, really, even going up another level and not doing client facing stuff. So about four years ago, I kind of moved into that role of I'm going to do all of the internal stuff, the process stuff, the staff development, the recruiting, the strategy around how we set prices and manage engagements, and how in the world we find the next person that's actually going to get this work done. That was for me the highest leverage use of my time because I could absolutely work with clients. But at the end of the day, if our people weren't happy, if we weren't setting up engagements correctly, like from a strategic standpoint, nothing else mattered. And so I had gotten to the point where I realized, okay, like, this is the highest leverage use of my time going on from there, getting involved on Twitter, with people, online, with my accountant community, with producing YouTube videos, it is, I feel unbelievably fortunate that I've had this opportunity and been able to meet so many amazing people and learn from them and then regurgitate all of those things via my platform that I learned from the really smart people that I talk to and hang out with where I can then share those things. And a couple people find those things and it's helpful for them and because of the way the Internet works, that gets attributed to me, which is like, I don't know. I think that's one of the misnomers of creating online is like, you don't have to have something novel to say, you just have to share what's novel to you and it's going to attract like minded people. But when I started going down that path and seeing what was on the other side of creating content, and I always rail on the notion that we cannot fathom what's out there. Like content is the ultimate vehicle for serendipity. You can't even imagine the cool people and the cool relationships that are on the other side of putting yourself out there. If you can get over the discomfort of doing that. I started putting that stuff out there and I realized I can, I can make a video and in 24 hours, you know, a thousand people will watch it. And so should I spend a day sitting with a few junior staff and help them with accounting stuff and tax stuff and that sort of thing? Or is the higher leverage use of my time really that broader? Like stuff that finds thousands of people? And I honestly think, I think the most successful isn't the right word. The most impressive people who are doing the big things and running a lot of businesses and running big teams and stuff like that. I think those people fundamentally progress through higher leverage tasks faster than other people. It's easy for them to delegate, it's easy for them to think through. Here's how I build a team to do this thing that I used to do so that I don't have to do it anymore. I think some people are wired that way more so than others. But ultimately leaving my firm for me was a question of leverage. It was the fact that like, I can help a hundred firm owners run better firms and help their clients better and be better employers for their staff. And so like, that was just a higher leverage version of, of me of like the realization of the things that I can do. And the outlier here is like the, the person that just wants to do the work. And there are a lot of those people, especially accountants, there's a lot of people, like they enjoy doing the work, they just want to do the work and they want to help people. And that's fine. And there's nothing wrong with that as long as you've come to terms with what that means for lifestyle and for, you know, not having too big of expectations of okay. I also want to run a team of 20 people while I do all that stuff like you can't. I don't think it's realistic to say that you can do all of that. But for the people that want to continue growing and growing like their team and delegating and stuff like that, I think your job is ultimately to take the expertise that you have and constantly look at what is the higher leverage way for me to distribute this expertise. So the really basic example is running a team instead of doing the work yourself, or running a team of people who run teams, coaching a group of accounting firms. A lot of people get to a certain point and stop, I think, or they never take the time to develop the skill of delegation, the skill of building teams. And then they ultimately look back and they feel trapped. They're like, how am I ever going to get out of these tasks that I'm stuck doing? But then you look at this other firm owner that like grows this team super fast and you're like, how in the world do they do that? For me, what's fun to me, and admittedly I like change and I like doing new things, is progressing through the higher leverage versions of what I do. And it's like, that's why the, the Internet age enabled firm is really interesting to me, that's selling digital products and running masterminds and stuff like that. Because then you're taking your staff out of one to one work and your staff's now doing one to many work running mastermind groups with clients and that sort of thing. It's creating a path for them to be higher leverage. So the decision for me ultimately came down to leverage. Like early last year, it just got to the point where it kind of seemed inevitable, where it was like, no, like I just, I need to do this. But holy smokes, are there so many aspects of that decision that are hard? And honestly, there's a hundred versions of this that we face every day. And the like, the way I was raised, like how I'm wired is I'm very susceptible to what I now recognize as a level of virtual signaling that isn't healthy. I take a lot of pride in and being the hero and doing really hard things. And that is a fantastic trait. To have and to be capable of those things is awesome. But the reality is, and having a family has, has really shown a light on this for me. The people who ultimately pay the price for that are usually the people that you care about most. It was one thing when I was in my 20s and it was like, what am I gonna do if I'm not working? Like, I don't really have anything else to do. So I was like that, fire breathing, super sweaty, like, I don't have anything else to do. So, sure, I'll work. I'm learning. I'm. I feel like I'm making progress in my career. I don't know if I was or not. But then as you find success and you build cool things, you inevitably are an integral part of all of these things in your life. Right. And all of these things have inertia and can be things that keep you from growing and you continuing on a path to being a happier, maybe more sustainable version of yourself. So how do you balance being everything for everybody else versus being selfish? And honestly, I think oftentimes the easy thing to do is hide behind virtue, is hide behind saying yes and helping that person out and not making the hard decision. But at the end of the day, like, I effectively walked away from. From 40 people for whom I was really, really important. Like, the. Like, you take one of the managing partners out of a firm like that, and it looks very different. And I disappointed a lot of people who came there, like, following my vision for how to run a firm. And I don't know that there's an absolute right answer to when that's okay and when that's not okay, but I still feel like I did the right thing. I think oftentimes we get stuck on decisions when we can't see the really cool possibility that's on the other side of that decision. Right. We have 2020 vision on where we're at today and what reality is for us today. But we can't see a thing on the other side of that decision. And oftentimes it's making that decision and opening yourself up to things that weren't possible before that enable something you could have never even imagined that is so much better. So I don't know if there's. If there's something of value that my experience can maybe give you. It is that, yes, it is a really, really hard decision when you let those people down, when you make that decision for yourself. But the person who ultimately needs to take the wheel is the version of you that's 10 years in the future. So what would you look back at yourself and be proud of yourself for doing? That's kind of my only, like, guiding light for was this the right thing or not? And right Now, I think 10 years in the future, Jason, if I looked back and saw that freaking maniac's gonna do a daily show trying to be the friend to people that he needed when he was in practice not having a good time. I think I would be proud of that. And that wasn't possible when I was running a firm. That wasn't possible before. I had made all these friends online and learned so much from other people who run firms. But that, I think, is what makes that the right decision for me. And so if you're, if you're grappling with something like that, you know, you're like sitting in a room with all these demons and all of these, these forces that speak into that decision from this employee that I'm going to disappoint and this client that I'm going to disappoint. And like your mental model for making that decision is, is all of those people that you will let down. I guess you just have to balance that with the unknowable. To know that oftentimes that that hard decision is going to enable something that you can't comprehend and that you will not come to regret. And that's absolutely been the case for me. And the more you actually build a community and make friends and build a network just by putting yourself out there, the more I like. The opportunities are just always there. Like literally living in the comments section of this video on YouTube are opportunities. Every time you put something out on LinkedIn, there are opportunities on the other side of that. I think as we take on these projects and become like leaders and find success in the things we do. And with that comes a lot of inertia. And this is just what my life is now. And this is the path that I'm on and I don't have control over it. The downside of that is tunnel vision as to what's possible if you, like, break outside of that mold and if you make a really hard decision for yourself. Gosh, this was, this was real woo woo today, wasn't it? I would love to hear your experiences with hard decisions. I've. I feel like I've had to go through a number of these and I haven't regretted any of them yet. You know, a few real nuts and bolts things. If you're worried about, if you're worried about your staff, oh, mama. It has never been a better time to be an accountant. Your staff will be just fine. There, there's an element of, well, nobody will, will manage and mold, mold that clay as well as I can. You know, like, there's a, there's an element of, like, well, nobody will be as good as them, as good for them as I am. And I think you kind of have to get over that. Maybe that's true. Maybe you just want it to be true. But I don't think you have to feel bad for your staff these days, because there's just so many opportunities out there for accountants. They're going to be just fine clients, man. In the past, I would have said that. I don't actually know, like, for, like, the ability for a client to go out and find another accountant. I'm sure they probably will, but at the same time, there's a degree of sucking it up and saying, well, nobody's gonna be as good for this client as I was. I think the more you dwell on those things, the more it. The more it takes your eyes off where you're going. Right? Like. And honestly, that's just, like, central to this show. And what I think more people need to focus on is, like, man, what's that cool thing that's around the corner? And how can we bring that to life sooner? And how can I get my hands on that thing that's gonna make my life easier? And rather than dwelling on all the people that do stuff wrong and all the products that do stuff wrong and everything that's wrong with the profession, leadership is focusing on what is the best stuff that's happening, amplifying that and then showing a bunch of other people the path. Like, be the first one to get there. Like, that starts with positivity and focusing on what's ahead rather than your current state of affairs. The people that you're gonna disappoint, how you kind of balance all that with selfishness. Was this helpful? I don't know. Let me know what you think. Thanks for coming out and hanging. This one was not really very topical today. More just. I don't know, hopefully a little bit of support. If you feel like you have to make that hard decision, think about yourself, because ultimately, you being your best self is the best thing for the people you love. Right? All right, see you tomorrow.