“‘What is the difference between a bookkeeper in the garment district and a Supreme Court justice’? The answer? ‘One generation’.” - RBG

Should employers allow employees to defer payment of their social security taxes based on the executive order?

I recently had the experience of remodeling my house and - let me tell you - I learned a lot about myself, my business philosophies, and my plumbing.

I am a girl who loves new adventures, so when I was invited to do a white water rafting trip on the White Salmon River I jumped at the chance. We immediately started off with a Class 3 rapid, which started the adrenaline early but also got us into a rhythm of “Let’s do this” right away!

From the day we founded Breakaway Bookkeeping & Advising we embraced technology. We even made it a pillar of business! The accounting, financial services, and bookkeeping industries have consistently been identified as ripe for technological disruption.

I am a runner and my talent is in the long run versus the sprint. Sprinters have fast twitch muscle fibers to help them power through a stressful but fast race. Marathon runners have to go the distance so they use less energy at a given speed so that they can make it to the finish line.

Imagine an Apple store customer arguing with the clerk that, because they just spent $600 on a new iPhone, it would only be fair for Apple to throw in a set of Airpods for free. “After all, $600 is a lot of money for a phone - and it will be a lot easier to use the phone if I have the Airpods, too.” Imagine a restaurant owner who gives all their customers extra servings whenever they love their meals just to make absolutely certain that the customer leaves happy.

One of the best parts of my day is getting to talk with clients about their lives, their dreams, and the ups and downs of life. Often in the conversation, I learn something that has a big impact on the financial part of my client’s life. It’s funny how sometimes I just find out these things by accident and then we can talk about the financial consequences.

Recently, I’ve been finding the most difficult conversations with my clients are in response to the easiest (and most common!) question: “How are you?” Whenever anyone asks these days, I am never quite sure how to respond. More than ever, I’ve found my clients (and myself) compelled to answer honestly.

This week’s protests and riots have been a wake-up call to America. They have also been a wake-up call to me. One of my favorite coping mechanisms is denial. Compartmentalization. Escaping from reality. But there is no escaping reality anymore. So I’ve been doing a deep dive on white privilege and taking a hard look at myself.