This past March, we began highlighting the next generation of trailblazing women with our Ladies Who Lead interview series for Women’s History Month. Our readers loved it and asked for more! So we’ll be highlighting a new leader each month moving forward. This month, we’re highlighting Laura Schneider of CPA Collective. And if you’d like to nominate an amazing lady for future months, send an email to bertie@inbetterwetrust.com!
Vital Stats:
Occupation: I’m the founding partner of CPA Collective. We’re a talented team of CPAs and accountants that understands small businesses and the folks that run them. Our mission is to provide quality tax and accounting services without the stuffy vibe, expensive hourly fees, and confusing lingo that you’ll find at a lot of other firms.
We love working with business owners, especially creatives but we know how intimidating talking about taxes and accounting can be. I pride myself on building a team of accountants that are not only super knowledgeable but also super friendly so my clients never feel intimidated or unheard.
Background: I graduated from the University of Kentucky with a Master’s degree in Accounting ages ago. I did what every good accounting student does and took the CPA exam right out of college and immediately went to work for a highly respected firm in my city. I’ve been in the field of public accounting ever since.
The first time I had to trudge across a frozen field on New Year’s Eve to inspect the markings on horses for an inventory count, I knew that I wanted nothing to do with financial statement audits… I was more of a tax girl. Looking back, I think that experience was a very defining moment in my career and one that led me to dig in to learning everything I could about the tax code and effective tax planning strategies. Because of my love for working with small business owners, my approach has evolved over the years into a more comprehensive offering that includes tax planning, financial analysis, and coaching for new business owners.
Power Lunch: Well I’m 9 months pregnant at the moment so my go-to power lunch is a little different these days. The current lunchtime craving is a BBQ Chicken Salad with a side of something sweet (usually gummy bears or a dark chocolate peanut butter cup). Looking forward to enjoying a good sushi power lunch soon!
The Good Stuff:
1. Was your path to your current work linear, or did it take twists and turns? If I said my first toy was a wooden abacus and that I always wanted to be an accountant I would have a great story, but I would also be lying. The truth is I didn’t know what I wanted to be in college so naturally, I decided to declare the same major as my best friend which happened to be accounting. Luckily I discovered that I was actually quite good at accounting and found it challenging and interesting enough to stick with it even when my best friend switched her major to communications. My career path has been pretty linear from there.
2. What does leadership look like to you? Lead by example; work ethic and attitude is contagious. Practice empathy and kindness; you never know what someone else is going through, everyone is entitled to a bad day, and the world needs more kindness. Acknowledge the hard work of others; it’s amazing what a simple thank you or a small token of appreciation can do for morale.
3. What is your biggest motivator in your work? Sharing in our clients’ successes is a huge motivator. A lot of clients come to us overwhelmed, with tax notices rolling in, and a genuine desire to straighten things out but not knowing where to start. A big part of what we do is to empower our clients to understand their financials, know why, when, and how to pay their taxes, and give them the tools and confidence to help them stay compliant and make sound financial decisions moving forward. We don’t get a lot of pats on the back in this industry, after all, we are often telling you who to pay money to and how much. But watching a client’s business operations go from total chaos to a streamlined money-making machine and knowing we had something to do with that, or cleaning up a client’s financials so they can get a much-needed loan, or helping a client with a strategy to pay down back taxes that have been keeping them up at night are the types of wins that make this job very rewarding.
4. Can you describe a time when you faced a challenge or setback in your work, and how you overcame it? The last year has been extremely challenging (and exhausting) for the accounting profession. COVID brought thousands of pages of new tax laws, rules, and regulations from Federal, State, and Local taxing authorities in addition to hundreds of new disaster assistance programs. Keeping up with all of the constantly evolving changes, communicating those changes to our clients, and helping our clients comply seemed like a full-time job on top of our full-time job.
We’re finally feeling like we’re over the hump and we got there by giving ourselves a little grace. Knowing that it was ok if we took a little longer to deliver on a project or if we had to tell a client that we didn’t know the answer and that we would have to research and get back to them when we did.
We also found a real sense of community among our colleagues in our profession who were in the same boat as we were. The “WTF is happening” late-night phone calls with other accounting firm owners really helped put things into perspective that we weren’t the only ones that felt like we were drinking out of a fire hose and brought some much needed comic relief during a very uncomical time.
5. What advice would you give to others who want to create a purpose-driven or innovative space in their industry, but aren’t sure where/how to start? Don’t try to wait for the right time, there may not ever be a right time. If you are passionate about your idea, just go for it. I was terrified to leave the comforts of my salaried position to start my own firm. I had a handful of clients that wouldn’t even amount to half of what I was making at the time. But I had such a clear vision for what I wanted to do and knew there was a space for it in the industry so I took the leap despite how irrational it seemed to my left-brained self at the time.
Also don’t be afraid to reach out to others in your space who have been there and done that. You would be surprised at how willing others are to share their struggles and knowledge and encourage you along the way.
6. Are you one of those people who “enjoys” networking? What tips do you have for others who are a little less enthusiastic about it? Absolutely not. I am an introvert through and through so putting me in a room full of strangers and asking me to make small talk with all of them is torture. Also, all of the professional networking events I’ve been to in my career have been super stuffy events attended by attorneys (no offense), accountants, and bankers and being a younger woman in the room I never felt taken seriously.
When I started my own business I learned to network in a new way. I love teaching and think it’s so important to remove the anxiety around taxes and accounting so I started speaking at events for small business owners in my community and have not only had so much fun with it but have met some incredible clients and fellow like-minded advisors as well.
When I started my business I knew that CPA Collective was a bit of an accounting unicorn and I knew that I wanted to create a network of professionals with a similar mindset and approach to their services as me so I started reaching out to other business owners with a similar approach (like Better!). It felt awkward at first, but it helped to build a more meaningful network of advisors which has been invaluable to both me as a business owner and to my clients.
7. If you were going to embark on a new business opportunity, who would you want to be your co-founder, and why? I would love to run a business with my best friends. I think it would be so much fun to work day in and day out with people you truly love and trust. I’m not sure we would get much work done but the team meetings would be a blast.
8. Any resources you’d like to share with our readers that will help them level up their leadership skills and empower them to keep changing the world? Since this series is about ladies who lead, I’ve been really into Kristen Bell’s new podcast, Shattered Glass. It’s a podcast of interviews with female trailblazers like Gloria Steinem, Oprah Winfrey, and Malala Yousafzai. It’s incredibly inspiring listening to the stories, struggles, and triumphs of these amazing women.
How to Support Laura:
Website:
Use and share the helpful (free) guides and downloads on the resources page of CPA Collective’s website: www.cpacollective.com. You can also contact the CPA Collective Team via the contact page on their website.
Social Media:
Give them a follow on Instagram for helpful tax and accounting related tips: @cpa_collective.
Thanks for chatting with us, Laura!