Every CPA has a story – we all have a journey we’ve taken to get us to where we are. Every entrepreneur also has a story and journey as well. This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Lauren Hale, CPA. Lauren is a mom of two-year-old twins with another baby on the way. Lauren worked for various public accounting firms before deciding to become a franchisee and shares that it was the best decision she ever made for her career and her family.
During the interview we discuss:
- She actually wanted to be an elementary school teacher early in her life
- Midway through college she decided to switch from a teaching degree to an accounting degree, having enjoyed an accounting class she took in high school and realizing that being a teacher wasn’t what she wanted to do for the rest of her life
- She got an internship with a public accounting firm and never looked back
- She realized that she could always use her love of teaching with future employees or possibly teaching accounting at some point
- After college she worked at a large public firm in Houston
- She started in the tax department
- She chose not to work for a Big 4 firm, knowing that the hours would be less
- It was hard in the beginning to adjust to balancing her personal life with her career
- She chose to go into the tax department because she has a more reserved personality and liked the idea of going to one place each day and not having to travel as was necessary in audit
- Once she got married, she moved an hour away and began looking for another job opportunity near her
- She found a smaller firm closer to her new home
- This allowed her to compare the larger firm with 100’s of employees, to a smaller mom and pop firm with only 15 employees
- She really liked the smaller firm and now that she’s building her own firm, she can see the pros and cons of both and implement them into her own firm
- The smaller firm was all women, except for one of the male owners
- The women were very supportive of each other
- They ended up merging with another larger firm, changing the culture of the firm
- Once she had her twins, she went out on maternity leave for 4 months and when she returned to work, COVID hit and she ended up working from home
- Once the COVID restrictions lifted and she was going to have to go back to the office, she realized how much she liked working from home with her babies just a few steps away
- She had originally reached out to CPA MOMS for a virtual job position but once she spoke to founder, Mayumi, and she asked Lauren what her dream was, she quickly realized she had always wanted to go out on her own
- She just didn’t know how to do it and Mayumi explained that the franchise opportunity would allow her to have a firm and a family, giving her exactly what she needed to start her own firm
- She shares that becoming a CPA MOMS franchisee has been the best decision her family could have made and that her husband was very supportive of her decision
- Although she was nervous, she says it’s been the best year ever for her and her family
- With the support and mentoring of CPA MOMS franchise system, she was able to make the transition from employee to entrepreneur
- She loves the sisterhood she has with the other franchisees and the personalized training and mentoring she has received and continues to receive, allowing each franchisee to build their own unique firm
- The top thing that she is so grateful for being a franchisee is the flexibility – being able to do things with her family without worrying about PTO, being able to travel with her husband who is in sales, being able to structure her firm to have off on Fridays, etc.
- She is so happy to be able to pay it forward and hire other accountant moms, offering them the flexibility and financial support for their families
- She encourages those that are on the fence to just reach out to CPA MOMS and just have a phone call about the franchise opportunity, which also allows you to speak to the other franchisees and ask questions of them as well
To learn more about what it means to be a franchisee, CLICK HERE!