Seth David started hiking to the top of Griffith Park as a way to exercise because it was much more interesting than going to a gym. Then he realized that talking with clients and other small business owners while hiking was much more fun than just meeting in a restaurant, so every Saturday morning he would invite others to join him using the #AccountingHike hashtag. In this episode, we talk about how his sharing his hiking and other hobbies with others gives him an added dimension that humanize...
Nov 02, 2016•24 min
Oct 22, 2016•35 min
Eric Johnson didn’t get his first set of golf clubs until he was in college. He never really took golf seriously until several years later when some coworkers invited him to play a round at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in Portland, OR. “Now this is fantastic… I want to do more of this!” was his immediate thought. In this episode, we talk about how amazing golf has been for Eric’s relationship building, both with coworkers and clients. By developing these stronger connections, he’s able to have more o...
Oct 19, 2016•27 min
Henry Lawson has always been fascinated with cars and anything with an engine, really. He’s built 3 cars and restored countless others, including a 1902 MMC and a 1969 Dodge Charger. In this episode, we talk about how work can easily become all-consuming if we let it. Henry reminds us all that it is acually a marathon and not a sprint, so managers can’t expect everyone to run at sprinting speed all the time. There are times to get things done and there are times to back off an respect people’s s...
Oct 12, 2016•33 min
Julie (Jules) Carman has always been a runner, like good enough to earn a Track & Field scholarship to Cal for running 200’s kind of runner. There are things she learned running that carry over directly to her career, things that she feels you can’t get anywhere else: resilience, mental strength, proper mindset and discipline. Running also made Jules comfortable being uncomfortable, allowing her to easily mold to new situations and get to the next level. In this episode, we talk about how th...
Oct 05, 2016•36 min
Shortly after starting at Hodges-Mace, one of the salespeople told Ron Shah that he’s “not the typical CFO” simply because he brought his personality to work with him. In the same way that he does in the office, Ron brings his personality to being the play-by-play announcer at his son’s high school football games. So much so, by his third game, people were noticing how much fun he was having in the booth. In this episode, we talk about how Ron’s sharing stories about his play-by-play calls or ot...
Sep 28, 2016•33 min
At the age of 22, Vinh Giang decided not fulfill the Asian prophecy and become an accountant, so he took a slightly different path and pursued a career as a magician. Since then he’s won multiple awards for magic shows, he’s a successful international keynote speaker and runs a video production company in Australia called Luminary. Being a magician, speaker, and a director all have one thing in common – Storytelling. And that’s his greatest passion in life. In this episode, we talk about how eve...
Sep 21, 2016•32 min
If someone were to ask where Joseph Rugger was right now, you’re best guess would be one of our glorious National Parks. He’s been to almost all of them, from Acadia in Maine to the White Sands in New Mexico –driving his Prius all over the country. He created a bucket list of places he’d like to visit all over the world and is quickly checking them off as he does his CFO work virtually. In this episode, we talked about how we get most of our enjoyment from non-work time, so talking about those t...
Sep 14, 2016•37 min
Greg Papineau takes service to a whole new level, especially now that he’s a Deacon in the Catholic Church. He was first called to this in 2000 as a chaperone on his son’s World Youth Day visit to the Vatican. Since then, he’s been ordained and in his words, can “marry, bury and baptize”. And, oh yeah, he also happens to be the 1989 Colorado State Champion Cyclist. In this episode, we talk about how the word “Deacon” is derived from a Greek word meaning “servant”. Greg is always thinking how he ...
Sep 06, 2016•33 min
Amy Cooper loves Auburn football. And she loves teaching accounting at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Combining the two has let her give the most important lesson — professionals can be successful while also sharing their passions at work. There isn’t a student in her Fall Semester classes that doesn’t know who Auburn is playing the next weekend. In this episode, we talk about the public perception of accounting versus reality and how that skews people’s behavior, including that of accounta...
Sep 01, 2016•35 min
Scott Gehman grew up camping in New Jersey but college and starting his career caused him to put that passion on hold for many years. He’s also always been obsessed with loud, fast cars. Now that his son is a Boy Scout, he’s able to combine the two as he loads up his Mustang GT to spend a weekend camping. In this episode, we talk about how important it is to be willing to share, no matter how small — something on your desk, a picture on your office wall, or computer desktop wallpaper are simple ...
Aug 24, 2016•37 min
Maya really likes chocolate. No, I mean really likes it. It all started when she was in college and a chocolate fudge brownie a la mode sundae made her lose track of time and space as she was in total flow with that moment in time. And now she uses chocolate to start client meetings, which brings everyone together and also puts them in a great mood. She also actively participates in chocolate festivals throughout the country and even hosts chocolate tastings. So it looks like Boston just moved u...
Aug 17, 2016•34 min
Mike says that he isn't good at it but he really enjoys playing the guitar. He finds that concentrating on something other than work allows him to disconnect and gives him a release to come back to the office refreshed. He also likes to be outdoors hiking, which he says is also a fun way to have a business meeting, creating a "remember when" experience with clients or coworkers that creates stronger bonds. In this episode, we talk about how you, yes you, have permission to talk about your hobbie...
Aug 11, 2016•28 min
Andrew Tarvin is a funny guy and is well-known nationally within the ComedySportz improv world. He also does stand-up comedy -- his first paid gig was opening for Pauly Shore. A few years ago, he left his Project Manager position with Procter & Gamble to start Humor That Works to show corporations across the world how humor can enhance their bottom line. In this episode, we talk about how he realized early on in his career that humor helped him be more effective with coworkers. One of his fi...
Aug 03, 2016•31 min
Belicia Cespedes loves tennis. She also happens to be the youngest person to ever pass the CPA Exam (at age 17). Professionalism would tell her that the latter is most important for her career but she has found a great deal of success creating coworker connections through tennis, even teaching some of her PwC co-workers how to play. And her competitive side comes out during the table tennis tournaments (very similar, I mean it’s got “tennis” in the name!) the audit team had during Busy Season. W...
Jul 20, 2016•28 min
Joe Fleenor is crazy about triathlons. He only started participating in them seven years ago but all of his coworkers and clients know this is one of his passions. Running was boring, so he needed three sports rolled up into one so it could help keep his attention. In this episode, we talk about how if he didn’t bring his personal life to the workspace, he’d be miserable. He’s seen too many people get disgruntled by letting professionalism consume them, so be proactive. Simply sharing his passio...
Jul 14, 2016•36 min
Looking at Mary Yetto, it might not be obvious that she loves to be outdoors. She’s an avid hunter and also a veteran kickball player, both of which have helped her create stronger connections both in the office and with clients. Being an ethical hunter and using patience are skills that directly translated over to her auditing career. In this episode, we talk about how much pressure if on the managers to create a corporate culture that encourages sharing of hobbies and passions to increase empl...
Jul 06, 2016•27 min
Evan Hackel loves skiing. So much so that he says it's more than a passion -- it's an addiction. He averages 60-80 days on the slopes each season, skiing all over the world. In addition to being a successful businessman who has started more than 10 companies in his career, Evan is also the Head Coach for the Mexican Freestyle Ski Team. In this episode, Evan talks about how learning to ski is similar to learning how to run a successful business. The most important thing is to know how to stop saf...
Jun 28, 2016•35 min
When Edie Gardner turned 40, she set a goal to have an experience in all 50 states over the next ten years. Mission accomplished! The stories she shares from driving through the snowy mountains in Colorado, to visiting Cracker Barrel in Tennessee, to Mount Rushmore, all helped her create stronger relationships with her clients. In this episode, we talk about how important bucket lists are and how it gave her a sense of purpose -- while also remembering to enjoy the journey. She talks about how t...
Jun 22, 2016•33 min
Jen started juggling in middle school and hasn’t stopped since, now teaching corporate audiences to be more balanced and productive. She took the balancing act literally as she spent several years performing juggling shows at night while working as a structural engineer in New York City. You can catch Jen as she tours nationally as a speaker, educator and host that has been on The Late Show with David Letterman, ABC News, Fox, Huffington Post Live, Good Day Sacramento, Good Day Philadelphia, Off...
Jun 15, 2016•30 min
Ruth Ross learned how to play poker at age 10 from her father. Little did she realize that it would give her the skills to develop into a Human Resources executive. Combined with her love of travel, she’s played poker all over the world — from Las Vegas to Monte Carlo. In this episode, Ruth talks about how poker gives her the ability to work on her “gut instinct” to read others, which is often very useful in dealing with office issues. She parallels employee engagement with poker, saying that we...
Jun 08, 2016•31 min
Kelly Richmond Pope is on a mission to show what an accountant is not. She’s shattering the stereotype of an accounting professor by continuously looking for new ways to keep students engaged by learning with different media. Her latest project is a feature documentary All the Queens Horses about the largest municipal fraud in U.S. history. In this episode we talk about how important it is to tell stories to make your point stick with the listener, whether that’s accounting students or audit cli...
Jun 01, 2016•32 min
Rebecca Berneck likes to go fast. Really fast. Land speed record holder fast. All on a vintage motorcycle. And when she’s not doing that, Rebecca road races competitively throughout the country. In this episode, we talk about how she’s incorporated this into her business at Officeheads — from her website pictures to the quotes on her office walls. When talking with clients, she parallels their companies to her motorcycle racing team (pit crew, coach, mechanic, etc.) to show that it’s best not to...
May 25, 2016•33 min
Christine trains her way to better connections This year, Christine DeAngelis will complete a half marathon and several obstacle course races, including the Bone Frog Challenge and Spartan Trifecta. Those names alone intimidate me enough to not even want to sign up. But Christine is going to do them all as part of her newfound appreciation for fitness and healthy living after having her daughter a few years ago. In this episode, we talk about how there are always little points of connection that...
May 11, 2016•34 min
Kristen views client connections through a different lens Kristen Rampe is a very busy woman. When she's not running her own consulting firm, she's shuttling her twin boys around and finding free time to pursue her creative side through art of all kinds: photography, painting, drawing, and improv. This provides some balance that she craves after many hours of accounting and consulting work. We talk about how non-work conversations give depth to relationships, both in the office and with clients....
May 04, 2016•35 min
Ron clowns his way tobetter business relationships When he isn’t writing a children’s book, grilling some deliciouspork chops or being a clown in Denver’s Distinguished ClownBrigade, Ron Seigneur is a highly regarded business valuationexpert. In this episode, we talk about how much accounting hasbecome a people-based business, so having hobbies and passionsoutside of work really helps develop those connections. As Partner, he also looks for people with hobbies and passionsbecause these well-roun...
Apr 27, 2016•37 min
Rick is a real court jester Rick Roberts manages to keep a busy comedy schedule while also being a Partner in a law firm. He’s performed at Caroline’s Comedy Club in New York City as well as Mohegan Sun and several theaters in Connecticut. He regrets not starting sooner because it has been a huge complement to his law career. In this episode, Rick says that all firms want to have intellectually stimulated staff so why not encourage that? He admits most professional jobs are all-consuming so it’s...
Apr 21, 2016•32 min
Megan barbecues up some great coworker relationships In 2010, Megan Varani and her husband Brian began participating in BBQ competitions in several different states. Just six short years later, they opened Mookie’s BBQ Restaurant and also have a catering business in Northern Virginia. All of this was made possible thanks to EY leadership giving her the flexibility to get the work done with taking many Fridays off to travel to competitions. She talks about how her sharing provided another connect...
Apr 13, 2016•29 min
Misty makes the workplace her stage When she was growing up, Misty was so shy she used to hide behind her parents in family pictures. That all changed after taking an acting class. Now she regularly acts and directs theater shows while also working in business development in the accounting industry. Thank goodness we didn’t arm wrestle because CPA Practice Advisor named Misty as one of the Most Powerful Women in Accounting. In this episode, we laugh. A lot. And then Misty talks about how when sh...
Apr 06, 2016•39 min
MB’s stained glass projects make for colorful client relationships Several years ago, a friend invited MB (Mary Beth) to a stained glass workshop and now she can’t stop. And when the stained glass studio made the move to QuickBooks, you better believe they called MB first. So her passion led directly to a new client that she still has today. In this episode, MB talks about how people sense when you’re not being true to yourself. When they sense this, it makes them not want to interact with you w...
Mar 30, 2016•31 min
