134 The Legacy of an Accounting Firm

It's easy to get sucked into the busyness of work and sometimes not bring your head up for years to assess honestly, is this taking me on a path that I want to be on? Is this something that, you know is still challenging to me, or am I still just going through the motions? And frankly, honestly, we will hide from this oftentimes. Like, that's why we keep our heads down. A little exercise I heard about the other day, that fear we run through. Not to send us off a cliff into a full blown existential crisis, but just to ensure that we're being mindful of the way that we work with other humans each day and kind of the path that we're on. So come on in, let's talk about it. Let's check in on whether we're being humans, human, whether we're being human. Accounting community lost a unbelievable person in the last couple weeks. Josh, Lance, if you're in North America and plugged in at all with, you know, the content he did through Ignition or going to conferences or anything like that, you knew Josh. He was. Made several appearances on the YouTube channel, endearingly referred to as Lance Josh. And that guy was so visible at conferences for so many years. Randy Crabtree shared how he, Josh was kind of one of the first people that opened his eyes to like, a new, more progressive generation of accounting firm runners. And super early days for me, like, I could say the same. I mean, he was one of the, one of the first people I saw that like, was around my age and talking about running firms in just a totally different way. And I'm like, oh yeah, like, why is what. Like, where has this kind of been? And you know, that first time, like, when you see that version of thought leadership that you align with and it just feels so good and it gives you hope and it shows you that there's actually a different way, a better way to do all this than you realized. There were a number of people that were that for me, but. But Josh was totally that for me as well. He's 40 years old, he's got a family. It's really hard to make sense of any of it, but I thought what better way to honor that legacy than to just do a check in? I'm 35. He was 40 years old. How we track him, how we track him with, with the things that are important and that you want to achieve in your life. Josh was like, did a prolific amount of speaking at like, so many conferences. I used to, I used to tease him about it and he was such A generally helpful person that was, like, totally happy to connect and share advice. Such a, like, positive sum mindset. And I don't know, I feel like it's. It's easy to be critical of people that we see speak or do this or that, like, through the lens of, like, ultimately, what's in that for them? Like, why are they taking all this time out of running a busy accounting firm to go or speak and do this or that? Like, what are they trying to sell me? Like, you know, kind of through that lens. And you know, what point that misses is being a helpful human being. Is it being perfectly okay to go and do those things? Because you. There just might be somebody in the audience that needs to hear it that day, like that, that, you know, could benefit from that. And sure, there's a lot of things that go into this, like, do I have a business to promote? Like, is there an element of, of, I don't know, ego or something like that that makes this feel rewarding to me? But like, if we fixate on that, like, I feel like that totally misses the point of it being perfectly okay to do things because they're helpful and because you might just help somebody. And it's something that I think is often lost in the ROI optimized, hyper compressed way that we live our lives these days, especially entrepreneurs. If you're on a small business and there's this bottomless pit of things that you can always do, you just end up getting really, really tactical with every moment of your day. And I'm speaking to myself here. And you trim all the fat, you trim everything that, that, you know, you can't put a really explicit ROI on. And in the process, you can do a lot of things like cut off, like, relationships in your life that are really important, friendships, stuff like that. And I heard this, this was framed in an interesting way the other day. I don't know, it's not particularly novel. And this is in no way like a. Here's a framework for how to manage your life. You could probably find that on a better podcast than this. But it was something along the lines of, like, are you living a life that is true to what you want people to remember? And if you're not sure, what do you want people to remember ultimately? And then how do you work backwards from that? Like, if you are standing there, when you're gone, what are the things that people are saying? And this just came, you know, super clear into focus as there's been like an outpouring of just folks who had amazing Memories of spending time with Josh. And so I just jotted down some quick notes of like, what are the things that I want to be remembered for? And to be honest, I'm kind of allergic even to that because I've never been like a legacy legacy guy. I don't want to have a legacy. Like when I'm gone, I want to be gone. And I want people to move on with their lives. I want to help people in the process, but I don't want to like kick the bucket and like, people fixate on that or on what I was or anything. Like, man, there's enough people, like somebody else gets to have their time then, right? And I've. So I've always kind of been allergic to that notion of like legacy. Even within, like running an accounting firm, like people, people have their time. If you're a partner or something like that, you're gonna transition ownership to somebody else. It is now these people's time. But if you had to make a list of like, okay, what are the things that I don't know that you would be proud of doing, that you would want to most be remembered for? I, I jotted down a quick list of those things and maybe it helps you those things for me, maybe it helps you kind of do a, just a quick check in on. Like, are the things that I'm doing each day aligning with this for me, a big one for me, and this is just a big mental shift over the last 24 months is helping people at scale. I just think there's such a unique opportunity right now. The way information is distributed, the way I've kind of fallen into this, you know, really enjoying doing video and making creative silly things. I have absolutely felt this like calling to continue investing in that in a way that will be helpful to people at a larger scale than I could otherwise be. And that's ultimately what took me away from running a firm. Even though it was super rewarding getting to work hands on with people every single day within the capacity of a firm, I realized, man, I can make stuff that, you know, a thousand people can go out and consume and it's just a higher leverage, larger scale way way of helping people.

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Show Notes I feel like I've got this gift, and this is something that, as a result, I need to, like, use in really positive ways. And it's not like a. Like a destination or a goal or an ambition or anything as much as it is, like, a process like this. This is just something that I feel, like, made to do. And I'm just going to do that because that's, like, the way that I can contribute to the people around me. On the flip side of this, and this is something that's hard for me personally. On the flip side of this, you can help people at scale and go really hard on all that stuff, but you still have to have those, like, really deep personal relationships in your life. So who are those people? Who are those super close personal friendships that you maintain? Because, man, getting old and maintaining that stuff, that is. That is hard. Like, that is work. Especially when you're an entrepreneur and you've got all these things rattling around in your head and you're running a small business and there's always lots of things to do. You got every excuse in the world. I got a bunch of young kids. And friendships are, like, one of the first things on the chopping block there usually. But, you know, what you don't want to do is get to the end of your life without having any of those really close friendships. In fact, I was watching some sort of documentary or something like that, and it was a guy who, he was like, in his 70s or something like that and just had this unbelievably close relationship with a friend. And they would spend, like, hours together every single day. And he lost his friend. And, like, that was such a meaningful relationship for him. Like, it took him months and months to recover. I don't think most of us have something like that right now. Maybe we have like, a parent or sibling or something like that. But do you have that friendship where it's like, that intense? And I was like, man, that is what I can't imagine, like, needing that amount of time to recover. But I'm also like, imagine, imagine, like, having that depth of a relationship with a friend. Imagine how, like, powerful and valuable and rewarding that would be. This, like, helping people at scale stuff is cool, but it's completely, like, inhuman and cold. It's like it's clicking a button that you. And publishing a video that you worked on for weeks, that you paid people to help you make. It's not a natural human thing. Like, the flip side of that, like having super, super deep human relationships, that's something where I kind of have to check myself and like, make sure I'm still investing time in that stuff because it's super important. The third thing I jotted down is to never like, build up a facade of who you are. Like, and the inverse of that is like to be every bit as real, like on the back end as you present yourself to be outwardly. Because that's just what people do now, right? Like, they build up this Persona of what they want them to be and they play a character in public. And you know, we've, we've all seen this with, you know, people online. And then like, you get the real story of like, oh, what's it really like behind the scenes? And, you know, they're a monster or something like that. When what people really need to hear these days is like the truth, not sugar coated anything. Like, the most helpful thing for people to hear is oftentimes, man, this stuff's really freaking hard. It's imperfect. There is no perfect solution. Yeah, yeah, I get that, like, you want to sell this framework that is the solution for this thing. And man, I want a solution for this thing. But the reality is life and people and human beings are complex and all of that. And so like, as, as my business kind of becomes like putting myself out there, man, the very worst thing that can happen there is you become this like, caricature of yourself that is not true to like, how is that person when you chat with them and you know, in person or how are they to their team, that sort of thing. And interestingly I've been reading through that. The new Elon Musk book by the same guy that did the biography on, on Steve Jobs and each and Elon Musk to an extreme. It's like kind of the whole through line of this book is he's somehow been like ordained from the heavens to be the ones to like, you know, make us an interplanetary species and do all these, you know, get us off of fossil fuels and do all these huge ambitious things and people just buy into somehow that like he was the one that was picked to take the human race to go do this thing. And. And as a result, like unbelievable and unthinkable and infinite sacrifice is perfectly okay. Which is really interesting. And like, whew. Also like, I sure hope you're Right. Cause, man, are there a lot of bodies along the way. But it also put in perspective in a much more humble scale how it's easy to justify being crappy and doing bad things on the grounds that what you are doing is, you know, somehow important or something like that. This is something that. I don't know if it's a generational thing, but I definitely experienced this with, like, in my upbringing of, no, this thing that's requiring a lot of sacrifice is super, super important. And everything else takes a backseat when it's like, is that the hallmark of success? Like, not having control over your schedule or being inconsolably exhausted and like, incapable of interacting with other human beings anyways? That is like, something I try to be mindful of is like, how do I. If you're going to hold yourself out as like, this type of person to anybody in your life, whether it's on video or interpersonal whatever, is that the same person that you are ultimately behind the scenes and not losing sight of those two things? Number four for me, like, always making the space to be like kind of a hub in the family, and that is like, you know, immediate family, but also extended family. The more I just see, like, messed up family stuff and see how families fall apart, I realize it's just a job. Like, it's a lot like a marriage where, like, man, sometimes you got to go to marriage counseling and like, to keep that stuff together and keep people engaged. It's just work because people are going to screw stuff up and everybody's so busy with their own lives, who's going to stop and take the time to, like, make connections, you know? In fact, actually tomorrow morning, like, I. I'm going to breakfast with. With my brother and my dad, and every now and then I'll put those together. And it's like the thing that I do that I am most proud of because I know that if I didn't do that, it probably wouldn't otherwise happen.

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Like, what better application of your skill set do you have than that? Something that nobody will ever see besides like, you know, your extended family. That is like a time capsule of something super cool that you can capture from people before they're gone, but kind of like those deep friendships. It is, it's, I think it's one of the first things that goes away as soon as everybody gets busy and you don't have time to do that stuff. And man, what, what could you take more pride in than be that like, glue person that made that stuff happen and like, kept those people together even when, when it's, when it's ugly. That is something that I think you could take a lot of pride in. I think we're on number five. Fifth thing I had here is kind of similar first one, but facilitating success for others. Sometimes you see other, like, things that people will say about other people either when they're here or whether, when they're gone. And you're like, man, I hope somebody says that about me someday. You know, and always the best stories are like the unheard stories behind the scenes. Like this big, amazing, super famous person did this thing. And they're like, wow, that's such a, that's a such, that's such a small time, you know, great thing to do for somebody. And you're like, yeah, but that's like Being a great human. And so like something I've, I've take great pride in. And I saying want to be remembered for, I don't know, feels. I don't like how self absorbed that is. But I got a ton of connections and there's a lot of people that know who I am and I know about a lot of people, which I think is a killer opportunity to connect people with the right solution at the right time and just generally be a facilitator, because I have those relationships and it's something I try to always make time for and identify. When I see something and I'm like, hey, is it. Do you want me to help you? You know, make an intro here or there or I hear something and I'm like, man, I was talking with this person like six months ago and I will try to like, bring that up and make that connection, because that's how so many great things have happened for me is when people are willing to make those connections, right? And that's, that's a super rewarding thing to be able to do that for somebody else. Uh, and then last, like, just be a lifelong learner through the lens of being a better human. And so that is like being willing to challenge your biases and be open to worldviews that may be in conflict with, you know, the views that you have today. And be willing to embrace a level of complexity in your own worldview that I think most people aren't willing to, like, give space for these days. It takes a lot less mental cycles to have this super compressed, simplified worldview where you won't let that nuance in. And man, like, what's the point of getting old if you're not capable of doing that? You know, I look back, like, to who I was 10 years ago and even five years ago, and I more or less technically knew all the things that I knew now, but now I just have a totally different approach to like, running a business and connecting with other people and, and all these things that has been learned through experience. And if experience and those personal relationships you have in your life cannot continue to inform who you are and continue to shape your worldview and all that, it's like, what's the, what is the point? Save the denture bond for somebody else, you know, So I don't know, I just, I had this moment of kind of, I don't know, reflection and jotted those six things down, but then kind of thought about, do these things align with, with what I'm doing today or are they in conflict with it. And so, like, one real explicit example of that that I've had in the past is I got to a point running my firm where I realized for me, a successful outcome in running my firm was never going to be selling to a third party. Because I. I mean, I don't. I don't know that I can really point my finger on a single example of a sale of a firm to a larger third party, like a regional or something like that, where a whole bunch of people, the clients, all the staff involved, like, didn't end up being the victim. And so I reached this point with my partner where I'm like, we either got to figure out a path to internal buyout or something that I'm like, not even considering otherwise. Like, I'm assigning no value to the firm itself, which I generally think you shouldn't. You shouldn't build a firm to then sell it. The better thing you can do is, like, build the perfect firm around you, run it another two years, you just made more money, and then, I don't know, give it to your staff or discount it or something like that. But that was one. There was, There was a time when I was like, oh, well, okay, the logical progression is you eventually you get to partner someday and then you, you know, sell your interest to something else. And small firm life, that progression and the way that it's presented is, is a little more like, oh, well, you build this cool small firm and then you go and sell it. And that's. I was like, selling a software company. Like, that's a cool, like, successful exit thing. And it's kind of held out as this aspirational thing that you can do. When I'm like, I don't. I can point to, like, a scenario in the wild that didn't just seem like it absolutely hosed everybody. So you're telling me I'm supposed to pour everything into a business and build a relationship with all these humans who will come and commit to working for me to then pull the rug out from under all of them when I am the most highly compensated one there. I need the money less than. Than everybody else. But I'm going to tell them one day I'm out of here. See ya. Why? Because I just got a big payday. Good luck. Thanks for. Thanks for your loyalty, man. That didn't seem right to me. So, I don't know. I think, I think occasionally making a list of these things that, I don't know, you want to be remembered for, I don't know if that's the right way to frame it. A list of these things that you would like, be proud for being known for and then putting those things alongside, like, how am I spending my days right now? Like, how much time did I make for my extended family at like, have I started that family podcast? Jason Family Daily? It's not going to be daily. Couldn't get anybody to buy ads on it. That's, that's a bad joke. Is the stuff that you're doing every day, like, is it aligned with those things that you would ultimately be proud of? Because, man, all it takes is one thing. Really scary punch in the face to put all, everything in, in perspective. And I don't know if it's because I'm getting old, but I've been getting like too many of those scary punches in the faces and punches in the face lately. And the one thing it always brings you back to is the people in your life that actually matter. You know, your friends that you're going to build a, you have that super, super close relationship with who would be like there for you at the drop of a hat no matter what. And then your family, like the people who are sitting at home and actually want you to be there and spend time with them, even though they usually just get the leftovers. Isn't it funny how that works? Hopefully this didn't get too existential for you. I think a killer way to remember Josh, if you knew him, honor that memory. Like just like, do that, pause, do that, check in. Josh is only five years older than me. If somebody told you these are your last five years, like, how would you live that life differently? And then I don't know, I'd maybe challenge you to think in the spirit of that and of like being a member of the community and giving and all of that. Like, what are you doing between now and the end of the year to I guess to give back to the accounting community? Are you a consumer or do you only give when there's a clear ROI there for you? You know, what did the 25 year old version of you need to see or the 20 version, 20 year old version of you need to hear where maybe you could be the person to put that out there so that they get it and it doesn't have to be in a big impressive way and you probably don't identify as the person that is going to go out and champion anything, but it doesn't have to be a big impressive platform. Maybe there's a way to give back, no strings attached. And if Boost your ego along the way, great. If somebody comes to work for you or wins you a client along the way, great. But just like being a good fellow human is, that's reason enough. Thanks for coming and hanging today. We got a fun interview coming up tomorrow, and then we're gonna do Q and A Friday and I'll see you there. Take.