Category Archives: Relationships

Living a Legacy

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Why is it that we all too often wait until we miss something before we truly realize how amazing it was? Maybe it’s just human nature to only comprehend greatness once it’s no longer available…but what a shame. There are far too few people who really make a difference in our lives (whether it be personally or professionally) every day – and they should know the impact they make long before they are treasured memories.

My Grandmother, Betty Hogan, is by far the most amazing woman I’ve ever known. She lives 3,000 miles from Southern California where my brothers and I were born and raised…yet she never let the miles stand in the way of being a remarkable Grandma. As children, she kept up with our activities through Mom and Dad, and occasionally asked for a short phone visit where she’d ask us about school, sports, and all the various activities in which we were involved.

Being a Grandma of adult grandkids could have made any normal long-distance Grandma fade into the background, or made her crazy by trying to keep up with us all. But not this Grandma – she stepped up her game and the phone visits with her own children turned to calls with us Grandkids, Skype sessions, and even Facebook interactions – still actively participating and making an impact on my personal and even my professional life. I often laugh when I hang up with her realizing she’s typically told me something I didn’t even know about one of my siblings. She’s on the ball.

My Grandfather put it best a few years back when he tried to explain the difference between himself and Grandma – “You see, your Grandmother cares about each and every breath you take…while I’m quite satisfied just knowing you are all still breathing”. Of course that doesn’t stop Grandma from dragging him away from his Tigers game to the computer to check out my newest blog post, or article, or photos. She’ll often even call me to tell me she read him my latest feature even if she doesn’t quite understand all the details.

I’ve used her in numerous examples of Cloud technology adoption – saying that if Grandma can do it, nobody has any excuses. We even had a great conversation one day where I explained to her that she already uses Cloud solutions as she pays her bills online, uses Yahoo! Mail, and is an avid Facebook user.

More than any other quality, it’s her selfless interest in our happiness that always causes me to stand in awe of my Grandma. She’s been in rehabilitation the better part of this year after an infection led to an ongoing problem with her hip, yet you would never know it from talking to her. She’s every bit as eager to hear about us as she’s ever been, and she finds joy in our success regardless of her circumstances. Her thoughtfulness and concern for what we’re going through (even if it pales in comparison to what she might be dealing with) is always obvious. I can’t imagine anyone could ever have a bad thing to say about her, and that, if you ask me, is the exact type of legacy we all should strive to leave. I’m so grateful that I know what an amazing blessing I have in her, and can only hope that when I grow up, I can be half the woman she is.
Grandma

The Face of Change

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This past Labor Day I was one of those people who got swept up in the excitement of watching a woman accomplish a 35-year dream in the making by completing a 110-mile swim across the Atlantic Ocean. As if I wasn’t already inspired enough (the athlete in me is always a sucker for a great beating the odds story), as the exhausted 64-year-old stood on the beach in Key West and declared “This may look like a solitary sport, but it’s a team”, I instantly grew an amazing amount of respect for Diana Nyad.

While it pales in comparison to swimming from Cuba to Florida, I am nonetheless honored and humbled to have had the privilege of joining two amazing women, Shayna Chapman and Michelle Golden, for the September CPA Practice Advisor magazine cover story: The Changing Face of Accounting & Technology. As the story (originally designed to look at the sole idea of three prominent female industry professionals – a CPA, a Consultant, and a Technology vendor – all striving to better the profession – which is something that 10 or 15 years ago would have been hard to find) began taking shape, it was amazing to see what we learned about each other, and about the evolution of dynamics between practitioners, consultants, and software companies. In the end, it was the theme of collaboration among CPAs, consultants and technology players that was highlighted as we see the rapid change in the interactions between these three distinct types of players. By working together for the greater good (serving small, mid-sized, and large businesses), we’re better able to grow as an industry and move the notorious slow-to-change accounting world forward.

Since the issue launched I’ve been approached by some of the most respected individuals in our industry, and while I’m completely flattered, It’s only right to point out that this story, and this cover would never have happened if it weren’t for the change makers who have lead the way for the past 10, 15, even 20 years. Rick Richardson has been preaching change and embracing technology since I was in Mister Roger’s Neighborhood. Mark Koziel has been pushing the profession forward from within the AICPA in ways that very few of us will ever see. Doug Sleeter has devoted his career to serving the QuickBooks ProAdvisor community – and has recognized the need to embrace change within his own network too. And nobody more than Randy Johnston can be credited for leading accounting practitioners, consultants, and vendors forward and creating the driving force by which technology companies work for accountants instead of against them. So while we may be faces of change – we represent an entire team.

So while Shayna, Michelle and I soak up our 15 of minutes of fame, here’s to those who have been the face of change in our world for the past decade. Thanks for going before us and creating the path.  Thanks for giving us hope that a future generation will be blogging about the difference we made as the next generation of game changers grace the CPAPA cover 10 years from now. I wonder what shoes they’ll wear at their cover shoot?

anjozianart-1723sm

Reality Check

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Lukey

Today’s blog post has nothing to do with shoes, or workflow, or accounting software. But any mother, aunt, or anyone who has been touched in some way by cancer or Leukemia will know exactly why today’s View From My Shoes is dedicated to this adorable little fireball, Luke.

When I woke up yesterday morning, I could have listed a dozen things I was frustrated, stressed, anxious, worried, or even angry about – then I logged into Facebook. What’s the old saying? “Perspective is a wonderful thing”…

A few days ago, my high school friend, Michelle’s biggest stress was juggling her little sister’s upcoming wedding this weekend with the duties of wife & mommy to her husband & two little guys, Jeremiah and Little Lukey. Last Sunday night, when 2 ½ -year-old Luke’s fever just wouldn’t break after several days, she rushed him to urgent care in hopes of getting her family back to A+ shape by this weekend’s wedding day. The heartbreaking news that this family received less than 24 hours later: little Luke was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) yesterday afternoon, and begins 6-months of intensive Chemo treatment tomorrow.

I haven’t seen my friend since before she was married and had two beautiful boys, but thanks to Facebook, we’ve stayed in touch as our lives carried us in different directions over the years. I’ve watched both of her boys grow up through Facebook photos & videos, and I’ve said from the start that there’s just something special about this little guy. His sparkle is infectious & you can’t look at his smile and not instantly be in a good mood. My heart is just aching for this family, and especially for my friend, who I know would trade places with her little boy in a heartbeat if she could.

Thankfully, the Crecelius family is surrounded with an amazing support system of family and friends – within 12 hours of setting up the page dedicated to Luke’s Journey Though Leukemia, more than 1,000 people were already following his story. As we all go about life busy as ever, I hope that we can take a moment to remember little Luke and all the other kiddos out there fighting battles like this. I have a feeling that this is just the beginning of Luke showing all of us exactly what he’s made of – and that AML decided to mess with the wrong kid.

Luke

Hey, Baby – Let’s Go to Vegas!

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2013 marked my 4th annual AICPA Tech+/ Practitioners Symposium in Las Vegas. Over the past 4 years this event has stood out as a highlight for some great (and not so great) reasons. This year was no exception: I caught up with some of my favorite people in the industry, spent the night driving go-karts with a bunch of CPAs, and kept up the accounting trade show in Vegas tradition of invading In-N-Out with “In-N-Out rookies”. While this might sound appealing, I assure you that there are also some very serious side-effects involved with any Las Vegas trade show. To prove my point, I figured I’d spell out some of the reasons I love – and love to hate – the annual event that takes place in nobody’s favorite city.

The Good 

The Drive: Anyone else sick of packing in 3oz bottles, TSA pat downs, and cramming 5-days of business clothes into carry-on luggage? Well hop into our roomy Ultimate Edition (or similar) Avis provided rent-a-car for a smooth ride through the desert complete with stop in the now-famous Baker, California for a hard-earned, made-to-order Blizzard frozen dairy treat (held upside down for your viewing pleasure) from Dairy Queen.

Bonus Feature: The sky is the limit for shoes in Vegas (both in height and quantity). The real question is whether the hotel closet is big enough for my entire footwear collection.

The Bad

Let me start by saying that there is no such thing as a short walk in Vegas. A not-short walk in 5” heels makes for quite the commute from room to exhibit hall to dinner to room to…well, you get the picture. Heaven help me if I forget my laptop charger (or any other necessary item) behind. I’ve just lost an hour of my day – and my feet will be cursing me every step of the walk of shame back to my room (purely hypothetical example).

To add insult to injury, I’m fairly certain they have some type of Wurtzite Boron Nitrade for floors throughout Las Vegas, specifically designed to inflict extra pain on trade show attendees forced not only to walk – but stand in 10’X10’ exhibit hall booths. True story: there could possibly be a YouTube video of me walking barefoot through Aria carrying a pair of Christian Louboutins after I was officially defeated by the Vegas floors of death back in 2011.

The Ugly

Rise & Shine Accounting World (if you’re not still out from last night that is)! It’s 6:30am and breakfast is served! Now, let me clarify that “Breakfast” might include grey-centered hard boiled eggs and other “trade show food stuff”, but thankfully, because it’s 6:30am, you haven’t had any coffee yet, so you won’t care!

Speaking of coffee…don’t even get me started. Only in Vegas can you pay over $5 for a cup of terrible coffee that not only won’t give you even the slightest pick-me-up, but also won’t be remotely drinkable. My good friend @OrangeGirlNZ sums up the Las Vegas caffeine woes masterfully in this “Coffee Bible” of a blog (complete with photos). My advice: Live by it, she’s not kidding.

Getting through PSTech week in Vegas is sort of like running a 5-day marathon in high heels on about 5 hours of sleep. While some might prefer to think that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, I think we all know better…what happens in Vegas lives forever on social media. See you next year!Vegas

Things I’ve Learned from my Publicist

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In honor of this special day, a tribute to @austinnexus, one of my very favorite people in the world. Here are just a few of the many things he’s taught me:

1. Never let an editor catch you in Chuck Taylors.

2. If you eat healthy 99% of the time – you are entitled to one (1) Mocha Chip Blizzard on every trip through Baker, CA.

3. When it comes to accounting trade shows…nothing good happens after midnight.

4. There’s no such thing as too much (good) coffee.

5. Good things happen to those who follow through and take advantage of every opportunity – even if it takes longer than you think it should.

6. With the right business purpose – you can justify paying just about anything for a great pair of shoes.

7. Always look toward the future – and think about what you want your shoe closet to look like.

8. Your network and your reputation are both fragile: handle with care.

9. You can never be too prepared for a natural disaster.

10. A ride to (or pick up from) the airport can sometimes be the most treasured gift.

11. Let him carry your bags – you’ll be glad you did when you’re pushing his wheelchair in 40 years.

12. The Bellagio tram door won’t even wait for someone as important as him.

13. The best kind of bar is a raw bar.

14. It is perfectly acceptable to drive straight from the gym to In-N-Out Burger as long as it’s not more than once a month.

15. Never underestimate a 4 hour car ride through the Mojave Desert…it just might change your life forever.

Happy 50th Birthday, Mr. Publicist! May the next 50 be even better than the first…

Be Empowered

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Before I was ever @XCMkim , ever sold a single scanner, or survived a pre-tax season outsourcing rush, I put myself through college as a professional “Miss Kim”. At the ripe old age of 12, I began what led to over a decade-long career babysitting. It’s probably no surprise that all these years later I’m a workaholic, because even back then the writing was on the walls. While most Jr. High, High School, and college students were off at homecoming, prom, football games, and frat parties, I was changing diapers, warming bottles, and reading Dr. Seuss to little munchkins – often 6 or 7 days a week. All the while saving every penny I could to buy a car at age 16, pay for college by age 18, and eventually a house by the time I was 23. Needless to say, I was a little girl on a mission – and I wasn’t going to let anything stand in the way of what I wanted.

My Miss Kim career culminated with an 18-month stint living with a family (while also maintaining my full-time job). So at 21 years old, I was a working second mommy to Mackenzi, Mason, Merek and Baby Madox. To this day, I often refer to my four little Ms as the best form of birth control ever. By far the biggest blessings that have come from that experience are the relationships I’ve built with those four little monkeys (now not so little). I’m fortunate to live close enough that I’m able to see them when I’m in town, and occasionally spend some quality time with them. I’m so glad that I’ve had the opportunity to mentor these kiddos, and to share in the big moments in their lives. But along the way, they have managed to teach me a thing or two as well.

The other day I had to be run a few errands on a Saturday morning & knew I’d be driving by their house. Mackenzi, now 14 and wicked-smart, always makes a great errand buddy, so I gave her a call to see if she could join me for the quick trip. Without asking for details on the agenda, she accepted and was waiting at the foot of the driveway when I pulled in. She spent most of the drive updating me on her recent run for school president, and filling me in on the latest with her high school plans. As we pulled into the shopping center, she stopped mid-sentence and exclaimed “Miss Kim! You didn’t tell me we were going to a MALL, I didn’t bring my wallet with me!” She went on to tell me that she’s been babysitting a lot lately and also spent the previous week house-sitting for a neighbor. She had carefully saved a large percentage of her earnings, but had also set aside a small amount to buy something.

After taking care of my errands, we made our way to her favorite clothing store, where I told her if she found something I would happily buy it for her. To my surprise, my little over-achiever replied with something that I know must have come out of my mouth 15 year ago too “That’s OK, I really want to buy myself something – it will make me feel empowered!”

With her one-sentence remark, I was instantly reminded of the numerous conversations she and I have had over the years about working, saving, sometimes learning to accept defeat, but most importantly never giving up. At the same time that I was overwhelmed with pride, it brought me back to a day when I was 14, and often a tag-along errand buddy myself. Diligently saving my hard-earned money, and every so often, empowering myself as well. Thanks, Mackie – for reminding us all that we’re in charge of our own destiny – and the sky’s the limit when you feel empowered!

BeEmpowered

Everyone Should Have a Kelda

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In my role at XCM and Xpitax, I have the pleasure of traveling all over the Western U.S. visiting accounting firms. It’s always fun to see all the different shapes and sized in which firms come. One firm I visited had adorned their office with their extensive antique abacus collection. Another recent visit led me to the 24th floor of a Honolulu high-rise with a breathtaking view of the coast of O’ahu. On one of my last journeys to Northern California, I found myself dashing from one meeting in bustling downtown San Jose to an appointment in the quiet and quant little town of San Rafael (where they told us a story of the time they had a cow wander into their parking lot). I love seeing all these different personalities that show through the various organizations – all tied together by the fact that each of them serves as their clients’ CPA.

One morning, during one of my multi-city road trips, I got an email from a woman at a firm…her name was Kelda. Kelda’s email began with a brief introduction of herself and her firm, and explained that she had recently spoken with one of my colleagues who had referred her my way. Her concise but detailed email efficiently communicated that her partners were interested in meeting with me, and that she was aware I was in their area that week. In closing, she suggested a few days & times that week, and promised a follow up via telephone as well. Shortly thereafter, I got a voicemail from Kelda.

With my crazy schedule that day, we traded a few voicemails and emails before actually connecting live. When we finally did speak, I was pretty blown away by both her professionalism and her organization. She explained that the two Partners were going to be on a tight schedule, so she would be ordering in lunch during our meeting. She also gave me detailed instructions on where I would find parking, and how long she anticipated it would take to travel from my current location to their office.

When I arrived at their office (and found a spot right out front as she promised), I was greeted at the top of their stairs by Kelda, who was holding not only her business card, but the cards of the two Partners with whom I was meeting. She then had me escorted into their conference room, where I was again further impressed. Lunch was not only delivered, but everyone’s assigned places were set – with silverware rolled up into a tidy napkin as if we were dining in a little sidewalk café.

Upon the end of our scheduled time, we heard a quiet knock on the door – it was Kelda, there to remind the Managing Partner that his next appointment was approaching and he’d need to wrap up. As he walked out of the room, I stood up to say goodbye and added “I’ll make you a deal – I’ll take Kelda and you can have XCM”. Both Partners smiled and even chuckled a bit as they replied “Over our dead bodies”.
In reality, there weren’t any real mind-boggling acts performed that day. I mean, even I can order lunch and walk someone to a conference room. And yet I left that small firm in Palo Alto, California thinking to myself, “Wow, if they went to all that trouble for a software vendor – imagine what type of impression that makes on their clients”. I’ve told the story of Kelda to several people since then, which proves my point even more. Sometimes it’s the littlest details that make the biggest impression on people.

How to Change a Tire in 4″ High Heels

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I recently had the pleasure of crossing “Get flat tire en-route to important business meeting” off of my bucket list. Oh, wait, that wasn’t actually one of my life-long to-do list. Looking back at it now I can laugh, although, it really wasn’t too funny at the time.

Nothing like running late to an appointment and winding up stranded on the side of a remote mountain road near Napa Valley with no cell service (cough cough, see The Trouble with Technology). The good news is that I was smart enough to have my President, Glen Keenan, along for the ride (something I highly recommend when you plan on getting a flat tire), and we eventually made it to our destination.

As “we” hurriedly jacked up our Jeep rental car and swapped out the flat for the spare, I felt horrible about the fact that we couldn’t even get word to our prospect, who was obviously wondering where we might be. Of course, one would at least hope that they would understand the situation, but the business sense in me  says “I’d rather be an hour early than a minute late” kicked in, and I stressed the rest of the way there.

To my surprise, when we eventually made it (nearly an hour late), we were welcomed into the office with warm hugs and greetings of “thanks for coming all this way to see us”. As I settled into the conference room and began to catch my breath, I was taken back when the Managing Partner walked into the room with a bottle of wine…he opened up our meeting with a toast to the opportunity to all meet there in person.

I sat there and recalled a story my mother had told me as a child about a friend of hers who had visited a very poor village in a land-locked area of Asia. As her friend was preparing to leave, one of the natives presented the woman with a gift – a small bag of sea glass. Being a smart woman, she immediately realized and noted to the native that he must have had to walk miles and miles to the sea in order to find sea glass. The native smiled and acknowledged “long walk is part of gift”.

While a flat tire on the way to wine country doesn’t quite equal walking miles to the coast – the moral of the story is the same. People tend to appreciate when someone goes out of their way for them – while we might have been an hour late, we showed our new customer that we cared enough to make the trip to see them.

After completing the tire-swap, as we made our way down the mountain road, Glen and I realized that our strategy was flawed. Glen figured the easiest & fastest way to change the tire was to do it himself (I was very supportive by handing tools and assisting in other various “moral support” capacities). Next time however, we know exactly what to do. Glen will need to walk down the hill until he is out of sight, and I’ll be the one to attempt to change the tire (in my skirt and heels). When all the locals who drove by offering to help see me, it won’t be as bad if I take them up on it. And that is how you change a tire in 4” high heels.

Tire - Copy

When Work Stops Being Work

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I wasn’t ever able to meet my Great-Grandmother, Nellie – she passed away several years before I was born. My parents, determined to instill in me her wisdom, even gave me her name (Kimberly Nelle – this is after she insisted that she “wouldn’t even name a dog Nellie”). My three brothers and I grew up hearing stories about Grandma Nellie, who had played such a big role in my mom’s childhood. Of all the stories we heard though, one in particular comes to mind as I travel around doing this thing we call “work”. See, Grandma Nellie always said, “The smartest and happiest of all people are the ones who make play out of their work”.

This was what my parents used to tell us as my brothers and I would be facing the daunting task of cleaning our bedroom…perhaps that’s why I remember it so well (we heard it a LOT). But as I’ve grown up and had a taste of “grown up work”, I realize just how great this advice truly is.

I’m pretty blessed. Sure I work my butt off, and travel all the time, sometimes go without sleep or food (or both) – heck, sometimes I’m just happy if I can tell you what time zone I’m in. But all in all, I absolutely love what I do – and the number one reason I love it so much, is because of the people I’ve met along the way. Last week was a great example of that –where my weekend-off disappeared, yet I still managed to love every moment of where I was and who I was with.

The ITA (Information Technology Alliance) provides two opportunities each year for those of us in the accounting world to connect with industry colleagues, partners, clients, and friends in a special way. By drawing some of our profession’s biggest names & brightest stars, each Fall & Spring ITA event winds up being a sort of “Accounting Who’s Who Schmooze Fest”, to say the least. The intimate setting of just a few hundred people ensures that quality networking time with the right people is also a priority. And the best part: No trade show booths! Those of us that work the trade show circuit know that those events serve a purpose, but something that really sets ITA apart from other industry events is the way we as vendors are able to really integrate ourselves right into the community in a very organic way.

Above all, these gatherings give us an opportunity to build lasting memories with our peers, that otherwise wouldn’t happen. From late-night In-N-Out Burger runs, to field trips to local oyster bars, to perfecting the art of “Steveing” (which is a completely different blog post by itself), to quality heart-to-heart conversations with people who have walked down roads in their career that I will one day cross myself, there’s really something magical about this group. And every once in a while, a memory is made like the one below that won’t soon – or ever – be forgotten. While I may not be the smartest person, Grandma Nellie – thanks to your advice, I’m most definitely one of the happiest…

The Social Network

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After spending the first half of last week in SoCal, then jetting off to NorCal to continue a marathon of meetings, appointments, conferences, and calls, it’s safe to say that the highlight of the crazy few days was the time I had to network with friends and partners. This shouldn’t come as any big surprise, seeing as I tend to be a broken record when it comes to the value of one’s network. So on the heels of a week filled with numerous examples of just how important these relationships are – I figure there’s no better time to post a tribute to a few folks that I have the pleasure of including in my own social network…

To start, my hat goes off to Doug Sleeter, and the entire Sleeter Group team for pulling all the right people together at the 9th annual Sleeter Group Conference (one of the most successful networking shows I’ve been to this year). From Monday evening’s Keynote session featuring executives like Rod Drury of Xero (who came in all the way from New Zealand), Sage’s Himanshu Palsule, and the legendary Greg LaFollette, to Wednesday afternoon’s closing session presented by none other than Rick “The Closer” Richardson (sorry I missed it, Rick – but so happy we got to have lunch!), Doug brought out all the big guns.

For me, the greatest value in a show like that isn’t the things I learn from sessions – and isn’t the prospects that I meet in the trade show expo area. It’s all about the networking time. People always ask me how I manage to keep up with all the traveling I do, and the real answer (even when I’m as tired as I am right now) is that I just don’t want to miss out. There’s nothing better than the ability to spend 5 minutes with René Lacerte – or having the pleasure of catching up over dinner with Jennifer Warawa.

When I departed the conference, I took my networking on the road…my next day started out with one of CPAPA’s 25 most powerful women in accounting, Geni Whitehouse – someone I’ve always seen at shows, and have heard about for years, but we hadn’t had a chance to spend quality time together. As if one legend a day isn’t enough, I ended my evening with one of the only reasons to visit San Jose on a regular basis: Taylor Macdonald just might be in town. Spending time with Taylor is sort of like learning at the master’s feet. I think I turn into a sponge whenever I’m around him, hoping to soak up as much advice as possible…what a privilege I’ve had to be included in his network these past several years.

While all of this was happening, one continuous networker (who I never actually saw in person) that always adds the right color to the mix, Xero’s Community and Coffee Queen – and lover of the best color ever, Catherine Walker was a constant social media presence. People like Catherine are true examples of leveraging social media to shrink miles between a network. While I ran out of time to stop by and share a premium local coffee with her, I somehow still feel connected to Catherine as we exchanged numerous messages on Twitter.

While we can only be in one physical place at a time – we can reach the entire Twittersphere with a simple 140 characters. In my last post I declared that there’s no replacement for face time. While I firmly believe this, leveraging our social network can often create lasting impressions on those relationships we hold so dear.